Because the world is a sphere, it is difficult to accurately project this on a two-dimensional map. When the world is ... seven continents and five oceans. Europe is a continent.

World War I involved 32 nations from 1914 to 1919. It redrew the world map and reshaped many borders in Europe. The collapse of the Russian Empire created Poland, the Baltics, and Finland.

Other historians argue the map already existed ... a magnificent reminder of Europe’s first efforts to chart the world as they were coming to know it.