1914 world map maker
This is a blank map of the world in 1914: 74 polities, including the empires that no longer exist, as shapes you colour in. Click a country or a colony to fill it, write the legend, and download a PNG. The modern world map is a different page.
Also known as: 1914 world map, world war one map maker, historical world map, pre-war world map.
Free. No account needed. Export a PNG.
Every polity on the 1914 map
The names as the snapshot lists them, including empires and colonial holdings.
- Albania
- Argentine Confederation
- Austria-Hungary
- Belgian Congo
- Bolivia
- Brazil
- British Africa
- British colonies
- British Raj
- Commonwealth of Australia
- Denmark
- Dominican Republic
- Dutch East Indies
- Emirate of Afghanistan
- Emirate of Jabal Shammar
- Emirate of Nejd
- Empire of Japan
- Ethiopian Empire
- French Africa
- French Indochina
- French Third Republic
- German Africa
- German Empire
- Greenland
- Guatemala
- Haiti
- Honduras
- Imamate of Oman
- Italian Africa
- Kingdom of Belgium
- Kingdom of Bhutan
- Kingdom of Bulgaria
- Kingdom of Greece
- Kingdom of Italy
- Kingdom of Norway
- Kingdom of Romania
- Kingdom of Serbia
- Kingdom of Spain
- Kingdom of Sweden
- Luxembourg
- Mongolia
- Montenegro
- Nepal
- Netherlands
- Netherlands Antilles
- New Hebrides
- Oriental Republic of Uruguay
- Ottoman Empire
- Paraguay
- Persia
- Portuguese Republic
- Principality of Andorra
- Principality of Monaco
- Qatar
- Republic of Chile
- Republic of China
- Republic of Colombia
- Republic of Costa Rica
- Republic of Cuba
- Republic of Ecuador
- Republic of El Salvador
- Republic of Liberia
- Republic of Nicaragua
- Republic of Panama
- Republic of Peru
- Russian Empire
- Siam
- Sultanate of Muscat and Oman
- Swiss Confederation
- Tangier International Zone
- Tibet
- United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland
- United States of America
- Venezuela
How to make a 1914 world map
- Open 1914, not today. The button above loads the 1914 snapshot. Austria-Hungary is one shape. The Ottoman Empire is on the map. Using the modern world map and writing "1914" in the title is a different, worse picture.
- Paint the sides, the empires, or an alternate split. One colour per alliance, per empire, or per invented outcome. Drag across a run of colonies that changed hands together. Hide the polities that are not in the story.
- Name the colours in the legend. Entente, Central Powers, neutral, a fictional partition. The legend is in the export, so the picture still reads when someone does not already know the scheme.
- Export the picture. PNG for a post or an essay. Publishing gives it a link; that step needs an account.
What you can do
- 74 polities as they stood in 1914, each a separate shape.
- Austria-Hungary, the Ottoman Empire, and the colonial holdings are on the map as themselves, not as modern countries with a note.
- Click to fill, drag to paint a run.
- A legend you write, included in the export.
- Hide shapes that are not part of the picture.
- PNG, JPEG, SVG and PDF export, with nothing drawn across the map.
Make your own 1914 world map
The alliances as a picture
Entente, Central Powers, and the rest. A state map of today cannot show this, because the states are not the same.
An alternate 1914
A different split of the same shapes. The polities stay historical; the colours do not have to.
A teaching map
Empires and colonies drawn as they were, which a modern outline with arrows cannot do as cleanly.
A campaign or a novel
A board that starts from 1914 borders instead of from 2026 ones. Paint what the story needs.
Other map makers
Common questions
Is this the modern world with old names?
No. It is a 1914 snapshot of 74 polities. Austria-Hungary is one shape. The Ottoman Empire is on the map. Use the modern world map if you want today's countries.
Why are there fewer shapes than on the modern world map?
Because 1914 was a world of empires. Colonies sit inside imperial shapes rather than as the later independent countries.
Can I switch to 1938 or another year?
Yes, in the editor's year control on the world tile. This page opens 1914 on purpose, because that is the query it is for.
Do I need GIS software?
No. You colour prepared shapes and export a picture.
Do I need an account?
Not to paint or export. Publishing a public page needs an account.