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One of my biggest pet peeves: When old historic maps overlap with modern political maps.
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English possessions in 1154 vs the 1st round of the presidential election
+ Where British citizens currently reside in France
+ Where British citizens currently reside in France
Zooming in on Paris, districts that voted for Macron vs districts that voted for MĂ©lenchon in the 1st round of the presidential election vs the 1871 commune of Paris. (Diamonds are important barricades)
Poland can boast the famous "politically relevant old map": The partitions between Prussia, Russia & Austria are still visible in recent elections, with Russo-Austrian territories markedly more conservative.(2020 + 2007 elections, German empire overlaid)
https://www.reddit.com/r/europe/comments/15yhu7/overlay_of_german_empire_on_map_of_polish/
https://www.reddit.com/r/europe/comments/15yhu7/overlay_of_german_empire_on_map_of_polish/
Zeroing in on the Austrian Empire's legacy, here's Romania with the Austrian Empire overlaid on top.
(2014 election, PNL is "right-wing" and PSD "left-wing")
Thanks to: https://www.reddit.com/r/MapPorn/comments/8cv6cf/the_map_of_the_austrohungarian_empire_18671918/
(2014 election, PNL is "right-wing" and PSD "left-wing")
Thanks to: https://www.reddit.com/r/MapPorn/comments/8cv6cf/the_map_of_the_austrohungarian_empire_18671918/
More generally the Austrian empire has left its mark all around.
Thanks to: https://www.reddit.com/r/MapPorn/comments/ct1fzf/so_here_are_the_superimposed_election_result_maps/
Thanks to: https://www.reddit.com/r/MapPorn/comments/ct1fzf/so_here_are_the_superimposed_election_result_maps/
It also seems that the short-lived Polish 2nd Republic survives in some form in Ukraine and Lithuania.
(The pink in Lithuania is the Polish nationalist party in 2016, dark green in Ukraine is the conservative party in 1998)
Found here: https://www.reddit.com/r/MapPorn/comments/8cwugi/this_map_superimposes_the_border_of_the_second/
(The pink in Lithuania is the Polish nationalist party in 2016, dark green in Ukraine is the conservative party in 1998)
Found here: https://www.reddit.com/r/MapPorn/comments/8cwugi/this_map_superimposes_the_border_of_the_second/
A more recent one for Ukraine:
Time to pivot to Germany, unsurprisingly the iron curtain has had quite a few consequences. The former Soviet Republic is less religious, more far-right and... more far-left than the rest of the country
A good read on this:
https://www.atlanticcouncil.org/commentary/long-take/die-mauer-im-kopf-the-legacy-of-division-in-german-politics/
A good read on this:
https://www.atlanticcouncil.org/commentary/long-take/die-mauer-im-kopf-the-legacy-of-division-in-german-politics/
This section is plucked from @jameshawes2 and his wonderful "Shortest History of Germany." Very interesting concept when approaching German history
Bit of a bonus on Catholicism and Nazism:
Here's an interesting one on Portugal (2015 legislative election vs 1160 Portugal.
With some analysis below
With some analysis below
If we take a step back to the European scale the 6 original members of the future EU cover most of Charlemagne's Empire (dark green is for direct control, light green vassal states)
To circle back to Hawes' thesis, notice how East Germany/Prussia is in neither of these entities.
To circle back to Hawes' thesis, notice how East Germany/Prussia is in neither of these entities.
On a sidenote, interesting that Johnson has accused the EU of wanting to build a sort of post-Brexit Napoleonic continental blockade. A parallel that @aroberts_andrew explores here: https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2017/08/11/wrote-book-napoleon-bonaparte-emmanuel-macron-no-napoleon/
The continental system in 1811 (in theory):
The continental system in 1811 (in theory):
Travelling to the USA, it seems that the Mexican empire is not just alive in telenovelas (2014 map):
From the economist: https://www.economist.com/united-states/2014/02/01/old-mexico-lives-on?fsrc=scn%2Ftw_ec%2Fold_mexico_lives_on
From the economist: https://www.economist.com/united-states/2014/02/01/old-mexico-lives-on?fsrc=scn%2Ftw_ec%2Fold_mexico_lives_on
And to wrap it up here's one on Alabama that goes back millions of years. This ex-coastline area throughout history has had larger farm sizes, a larger slave population and now strong democratic credentials in a red state.
More here: https://starkeycomics.com/2021/06/11/how-a-coastline-100-million-years-ago-influences-modern-election-results-in-alabama/
More here: https://starkeycomics.com/2021/06/11/how-a-coastline-100-million-years-ago-influences-modern-election-results-in-alabama/
And of course let's take this with a grain of salt, 12th century maps do not explain all of modern day politics of course. And of course feel free to add more
Thanks to @covfefehaus for finding some of these!
Thanks to @covfefehaus for finding some of these!
If you liked the thread, you might want to give a listen to @UnDecencyPod, a podcast I run on European affairs where we talk about current affairs but also a fair chunk about history: https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/uncommon-decency/id1534151181
Here's a very good one on the revolutions of 1848 with the great Christopher Clark and Jonathan Sperber https://twitter.com/UnDecencyPod/status/1511750182827868166
