Study guide

Topics: Historical Maps

Course name Date: __________

Objective : Identify the main elements of a map, as a historical document, being fundamental for the study
of multiple topics, since it allows us to get closer to historical reality and visualize the space in which events
develop or their evolution over time.

COMMENTARY OF A HISTORICAL MAP

1.- What is a Map?

The concept of map comes from the Latin term mappa . It is a drawing or diagram that represents a certain
strip of a territory on a certain two-dimensional surface.
Since maps are developed with metric properties, they help measure areas and distances with great
accuracy. A map, therefore, provides useful data for the development of different activities.
Maps even allow a person to locate themselves in a territory. In this way, a man who arrives for the first
time in Santiago can have a map with the streets and places of interest in the Chilean capital so as not to
get lost.
The discipline that is responsible for drawing geographic maps is known as cartography . In ancient times,
these routes were developed on land, while now satellite technologies are used.

2.- Steps to Follow in the Preparation of a Map Comment

a) Classification:
- Qualification. If it doesn't have one, we must put one on it.
- Date of events.
- Type of map: situational (shows an event at a certain time, for example, Europe in 1815); of evolution
(reflects a situation in different stages, such as the process of Italian unification: 1859-1870).
- Scale: allows you to calculate the real distance in relation to that represented on the map.

b) Analysis and explanation:

- Explain the content of the map by describing its different elements using the colors, signs and symbols of
the legend.
- Explain the historical events that are reflected on the map.

c) Relationship with the topic:

- Write the comment making a short introduction (presentation of the document), develop the content by
explaining the content of the map and relating it to the sections of the book.

4. Conclusion:

- Make a short summary, and an assessment and historical significance of the content represented on the
map.
3.- Example

Europe after the Peace of Versailles (1919-1920)

 Activity

- Look for a historical map in your History,

Geography and Social Sciences book.

- Make a Historical Map Comment, using

the steps indicated. If you have doubts
you can see the example below.

1. Classification:

The title of the map is that of Europe after the Peace of Versailles in 1919-1920 or, in other words, the
situation of Europe after World War I. It is a map of the European political situation that provides
information on the borders of the old empires and the new states that emerged after the Great War.

2. Analysis and explanation:

Observing the legend we see that the map reflects with different colors and arrows the different territorial
losses and the dismemberment of the old empires (Russian, Austro-Hungarian, Turkish, German (Germany,
for example, loses all its colonies) and the formation of the new states, as well as the return of territories to
their previous owners.

The historical events that the map highlights are the dissolution of the old absolutist empires and the
appearance of new independent States, especially in central and Balkan Europe (Norway, an independent
State of Sweden since 1905, appears as a significant detail).

3. Relationship with the topic:

All this new organization of the European map was carried out through five treaties, including that of
Versailles (signed with Germany), which received their name from the five palaces in Paris in which they
were signed:
• Treaty of Saint Germain (1919), signed with Austria. It confirmed the disintegration of the Austro-
Hungarian Empire. The country is reduced to its central core, to a small State.
• Treaty of Neuilly (1919): Bulgaria loses its access to the Aegean Sea by ceding the Thracian coast to
Greece.
• Treaty of Trianon (1920): signed with Hungary, authorizing the independence of this State.
• Treaty of Sèvres (1920): marked the end of the Turkish Empire. Türkiye was practically reduced to its
limits in Asia Minor.

4. Conclusion:

Therefore, after 1919 with the signing of the various Peace treaties, a new map of Europe was created,
which would be modified after the Second World War. Treaties that would be humiliating for the losing
countries, especially for Germany. This would provoke a revanchist sentiment that in just over two decades
would trigger a new war conflict that was much more deadly and destructive.