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Using Maps to Research Armed International Conflicts: Gazetteers

Learn how to find cartographic materials related to international warfare, at NYPL's Map Division.

Cannot Find a Location?

When searching for a location, you might come across a situation where a place does not seem findable. If so, there is a possibility that 

  • the location's name has changed
  • boundaries have affected the governing body of the location

If so, we recommend utilizing 

  • gazetteers
  • map from before, during, and/or after the warfare in question, to compare and contrast boundary/governing body changes

Be mindful of the names of battles, as they are often indicators of location and potential changes in boundaries/governing bodies. Using World War I as an example, see how battles can provide clues for where to start your search:

  •  Name of town is in the battle’s name
    • Battles of Mons: Belgium
  • Change in boundaries, governing bodies
    • Battle of Tannenberg: East Prussia > current Poland
    • Battle of Gallipoli: Ottoman Empire / Dardanelles Straits > Western Turkey
  • Warfare occur on both land and sea
    • Battle of Dogger Bank: North Sea

Gazetteers

Cover of the Columbia Gazetteer of the World A gazetteer is a geographical dictionary or index, usually with an alphabetical arrangement of place names, and an entry for each place name that describes the place's location. In its online form, it's a database composed of place names and their locations. Location may be described in terms of other presumably more well-known places (usually in a narrative format), and/or in terms of "x"- and "y"-coordinates describing an intersecting point or box location. [Lionel Pincus and Princess Firyal Map Division, "Finding Places Research Guide," New York Public Library.]

Gazetteers can be general or detailed for a specific topic. As such, many gazetteers concerning specific conflicts have been published.

To learn more about gazetteers, how to use them, and what resources are available at NYPL, please check out our Finding Places Research Guide for more information. 

Image Source: Finding Places Research Guide: About Page

To find printed gazetteers in NYPL's physical research collection, we recommend using the Advanced Search function of the Online Research Catalog.

Use the Subject Field and input:

  • [Area of interest] Gazetteers

In conjunction with using the Subject Field, you can:

  • utilize the Date Fields to indicate the date range of a specific conflict. 
    • Example:
      • Looking for gazetteers that include location names in Korea during the Korean War
        • (Subject Field: Korea Gazetteers) + (Date Field: 1950 - 1953) = Results
  • utilize  the Keyword Field to enter the name of the conflict.
    • Example:
      • Looking for gazetteers related to the Vietnam War
        • (Subject Field: Vietnam Gazetteers) + (Keyword Field: Vietnam War) = Results

Note that some gazetteers are written after the conflict- as such, searching without the Date fields filled is also an option to see if other resources are available. However, if you are conducting a search in this manner, we recommend clicking "date (new to old)" under Sort By to see materials that were written after the fact.