The Red Atlas: How the Soviet Union Secretly Mapped the World

272 Pages·2017·11.75 MB·English

by  John Davies

THE RED ATLAS

RED
THE ATLAS
HOW THE SOVIET UNION SECRETLY
MAPPED THE WORLD
J O H N DAV I E S
A L E X A N D E R J. K E N T
FOREWORD BY JAMES RISEN
THE UNIVERSITY OF CHICAGO PRESS * CHICAGO AND LONDON
The University of Chicago Press, Chicago 60637
The University of Chicago Press, Ltd., London
© 2017 by The University of Chicago
Foreword © 2017 by James Risen
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever
without written permission, except in the case of brief quotations in critical articles and reviews.
For more information, contact the University of Chicago Press, 1427 E. 60th St., Chicago, IL 60637.
Published 2017
Printed in Canada
26 25 24 23 22 21 20 19 18 17  1 2 3 4 5
ISBN- 13: 978- 0- 226- 38957- 8 (cloth)
ISBN- 13: 978- 0- 226- 38960- 8 (e- book)
DOI: 10.7208/chicago/9780226389608.001.0001
Library of Congress Control number: 2017007292
This paper meets the requirements of ANSI/NISO Z39.48- 1992 (Permanence of Paper).
Dedicated to the thousands of men and women who
created the treasure trove of maps described in this book
and
to our next generation,
Abigail, Edward, and Sophia,
in the hope that they inherit a more harmonious world

CONTENTS
Foreword by James Risen IX
Note to Readers XIII
INTRODUCTION
Why this book is a detective story 1
1 WAR AND PEACE
The background of the story— from Napoléon’s march on Moscow to the collapse of the Soviet Union 3
2 CAPTURING THE WORLD— ON PAPER
Describing the style, content, and symbology of the Red Army’s maps of the world 9
3 PLOTS AND PLANS
The overt and covert methods of the Soviet cartographers 47
4 RESURRECTION
The discovery of the maps after the fall of the Soviet Union and their continuing significance today 131
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS 145
APPENDIX 1 Examples of Maps of Various Series and Scales 146
APPENDIX 2 References and Resources 205
APPENDIX 3 Translation of Typical City Plan "Spravka" 211
APPENDIX 4 Translation of Typical Topographic Map "Spravka" 215
APPENDIX 5 Symbols and Annotation 219
APPENDIX 6 Glossary of Common Terms and Abbreviations 222
APPENDIX 7 Print Codes 223
APPENDIX 8 Secrecy and Control 225
INDEX Place-Names 227
INDEX General 231

FOREWORD
BY JAMES RISEN
NEARLY THREE DECADES AFTER THE FALL OF THE BERLIN WALL,
Cold War secrets are still tumbling out.
Some of them are beautiful.
An enormous and secret infrastructure supported the intelligence battles
that were waged between the East and West throughout the forty- year Cold
War standoff. The United States and the Soviet Union and their allies spied
on each other incessantly, because they wanted to be prepared just in case
an unthinkable war ever broke out.
Spying involves waiting, watching, remembering, and recording. It involves
sophisticated cameras and high- altitude aircraft and missiles with satellites—
but also people on the ground, quietly walking down streets, looking.
Sometimes, the products of all that spying during the Cold War were intel-
ligence reports, which told Washington or London or Moscow what the other
side was doing. Intelligence reports might provide inside information that
could be used to decide broad strategy— when to move armies and navies.
Sometimes, the products were maps. Highly detailed maps, useful for
spies and policy makers, for diplomats, invading armies, and occupiers. Maps
that could provide more specific tactical information than might come from
intelligence reports. Maps that could tell a general which roads and bridges
provided the best routes to use to drive his tanks, or an admiral which harbors
were deep enough for his destroyers.
When the Cold War ended, the secret infrastructure built up by the
superpowers was left behind. Today much of it has been rediscovered and
ix