The history of Europe for over the last 2,000 years pertains to a multifarious geopolitical scope with the balance of powers being shifted throughout time-frames small and big. For example, while the Roman Empire held its massive sway over most parts the continent in the first centuries of the common era, the Huns joined the fray of dominating the European lands only for a few decades. Similarly cultural combinations led the groundwork for the establishment of future kingdoms and nations, like the Frankish Empire which connected and ‘preserved’ remnants of the Western European realms by the 9th century, ultimately giving birth to states like France, Germany, Italy and (medieval) Burgundy. The following timelapse animation, concocted by YouTuber S&F Production, aptly presents such a string of fascinating events mirrored by the ever-changing geographical extent of the various European political entities from 1 AD to 2016 AD every year.

Now it should be noted that the video presents a ‘simplistic’ overview of many of the European (and Asian) realms. One of the examples would obviously pertain to the beginning of the animation where only the Roman Empire (with its changing aspects) is more-or-less solely showcased till 396 AD, thus leaving out the complex Germanic and other political entities. So we would recommend to view the video from the 1:31 minute mark (along with the full-screen mode at the lower-right corner for zoomed-out viewing).

 
Other examples of ‘deduction’ could also be brought up, like the medieval Holy Roman Empire that was probably not as ‘united’ in its geographical domains as the video suggests. Nevertheless the nifty timelapse factor provides us with the incredible ambit of how the macro geopolitical scenarios played out over the centuries. Simply put, we raise our hats to the creators who have managed to painstakingly include ‘most’ of the realms of Europe and their territorial changes and evolution for every year from 1 AD to 2016 AD. And in case, you would like to take a gander at the changing fortunes of Rome (every year from 509 BC to 1453 AD), you can have a look at this article.

Video Source: S&F Production (YouTube)