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Posted by: Ryan Moore
At 11 am on November 11, 1918, the long and terrible fighting that was known as the Great War ended. The final hour of the final day of World War I, as it is known today, was documented by the United States Army on a large 36″ x 32″ map sheet. The mapmakers used a …
Posted in: Military History
Posted by: Ryan Moore
The Geography and Map Division has processed the map collection of an American vice admiral who served in both Europe and the Pacific during World War II. The Morton L. Deyo World War II map collection consists of maps related to Deyo’s role as a naval task force commander, and these once secret materials show …
Posted in: Biography, Military History
Posted by: Ryan Moore
The Orange Free State and the Transvaal (officially the South African Republic) were independent countries in southern Africa in the 19th century established largely by Dutch/Afrikaans-speaking settlers known as the Boers (Boer translates to “farmer” in Dutch). Occupying areas in what is today South Africa, the Boers of the 19th century were pastoral and religiously-oriented, …
Posted in: African History, Borders, Military History
Posted by: Ryan Moore
Cartographic depictions of Seoul, the present-day capital of South Korea, during the time of the Japanese occupation of Korea are not often seen and the surviving artifacts a bit rare. The period of Japanese influence and control over Korea lasted from 1905 until 1945. It began with a protectorate that escalated into a full-scale colony …
Posted in: Asian History, City Histories, Military History
Posted by: Ryan Moore
Hue is a city in central Vietnam, which most Americans may know from the 1968 Battle of Hue, one of the longest and bloodiest battles in the Vietnam War. However, less is known about America’s involvement with the city during World War II. This blog post will present an American military intelligence map from each …
Posted in: Asian History, Military History
Posted by: Ryan Moore
The “President’s Globe” is big — really big and important. Weighing in at a whopping 750 pounds and sized at an impressive 50 inches in diameter, the globe was specially designed for President Franklin D. Roosevelt for use during World War II. The massive representation of the earth helped the president gauge distances over water …
Posted in: Military History
Posted by: Ryan Moore
In World War II, the Allies opened an offensive against Fascist Italy in 1943 after successfully defeating German and Italian forces in North Africa. The Allies first captured Sicily and then launched Operation Avalanche, a plan devised to seize the port of Naples, thus ensuring the Allies could resupply, and then to cut across to …
Posted in: European History, Military History
Posted by: Ryan Moore
Following World War I, the United States and the Empire of Japan competed for power and prestige in Southeast Asia. Both nations had secured islands from the defeated German Empire in the South Pacific and had established interests elsewhere in Asia, such as the Japanese occupation of Korea and Manchuria and the American presence in …
Posted in: Military History