Englands Not (England's Torment)
- Title:
- Englands Not (England's Torment)
- Alternate Title:
- England's Torment
- Collection:
- Persuasive Maps: PJ Mode Collection
- Creator:
- Admiralstab der Marine
- Date:
- 1918
- Posted Date:
- 2015-08-25
- ID Number:
- 1202.01
- Collection Number:
- 8548
- File Name:
- PJM_1202_01.jpg
- Style/Period:
- 1900 - 1919
- Subject:
- World War I
Pictorial
Unusual Graphics/Text - Measurement:
- 98 x 66 (centimeters, height x width)
- Notes:
- This large poster map of "England's Torment," issued by the German Admiralty in early 1918, was apparently intended to reassure the German public that the war was going well. The poster trumpets the German successes during "12 months of unrestricted submarine warfare" in the waters around Britain. Each symbol represents one ship "sunken by our submarines" - and those ships that were destroyed by U-boats before February 1917, or by German mines at any time, are expressly not included. The quote at the lower left is from a speech by Winston Churchill, then the British Minister of Munitions, on January 11, 1918.: "I have had to reduce by hundreds of thousand of tons, shell steel for which the manufacturing plant is ready, for which the fuses are ready, for which the guns are ready, for which the gunners are ready, because of the want of ships at this period of the conflict." Churchill 1983, 3:2587. (There is some irony in use of the Churchill quote, given events a quarter-century later.)
The poster strongly suggests that "tormented" England was at the door of inevitable defeat. In fact, by the time this poster was published, the allies had blunted the U-boat attack strategy and Germany's loss of the war was all but certain.
"Faced with a flagging war effort, on February 1, 1917 Germany greatly expanded its U-boat campaign against Great Britain. . . . U-boat commanders were ordered to sink, without warning if necessary, all enemy and neutral shipping, both armed and unarmed, within certain defined areas including a massive zone around the British Isles. The campaign essentially constituted a life-or-death bet by Germany that its submarines could do enough damage to Britain’s economy before outrage in the United States prompted that country to enter the War. [Although] the campaign showed early signs that Germany’s bet might pay off, . . . Britain held on in spite of the huge economic damage, and the United States declared war on April 6, 1917, little more than two months after the campaign began. Evolving tactics - in particular the use of convoys, which sharply reduced shipping losses while sinking a growing number of U-boats - and the influx of American forces to Europe eventually helped bring Germany to its knees." https://bostonraremaps.com/inventory/1917-u-boat-propaganda-map/, accessed January 28, 2018.
The first, slightly different, version of this poster was issued a month earlier, after 11 months of unrestricted U-boat war, and with a quote from Sir Arthur Yapp, Britain's wartime Director of Food Economy, at the lower left.
For further information on the Collector’s Notes and a Feedback/Contact Link, see https://persuasivemaps.library.cornell.edu/content/about-collection-personal-statement and https://persuasivemaps.library.cornell.edu/content/feedback-and-contact - Cite As:
- P.J. Mode collection of persuasive cartography, #8548. Division of Rare and Manuscript Collections, Cornell University Library.
- Repository:
- Division of Rare and Manuscript Collections, Cornell University Library
- Archival Collection:
- P.J. Mode collection of persuasive cartography
- Format:
- Image
- Rights:
- For important information about copyright and use, see http://persuasivemaps.library.cornell.edu/copyright.