1939 Baker Pictorial Map of American World War I Cemeteries in Europe

This is a 1939 Cora W. Baker pictorial map of American World War I cemeteries and battlefield monuments in Europe. The map depicts the region from Brittany, France to Germany and from southern England and the Netherlands to Nantes and Besancon, France. American cemeteries and monuments are illustrated in profile throughout France and Belgium, with Brookwood American Cemetery and Memorial in England and the Naval Monument in Gibraltar being the only two sites outside of the two aforementioned countries. Some of the cemeteries include the Somme (Bony) American Cemetery, Suresnes American Cemetery, Meuse-Argonne (Romagne) American Cemetery, and the St. Mihiel (Thiaucourt) American Cemetery in France and the Flanders Field American Cemetery in Belgium. Each of the monuments was erected for a specific reason. The Naval Monument at Brest, France, for example, commemorates that the city served as the principal point of embarkation and debarkation for the American Expeditionary Forces (AEF), while the Tours American Monument commemorates the service of the 650,000 men who served in the Services of Supply (SOS) of the AEF, since Tours was the headquarters of the SOS during the war. Other American monuments in France include the Chateau-Thierry American Monument, the Cantigny American Monument, the Bellicourt American Monument, the Montsec American Monument, and the Montfaucon American Monument. The Audenarde American Monument and the Kemmel American Monument are situated in Belgium. All of these cemeteries and monuments, along with those commemorating the sacrifices of men and women who served in World War II, are operated and maintained by the American Battle Monuments Commission. Cities important to American operations during World War I are also labeled, as are major rivers. The whole is surrounded by a border made up of the shoulder patches of all the American divisions that served in Europe during World War I.

A Short Commentary on the Map

While this map is certainly meant to commemorate and remember the sacrifices of American servicemen during The Great War, the timing of its publication cannot go unnoticed. In 1939 the world was on the brink of a second world war that threatened to ensnare the United States in a foreign war for the second time in a generation. In fact, fighting had been raging in Asia for at least the previous two years (with skirmishes beginning as early as 1931) and Hitler had been steadily rearming Germany and annexing land in Central Europe. By 1939 he had annexed both Austria and Czechoslovakia without any opposition. Italy was also fighting in East Africa. Many Americans believed that the United States should remain neutral in the coming war, and one could make the argument that this map was meant to do more than simply commemorate the events of The Great War. The possibility exists that, given the global context in which this map was published, that there was an intention to remind the public of the carnage wrought upon the population of the United States during World War I and try to persuade them to stand in opposition to any involvement in the current war. There is, however, no way of knowing if this is in fact the creator's intent, as no record of their intent behind its creation exists.

Publication History and Census

This map was created by Cora W. Baker and published in 1939. This map is quite rare, with only three known examples in institutional collections at the Harry S. Truman Presidential Library and Museum, the Hoover Institution Library and Archives at Stanford University, and at the Wisconsin Historical Society.