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Category: Military History

This map indicates the location of ships sunk by U-boat activity in the Mediterranean, the Atlantic, and the North Sea, specifically within those areas open to unrestricted warfare.  The total was roughly 7,500 vessels.

Risky Business

Posted by: Mike Klein

During World War I, the most hazardous place to be, relatively speaking, was not on the battlefield, but inside a German U-boat. Throughout the war, Germany deployed 375 Unterseebooten, i.e. U-boats or submarines; 202 were lost in action, or about fifty-four percent. Similarly, of the 17,000 sailors who served in them, about 5,100 were lost …

Propaganda Maps to Strike Fear, Inform, and Mobilize – A Special Collection in the Geography and Map Division

Posted by: Ryan Moore

Filled with heavy topics of war and occupation, War map: pictorial and propaganda map collection 1900-1950 contains maps and messages that frequently are pointed, unapologetic, and echo the anger and desperation of nations at war. The collection of 180 maps typifies how cartographs were used to influence popular opinion and garner support for military and political efforts …

Hand drawn map on discolored paper

Map Helps Uncover Civil War Battlefield Tunnels at Petersburg, Virginia

Posted by: Ryan Moore

The Union ambitiously tunneled 511 feet to reach the Confederate lines during siege of Petersburg, Virginia, in 1864. Unique to this Civil War battle, they set off a massive explosion that created a 170-by-120-feet crater beneath the Confederate lines and stormed the defenses in a failed effort, known as the Battle of the Crater. Thereafter, the Confederates worried …

Il Tricolore Italiano in Tripolitania e Cirenaica Diario Illustrata della Geurra Italo-Turca. Panorama dimostrativo della Battaglia del 26 Ottobre 1911, 1911 November 1. Geography and Map Division, Library of Congress.

A Cartographic Memento From a Small War

Posted by: Mike Klein

Most historians consider the Italo-Ottoman War, 1911-12, as a prelude to World War I. Although it has fallen into obscurity, some relics, such as this compelling panoramic map of the war’s first major engagement, may revive our interest. Italy’s claims to North Africa were rooted in Roman times. Over the millennia, the provinces of Tripolitania …

Brown, red, and yellow tinted map illustration of the continents of Europe, Asia, Africa and Australia, with a circular frame around them

Connecting Collections: The Battle of Trenton and Princeton

Posted by: Ed Redmond

During the winter of 1776-1777, two key battles became an important turning point for George Washington’s Continental Army and the American struggle against the vaunted British Empire. In this blog post we will explore three maps that depict the Battles of Trenton and Princeton, all from different collections in the division and drawn by various …

map of the western front in beige and red tones

Mapping Armistice Day: 11 November 1918

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 …