1939 Europe in the Sunset: The Dark Continent
By: Rudolph C. Ripper Pub. Fortune Magazine
Date: December 1939 – New York, NY
Dimensions: 13.75 x 21.5 inches (35 x 54.5 cm)
This striking map can best be described as a bird's eye view (if birds could fly to such heights) of Europe looking from the southeast to northwest. As unfamiliar as it may be to the viewer, it lends itself to the information it presents. The map is in short, northwestern oriented view of Europe at the onset of the WWII with a focus the vast potential resources Germany has in Eastern Europe.
Symbols representing oil, ore, coal, tobacco, industrial plants, wheat, fodder, and lumber are noted in the descriptive text and decorate the map throughout. All roads seem to lead in direction of traffic to Germany, which eventually meets a barrier of mountains and blockades along its border with France. In its entirety the map presents a feeling of unity among the nations, agriculture, and industry to the east in their effort to provide for the German war effort. Great Britain, France, and Italy however have little to show for with regards to agricultural resources and industry as they are sparsely filled factories.
In the north, a fleet of ships which can only be the Royal Navy head towards Norway as part of the "Norwegian Campaign," a move that would prove costly for the allied nations of Great Britain and France as the Nazis would soon invade southeastern France and successfully occupy the country in the early stages of the war. The map also presents occupied Poland, which was divided among German and the Soviet Union in late September of 1939.
Condition: Map is in A condition, printed on two separate pages that have been professionally joined on the verso.
Inventory #11990
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