1953 Silva Portuguese Serio-Comic Map of Europe, the Iron Curtain, and Cold War

An exceptional and rare 1953 J. R. Silva serio-comic zoomorphic pictorial map of Europe illustrating the raising of the Iron Curtain at the height of the Cold War. The map covers Europe and parts of the Atlantic, and is one of only 2 serio-comic maps to illustrate the Iron Curtain. It presents the political situation in 1953, shortly after the death of Joseph Stalin, the rise of Nikita Krushchev, and Georgi Malenkov's announcement of the Soviet Union's first hydrogen bomb. Silva is playing on the traditional meaning of 'Iron Curtain' as a fireproof barrier in theaters. He further interprets the chaos of post-Stalin European politics as a 'circus.'

In this serio-comic map, a great wrought iron fence, the Iron Curtain, divides Europe. Russia, a great polar bear, is the antagonist, with subject nations, lesser bears, dancing and performing to its tune. Other European countries look on with fear, boredom, and curiosity while the Americas, on a large balcony across the Atlantic, show great interest in the show. The dominant North American powers are represented by a Mexican horse / cowboy, a Canadian walrus / sailor, and a militaristic United States lion. Other American nations, comprising Central and South America, appear as a great variety of well-dressed birds, all of which are labeled.

In Translation

The following is our imperfect translation of the Portuguese legend.

The present Humorous Map of Europe, represents a circus in which the tamer with his trained animals appear inside an iron curtain, with an audience and boxes that are sold out. This show does not lack the orchestra, police, firefighters, porters, the sandwich boy and the ice cream seller. In the cabins, the lion can be seen in the first place, observing, with a great American-made binocular, all the movements of the tamer; next to it are the inseparable Canadian walrus and the Mexican horse. In the second plane are the following characters: peacock (Cuba), duck (S. Salvador) and the vulture (Nicaragua), in the third plane, dove (Colombia), parrot (Ecuador), Peru (Peru), stork (Venezuela), rooster (Bolivia), stork (Paraguay), parrot (Brazil), blackbird (Uruguay), condor (Chile) and pelican (Argentina).

ALBÂNIĂ: The orders of the tamer, the bear, make propaganda outside the circus. [Albania, while nominally independent from Russia, is very pro-Russia, and is thus represented as a bear promoting soviet interests.]

GERMANY: The tiger struggles to get up, but his leg is still torn and bleeding, making it impossible. [Germany, divided after the war, continued to suffer until the fall of the Berlin Wall and reunification.]

AUSTRIA: The weasel directs a waltz, although at cost, as its tail was sacrificed to the iron curtain. [The Austro-Hungarian Empire, is now the Austrian Empire, with Hungary firmly behind the Iron Curtain.]

BELGIÇA: The smart rabbit watches all movements.

BULGARIA: The bear farmer, will have to bear the ears to be able to please.

CZECHSLOVAKIA: The bear is in charge of balancing the armaments.

DENMARK: The guard dog, indicated as a porter, to take care of the Kattegat. [Denmark, a NATO member, stands in the way of Sovient expansion int eh Baltic/]

SPAIN: With great knowledge of this kind of show, the bull looks thoughtfully at the performance.

ESTONIA: Despite being small, the bear also has to show his skills.

FINLAND: All worthy, the valiant penguin with the best of dispositions, supplies sandwiches or pastries.

FRANCE: The pretty French cat seems indifferent, to the point of falling asleep.

GREECE: The old and helpful donkey, is also very interested in the performance.

NETHERLANDS: The precious kitty delights in the show.

HUNGARY: The tamer wishes that in the 'big mine', the bear would maintain a plumb position in a difficult situation.

ENGLAND: The cute bulldog dog, is watching on its balcony.

IRELAND: The beloved pig, suspends its crops and looks closely at the circus.

ICELAND: The seagull has found an ideal base to land and advertise.

ITALY: The deer with its graceful manners, sells the famous Italian ice creams.

IUGOESLAVIA: The clever gorilla is no longer a bear, as he managed to saw the chain that connected him to the tamer. [This is a reference to Josip Broz Tito, who the Gorilla slightly resembles, and who slip with Stalin in 1948, freeing Yugoslavia from Soviet control and becoming a national hero.]

LATVIA: The juggler bear must have the maximum credit for not falling,

LITHUANIA: Trimming the game is this bear's only job.

LUXEMBOURG: The mouse shows interest in what is happening on the stage.

NORWAY: The giraffe is on duty and due to his physique, tries to do good policing.

POLAND: The tamer wants to make the bear dance on a tightrope.

PORTUGAL: Appreciated by many, the friendly codfish winks beyond the Atlantic, as if to say: 'I am a faithful friend'. [Portugal was neutral in World War II, but did allow the allies the use of the Azores, towards which the 'codfish' winks. Likely Portugal's joining of NATO as a founding member was influenced by this 'assistance'.]

ROMANIA: The tamer demands that the bear 'give oil'.

RUSSIA: The bear tamer, with cautious violence, makes a vain effort to win allies.

SWEDEN: The peaceful elephant is the soldier of peace, ready with his trunk to put out the fire.

SWITZERLAND: Aware of the spectacle, the fox repairs a watch, his specialty.

TURKEY: Sheep, always correct, is the porter who guards the entrance to the 'Dardanelles.' Whoever forces him is subject to a sledgehammer. [Turkey joined NATO in 1952, but for the previous 100 years had been subject to numerous Russian invasions due to its control of the Dardenelles, and subsequently Russian access to the Mediterranean. The 'Sledghammer' terminology suggests anyone allying with turkey would be stuck between NATO and Soviet powers.]

We realize of course that his is a rough translation that is dependent upon a deep understanding of the political situation of the period. The bracketed text is our own extrapolation.

The Iron Curtain

The Iron Curtain was a boundary dividing Europe into two separate areas from the end of World War II (1945) until the end of the Cold War (1991). The term symbolizes the efforts by the Soviet Union (USSR) to block itself and its satellite states from open contact with the West. On the east side of the Iron Curtain were the countries influenced by the Soviet Union, while on the west side nations were NATO members, or nominally neutral. Separate international economic and military alliances were developed by each side. In time the political and economic differences between the two sides evolved into a 4300-mile physical barrier defined by fences, walls, minefields, and watchtowers. The Berlin Wall, part of this barrier system, became the symbol of this great divide. The Iron Curtain collapsed in the 1990s as one state after another freed itself from Soviet dominance.

Publication History and Census

This map was designed by an unknown Portuguese cartoonist identified only as 'Star'. It appeared in the Portuguese children's magazine Mundo de Aventuras (Series 1, #250), published in Lisbon by J. P. Silva. This map is exceedingly scarce. We are aware of examples in institutional collections at the National Library of Portugal, in the British Library, and at the Bibliothèque Nationale et Universitaire in Strasbourg.