The collapse of the Soviet Union has seen the emergence of its unprecedentedly comprehensive global secret military mapping project and the commercial availability of a vast number of detailed topographic maps and city plans at several scales. This thesis provides an in-depth examination of the series of over 2,000 large-scale city plans produced in secret by the Military Topographic Directorate (Военное топографическое управление) of the General Staff between the end of the Second World War and the collapse of the USSR in 1991. After positioning the series in its historical context, the nature and content of the plans are examined in detail. A poststructuralist perspective introduces possibilities to utilise and apply the maps in new contexts, which this thesis facilitates by providing a systematic, empirical analysis of the Soviet map symbology at 1:10,000 and 1:25,000, using new translations of production manuals and a sample of the city plans. A comparative analysis with the current OpenStreetMap symbology indicates scope for Soviet mapping to be used as a valuable supplementary topographic resource in a variety of existing and future global mapping initiatives, including humanitarian crisis mapping. This leads to a conclusion that the relevance and value of Soviet military maps endure in modern applications, both as a source of data and as a means of overcoming contemporary cartographic challenges relating to symbology, design and the handling of large datasets.
Author(s): Martin Davis
Series: Springer Theses
Publisher: Springer
Year: 2021
Language: English
Pages: 222
City: Cham
Supervisor’s Foreword
Abstract
Elements of the research presented in this thesis have been developed further in the following publications and conferences:
Acknowledgements
Introduction
Standardised Mapping of the World
Objectives of the Research
References
Contents
1 Russian and Soviet Cartography: A Concise History
1.1 The Origins of Cartography in Russia
1.1.1 Maps for an Emerging State
1.1.2 The Legacy of the Pre-Petrine Era
1.2 The Reforms and Legacy of Peter the Great
1.2.1 European Influence
1.3 The Emergence of Russian Military Cartography
1.3.1 Foundations of the General Staff
1.4 The Changing Agenda of Russian Cartography in the Nineteenth Century
1.4.1 Expressions of Enlightened Governance
1.4.2 The Institutional Framework in the Early 1800s
1.4.3 Developments in Ethnic Imperial Cartography
1.4.4 The Imperial Russian Geographical Society (IRGO)
1.4.5 Nineteenth Century Military-Cartographic Reforms and the Demise of the Empire
1.5 New Cartography for a New Ideology: The Development of Soviet Mapping
1.5.1 Origins Under Lenin
1.5.2 Stalinist Expansion of Military Cartography
1.5.3 The Inception of Soviet Civil Surveys
1.5.4 Mapping in the Great Patriotic War (1941–1945) and its Aftermath
1.5.5 Civil Cartography After Stalin
1.5.6 The Soviet Mapping of the World (1945–1991)
1.5.7 The Dissemination of Soviet Military Maps
1.6 The Persistent Traits of Russian Cartography
References
2 An Introduction to Soviet Military City Plans
2.1 Coverage, Rationale and Basic Characteristics
2.1.1 Production Trends
2.2 Plan Content, Components and Layout
2.2.1 Title Blocks
2.2.2 The Spravka
2.2.3 Lists of Important Objects
2.2.4 Lists of Street Names
2.2.5 Schematic Metro Diagrams
2.2.6 Separate Booklets for the Spravka, Lists and Diagrams
2.2.7 Topographic Insets
2.2.8 Marginalia
2.3 Mathematical and Geodetic Basis
2.4 Stylistic Development of the Series
2.4.1 Phase 1
2.4.2 Phase 2
2.4.3 Phase 3
2.4.4 Phase 4
2.4.5 Phase 5
2.4.6 Prague, Czechoslovakia (1980)
2.5 Production Processes
2.5.1 Selection and Preparation of Source Materials
2.5.2 Compilation Methods
2.5.3 Revision of City Plans
2.5.4 Record Files
2.6 Related Series
2.6.1 Civil (GUGK) City Plans
2.6.2 GUGK 1:2,000 and 1:5,000 Plans
2.6.3 Plan Schema
2.6.4 Sister Series in Other Warsaw Pact States
References
3 Towards an Ontogenetic Approach to Soviet Military City Plans: A Post-Representational Epistemology
3.1 Fundamentals of Harleian Deconstruction
3.1.1 Background
3.1.2 Fundamentals of Knowledge
3.1.3 ‘The Rules of Cartography’
3.2 Foundations of Deconstruction
3.2.1 Spotting the Différance
3.2.2 Absolute Absence
3.3 ‘Deconstruction and the Cartographic Text’
3.3.1 Power and Governmentality
3.4 ‘Maps and the Exercise of Power’
3.4.1 Politicising the Map
3.5 Beyond the Landscape
3.6 Escaping an Ontology of Maps: Towards Post-Representational Cartography
3.6.1 Illustrating Maps as Practices
3.6.2 Deconstructing the Ontogenetic Map: Revisiting Derrida
3.7 A Pseudo-Representational Framework
References
4 Developing an Approach to Analysing Soviet City Plans
4.1 Research Objectives
4.2 Previous Methodologies
4.2.1 Overview
4.2.2 Methods of Analysing the Symbologies of Topographic Maps
References
5 The Methodology
5.1 Compiling a Comprehensive Record of the Symbology of Soviet Military City Plans
5.1.1 Selection and Translation of Source Material
5.1.2 Symbol Separation and Classification
5.1.3 Further Issues in Compiling a Comprehensive Symbology
5.2 Designing an Analysis of Symbology in Context
5.2.1 Constructing a Sample of City Plans
5.2.2 Obtaining the Map Sample
5.2.3 Data Collection Process
5.3 Comparison with OpenStreetMap
References
6 Analysing the Symbology of Soviet Military City Plans
6.1 Analysing a Comprehensive Record of the Symbology of Soviet Military City Plans, 1966–1978
6.1.1 Symbology by First-Level Feature Class
6.2 Analysing the Symbology of Soviet Military City Plans in Context
6.2.1 Trends Across the Sample
6.2.2 Total Symbology by City Plan
6.2.3 Analysis of First and Second-Level Feature Classes
6.2.4 Analysis of Symbology and Characteristics of Cities
6.3 Comparison of Soviet and OpenStreetMap Symbologies
6.3.1 Mapping Frankfurt am Main
References
7 Discussion
7.1 Understanding Soviet Military Mapping
7.2 Mapping Diverse Environments
7.2.1 Investigating Source Materials of Soviet Military City Plans
7.3 Implications for OpenStreetMap
7.4 Context-Specific Challenges of a Global Symbology
7.5 The Enduring Versatility of Soviet Mapping
7.5.1 Applying Soviet Map Data in Humanitarian Contexts
7.5.2 Accessibility of Soviet Mapping for Humanitarian Applications
References
8 Conclusion
8.1 An Outline of the Research
8.2 Directions of Future Research
8.3 Concluding Remarks: Access and Application
References
About the Author
Glossary
