To better understand eastern Europe, one has to understand how the whole continent of Europe developed over the centuries. As the world watches events in Crimea and Ukraine develop today, it’s important that we understand the nature of conflict and society, and of borders.
Charles Martel in the Battle of Tours – Courtesy Wikipedia
The time-lapse map below offers a geographic context for the understanding of how people’s of Europe have vied for supremecy, and also how they’ve ended up integrated into the larger picture of European civilization. Take special note of Germany and Poland, and of course of Russia, in this presentation.
Watch as 1000 years of European borders change (timelapse map) from Nick Mironenko on Vimeo.
Having watched empires rise and fall, and countries appear and disappear from our globe, it seems we should temper our opinions of Russia and the western states, and try and understand how critical today’s events are for those living in these conflicted areas.