Mapping Europe in war and peace, 1915–1919: B. C. Wallis and the 1919 Peoples of Austria-Hungary geographical handbook and atlas

Abstract

The paper examines The Peoples of Austria-Hungary geographical handbook and the accompanying Atlas of Austria-Hungary, published by Britain's Naval Intelligence Division in 1919 and, in greater detail, the antecedent mapping and statistical studies of Bertie Cotterell Wallis, a London schoolteacher, who undertook to study Hungary's nationalities and demography from 1915 as part of the 1:1 M mapping project coordinated by Arthur Hinks in the Royal Geographical Society in London. The paper is the first study of a geographical handbook for World War I and the first to recognise Wallis's involvement and significance. The paper extends geographical studies of mapping and border-making in Europe during and after the First World War. The paper addresses the implications of Wallis's work on the 1919 Handbook and Atlas: for studies of geographical authorship and map making, understanding the nature of the British geographical community at this time, and for illuminating the connections between geography, mapping and military intelligence in Britain.