The development of Czechoslovak cartography in 1918–1968 and its main current problems

This article reviews the development of Czechoslovak cartography between 1918 and 1968 and discusses its main contemporary problems. It begins by noting that after the establishment of the independent Czechoslovak Republic in 1918, as a successor state of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, it inherited part of the map heritage, including cadastral maps of the land tax at scales predominantly 1:2880, and military topographic maps from the Third Military Survey (1872-1883) at scales 1:25000, 1:75000, 1:200000, 1:300000, and 1:750000. These inherited maps were outdated and did not meet the technical, military, or administrative needs of the new state. Early efforts therefore focused on the linguistic adaptation (Czechization and Slovakization) of these maps and their gradual updating. From 1922, various solutions were sought, culminating in the Cadastral Law No. 177 of 1927, which adopted a new projection and coordinate system based on the Bessel ellipsoid, designed by Ing. J. Křovák. This system was used from 1930 and was unified for military mapping in 1934. The interwar period saw a flourishing of cartographic activity, with numerous school wall maps, general geographic maps, and atlases produced by authors like Machát, Horák, and Brunclík. A pinnacle was the Atlas of the Czechoslovak Republic (1931-1935), which placed Czechoslovakia among the world's leading cartographic nations. The article's latter part focuses on developments after 1948, highlighting the extensive production of tourist, sports, educational, and cultural maps, as well as plastic relief maps and exported atlas editions. The crowning achievements were three major national atlases: the Atlas of Czechoslovak History, the Czechoslovak Military Atlas, and the Atlas of the Czechoslovak Socialist Republic, all recognized with state honors. The article concludes by outlining the institutional framework of Czechoslovak cartography at the time and identifies unresolved theoretical and practical problems, such as cartographic information theory, methods of cartographic representation, expansion of thematic mapping, and the rationalization and automation of cartographic production. To address these, a professional group for cartography was established in 1965 under the Czechoslovak Scientific and Technical Society, organizing seminars and conferences. The authors express confidence in the rising professional level of cartographers and their ability to achieve set goals, contributing to the building of socialism.