Lot #: 82877
ACCOMPLISHMENT OF THE VICTORY (WWII Greek Language Propaganda Map) |
||||||||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||||||
|
Views: 223
|
Description
ΟΛΟΚΛΗΡΩΣΙΣ ΤΗΣ ΝΙΚΗΣ (title in greek)
The accomplishment of the victory, began with the victorious battles of El Alamein and Stalingrad during the winter of 1942–43 and concluded with the advance of the Russians in Berlin on 21 April 1945 and the joining of American and Russian troops south of Berlin on 26 April. On 8 May Germany capitulated unconditionally.
(1) 1942 – October: Collapse of the front in El Alamein.
(2) 1942 – November: The Allies invade North Africa.
(3) 1943 – January: The Russians break the siege of Stalingrad.
(4) 1943 – September: Italy capitulates to the Allies.
(5) 1944 – March: The Russians advance in the Balkans.
(6) 1944 – June: The Normandy Landings.
(7) 1944 – August: The Russians reach the Baltic Sea.
(8) 1944 – September: American troops invade Germany.
(9) 1945 – January: The Russians strike Germany from the East.
(10) 1945 – April 21: THE RUSSIANS ENTER BERLIN.
(11) 1945 – MAY 8: THE GERMANS SURRENDER UNCONDITIONALLY.
Striking Anti-Axis Propaganda Maps in Greek from 1945.
Rare anti-Axis propaganda map, targeting the Greeks, made by the 514th Survey Company of the Royal Engineers in May and June of 1945.
The brightly colored map shows current and historical configurations of Europe, all of which underline the aggression of Germany and highlights the brave actions of the Allies which led to victory across Europe, from Britain to Greece.
At first glance the map appear educational, but its production in May and June 1945 point to its role as propaganda. The Allies, on the verge of victory, wanted to ensure that the Greek people, who had been occupied by the Axis Powers for years and were on the brink of civil war, understood their version of how the war was won.
British Survey Companies in WWII
Field Survey Companies, part of the Royal Engineers, served in all theaters of the Second World War. They conducted triangulation and field surveys, drew maps, and printed maps with mobile printing units. They also performed aerial photography and distributed their works to soldiers and approved civilians.
The 514th Survey Company served in the Western Desert theater, deployed there in the winter of 1940-41. Initially, they mapped for the operations planned against Italy in Eritrea. By mid-1941, they were carrying out large surveys near Matruh, in Egypt. In early 1942, they were working near Benghazi, where they worked on astronomical control points in the desert.
Next, the 514th worked in Syria, where they revised and improved existing maps. While retreating with the Eighth Army back into Egypt in June 1942, they still managed to maintain an active print division. Despite moving five times, the mobile print unit produced over 1,000,000 maps for army use.
The 514th, both its printing unit and surveying details, were then stationed at Alexandria, under the control of A.D. Survey Desert Force. They performed preparatory work at El Alamein which later proved important in the battle of the same name in late 1942. By the end of the year, the 514th was working in Palestine. Later in the war, the 514th helped prepare maps for the invasions of Sicily and mainland Italy.
By the end of the war, when this map was made, the 514th seems to have ramped up its print production to provide not battle maps, but propaganda maps to ensure that the peace went as Britain hoped. That is, they and their American allies hoped the peace would usher in stable democracies across Europe, as opposed to communist-controlled governments as their ally Russia would have liked. The Cold War was already on the horizon, with Greece as its first battlefield.
This maps was likely distributed in Greece at the end of the war. The British Ministry of Information is known to have produced similar propaganda in various languages, but little to no research is available about the role of the Royal Engineers Survey Companies’ role in the creation and distribution. The British Library has no record of similar output by the 514th and they appear to be exceedingly rare survivals.
World War II in Greece
Greece was pulled into WWII by regional tensions. Italy, an ally of Germany as part of the Axis Powers, was tasked with bringing the Balkans and Greece under Axis control. The Italian Army invaded via Albania in late October of 1940. The Greek Army, reinforced by a small contingent of British, Australian, and New Zealand troops, resisted heartily and managed to push the Italians back across the Albanian border.
This resistance was inspiring to the Allies, but it also brought the wrath of Nazi Germany upon the Greek peninsula. The German Army invaded Greece and Yugoslavia in April 1941, overrunning both within a month. The British forces and the Greek royal family fled to Crete and then Egypt. Crete remained as the last free Greek territory until May, when it fell to the Axis Powers thanks to the first large-scale airborne invasion in history.
In Greece, several Field Survey Companies had been sent in with the British troops. Unfortunately, many of their personnel were taken prisoner when Greece was lost to the Axis powers. However, the 514th was not one of the units dispatched in the country.
Although they had enacted heavy casualties on the Axis Powers, especially on the Germans in Crete, Greece was now an occupied state. The Germans, Bulgarians, and Italians split the country in three and set up a puppet government in Athens. The King and his government operated in exile from Egypt. Resistance movements began almost at once, although they were small in scale until mid-1942.
In 1943 and 1944, the resistance factions claimed back large portions of the interior of Greece, particularly in the poorly-policed Italian section of the country. However, the resistance fighters also clashed with each other, as various groups had differing political views. Some wanted a communist country after the war was over, others preferred a return to a monarchical system. Their internal discontent would erupt into the Greek Civil War of 1946-9.
Mainland Greece was released from Axis rule in October 1944, when the German Army pulled back its troops due to the Russian Army’s Baltic Offensive, the Allied advance in Italy, and the loss of Bulgaria as ally. The country the Axis troops left behind was devastated; the economy was shattered and the infrastructure was in ruins. 400,000 Greek people had perished; the Jewish population had been almost completely wiped out as part of the Holocaust. Sadly, a little over a year later, fighting would resume in the Civil War, which pitted American and British-backed conservative fighters against leftists supported by Russia.
The role of the British in promoting their version of history and government are implicated in these maps. They are fascinating historical artifacts that have received little to no scholarly interest despite the larger literature on propaganda maps. They are rare and certainly worth further study; they would make an impressive addition to any collection of wartime and propaganda maps.
More about War & Propaganda Maps. [+]
The accomplishment of the victory, began with the victorious battles of El Alamein and Stalingrad during the winter of 1942–43 and concluded with the advance of the Russians in Berlin on 21 April 1945 and the joining of American and Russian troops south of Berlin on 26 April. On 8 May Germany capitulated unconditionally.
(1) 1942 – October: Collapse of the front in El Alamein.
(2) 1942 – November: The Allies invade North Africa.
(3) 1943 – January: The Russians break the siege of Stalingrad.
(4) 1943 – September: Italy capitulates to the Allies.
(5) 1944 – March: The Russians advance in the Balkans.
(6) 1944 – June: The Normandy Landings.
(7) 1944 – August: The Russians reach the Baltic Sea.
(8) 1944 – September: American troops invade Germany.
(9) 1945 – January: The Russians strike Germany from the East.
(10) 1945 – April 21: THE RUSSIANS ENTER BERLIN.
(11) 1945 – MAY 8: THE GERMANS SURRENDER UNCONDITIONALLY.
Striking Anti-Axis Propaganda Maps in Greek from 1945.
Rare anti-Axis propaganda map, targeting the Greeks, made by the 514th Survey Company of the Royal Engineers in May and June of 1945.
The brightly colored map shows current and historical configurations of Europe, all of which underline the aggression of Germany and highlights the brave actions of the Allies which led to victory across Europe, from Britain to Greece.
At first glance the map appear educational, but its production in May and June 1945 point to its role as propaganda. The Allies, on the verge of victory, wanted to ensure that the Greek people, who had been occupied by the Axis Powers for years and were on the brink of civil war, understood their version of how the war was won.
British Survey Companies in WWII
Field Survey Companies, part of the Royal Engineers, served in all theaters of the Second World War. They conducted triangulation and field surveys, drew maps, and printed maps with mobile printing units. They also performed aerial photography and distributed their works to soldiers and approved civilians.
The 514th Survey Company served in the Western Desert theater, deployed there in the winter of 1940-41. Initially, they mapped for the operations planned against Italy in Eritrea. By mid-1941, they were carrying out large surveys near Matruh, in Egypt. In early 1942, they were working near Benghazi, where they worked on astronomical control points in the desert.
Next, the 514th worked in Syria, where they revised and improved existing maps. While retreating with the Eighth Army back into Egypt in June 1942, they still managed to maintain an active print division. Despite moving five times, the mobile print unit produced over 1,000,000 maps for army use.
The 514th, both its printing unit and surveying details, were then stationed at Alexandria, under the control of A.D. Survey Desert Force. They performed preparatory work at El Alamein which later proved important in the battle of the same name in late 1942. By the end of the year, the 514th was working in Palestine. Later in the war, the 514th helped prepare maps for the invasions of Sicily and mainland Italy.
By the end of the war, when this map was made, the 514th seems to have ramped up its print production to provide not battle maps, but propaganda maps to ensure that the peace went as Britain hoped. That is, they and their American allies hoped the peace would usher in stable democracies across Europe, as opposed to communist-controlled governments as their ally Russia would have liked. The Cold War was already on the horizon, with Greece as its first battlefield.
This maps was likely distributed in Greece at the end of the war. The British Ministry of Information is known to have produced similar propaganda in various languages, but little to no research is available about the role of the Royal Engineers Survey Companies’ role in the creation and distribution. The British Library has no record of similar output by the 514th and they appear to be exceedingly rare survivals.
World War II in Greece
Greece was pulled into WWII by regional tensions. Italy, an ally of Germany as part of the Axis Powers, was tasked with bringing the Balkans and Greece under Axis control. The Italian Army invaded via Albania in late October of 1940. The Greek Army, reinforced by a small contingent of British, Australian, and New Zealand troops, resisted heartily and managed to push the Italians back across the Albanian border.
This resistance was inspiring to the Allies, but it also brought the wrath of Nazi Germany upon the Greek peninsula. The German Army invaded Greece and Yugoslavia in April 1941, overrunning both within a month. The British forces and the Greek royal family fled to Crete and then Egypt. Crete remained as the last free Greek territory until May, when it fell to the Axis Powers thanks to the first large-scale airborne invasion in history.
In Greece, several Field Survey Companies had been sent in with the British troops. Unfortunately, many of their personnel were taken prisoner when Greece was lost to the Axis powers. However, the 514th was not one of the units dispatched in the country.
Although they had enacted heavy casualties on the Axis Powers, especially on the Germans in Crete, Greece was now an occupied state. The Germans, Bulgarians, and Italians split the country in three and set up a puppet government in Athens. The King and his government operated in exile from Egypt. Resistance movements began almost at once, although they were small in scale until mid-1942.
In 1943 and 1944, the resistance factions claimed back large portions of the interior of Greece, particularly in the poorly-policed Italian section of the country. However, the resistance fighters also clashed with each other, as various groups had differing political views. Some wanted a communist country after the war was over, others preferred a return to a monarchical system. Their internal discontent would erupt into the Greek Civil War of 1946-9.
Mainland Greece was released from Axis rule in October 1944, when the German Army pulled back its troops due to the Russian Army’s Baltic Offensive, the Allied advance in Italy, and the loss of Bulgaria as ally. The country the Axis troops left behind was devastated; the economy was shattered and the infrastructure was in ruins. 400,000 Greek people had perished; the Jewish population had been almost completely wiped out as part of the Holocaust. Sadly, a little over a year later, fighting would resume in the Civil War, which pitted American and British-backed conservative fighters against leftists supported by Russia.
The role of the British in promoting their version of history and government are implicated in these maps. They are fascinating historical artifacts that have received little to no scholarly interest despite the larger literature on propaganda maps. They are rare and certainly worth further study; they would make an impressive addition to any collection of wartime and propaganda maps.
More about War & Propaganda Maps. [+]
FAQ - Guarantee - Shipping
In our BUY-or-BID sale, you never pay more than the Buy price.
To buy or bid in this Buy-or-Bid sale you must register with us. It is free, and we automatically update you about future auctions.During the Buy-or-Bid sale, you can buy or bid on 600- 900 antique, rare maps, town views, old master prints, decorative prints, atlases, posters and Medieval manuscripts.
- We show the "Bid & Ask spread" (to define the gap between the minimum accepted bid and Buy price.)
- Items that have received bids within the BidAsk spread are sold at the highest bid at closing.
- Once the Buy price is paid, the sale for this item has closed.
Do you have a similar item you want to sell ?
Interested in selling your antique maps, original prints, vintage posters, or historic Ephemera?Let us help you!
Start your consignment today. We provide estimates free of charge from photographs sent via the Internet. Fill out our online estimation form, and we will contact you with an estimate.
Learn more about consigning at RarePaperSales.com
Guarantee
![Certificate of authenticity](/images/cert.jpg)
- Defects in lots have been carefully noted.
- If there are no remarks regarding splits, tears, discoloration, etc., there are no issues to be found for the item!
- All items are carefully and personally examined before being packed "in-house" and shipped by UPS, USPS, DHL or registered mail.
- We do not sell reproductions.
- A certificate of authenticity is provided for each acquired item and can be downloaded from your invoice page.
- Certificates can be found in the Invoice and Certificates center.
Shipping
Maps are shipped in solid tubes or flat between solid cardboard. Fully insured, signature required, and with online tracking. Shortly after shipment, you will get the tracking number by email.The standard is that we ship items by UPS or DHL for European destinations, and a flat shipping fee is added to each shipment. It is a one-time fee even if you buy multiple items. This fee covers shipping and insurance (up to the invoice amount) to:
- North America, Canada, Europe $ 30
- Asia $ 40
- For South America, Mauritius, Africa and Australia a shipping fee of $ 50 will be charged.
We charge only a one-time shipping fee if you have won 2 or more items.
Hold Shipment Service
Rare Paper Sales allows you to put your shipping on hold at no additional charge. This can be incredibly convenient for people who want to buy several items at different auctions and ship them together. The service is free, and you pay only one shipment fee.
Contact us if you want to use the Hold Service.
High-Resolution Digital Image Download |
|
RarePaperSales maintains an archive of most of our high-resolution rare maps, prints, posters and medieval manuscript scans. We make them freely available for download and study. Read more about free image download |