THE BRITISH MAPPING OF CENTRAL EUROPE, 1915-1919 (PART 1) THE PEOPLES OF AUSTRIA-HUNGARY I.GEOGRAPHICAL HANDBOOK AND ATLAS (1919)

Abstract

This article is the first part of a two-part paper which examines The Peoples of Austria-Hungary I geographical handbook and the accompanying Atlas of Austria-Hungary, published by Britain’s Naval Intelligence Division in 1919, its making and contents, and the involvement of Hungarian and British geographers in mapping and boundary making. The paper illumi-nates further the connections between geography, mapping and military intelligence in Britain and extends geographical studies of mapping and border-making in Central Europe during and after the First World War. This first part shows that both Handbook and Atlas were based upon the work of Bertram [‘Bertie’] Cotterell Wallis, a London schoolteacher and discusses the ways in which Hungarian and British mapping differed. Hungarian geographers were unaware of the making of The Peoples of Austria-Hungary I. Important implications are noted: for the nature of international geographical relationships and for the authorship and significance of geographical handbooks.