Visualizing Stalinist Space: The 1951 Geographical Atlas of the USSR for Secondary Schools

Baron, Nick

Abstract

This chapter offers a close critical analysis of the structure, design, and content of the Geographical Atlas of the USSR for Secondary Schools, published in the Soviet Union in 1951. This atlas was created not merely as an instrument of geographical education and training in cartographic literacy, but as a means to instil in Soviet youth the principal values and tenets of postwar Stalinism: the Marxist–Leninist worldview; Soviet patriotism inflected by Russian nationalism; pride in the country’s past achievements, present strength, and future prospects; and enthusiastic, joyful commitment to the party and its leader. Yet the Geographical Atlas did more than inscribe Stalinism into Soviet space. It spatialized Stalinist ideology, and in doing so also re-made the idea and sense of time.

Citation

Baron, N. (2024). Visualizing Stalinist Space: The 1951 Geographical Atlas of the USSR for Secondary Schools. In Rethinking Socialist Space in the Twentieth Century (23-57). Palgrave Macmillan. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-54581-8_2

• Online Publication Date: Jun 11, 2024
• Publication Date: 2024
• Deposit Date: Jul 1, 2024
• Publicly Available Date: Jun 12, 2025
• Pages: 23-57
• Series Title: St Antony's Series
• Series ISSN: 2633-5964
• Book Title: Rethinking Socialist Space in the Twentieth Century
• Chapter Number: 2
• ISBN: 9783031545801
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-54581-8_2
• Public URL: https://nottingham-repository.worktribe.com/output/36861905
• Publisher URL: https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/978-3-031-54581-8_2
• Contract Date: Apr 1, 2024