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ABSTRACT
World War I greatly influenced Russian military cartography, as the patriarch of Russian cartography, K .A. Salishchev, noted in 1948:
The two facts have become obvious during the war. The military maps of the 19th – early 20th Centuries, so to say, ‘yesterday maps’, have proved to be ineffective to solve new problems. The old centralized organization of the military topographic service with its stuffy, scanty and unprepared for work under conditions of war, has proved to be equally ineffective. (Salishchev K. A. Essential cartography. Historical part and cartographic material: a textbook for universities. Moscow, 1948, p. 100. Салищев, К. А. Основы картоведения. Часть историческая и картографические материалы : Учебник для вузов. - Москва : Геодезиздат, 1948, c.100)
Against this backdrop, this article targets three different spheres of the key innovations in Russian military cartography: the adaptation of maps for use by artillery; the use of aviation; and the decentralization of map printing.
RÉSUMÉ
La première guerre mondiale a beaucoup influencé la cartographie militaire Russe, comme l’a noté le père de la cartographie Russe K.A. Salishchev en 1948 : ‘Deux faits sont devenus évidents pendant la guerre. Les cartes militaires du 19ème et début 20ème siècle, les ‘cartes d’hier’, se sont montrées inefficaces pour résoudre les problèmes nouveaux. L’ancienne organisation centralisée du service topographique militaire, étouffant, limité et mal préparé pour travailler sous des conditions de guerre a également prouvé son inefficacité. Dans ce contexte, cet article présente trois composantes des innovations majeures de la cartographie militaire Russe : l’adaptation des cartes pour l’artillerie, l’utilisation de l’aviation et la décentralisation de l’impression des cartes.
Disclosure statement
No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author.
Notes on Contributor
Dr. Vladimir E. Bulatov leads the Cartographic Department at the State Historic Museum of Moscow, Russia.
Notes
1 Glushkov V.V. History of the Military Cartography in Russia in 18th – early 20th Centuries. Moscow, 2007, p.55. Глушков В.В. История военной картографии в России XVIII – начало ХХ в. М.: ИДЭЛ, 2007, c.55.
2 Bölcke S., Military topographic service in German Army in 1914–1918. p. 7. Translated from German into Russian by V. Demianovsky. Directorate of Military Survey of the HQ of the Red Army, 1938. Бёльке. Военно-топографическая служба в германской армии в войну 1914–1918 гг. Пер. с нем. М.: ВТУ ГШ КА, 1939.
3 Artamonov A. Old experience and new challenges. Geodesist, 1928, №2. Артамонов А. Старый опыт и новые задачи. Геодезист, 1928, №2.
4 Bölcke S., p. 7.
5 Pokrovsky S. N. Air force // The Four Year War and its Times. Moscow, 1924, p. 306. Покровский С.Н. Воздушный флот. // Четырехлетняя война и ее эпоха. М, 1924. c.306.
6 Glushkov, p. 264.
7 Pokrovsky, p. 312
8 Calculated on the base of: Glushkov V. V., Dolgov E. I., Sharavin A. A. Corps of Military Topographers of Russian Army in the years of the First World War. Moscow, 1999. Глушков В.В., Долгов Е.И., Шаравин А.А. Корпус военных топографов русской армии в годы Первой мировой войны. М.:Институт политического и военного анализа, 1999.
9 Glushkov, p. 264
10 Brusilov A. A. My memories. Moscow, 2001. Брусилов А.А. Мои воспоминания. М.: Российская политическая энциклопедия, 2001, pp. 174, 176, 188.