Forum maps redesign Europe and the dispute over Lithuania

Maps Redesigning Europe: From Greater Greece to the Dispute Over Lithuania

Reunifying Scandinavia, reviving Greater Dacia, restoring Greece’s extent to Anatolia and Armenia, and dividing Mesopotamia among Sumerians, Akkadians, and Assyrians. This is the counterfactual geography exercise an amateur cartographer has presented in a series of maps proposing to reconfigure the European continent and its borders. The premise is as ambitious as it is debatable: if these countries existed with these territories, Europe would be "infinitely better," claims the mapmaker, who accompanies each proposal with historical capitals and regions.

The project is not an isolated idea. It relies on a recurring notion: education would have erased the true extent of civilizations such as Greece, which reached Armenia and Persia. "Of all the crimes committed against any country in the world, what was done to Greece is the worst," the amateur cartographer asserts, estimating the Hellenic country could have reached one million square kilometers.

The Unresolved Dispute: Lithuania Between Poland and Baltia

The author himself acknowledges a dark spot in his design: the division of Lithuania. The territory fits into both a hypothetical Baltia, due to its status as a Baltic country, and Poland, which without it would be reduced to **Danzig as its only access to the sea** and have a smaller size than its northern neighbor. This is compounded by the dispute over **Kenisberg**, which both countries claim. It is the only territorial conflict the author admits he failed to resolve.

The discussion drifted to other fronts. Several participants questioned why the capital of Galicia should be Compostela rather than Coruña or Vigo, to which the author responded by appealing to the city's "aura" and international fame. A proposal also emerged to move Navarre's capital to **mierdoplona** —literally so— due to its greater potential for future growth.

Tyrol, Mesopotamia, and the Division of Castile

The conversation entangled itself in a discussion about the historical identity of Tyrol, which the author defended as an Austrian valley and province against those who recalled its status as a Germanic territory until relatively recently. The exchange led to mutual insults and the intervention of third parties providing historical context: the County of Tyrol was a Habsburg patrimonial possession and part of the Holy Roman Empire until its annexation by Austria in 1803.

In the Mesopotamian chapter, the author admits hesitating when placing Assyria, Akkad, or Sumeria, and when swapping Aramaea for Syria. "The coastal area knew it would look cool too, there with Phoenicia, Galilee, and Philistia," he writes. The proposal also includes an expanded Armenia incorporating territories such as Amid, the Armenian name for modern Diyarbakir.

The most repeated criticism points to a bias: Castile is the only historical nationality from which territories are taken to be ceded to other entities. "The case is always dividing CASTILE," summarizes one participant, asking why the same criterion is not applied to France. The author responds with dismissals of "the hillbillies of the plateau."

Turkey, Portugal, and the Risk of World War

The geopolitical implications of the exercise did not go unnoticed. One participant warns that dividing Portugal in two and taking territory from France would be enough to trigger a Third World War, while the disappearance of Turkey in favor of a completely Greek Anatolia would unleash a Fourth. The author insists that with these countries, "we would have no snouts or Mongols trying to screw us."

The thread also drifted into educational policy. It was argued that teaching would have reduced the Greek presence in Asia Minor to an anecdotal episode, and that the influence of certain religious groups had distorted the perception of European cultural origins. These are claims without documentary backing in the material, formulated as opinion.

The Map as Catharsis: Rage and Impotence

The emotional tone of the exchange is as relevant as the cartographic one. Several messages express frustration over what they consider a missed opportunity: "It causes great rage and great impotence to think about what the world could be and is not," summarizes one participant. Another claims to have been moved imagining a Greece with its full historical extent.

The author confesses consulting an artificial intelligence to validate his designs, which certified the division of Greater Greece as "the f***ing best" and suggested adjustments in western Anatolia. The anecdote illustrates the extent to which the project mixes historical rigor, aesthetic whim, and algorithmic validation.

With these threads, it is foreseeable that the exercise will continue to generate versions and adjustments. What does not seem likely is that any real border will move, no matter how perfectly the maps fit on paper.