Russian 1891 Famine Map (Still Image)

Russian 1891 Famine Map

This black and white map was referenced in an 1892 issue of “The Graphic” periodical, which was based in London, and showed us districts, cities, and regions affected by the Russian famine of 1891. The map key is quite simple and in a binary easy with shading tells us “least” and “most affected” areas on the map. The most notable additional feature on the map aside from the famine intensity are the rivers, waterways, and seas. However, this map still does its job with the reader immediately finding the famine-affected regions of the country. The map shows provinces with cities such as Voronezh, Tambov, and Uralsk were affected by famine, but not as significantly as areas such as Nijni Novgorod, Saratov, Simbirsk, Penza, and Tula. Some of the most severely impacted regions were also along the Ural River and the Volga river and can be observed from this map.

But this map only gives us a snapshot into a particular moment in time with a focus on one thing - space and famine intensity. What if we want to layer this insight with other discernments into history? This famine occurred just before the1892 cholera epidemic, which also affected a large region across Russia. If we looked at the intensity of this epidemic across the same space, then what might we see? What if we considered the climate or agricultural emphasis of the region, then what might we observe? Combining these elements into one map could be significant because they better help us to understand the conditions that may have influenced cholera’s hold.  Our ability to layer single-focus maps may give us insights into not only a particular time period but also into the spatial interactions between those moments in time, allowing us to glimpse, even if just for a moment, the more multi-dimensional history of Russia.

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The Graphic. “The Russian Famine.” The Graphic 45, no. 1,154 (January 9, 1892): 45. https://www.proquest.com/docview/1693139329/abstract/A91F67746CA14610PQ/1.

Illustrated London News. Published in "The Graphic." Map Source Unknown.

1891-1892

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© The Illustrated London News Limited 2014. All rights reserved.

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English

Historical Map

https://www.proquest.com/docview/1693139329/abstract/A91F67746CA14610PQ/1

Russian famine intensity

map