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　　A century ago at the beginning of the First WorldWar, the maps of Europe, Asia and Africa lookedmuch different than they do today. Historians saymany of the border changes - agreed upon afterthe war - were made for political rather thaneconomic reasons, creating new problems whoseimpact can be felt even today.

　　After four years of carnage and more than 16 million dead soldiers and civilians, three empiresthat had lasted for centuries - Austro-Hungarian, Russian and Ottoman - gradually ceased toexist and many new nations emerged, says Mike Heffernan, professor of historical geography atthe University of Nottingham.

　　"Poland was reconstituted in the East; the Baltic republics of Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia areestablished.

　　The Austro-Hungarian Empire, this vast zone to the southern part of Europe, is divided up intoa range of smaller states," said Heffernan.

　　It took about five years and several treaties to dismantle the three empires. The new nationswelcomed their new independence, but Heffernan says experts who advised nationaldelegations during the negotiations were not economists.

　　“They tended to be historians, geographers and classically trained Oxford academics forexample, who were not necessarily aware or mindful of creating a new economically integratedand viable European world," said Heffernan.

　　The old empires had provided a degree of stability, so many had trouble adjusting to life undera different rule, says Margaret MacMillan, professor of international history at Oxford University.

　　“Suddenly people throughout the Middle East and the center of Europe found themselves livingin a world where they didn't know what country they belonged to; it wasn't quite clear what theborders of those countries would be; a whole lot of small wars were breaking out betweendifferent national movements trying to grab territory, and so it was in fact a very difficult timefor people," said MacMillan.

　　The peace lasted merely a couple of decades and a new conflict was already brewing. Even theSecond World War did not solve all the border problems. The peace lasted longer, but as soonas the Soviet Empire fell apart, new conflicts broke out. Again, the maps had to be redrawn.

　　Stanislao Pugliese is a European history professor at Hofstra University in New York. He saysmost people do not understand that maps are often times arbitrary and usually do notcorrespond to culture and politics. He spoke via Skype.

　　“We might think that borders are sacred and sacrosanct and immutable, but history has toldus that they aren’t," said Pugliese.

　　Pugliese says only a couple of decades ago, nobody could picture the Soviet union   ceasing toexist, which also changed the lines on the maps. They should not be expected to last forever,either.