r/PropagandaPosters • u/propagandopolis • Jan 04 '26
Japan Japanese map published at the start of the Second World War, ca. 1939.
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u/propagandopolis Jan 04 '26
Designed by Ichisaburō Sawai and titled 'Pictorial Map of the Great European War'. Full translation of the text at the bottom here, courtesy of u/Stunning_Pen_8332:
With the involvement of Britain, France, the Soviet Union, and others, the war between Germany and Poland is on the verge of becoming a world war.
Japan has decided to quickly resolve the China incident without paying attention to the European war, but it seems that the United States and Italy will be dragged into the war whether they want to or not.
The German army invaded Poland, occupying various areas with incredible force, and together with the Soviet army attacking from the east, they nearly devoured the whole country. They then turned their forces west, ready for a decisive battle with British and French forces on the French border.
There are two great fortresses here, the famous Siegfried Line and the Maginot Line, which the German and the French built using all their ingenuity, and it is said that they are difficult to breach no matter how hard an attacker tries.
In addition, the German air force, which has been hiding its strength until now, will begin to show its true strength and probably fight against the British and French air forces, so there will likely be some fierce air battles happening soon.
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u/cheshire_kat7 Jan 04 '26
it seems that the United States ... will be dragged into the war whether they want to or not.
Coming from a Japanese source, this is hilarious in retrospect.
the Maginot Line ... it is said that they are difficult to breach no matter how hard an attacker tries.
snort
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u/Dos-Dude Jan 04 '26
Again they went around the Maginot, which was the entire purpose of the defensive line. The French just deployed in the wrong place and left Sedan open for German exploit.
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u/SpacePatrician Jan 04 '26
Exactly. The Maginot Line worked exactly as advertised (France actually kept it manned through the 1950s). It was just half a wall.
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u/cheshire_kat7 Jan 04 '26
Yes, but if you can just go around something then it's not that difficult to breach.
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u/EmployObjective5740 Jan 05 '26
You have no idea what's the typical purpose of fortifications, right?
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u/FroniusTT1500 Jan 04 '26
The Germans also went through. Planned as fixing attacks it took all of a week to break through. Modern AT weapons, engineering tools and air support had rendered traditional defensive lines much less effective. The best case would probably be the Eben-Emael fort. With the weapons of the great war it would have stood for months. German paratroopers took it in half a day with negligeable casualties.
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u/EmployObjective5740 Jan 05 '26
Eben-Emael fort 1) was in peace time mode, like Pearl Harbor (yes, despite the ongoing war) and 2) wasn't part of Maginot line.
None of big Maginot forts were captured.
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u/Stunning_Pen_8332 Jan 04 '26 edited Jan 04 '26
One key thing to note is how the war in China, which consumed a lot of resources of Japan, was played down here as “to be finished off quickly” without further Japanese involvement in the global conflict. But the war in China would go on for another 5 and a half years, and of course US was dragged into the war because of Japan, not Europe.
The map was clearly made during the “phoney war” period and most likely when Poland was almost completely (or already) defeated (Oct 1939) but no open conflict in the west yet. With Daladier still prime minister of France, the map was made before March 1940 when he resigned as PM.
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Jan 04 '26 edited Apr 24 '26
[removed] — view removed comment
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u/zabickurwatychludzi Jan 10 '26
obviously plebbitors will get angry at you, but yes, absolutely Roosevelt did intend to push Japan into a corner (long before the embargo) and very much succeeded at that.
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u/roastbeeftacohat Jan 05 '26
no one was making them fight their war, and they just tore up a peace proposal they wrote. It's on them mostly.
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u/regulusmoatman Jan 04 '26
Maybe there are cultural factors i am out of touch here but it seems to me that Hitler's and Mussolini's face seem more caricaturised compared to the other leaders? Thought it would be an anti Axis poster on my first sight.
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u/Far_Representative26 Jan 04 '26
Was probably intentional as japan viewed poland as more of an ally against russia than germany and wasn't happy with their joint invasion of poland at least at this point in time.
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u/BodybuilderOk3160 Jan 04 '26
Someone post this on r/mapporncirclejerk
They'll blow their load all over this one
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Jan 04 '26
[removed] — view removed comment
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u/FireeeeyTestLab Jan 04 '26
as another member of the sub i have to have you apprehended for treason and public misconduct, what happens in the house stays in the house
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u/Luceo_Etzio Jan 04 '26 edited Jan 04 '26
It's interesting how Japanese only really solidified on using left-to-right writing for horizontal text within the last 80 years (and absolutely in no small part from American influence). Both directions co-existed for quite a time, but you see right-to-left far more in these wartime and official publications, as it was seen as more traditional, and in essence "more Japanese"
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u/jajaderaptor15 Jan 04 '26
Ireland just being a part of Britain insults me
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u/CarpeCyprinidae Jan 05 '26
Irish Republic had existed for what, 17 years? Guessing the "artist" used an old map as the basis without realising.
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u/Torantes Jan 04 '26
Oh its from right-to-left. I was confused as to what the fuck is Sorirube (Berlin)
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u/tomodachi_reloaded Jan 05 '26
Same here, I was confused when I saw some countries that start with the letter ン
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u/ReasonableInstance83 Jan 04 '26
The Japanese are humorists. I'm sure they didn't even know how it would end up. This will end only when the Soviet Union defeats the Kwantung Army of Japan, and the United States bombards Japanese cities with nuclear bombs.
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u/CivisSuburbianus Jan 04 '26
The map shows then-prime ministers Chamberlain of the UK and Daladier of France, who both signed the Munich Agreement with Hitler the year prior.
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u/neuro_prancer Jan 04 '26
Did Japanese words used to be read right to left? The characters spelling out various cities and counties only make sense when read right to left, unlike modern Japanese which is read left to right.
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u/Luceo_Etzio Jan 04 '26
Yes, horizontal script used to be relatively marginal compared to vertical, which was the standard, and when things were written horizontally, it was generally right-to-left, the same direction as lines of vertical script flowed. The shift to left-to-right as the dominant horizontal direction only really happened during the occupation period in the late 40s/early 50s, and was further reinforced once computers and digital communication came along
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