# Germany: Political Divisions (1944), a Foreign Economic Administration map

Germany: Political Divisions is map No. 1742-M of October 28, 1944, drawn in the Cartographic Section of the Foreign Economic Administration. It shows German state boundaries as of July 1944, international boundaries as of January 1938, and a key to 25 economic regions (NAID 514352).

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      Germany: Political Divisions

      Germany: Political Divisions (1944), a Foreign Economic Administration map
      Germany: Political Divisions, FEA map 1742-M (October 1944): German states as of July 1944, borders as of January 1938, and 25 numbered economic regions.

## Techniques named on the archive record

Card stacking
      Date1944Made byForeign Economic Administration, Economic Institution Staff, Cartographic SectionMediumPosterCountryUnited StatesRegimeRoosevelt AdministrationNARANAID 514352; Record Group 44SourceIdentified Openly sourced: the speaker is who they say they areSourceU.S. National Archives and Records Administration, Record Group 44, World War II Posters , retrieved October 4, 2026SourcePublic domain (U.S. government work) Foreign Economic Administration. National Archives and Records Administration, RG 44, 44-PA-858 (NAID 514352).
      Object, image, and catalog record from the FRAME archive. Text on this page is CC BY 4.0. Image rights are as the archive records.

      Full record at propagandaarchive.org

  Germany: Political Divisions is map No. 1742-M of October 28, 1944, drawn in the Cartographic Section of the Foreign Economic Administration. It shows German state boundaries as of July 1944, international boundaries as of January 1938, and a key to 25 economic regions (NAID 514352).

## A working map, marked unrestricted

This is a black-and-white reference map of Germany, and it reads like one. Lines mark the states and provinces, a numbered key divides the country into economic regions, and the sheet carries the office's name, a map number and a date. The sheet calls itself a provisional edition and marks itself "UNRESTRICTED".

GERMANY

POLITICAL DIVISIONS

FOREIGN ECONOMIC ADMINISTRATION

ECONOMIC INSTITUTION STAFF

PROVISIONAL EDITION

UNRESTRICTED

ECONOMIC REGIONS OF THE ALTREICH

[...]

INTERNATIONAL BOUNDARIES AS OF JANUARY 1938: GERMANY / OTHER COUNTRIES

STATE (OR LAND) BOUNDARIES AS OF JULY 1944

[...]

NO. 1742-M OCTOBER 28, 1944

DRAWN IN THE CARTOGRAPHIC SECTION, F.E.A.

Transcription in the FRAME record; the region key and map labels are cut here. Full record at propagandaarchive.org. NAID 514352, local id 44-PA-858, Record Group 44.

## The Foreign Economic Administration's cartographers

The map names the Foreign Economic Administration, its Economic Institution Staff, and the Cartographic Section that drew it. A stamp adds the section's Map Information Unit. The key numbers 25 economic regions, grouped as Prussian regions, regions spanning Prussia and other states, Bavarian regions, a region shared by Bavaria and the Saarland, and regions that match a single state. The National Archives keeps it with the World War II posters in Record Group 44. FRAME files the purpose as "Warn or inform" and the audience as "Domestic public".

## Is a reference map propaganda?

Barely, and the archive says so. FRAME tags card stacking but calls the technique faint, pointing to two choices as framing: international borders drawn as of January 1938, and German-language place names. Among the country labels the transcription lists are ÖSTERREICH and ČESKOSLOVENSKO.

The useful point for a reader is how plain the sheet is. It has no enemy face, no slogan and no request. It is a government office laying out the territory it was studying, dated, numbered and labeled provisional.

A very different map on this site is Alcoa's 1943 Global Map for Global War and Global Peace, a corporate wall chart whose copy credits Alcoa Aluminum for the strength of U.S. bombers. The posters aimed at Hitler's government are on the anti-Nazi propaganda hub, and the Roosevelt administration essay describes the wartime offices.

## Sources

- FRAME object record, Germany: Political Divisions, 1944. Foreign Economic Administration, Economic Institution Staff, Cartographic Section. Rights as recorded: public domain (U.S. government work).

- U.S. National Archives and Records Administration, Record Group 44, World War II Posters, 44-PA-858, NAID 514352, retrieved by the archive 4 October 2026.

Canonical: https://americanpropaganda.org/collection/germany-political-divisions-fea-map-1944/