Soviet Cold War Cartography

[Brian Howell]

Before the fall of the Berlin Wall, the USSR produced incredibly detailed maps of much of the world, including individual cities. Some of the maps were at what military cartographers call "tactical scale," 1:50,000. In other words, of sufficient resolution to be useful in ground assaults. This is much higher resolution than U.S. military maps. What was their goal?

Some European cities were even mapped at 1:10,000. (The Soviets may have mapped the entire Union at that scale, which would have required 400,000 sheets.)

Take a look: they're beautiful—and perhaps just a bit scary in retrospect.

http://www.wired.com/2015/07/secret-cold-war-maps/