[British Indian Government Propaganda Map] Weekly News Report (WNR) No. 200 - First Baltic Front (C.P.D.)

(Director of War Publicity, National War Front)

Published by (Director of War Publicity, National War Front), (Victory House, Madras), 1943

About this Item

Rare British Indian b/w propaganda map 33x43cm, printed on economy paper. Good, tanned, folded with closed tears, with some archival tape and earlier tape repairs to the verso, hole-punched for filing, with minor impact on content. "WNR" identifies this as part of a series of maps produced to accompany the World News Report issued by the Director of War Publicity, National War Front. Undated c1943-44. The First Baltic Front was a major Red Army formation under General Hovhannes Bagramyan engaged in Operation Bagration (which forced Germany to fight on two fronts), lifting the siege of Leningrad, and the Konigsberg Offensive. Centred on Daugavpils, this covers parts of Russia, the Baltic states, Poland, Belarus ("White Russia"), and Finland bounded by Leningrad (NE), Novobelitsa (SE), Warsaw (SW), and Hijumaa on the Baltic coast (NW) on a scale of @1 inch to 45 miles. Features include settlements and railways. This poster supported the British Indian Government's comprehensive propaganda operation to keep the population onside. With India providing over 2 million troops and several million others to the war effort at home, it tied the war to the fate of India, praised Indian contributions, and countered Axis propaganda. It began in 1940 with Provincial and District War Committees coordinated from Calcutta, and continued with the National War Front (NWF) from 1942, under the Director of War Publicity at Victory House in Madras. The NWF operated through Directors at Presidency level supported by District and Divisional organisers, and an array of lecturers, propagandists, village leaders, and inspectors reaching deep into the grassroots. In support, Victory House published the weekly "Madras War Review", and served as a Central Information Bureau with a Showroom displaying its models for railway cars, charts, maps, posters, and other material, which were replicated in local NWF "Victory Houses" across India. Very few of these materials survive. This one is not recorded on Worldcat or Library Hub. (References: Tamil Digital Library; P. Priya, "Popular Distress and the Second World War: Malabar, 1939-45, Proceedings of the Indian History Congress, Vol. 74 (2013), pp. 602-610).

Seller Inventory # 5881

Bibliographic Details

• Title: [British Indian Government Propaganda Map] Weekly News Report (WNR) No. 200 - First Baltic Front (C.P.D.)
• Publisher: (Director of War Publicity, National War Front), (Victory House, Madras)
• Publication Date: 1943
• Language: English
• Binding: No Binding
• Condition: Good