“This map has historical significance. It shows the borders before the decisive phase: before the just new order that the final victory will bring. This will make our map especially valuable to you in later years.” – Text, verso. This rather straightforward political map of the world, issued by a German bank to its customers in 1939, belies the global conflagration that will continue to burn for several more years. The German Empire is presented in bright red, with the homeland incorporating victorious possessions in Poland and Czechoslovakia. With ‘peace’ in the East assured by the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact, Hitler could focus his attention on France. A note in the lower left hints at the instability in Europe, “The new borders in the former Yugoslav territory have not yet been definitively established everywhere.” A volatile situation is also depicted in Asia, though the recent Japanese advances during the Second Sino-Japanese war have not yet been incorporated into the image. Text on the verso offers a history of Germany’s overseas possessions; German Southwest Africa, German East Africa, Cameroon, and Togo. An optimistic outlook on the Third Reich, and not unrealistic, given the geopolitical circumstances at the time of printing. Published in Frankfurt am Main in 1939 by George Stritt & Company. Distributed by Bayerische Vereinsbank
