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This video of Europe's borders changing over 1,000 years will make you feel better about Brexit

Picture: LiveLeak/YouTube
Picture: LiveLeak/YouTube

Having a little bit of perspective may be the solution to weathering the Brexit storm.

As Britain leaves the European Union Theresa May – with the help of an unlikely foreign secretary in Boris Johnson – will have a mammoth job of carving out a new space for Britain within an increasingly interconnected world.

Borders are always shifting and changing: in 2011 Sudan's southern region split away, creating South Sudan, China has been in an on-going dispute with The Philippines, Vietnam and Japan over territory in the South China Sea and Russia continues to annex Crimea.

The future of the Schengen zone – an area encompassing most EU member states, that provides free movement – is currently being debated and the results could once more change the entire landscape of Europe.

But these are nothing more than minutia in the face of history. LiveLeak are showing map of Europe created by Clockwork Mapping's Frank Reed from 1000 AD to today, which demonstrates just how much the continent has changed.

Early 12th century

Spain is governed by Muslim Moors, and central Europe is straddled by the Holy Roman Empire to the north-west and the Byzantine Empire to the south.

The 1300s give way to the rise of the Mongols

The Mongol Empire expands westwards, as the Ottoman Empire comes into creation.

In the early 1600s, as one empire recedes, another takes its place

The Russian Empire sweeps across much of central Europe.

The 19th century paves the way to a fully-fledged USSR

The Russian Empire envelopes central Europe and creeps westwards, planting the seeds for the Cold War

And the creation of Germany

1871 is the official unification of Germany.

After World War II ends, Germany is fractured in two and the wall dividing East and West won't fall until 1989, when the map finally starts to resemble the present day.

You can watch 1,000 years of Europe in the three-minute video below:

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