Grishin E. S. Reference Maps on Building Materials for the Western Front of the Russian Army (1915–1918)

Evgeniy S. Grishin
Head of the Scientific Editorial Board on Historical Cartography in the Great Russian Encyclopedia
Moscow, Russia
E-mail: bibliosof-info@yandex.ru
ORCID: 0000-0002-9521-2246

 Download | Back to the Content № 4. 2022

UDC 94(470)“1915/1918”:912.4
DOI: 10.58529/2782-6511-2022-1-4-78-81

ABSTRACT. The article gives a description of a special group of the cartographic sources of the First World War period — building materials maps. The methods for compiling maps and the source materials for them are revealed. The maps were elaborated by the “Commission on Raw and Chemical Materials” having been a part of the “Military Technical Assistance Committee”, in order to facilitate the material support of Russian troops on the Western Front with various natural materials that could be used for the fortification and construction works, as well as for laying the communication lines. In total, at least 11 sheets of maps of similar content are known to have been compiled. Using the sheet № 14 for the Vilna area as an example, the main features of the considered group of sources are revealed: structure, graphic design, main sections of the explanatory note, content and legend of the map itself. Various aspects of the significance of the source are indicated: it is not only a carrier of information about the natural resources of individual regions of the Russian Empire, but also a remarkable example of the preparation of operational cartographic information through the use and adaptation of the maps by I. A. Strel’bitsky. The maps reflect not only the extent of prospecting for the regions’ natural resources and their geological knowledge, but also contain valuable information on their exploitation; the same can be put down to the explanatory note, which, in addition to the specified information, contains data on water resources and their use. It should be noted that the maps on building materials practically have not been cited either in special studies on the history of the First World War, or in works devoted to the history of cartography.

KEYWORDS: cartographic sources, First World War, building materials

For citation: Grishin E. S. Reference Maps on Building Materials for the Western Front of the Russian Army (1915–1918) // Historical Geography Journal. 2022. Vol. 1. № 4. P. 78–81.

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