history lesson

The Irish Times has a supplement today showing the map of Europe at various points between the Roman Empire and the recent EU expansion. Two things that I didn't quite realise before seeing this:

• Ireland has spent most of the last Millennium as a united country of one sort or other, albeit for 120-odd years as part of the United Kingdom. (It's only since 1921 that it's been a partitioned country.)
• Austria seriously lost out in WW I