Outline of post-war new world map (1941)

This is a very interesting map, created by Maurice Gomberg in 1941 (published 1942).

You can download a hi-resolution (14MB) map through this link in the lower left corner of the link above,. The format is jp2000, and a viewer can be downloaded here. I have used Kakadu View and it works fine (open with kdu_show.exe).

If you don't mind the hassle of zooming online (less user-friendly, and often subject to internet delay), you can also zoom the map here.

This is the short introduction given by most web-sites

• 1942 world map. "Outline of post-war new world map" by Maurice Gomberg,
• Philadelphia, Feb. 25, 1942. Shows protectorates and peace-security bases.
  
• Includes quotes from President Franklin Roosevelt's message to the 77th Congress on the State of the Union, including the Four Freedoms and the Moral Order.
• SOURCE: Library of Congress Geography and Map Division Washington DC.

A few sites have summarized the "new order" outlined by Gomberg, note also that the map was completed in October 1941, before Pearl Harbor. The full text of the "order" is listed here. A few highlights relevant to the world order today -- as paraphrased by penncrier.com, emphasized by yours sincerely. I have also skipped the outdated notion of commodity nationalization (globalization and amrekit efficiency seem to be quite effective in solving this problem) and demiliatarizing the "war-mongering" Europe (Europe has quietly evolved past that phrase)

• The U.S.A. must, altruistically, assume the leadership of the newly established world order.
• The U.S.A., Britain, and the U.S.S.R. will undertake to guarantee peace to the nations, which will be permanently disarmed and demilitarized.
• The U.S.A. will become invincible as a military, naval, and air power.
• A world common monetary system will be established.

It is interesting to compare this to the pre-WWII, WWII map, and the order created immediately after WWII.

Here are a few obvious notes when comparing this map with that of 1950. (Critique on the flaws of this map does remind me of Kaplanistic foot soldier "I surrounded you, Ha!" march)

• the whole of Germany and Austria given to the Great USSR, Iran also a Sovier SSR.
  
• Korea, Indochina, Thailand and Malaya given to China
  
• Burma and Afghanistan to Federated Republic of India (Pakistan was not carved out)
• USA expanded, naturally, not only to include the rest of North and Central America (Canada, Mexico, Greenland, Carribean), all islands in North Atlantic as outposts (Iceland, Bermuda, Azores, Canary Is, Cape Verdes), all of the Pacific islands, Sulawesi(Celebes), Taiwan and Hainan -- the 3 Guyana's were said to become a USA state in the text, but not shown in the map
  
• British Commonwealth to give up Africa and South Asia, but retaining Australia/NZ and taking out some of Dutch East Indies (Indonesia)
• Other notes: note how Arabian FR and Hebrewland was drawn, Albania with Greece, Northern Ireland with Ireland, Madagascar and Sri Lanka stayed with British Commonwealth
  

As to how the "world order" should be modified under today's world, I would leave that to our intelligent readers (perhaps a better way to discuss is to open a thread for each one of Gomberg's lines). Some questions to ask/ threads are (especial in the post Kuwait-Iraq world)

• One hegemone ("Invincible") vs multiple leader
• How crucial is genuine altruism/neutrality of the hegemone? (which also leads to the question of single vs multiple hegemone)
• Is there any medium/small nation that owns meaningful (offensive) weapon today? Is there a need for the smaller nations/federates to own meaningful weapon?
• If smaller nations do not own meaningful offense/defense, what should the hegemones' commitment to the small be?
• How similar/different is Gomberg's new order compared with Thomas Barnett's PNM?
• What assumption of Gomberg become (or close to) reality in today's world? How would this change (or not change) the order of 1950s (vs the order Gomberg proposed)?
  
  

Categories:

• geo
• map