Share this page!

Enter URL or ID to Unroll

You can paste full URL like: https://x.com/threadreaderapp/status/1644127596119195649
or just the ID like: 1644127596119195649

How to get URL link on X (Twitter) App

  1. On the Twitter thread, click on or icon on the bottom
  2. Click again on or Share Via icon
  3. Click on Copy Link to Tweet
  4. Paste it above and click "Unroll Thread"!
  5. More info at Twitter Help
François Valentin Profile picture
@Valen10Francois
May 10, 2022 • 30 tweets • 12 min read • Read on X
Scrolly
One of my biggest pet peeves: When old historic maps overlap with modern political maps.

A 🧵 Image
English possessions in 1154 vs the 1st round of the presidential election

+ Where British citizens currently reside in France

Image
Image
Image
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)
Image
Image
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)

reddit.com/r/europe/comme…

Image
Image
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: reddit.com/r/MapPorn/comm…
Image
More generally the Austrian empire has left its mark all around.
Thanks to: reddit.com/r/MapPorn/comm…
Image
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: reddit.com/r/MapPorn/comm…
Image
A more recent one for Ukraine: Image
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:

atlanticcouncil.org/commentary/lon…

Image
Image
This section is plucked from @jameshawes2 and his wonderful "Shortest History of Germany." Very interesting concept when approaching German history
Image
Image
Bit of a bonus on Catholicism and Nazism: Image
Here's an interesting one on Portugal (2015 legislative election vs 1160 Portugal.

With some analysis below 👇




Image
Image
Image
Image
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.
Image
Image
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:

The continental system in 1811 (in theory): telegraph.co.uk/news/2017/08/1…
Image
Travelling to the USA, it seems that the Mexican empire is not just alive in telenovelas (2014 map):

From the economist: economist.com/united-states/…
Image
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: starkeycomics.com/2021/06/11/how…
Image
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!
@IFckingLoveMaps might be interested in these!
@Arthur_Revolver @elonmusk send us the edit button please!
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: podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/unc…
@RCCoulombe i think you might enjoy this!
and @simongerman600 of course!
Another one on Turkish politics and its Greek legacy.

Coalfields and Labour vote were once thick as thieves!

If you go back to the not so distant past you could clearly identify Britain's coalfields some 40 years after most coal mines had closed.

The partition of Poland between Prussia, Russia and Austria remains visible in polish politics but also polish toilets!

* the tweet below should obviously read without INDOOR toilets rather than outdoor toilets

The popularity of anglo-saxon names in the early 1990's in France tracks with Marine Le Pen's strongholds 3 decades lates.

A longer thread on the impact of soils on electoral geography: aka how granite is "based" and limestone "woke"

Short thread on fascism, socialism and WW1 casualties in Italy

Longer thread on Germany's East-West divide from the Roman Empire to the Cold War:
A thread on the most extraordinary logistical and diplomatic operation in military history.

By far the most work I've put into a thread on twitter.

• • •

Missing some Tweet in this thread? You can try to force a refresh
　

Keep Current with François Valentin

François Valentin Profile picture

Stay in touch and get notified when new unrolls are available from this author!

Read all threads

This Thread may be Removed Anytime!

PDF

Twitter may remove this content at anytime! Save it as PDF for later use!

Try unrolling a thread yourself!

how to unroll video
  1. Follow @ThreadReaderApp to mention us!

  2. From a Twitter thread mention us with a keyword "unroll"
@threadreaderapp unroll

Practice here first or read more on our help page!

More from @Valen10Francois

François Valentin Profile picture
Apr 3
The tiny island of St Pierre et Miquelon got a 99% tariff because somebody bought 3.4 million worth of goods in July 2024 (most likely crustaceans)

The 5,8 k inhabitants "only" bought 100k worth of US goods in 2024

But... Image
Trade was balanced for years (here's 2023), that one contract (which I have been trying to find) has landed them the highest tariff rate

Thankfully given that St Pierre barely imports anything from the US it won't have an impact but it's an insight on how unserious this method isImage
Fun fact, trade with the US was once thriving... during prohibition, when St Pierre was big warehouse for alcohol headed to the US.

It even featured in Peak Blinders Image
Read 5 tweets
François Valentin Profile picture
Mar 24
No wonder the US has soured on international organisations...

How often do countries vote with the United States at the United Nations (2000-2020)?

The answer is not much

A small thread on the US and the UN Image
Who's backing the US most consistently?

Israel, the anglosphere and small island nations Image
But the vast majority of countries side with the US less than half of the time.

The staunchest opponents? North Korea, Syria, Cuba, Iran, Zimbabwe, Somalia, Venezuela etc... Image
Read 10 tweets
François Valentin Profile picture
Mar 17
After 6 months in China, it is time to take stock of the strangest pizzas I have seen and eaten this year.

My fellow Italian friends, if you think pineapple on pizza is too much for you to handle, I suggest you look away Image
First up this special edition "goblin pizza" by Pizza Hut.

Yes that's a frog.

No, even the Frenchman in me didn't dare touch it Image
And you thought that Pineapple pizza was bad...

The Chinese absolutely love Durian, the sweet but unbelievably smell fruit form SE Asia. So why not slap it on top of a Pizza?

An absolute classic in fast foods Image
Read 8 tweets
François Valentin Profile picture
Mar 12
Net fiscal contribution of 1st generation immigrants in the Netherlands by country of origin

Red and orange is negative Image
Work from @demo_demo_nl, very interesting and exhaustive stuff
@demo_demo_nl Source here!

docs.iza.org/dp17569
Read 4 tweets
François Valentin Profile picture
Mar 4
Three years ago Marine Le Pen boasted about her ties with Putin

Now she is condemning Trump's decision to cut military aid to Ukraine.

This will do rounds internationally but here's why I don't think it is that surprising.

A few words on why Le Pen dropped Putinism Image
The photo taken above was supposed to feature in her 2022 campaign leaflet, it was recalled last minute when the war broke out.

Putin's war had made him toxic and she knew it Image
But this wasn't an isolated incident

In 2011 she shared her "admiration of Putin" in Russian media

In 2014 her party took a 9.4 million loan from a Czech-Russian bank (because French banks wouldn't grant her a loan)

She opposed sanctions on Russia as early as 2014
Read 12 tweets
François Valentin Profile picture
Jan 16
Harbin from 1898 to 1949 is one of the most interesting places in history!

The City of Ice was for 50 years a cosmopolitan battleground between White & Red 🇷🇺, 🇯🇵 Imperialists and 🇨🇳 Communists

A🧵on Asia's frozen Wild Wild East and powder keg Image
Harbin is set in Manchuria, Northern China, a region historically the periphery of China to the North of the Great Wall.

Not a complete backwater however, as the Manchus eventually became Emperors of China as the Qing dynasty! Image
By the end of the 19th century, the Qinq were losing control of their territory to Chinese warlords and foreign powers, everyone was carving up China!

Russia wanted its share and was eyeing Manchuria. Image
Read 37 tweets

Did Thread Reader help you today?

Support us! We are indie developers!

This site is made by just two indie developers on a laptop doing marketing, support and development! Read more about the story.

Become a Premium Member ($3/month or $30/year) and get exclusive features!

Become Premium

Don't want to be a Premium member but still want to support us?

Make a small donation by buying us coffee ($5) or help with server cost ($10)

Donate via Paypal

Or Donate anonymously using crypto!

Ethereum

0xfe58350B80634f60Fa6Dc149a72b4DFbc17D341E copy

Bitcoin

3ATGMxNzCUFzxpMCHL5sWSt4DVtS8UqXpi copy

Thank you for your support!

Follow Us!

Send Email!

:(