1955 Soviet Directorate of Geodesy and Cartography Map of the United States

This is a 1955 Soviet Main Directorate of Geodesy and Cartography map of the United States. This map was published the year the Warsaw Pact was signed, making the impressive detail ominous in the shadow of 'mutually assured destruction.'

A Closer Look

Coverage embraces the United States in full, extending from southern Canada to northern Mexico, along with most of Cuba and some of the Bahamas. States are identified, and cites are labeled throughout. Rivers and lakes are illustrated. Red lines highlight railroads, and black lines follow highways. Blue dashed lines represent major shipping routes from San Francisco, Seattle, Portland, New York, Boston, Philadelphia, and New Orleans, among others. An inset map of Alaska occupies the lower left, and the boundary between the Soviet Union and the United States is emphasized.

The Cold War in 1955

When this map was published, the United States and the Soviet Union were in the midst of the Cold War, with 'brinksmanship' and 'mutually assured destruction' prominent in the posturing between the two superpowers. The Space Race was in full swing but would not kick into high gear until 1957, after the Soviets launched Sputnik. The major event of 1955 was the creation of the Warsaw Pact in May in response to West Germany's inclusion in NATO. The Warsaw Pact was a collective defense treaty with the Soviet Union and seven other Eastern Bloc socialist republics as members. It was signed in Warsaw on May 14, 1955, and was dissolved on July 1, 1991.

Publication History and Census

This map was compiled by the Scientific and Editorial Map-Compilation Department of the GUGK in 1954, edited by A.G. Borisova and published by the Main Directorate of Geodesy and Cartography (Главное управление геодезии и картографии or GUGK) of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the USSR in Moscow in 1955. The edition numbered 16,000.