Stalin Evens Out Our Borders
- Title:
- Stalin Evens Out Our Borders
- Alternate Title:
- Stalin Evens Out Our Borders
- Collection:
- Persuasive Maps: PJ Mode Collection
- Creator:
- Ukrainian Insurgent Army
Ukraïnsʹka povstansʹka armii͡a
- Date:
- 1945
- Posted Date:
- 2015-08-25
- ID Number:
- 1322.01
- Collection Number:
- 8548
- File Name:
- PJM_1322_01.jpg
- Style/Period:
- 1940 - 1959
- Work Type:
- prints (visual works)
- Materials/Techniques:
- printing
- Subject:
- Satirical
World War II
Pictorial - Measurement:
- 21 x 15.5 (centimeters, height x width)
- Notes:
- This is a classic military propaganda map entitled "Stalin Evens Out Our (Ukrainian) Borders." It was issued by the Ukrainian Insurgent Army (UPA), a Ukrainian nationalist guerrilla organization that at various times in and after World War II fought against the Germans, the Poles, the Soviets and the Czechs.
The map itself covers a portion of southwestern Ukraine and southeastern Poland between Lwow (Львів) at the lower right of the map and Przemysl and Chelm (Перемишль and Холм) to the left of Stalin's saw. At the Yalta Conference in February 1945, Churchill and Roosevelt agreed to Stalin's demand that the border between Poland and the Soviet Union (technically, the Ukrainian SSR) be moved to the west to conform to the "Curzon Line," a relic of World War I. The Polish Government in Exile objected strenuously, regarding it as an expansion of the Soviet Union at Poland's expense (Michalak 2001, 72-74). On the other hand, from the Ukrainian nationalist point of view, Stalin was "giving away" Ukrainian territory to the Poles.
At some point after Yalta, and certainly by the time of Germany's surrender in May 1945, the Soviet Union began a concerted effort against Ukrainian nationalists and other dissidents on both sides of the new border. (Those in Poland were urged - and later coerced with the help of Polish authorities - to emigrate "voluntarily" to the Ukrainian SSR.) This effort continued well into 1946, and many of those involved ended up in Siberia, or worse. (For an emotional, if obviously biased, account, see Dushnyck 1948.)
The Ukrainian text on the leaflet is mostly sarcastic word play on "smoothing," "equalizing," "trimming," "straightening up" and the like - not only the borders but crops from storage sheds, iron and coal. "Beautifully equalized the population density as well, by sending surplus to Siberia. And evens out heads too, those that are raised too high." The precise date of this map is unknown, but it was likely produced in 1945 or 1946.
For further information on the Collector’s Notes and a Feedback/Contact Link, see https://persuasivemaps.library.cornell.edu/content/about-collection-personal-statement and https://persuasivemaps.library.cornell.edu/content/feedback-and-contact - Cite As:
- P.J. Mode collection of persuasive cartography, #8548. Division of Rare and Manuscript Collections, Cornell University Library.
- Repository:
- Division of Rare and Manuscript Collections, Cornell University Library
- Archival Collection:
- P.J. Mode collection of persuasive cartography
- Format:
- Image
- Rights:
- For important information about copyright and use, see http://persuasivemaps.library.cornell.edu/copyright.