The Geography of World War
I Cartoons: Gallipoli
Antoni Moore1 & William Cartwright2
University of Otago1 & RMIT University2
Presentation
• Mapping and geographical artefacts
produced during the Gallipoli campaign
• Representations of the geography of the
Dardenelles in cartoons of the time
• ‘First-cut’ of analysis of the geography
depicted in cartoons
Gallipoli 1915
Initial plan
•
•
combined AngloFranco naval fleet
forcing the Narrows,
sail into the Sea of
Marmara and then on
to Constantinople.
then three Divisions of
the Greek Army would
advance on
Constantinople.
Revised plan
•
naval engagement
only
– after Russian
opposition to the use
of Greek troops
•
revised naval plan
– force the Narrows,
penetrate the Sea of
Marmara and
bombard
Constantinople,
compelling the
Ottoman Empire to
surrender
Failure
• Mine fields and
hidden guns
prevented success
of this plan
• Six battleships
were sunk or
severely damaged
HMS Irresistible sinking off Erenköy Bay 18
March 1915 - The War Illustrated, 1 May 1915
New plan
•
Large military
operation
– capture the Gallipoli
Peninsula
– allow the waters to
be cleared of mines
– opening The
Narrows for the fleet
to sail to
Constantinople
Australasian landings
British (Lancashire)
landings
French landings
www.firstworldwar.com
Campaign
continued
• second Allied
landings in August
1915
• extended over a 10month period
• ANZAC forces
evacuation 9
December 1915
• final evacuation in
January 1916
Stage 1 - exploratory research
Stage 2
• “Personal Geographies of
warfare”
Service Historique de la Defense, Department de
l’Armee de Terre Division
Service Historique de la
Defense, Department de
l’Armee de Terre Division
Emotional distance and
representations of geography of
warfare
remote
near
Stage 3: Personalised views
of geography through
cartoons
Gaining information about
personal geography through
alternative representations
Cartoons
• Encompasses all drawn graphics
representing situations in a simplified
style
– sparse lines
– strong outlines
– simple palette of colours
– straightforward application
Cartoons and geography
• Most are not drawn directly from
observation
• Have differing amounts of ‘true’ features
present
Cartoons
• ‘Naive’ geographies
– simplistic interpretation (and subsequent
representation) of geography
– instinctive or spontaneous
(Egenhofer and Mark, 1995)
Examples
The Independent, 27 March 2014
http://www.independent.co.uk/voices/the-daily-cartoon-8117874.html?action=gallery&ino=7
The Independent, 18 March 2014
http://www.independent.co.uk/voices/the-daily-cartoon-8117874.html?action=gallery&ino=10
http://rlv.zcache.com/vintage_map_of_the_world_around_1900_post_cards-r28158db416fc48469da5a7d9e67c64dc_vgbaq_8byvr_512.jpg?bg=0xffffff
National Library of Australia
http://nla.gov.au/nla.map-rm4695
http://31.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_kxvszq9Uuu1qb50y9o1_r3_500.jpg
http://assets1.bigthink.com/system/idea_thumbnails/39146/headline/Cropped_Communism.jpg?1309825624
http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5155/5899297552_c04cdaf7dd_b.jpg
Cartoons and Gallipoli
http://users.humboldt.edu/ogayle/KillEagleMap.png
Classification of relevant
cartoons
• Survey
– the extent and the type of cartoons
– only selected if they had a ‘geographic’
element
– differences between the European view of
the campaign and the colonial
(Australasian) viewpoint
Propaganda
• with Map or MapRelated Object
• with Literal Geography
depicted in Graphics
• with Geography derived
from Symbolic Graphic
Element
• with Geography derived
from Visual Metaphor
• with Geography
contained in text
Louis Raemaekers, Raemaekers' Cartoons
(London: Hodder & Stoughton, 1916)
Propaganda
with Map or MapRelated Object
http://regaltoysoldiers.wordpress.com/historical/wwi-posters-and-postcards/gallipoli-posters/
Propaganda
http://regaltoysoldiers.wordpress.com/historical/wwi-posters-and-postcards/gallipoli-posters/
political cartoonist Harry Julius (1885–1938)
“Miss Australasia”
http://aso.gov.au/titles/newsreels/miss-australasia/clip2/
with Map or MapRelated Object
Propaganda
Geography derived
from Symbolic Graphic
Element
Propaganda
Literal Geography
depicted in Graphics
http://blogs.slq.qld.gov.au/ww1/files/2013/11/Landing-places-at-gallipoli.jpg
Propaganda
Geography derived
from a visual
metaphor
Propaganda
with Geography
contained in text
Satirical
• with Map or MapRelated Object
• with geography derived
from Visual Metaphor
• with Literal Geography
depicted in Graphics
• with Geography derived
from Symbolic Graphic
Element
• with Geography
contained in text
Satirical
with Map or MapRelated Object
Satirical
Geography derived
from Visual Metaphor
Satirical
Literal Geography
depicted in graphics
Satirical
Geography derived from
Symbolic Graphic Element
Satirical
Geography contained
in text
Personal
• with Map or MapRelated Object
• with Geography derived
from Symbolic Graphic
Element
• with Geography derived
from Visual Metaphor
• with Literal Geography
depicted in graphics
• with geography
contained in text
http://www.mossgreen.com.au/view-auctions/catalog/id/74/
lot/26060/
?url=%2Fview-auctions%2Fcatalog%2Fid%2F74%2F%3Fpage%3D3
Personal
http://davidmhart.com/blog/C20111228141034/index.html
with Map or MapRelated Object
Personal
Geography derived from
Symbolic Graphic Element
Personal
Geography derived
from Visual Metaphor
Personal
Literal Geography
depicted in graphics
Hand-printed Christmas card 1915 by Australian soldier Keith Eltham
http://www.soldierswalk.org.au/memorabilia_eltham.html
Personal
with Geography contained
in text
propaganda
satirical
personal
General findings
• General classification
– Propaganda
– Satirical
– Personal
• No explicit reflection on the colonialism
context
– One notable exception
Next stage: Analysis
Developing a schema for extracting
geography from cartoons
Then
• Study representations produced (in
cartoons) to ascertain differing views of
the campaign
– European
– Colonial
Support & assistance
•
Otago and RMIT
– Seed grant from the
School of Mathematical
and Geospatial
Sciences, RMIT
(Cartwright)
– Research Sabbatical
leave from RMIT
(Cartwright)
– Research Sabbatical
leave from the
University of Otago
(Moore)
– William Evans Visiting
Fellow Award,
University of Otago
(Cartwright and Moore)
•
Archival staff:
–
–
–
–
–
–
Australian War Memorial
Imperial War Museum
British Library
Royal Geographical Society
Army Museum, Chelsea
Département des Cartes et
Plans, Bibliothèque
nationale de France
– Service Historique de la
Defense, Department de
l’Armee de Terre Division,
France in Paris.
– Beyazit State Library,
Istanbul
Thank you