Cool Video: Europe's Shifting Borders over the past 1000 Years

This Cool Video was posted on Owen Zidar's blog and appears to have been originally posted by Nick Mironenko.  In about 3.5 minutes it shows the changes in the European borders over the past millennium.  

As one country or another tried to increase its sphere of influence, wars were often fought. The increase in one country's sphere of influence came at the expense of another's in Europe. Is there another way?   

The post-WWII settlement is predicated precisely such an alternative. To ensure peace, the border settlements of WWII (Oder-Neisse agreement) were regarded as permanent. There were notable exceptions, of course, but we shouldn't let them obscure the larger agreement. Rather than fixed spheres of influence, the settlement was based on variable shares of the world economy.

The variability of a country's share was determined by its economic prowess. One can punch above their weight, as it were.  It shifts the focal point of competition to the means of production from the means of destruction.  So, as you watch the video below, remember that nearly every border change is associated with a war.