This dramatic map satirizes Hitler’s African ambitions in the summer of 1938 - and the timidity of the European powers in response. A Hitlerian “sun” at the upper left casts powerful rays on areas of the continent colonized by Germany before World War I, whose return he now demands: Togoland, Cameroons, “Formerly German Southwest Africa” and “Formerly German East Africa.” Figures waving the flags of France and Britain sweat nervously in the heat. In South Africa, John Bull drinks Scotch and quakes in his boots. And at the upper right, the League of Nations is abed, an “ailing lady who feels far too weak to complain.”
Ken Magazine, which published this map, was a controversial anti-fascist publication that first appeared in April 1938. It was distinguished by unusual and powerful graphics like this one and provocative photos and articles, including reports on the Spanish Civil War by Ernest Hemingway. The magazine failed in August 1939 as a result of wariness by advertisers and a boycott by the Catholic Church. Baptista 2009, 109-115. For other maps in the collection from the magazine, Search > "Ken Magazine." Cornell University Library is pleased to present this digital collection of Persuasive Maps, the originals of which have been collected and described by the private collector PJ Mode. The descriptive information in the “Collector’s Notes” has been supplied by Mr. Mode and does not necessarily reflect the views of Cornell University.
