mesmerizing. Watch how 1000 years of European borders change. Time Lapse Map

[mopinko]

[magicguido]

1. Yet the actual view from Space remains unchanged.

[PatSeg]

13. Yes, very true

That certainly gives some perspective, doesn't it?

[Moostache]

22. The Pale Blue Dot - Carl Sagan

Sagan's conclusions are so prescient, he saw - 30+ years ago - the path humanity was embarking on in earnest. He tried to warn us. We did not listen.

Humanity is poorer for it.

[PatSeg]

30. He certainly is quoted an awful lot these days

So that "they could become momentary masters of a fraction of a dot". It is even more alarming considering how short a person's lifespan is and you wonder, "What the hell was that for?" It is truly madness.

[erronis]

17. I'm guessing we'll see major water boundaries change as the climate warms up.

I'm guessing also that the Caspian Sea, among others, has changed size given intense development/agriculture. Not reflected in this mesmerizing presentation.

[zuul]

2. Cool!

[llashram]

3. thank you

quite captivating, actually

[Nictuku]

4. The worst thing

The worst thing about this is that while watching all the country boundaries change, is the realization that with each change, there most likely was bloodshed and death.

[VWolf]

6. Indeed - depressing n/t

[mopinko]

8. watching poland come and go was kinda shocking.

[irisblue]

10. Mostly flat fertile acreage with sea port access between 2 assertive neighbors

Is a suck place.

[VWolf]

5. Interesting to see how fractured both Italy and Germany were at one time n/t

[mopinko]

7. having just binged 'the borgias' and 'the medici'

i was watching italy.

[lagomorph777]

41. Germany looks like zillions of city-states (or village-states) for hundreds of years.

Just imagine all those mini-warlords battling the whole time.

[TeamProg]

9. K&R Thanks for posting. n/t

[KS Toronado]

11. Noticed Portugal never changed

Although it did disappear briefly late 1500's. More blood shed

[PatSeg]

15. And in contrast, look how long it took

before there was anything you could identify as Germany.

The presence of Spain was fairly consistent over the years.

[wnylib]

19. The language and culture were there,

but with no political unity until Prussia united all the Germanic political divisions in 1871 to create the German Empire.

[PatSeg]

29. For so long,

there appeared to be a lot of tiny little "kingdoms" east of France. Fascinating.

[wnylib]

32. They had a loose connection to each other,

which they called the Holy Roman Empire.

Germanic tribes who had attacked Rome later became Roman mercenaries and eventually were "Romanized" in regard to becoming settled, civilized groups that adopted Christianity.

So, when Rome collapsed, they considered themselves the inheritors of ancient Rome, thus the Holy Roman Empire, which was inititially Germanic. But, through internarriages with royal houses in other nations, eventually the Holy Roman Emperors were no longer Germanic, but Spanish and French.

When the Holy Roman Empire fizzled, the Germanic states tried a German Federation for a while, which also fizzled. Later, the people of the individual Germanic political entities tried a revolution in 1848 to create a united, parliamentarian form of government, but the revolution failed.

Finally, it was King Wilhelm of Prussia (the largest, most powerful Germanic state, besides Austria) who united the various Germanic states under Prussian rule and became Kaiser Wilhelm I of the German Empire. Kaiser is German for Caesar, and also German for emperor.

Italy also remained as several small political entities for centuries after the fall of Rome until being united as one nation, but I know less about their history.

[PatSeg]

34. I knew there was a time when there were

many smaller states in Europe, but seeing it on a map is rather startling. Reminds me a bit of Native American nations long before Europeans settled here, though they were more spread out as a rule.

Interesting history, thanks!

[wnylib]

35. Native American tribes in North America

were more united and settled than most people think. They did not keep herd animals, so they hunted and trapped for meat, but the majority raised crops, fished locally, and lived in villages that were part of a larger cultural-linguistic community, governed in loose federations.

The Native people of North America did not have surveyed, fenced or walled in nation state boundaries as Europeans did, but they had recognized (among themselves) natural territorial boundaries, extensive trade relations, established customs of diplomacy between territorial groups, and alliances and federations.

Our image of separate, unrelated, ungoverned nomadic tribes wandering North America comes from Westerns and stereotypes of Plains people.

(Germans and Native Americans are two of my heritages that I have learned more about through anthropology courses and genealogy research.)

[PatSeg]

36. I recently read The Dawn of Everything

and was surprised to find out how diverse a lot of Native American nations were. Some were basically peaceful and settled, whereas others could be warlike and even kept slaves that they kidnapped from neighboring nations. There were relatively large cities where people came to trade goods and engage in sporting or religious or harvest events. Some governments were enlightened and democratic, whereas others were ruled by brutal dictators. The diversity of these people was far beyond anything I had imagined, thanks I suppose to the stereotypes you mentioned.

It was a lot to absorb and I may have to reread the book one day.

[wnylib]

37. It has always amazed me that

people realize the diversity of nations, languages, cultures, and religions in Europe, yet think that all Native American cultures from northern Canada to Tierra del Fuego, covering two whole continents and several climate zones, would all be the same.

Yes, you are right that there are many different Native American cultures and were many more before Europeans arrived.

Regarding democratic governmental systems among Native Americans, the founders of the US were very familiar with the Iroquois League, or Haudenosaunee republic from meetings and negotiations with them. There were Haudenosaunee delegates at the Constitutional Convention for consultation on some issues, like separation of powers and representation from each state. So, some of our Constitution's concepts came from the Republic of the Haudenosaunee League, tweaked to fit European culture and customs.

The Haudenosaunee League symbol was an eagle, clutching 5 arrows in its claws for each of the 5 tribal nations who founded the League. Sound familiar?

[PatSeg]

38. Oh yes

The Native American influence on our founders was also covered in the book. Didn't learn THAT in American History class.

[wnylib]

39. Neither did I, but it was covered

in one of my anthropology classes. Also, at the Seneca territory that is nearest to me, there are references to it at the cultural center and sometimes in little printed cards attached to sale items.

But, in college, I had history professors who denied it. So I suggested that they take it up with the anthro professor.

[PatSeg]

40. Seriously?

Well that's disturbing.

In The Dawn of Everything, Kondiaronk, Chief of the Hurons, was mentioned frequently. He was a brilliant orator whose debate skills were admired by both American and European scholars. He is definitely a part of recorded history, so you'd think history professors would be aware of him and his influence at the time.

[wnylib]

42. Chief Kondiaronk lived and died

before the American Revolution. The Great Peace that he advocated was between the Huron (Wendat) and the French in New France.

The people I was referring to, who had delegates at the
US Constitutional Convention were the Iroquois (Haudenosaunee) League from what is now NY state. The Huron nation were not part of that League, except maybe some individuals who were taken captive by the League in their wars against the Huron.

The Iroquois League nations are the Seneca, Cuyuga, Oneida, Onondaga, and Mohawk. They had a Great Law of Peace, which is the founding story of the League. Perhaps you are mixing that with what the Huron and French called the Great Peace in New France between Native tribes in New France and the French.

The Huron language belongs to the Iroquoian linguistic family and their culture is similar, but they were not members of the Iroquois League who had delegates at the US Constitutional Convention.

The 2 history professors that I mentioned refused to believe that the League delegates were consulted on the development of the Constitution, despite the fact that there is a historical record of the US state delegates specifically saying at one point that they needed to ask the Iroquois about something. The anthropology professor was well respected among the faculty and well regarded in his field, so when I mentioned his name, they backed down in their denial.

[PatSeg]

43. That is really disturbing

What is the point of history if you are just going to pick and choose what appeals to you? Perhaps those professors chose the wrong profession.

[wnylib]

44. My experience with American history professors

(and one philosophy professor) is that they are very contemptuous of Native cultures in general and especially of any mention of Native achievements or contributions to American culture and government.

[PatSeg]

45. That is really disturbing

Many academics have done the same thing with the history and achievements of African Americans. They either exclude it or discount it as insignificant.

[wnylib]

46. Yep. They represent the white European culture

in America. Like Caesar, their attitude is "Veni, vidi,vici." (I came, I saw, I conquered.) Nothing else matters to them.

[PatSeg]

47. Sadly, that sums it up

[intrepidity]

12. Russia looks like a cancer

that briefly entered remission. Now is the time to permanently stop it's growth.

[Alexander Of Assyria]

14. Poland Russian border lasted hundreds of years, disappeared, and is back again. Wow.

Any classroom in America would be a hundred percent enlightened above current education on European history.

Ofc it would probably be banned in the pro book burning regions.

[erronis]

18. Poland disappeared at least 3-4 times in this video. As said above, flat/fertile ground.

Ripe for invasion.

The Swiss have their mountain ranges.

[Hekate]

16. War & conquest. The EU is the best thing that's happened in Europe in 1,000 years...

Once I grasped what they were doing and saw them actually bring it off I immediately reflected on Europe’s blood-soaked history and saw the EU as the best hope in at least 1,000 years. It’s why I saw Brexit as so pernicious.

All these efforts to break up EU? Putin’s hand is in it.

[wnylib]

21. Do you remember something from

the Bush Jr years called PNAC, The Project for a New American Century? It was all over the Internet at the time. It was a plan for the future of the US and the world, created by a right wing think tank.

One of its goals was the break up of the EU in order to maintain the US as the world's primary political and economic power. The Soviet Union had collapsed and there was an assumption that Russia was done as a world power.

[Hekate]

26. I do remember PNAC, as I learned about it at DU from 2002 onward...

I have to admit, though, that I didn’t actually read the whole document, just summaries and comments, and the list of signatories. What I did read of it I thought was looney.

Thus PNAC wasn’t on my mind as agitation for breakup of the EU became evident, just the more current news reports of who was backing LePen and associated protestors, Brexit, and even Calexit. (The head of the group to break California away from the United States was an American, whose office was in — wait for it — Siberia.)

Well, well, well. The PNAC signatories are still walking free among us, just two decades older and having done a lot of damage to us.

Thanks.

[wnylib]

28. I printed out a hard copy and

read the whole damned thing.

I think I still have it around somewhere, buried in a box of old articles that I printed out back then and since.

Another gem that was in that PNAC paper was the idea of creating a bioweapon that could target specific genetic groups. That was before the human genome was fully mapped. What we have learned about genetics since then seems to make that goal much less likely to be possible. Too much genetic intermixing to be effective without knocking off some of the RW originators of the idea.

[BMW2020RT]

20. I love it.

[peppertree]

23. Amazing work - though the clock needs to be slowed down for World War II changes

Nazi gains and retreats extend into '1958' simply because they forgot to slow the clock down to account for the rapid changes during the war.

That said, thank you for finding and posting this. Very nice teaching tool (with the pertinent corrections).

[mopinko]

24. i would have liked the whole thing a bit slower, but you are right.

sorta wanna see this on my big teevee instead of this pad.

[peppertree]

33. Yeah. It's amazing how far tv sets have come over the years

I'm probably not as old as many on DU - but I certainly remember the old 19" Zenith black-&-whites.

I remember when my father brought home our first color tv set - a Sony - in 1980, I believe. Seeing all those ads and actors in color for the first time was certainly quite the experience for a 4 year-old.

These days, of course, it's almost like being in a cinema every time you turn them on - to say nothing of those big, new 4k sets (my brother-in-law has one - and it's definitely cinematic).

Here's to the good old days:

[TomWilm]

25. Would have been better with the Soviet countries also showing their border changes ...

It was not only Crimea, that has been tossed around the past hundred years. Most of Poland, the capitol of Belarus, and also a lot at the opposite end of Russia, plus plus. If they wanted to show it in big blobs, all of EU should have been done in just one color as well.

[Delmette2.0]

27. I was watching Ukraine and Romania

One set of my great grandparents came from Romania. Their last child was my grandmother, who was born in Kansas. She married into a Scottish family. That's what it is to be an American.

Thank you mopinko.

[mopinko]

31. i had my eye on ireland

it didnt do too much, but...

the last ones to come here in my family were famine refugees, but another leg of the family has been here since damn near the founding. my gggramps was a very early chicagoan.
i'm not sure what it says about my ancestors that i am, nonetheless, nothing but irish. i think most of them brought brides over from home.

i wonder how many times i'm going to watch this.

[ismnotwasm]

48. Wow.

I need to watch this a few times