Europe History Time Lapse Map Goes Viral (VIDEO)

Always wanted to learn more about European history but could never find the time? Look no further than the time-lapse map in the video above, which has boiled down the continent's history into just three-and-a-half minutes.

The map traces changes in Europe's borders from 1000 AD until 2003, and was created using software from the Centennia Historical Atlas.

Watch the Byzantine Empire fall apart, follow the victories of the Mongols, and watch national borders shift, all accompanied by a fittingly dramatic soundtrack by Hans Zimmer from the Inception score.

Comments

[sk7788]

12:09 AM on 10/08/2012

Most impressive! Would be particularly useful if you could click and pause on a date as changes occur.

I wonder how many lives were lost and families destroyed to make all these boundary alterations?

[sk7788]

12:05 AM on 10/08/2012

Most impressive! But it would be really helpful to be able to click and pause on a date each time a changed in the map occurred.

I wonder how many lives were lost and families destroyed through the centuries in order to make all these changes. And each time, for whose benefit?

[Anne Towsley]

03:44 PM on 10/07/2012

Two observations: Nothing is forever! ...Wonder how many invasions led by women

[John Sekon]

06:13 PM on 10/05/2012

hii

its amazing when i think of history i mostly think of my own wee corner of the world but when you see it from a European context it all makes sense, empires come and go maybe you could include an option to show the date

[Alastair Dodwell]

05:37 PM on 07/15/2012

Very neat graphic. Lots or research in this but as mentioned a date would be neat to see the changes over known time.

[mixonn]

04:57 PM on 07/11/2012

what song plays in the background? thank you in advice

[Nick Zou]

09:25 AM on 07/11/2012

Ahh modern Germany. The product of Prussian militarism.

[luizguima]

04:17 PM on 06/14/2012

Well, impressive...but a year count is NECESSARY and the possibility to pause at a certain period o history would be nice also!!!

[starbrightlbi]

05:04 PM on 06/13/2012

Oh yeah, Ottoman Empire!!!!!

[peterlisbon]

12:48 PM on 05/31/2012

If only Sarah Palin had this in 2008, perhaps that might have helped her though she would first have to realize that Europe is not a country, but a continent

[mudshark12]

12:49 AM on 05/28/2012

Awesome Map! With a excellent soundtrack also. Several users, myself included would like a year counter in the corner so as to pinpoint the years versus border shifts. Would have never imagined so many had occurred and not without bloodshed either. Very sobering.

Would also be nice if it had a full screen mode so you could see the individual countries a little better.

[bokhattak]

02:34 PM on 05/24/2012

A year counter and maybe the opportunity to be interactive - pause and click or mouseover to see historical highlights would all have been cool.

That being said, impressive work!

[CWhite1]

09:58 PM on 05/23/2012

Most of that was 1000s of years before they took over what they called America.

[Relentless rik]

09:34 PM on 05/23/2012

Next year, CHA will have a video showing which countries went bankrupt and when. Sadly, I won't be able to watch, having traded my computer for a can of tuna.

[Riley74]

08:38 PM on 05/23/2012

And for every time those borders shifted scores of people died. Gotta love that nationalism.

[CWhite1]

09:56 PM on 05/23/2012

Not much difference to the USA when it took the Indian's land, then took land from the Spanish etc. At least it wasn't able to invade Canada though lol.

[Jayare2020]

12:40 AM on 05/26/2012

If there was equally detailed record keeping among the tribes of North and South American, a similar map could be drawn. The native tribes of the Western Hemisphere constantly fought each other. Often times causing mass migrations which caused invasions of neighboring tribal lands. However, this fact is probably of little interest to those who wish only to have a simpler version of world history which makes the Europeans the universal bad guys.