la cartografia geopolitica negli atlanti Putzger del primo dopoguerra

This article analyses how propagandistic cartography from the Weimar Republic times was not only adopted, but also re-elaborated in the well known historical school atlas Putzger. The author compares propagandistic geopolitical -in a Ratzelian meaning- maps produced mainly by völkisch groups and geo- and cartographic societies during the twenties and the thirties with their equivalents inside Putzger’s editions from the same period. These maps were specifically created for the sake of nationalistic propaganda and can be divided in three categories: Volks- und Kulturboden (ethnic- and cultural body) maps, Germany’s alleged desperate strategic situation maps and regional organic unity maps. The methodological instruments used for this article derive mostly from critical cartography and historical cartography works such as Rethinking the Power of Maps by Denis Wood et al and The History of Cartography by John Brian Harley and David Woodward. Notably, the author employs the cartographical analysis instruments from these works to study historical atlases maps. The analysis reveals how the flexibility of the medium historical atlas succeded not only in adopting the geopolitical propaganda maps, but also in re-elaborating them in more refined and powerful ones. This reprocessing was mainly achieved through the psychological use of colours, which permits to invisibly influence the atlases’ users, and through the positioning of the maps, which is a powerful way to associate different elements in the user’s mind.