Geography Reference
In-Depth Information
CHAPTER SEVEN
MAPS THAT WITNESSED HISTORY
The world is always changing, both in subtle and more conspicuous ways. Encompassing
everything from the natural cycle of life and death to the latest technological inventions, the
essence and scope of these changes are extraordinarily diverse. Some are rapid and others
gradual. Some have a far-reaching impact whilst others pass unnoticed. Some alterations to the
physical environment, such as the construction of a new road, are planned by human beings;
others, like the movement of tectonic plates beneath the earth's surface, occur independently
of human activity. The one constant of today's world is that it is never completely identical to
that of yesterday.
Maps, then, must capture places in time as well as in space. Yet the relationship between
maps and time is not always a simple one. There is a saying that every map is out of date: the
area depicted will always have changed to some degree since the map was created. Published
mapping based on formal topographical surveys will be out of date even before it is printed,
as soon as the surveyors complete their work in the field. Many maps draw on the work of
original surveys and revisions carried out over months, years or even decades. The discrepan-
cies caused by such time lags will generally be insignificant to someone using a map when it
is new. Conversely, older maps are of ten valued precisely because they provide evidence of
the otherwise 'lost' landscapes of years past. Certain maps are deliberately historical, intended
to show places in the past rather than the present, and some - such as those of Port Royal and
Imperial Russia
Lost beneath the waves
and
Realm of the Romanovs
- are designed to depict
changes over time.
This seventh chapter has a different focus from the preceding six. Rather than concentrating
on a particular type of map or purpose for using maps, it follows the theme of moments in time
and how maps reflect historical change. A number of our chosen maps record situations of
evident global importance. Others may appear to be of more localised interest, but gain greater
significance when set within their broader context. What our selected maps have in common
is that each reflects a decisive event, a significant moment, or a particular perspective on a
situation in history. The importance of the moment may extend beyond the immediately obvi-
ous. For instance, the annotations on the map of Czechoslovakia '
Peace for our time
' record
not only an external event (Adolf Hitler's demand for territory) but also a pivotal step in the
internal history of the map that we have today: its transformation from a mass-produced item
to a unique historic document.
