This time, we’ve moved forward to 1815 in the Rand McNally World Atlas Premier Collection, still published in 1946.
The copy accompanying the map, goes like this:
The Congress of Vienna in 1815 re-fashioned the map of Europe after the downfall of Napoleon. England and France in the west; Austria and Russia in the east; survived as the strongest military powers. Germany and Italy were mere geographical expressions, completely lacking in national unity. The spirit of nationalism among the peoples of Europe, however, was not to be suppressed forever.
Written of course with hindsight, but I hope it helps your reading of historical fiction of the period. As it does me.
‘The Kingdom of the Two Sicilies’? That’s a new one on me. See how Russia includes what is now Poland? And that Prussia, is all the way along the top of what is also now Poland. And Denmark is still all the way down to the Elbe. Fascinating!
Again, if you click on the map, you’ll go to a full-sized version on the Speesh Reads Maps Pinterest site.
speeshreads.com 