Conflict History: An Interactive Map & Timeline

Although it isn't new (it's been kicking around on the internet for at least a couple of years), the Conflict History map is one of the most visually  innovative ways of studying war and conflict.

On loading, the user is presented with a map of the world, and a timeline slider. Select any particular epoch, and points of conflict will be overlaid onto the map. Place the mouse over any point, and an informational box on the left of the screen will show the conflict's name and duration; there is also a link to each war's particular Wikipedia page for further reading on the subject.

The site has a remarkable breadth of material, covering both individual conflicts (some of them very short-lived) and also taking in longer, more nebulous affairs, such as the Cold War. While perhaps not ideal for deep research (Wikipedia's accuracy can be suspect at times), the map is a great way of exploring at a high level the sheer range and number of wars that have scarred civilisation throughout the centuries. It also illustrates how the number and density of wars has increased with the progression of human technology, particularly in the 20th century which, as we've seen before, saw a sharp rise in the number of ongoing conflicts.

The map is also good at surfacing little-known conflicts that might have slipped off one's historical radar, such as the Three Hundred and Thirty Five-Year War, between the Netherlands and the Scilly Isles, which ended in 1986 with barely a shot fired over the past three centuries; or the Football War of 1969, in which a mass brawl at a World Cup qualifier between El Salvador and Honduras caused pre-existing border tensions to spill over into a five-day battle between the two armies.

From the archive:

A special series on Digital History