The History of Europe: 5,000 Years Animated in a Timelapse Map

If you’re an Open Cul­ture old timer, you know the work of EmperorTigerstar–a Youtu­ber who spe­cial­izes (to quote myself) “in doc­u­ment­ing the unfold­ing of world his­tor­i­cal events by stitch­ing togeth­er hun­dreds of maps into time­lapse films”. We’ve pre­vi­ous­ly fea­tured his “map ani­ma­tions” of the U.S. Civ­il War (1861–1865), World War I (1914–1918), and World War II (1939–1945) and also the His­to­ry of Rome. This week, the map ani­ma­tor released The His­to­ry of Europe: Every Year. In ten min­utes, he takes us from The Minoan civ­i­liza­tion that arose on the Greek island of Crete (3650 to 1400 BC), down to our mod­ern times. About 5,000 years of his­to­ry gets cov­ered before you can boil a pot of pas­ta. Enjoy.

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Relat­ed Con­tent:

The Rise & Fall of the Romans: Every Year Shown in a Time­lapse Map Ani­ma­tion (753 BC ‑1479 AD)

Ani­mat­ed Map Lets You Watch the Unfold­ing of Every Day of the U.S. Civ­il War (1861–1865)

Watch World War I Unfold in a 6 Minute Time-Lapse Film: Every Day From 1914 to 1918

Watch World War II Rage Across Europe in a 7 Minute Time-Lapse Film: Every Day From 1939 to 1945