Social-media amplification can transform a local incident into multi-city disorder.
EUROPE / CASEBOOK
Europe’s violent episodes belong on the map.
A closer casebook: what triggered unrest, when smaller groups used violence, where peaceful crowds gathered, and how events evolved.
Why were these episodes missing?
The first atlas version used a small set of causal case studies, not an exhaustive European event register. We have added the previously missing UK, Northern Irish, Irish and French events, with individual source-linked histories.
01 / FRANCE · OCT 2026
France in 2026: an unusually confrontational cycle
ACLED measured about 66 demonstrations per day versus a five-year average of 20.5; 24.2% of events in this cycle were classified as riots versus a 1.9% median in earlier cycles. Many small-town events remained peaceful while smaller groups clashed in big cities.
Current cycle vs prior-cycle medianACLED
Prior cycles1.9%
2026 cycle24.2%
These are specifically France cycle-level shares, not a Europe-wide indicator. Riot classification concerns the event, not every attendee.
ACLED · France is taking to the streets. But why?02 / SOURCED CASES
European casebook
Each linked case separates trigger, expansion, turning point, state response and the participating groups.
FRANCE · 2026NEW / VERIFIED
France's 2026 student and public-service protest wave
Missing teachers and deteriorating school facilities sparked a large student movement; some urban clashes became part of a wider national protest cycle.
Explore documented case ↗UNITED KINGDOM · 2025NEW / VERIFIED
Ballymena and Northern Ireland anti-migrant disorder, 2025
A local vigil split into violent disorder and separate peaceful anti-migration and pro-migration demonstrations across Northern Ireland.
Explore documented case ↗GEORGIA · 2024
Georgia's pro-EU demonstrations
A pause in EU accession talks ignited sustained demonstrations in Tbilisi and a crackdown that drew international scrutiny.
Explore documented case ↗SERBIA · 2024
Serbia's student-led anti-corruption movement
A railway canopy collapse became a national demand for transparent investigation and institutional accountability.
Explore documented case ↗UNITED KINGDOM · 2024
UK farmers' inheritance-tax campaign
Farmers organized sustained demonstrations against changes to agricultural inheritance-tax relief.
Explore documented case ↗UNITED KINGDOM · 2024NEW / VERIFIED
UK anti-migrant riots and anti-racist counter-protests, 2024
Disinformation after the Southport attack helped ignite far-right rioting; peaceful anti-racism groups mobilized in response.
Explore documented case ↗FRANCE · 2023
France's pension-reform mobilization
An unpopular pension change combined union-led strikes with a constitutional dispute over passage of the law.
Explore documented case ↗IRELAND · 2023NEW / VERIFIED
Dublin city-centre riot, November 2023
Following a knife attack near a school, violent disorder erupted in Dublin; police documented arson, assaults and extensive damage.
Explore documented case ↗03 / WHAT REPEATS
Patterns worth comparing
Peaceful gatherings and riots may occur on the same day but involve different people.
Police use of force and violence by rioters are distinct variables; code them separately.