It is already one of the world’s most iconic cities, but this incredible collection shows how much Paris has changed over the course of the past century. The collection, by French photographer Julien Knez, shows Paris in the 1940s against a backdrop of how the same places look today. Knez says he put the striking collection together to celebrate the 71st anniversary of the city’s liberation from Nazi control in August 1944. Here: Soldiers outside the Hotel De Ville in the 1940s. (Photo by Julien Knez/Caters News)

Guests on the terrace of Shepheard's Hotel, Cairo, circa 1940. (Photo by Hulton Archive/Getty Images)

A Russian prisoner eating bread. (Photo by Hulton Archive/Getty Images). Finland, circa 1940

A soldier of the French Foreign Legion holding his regiment's banner at Bar Hacheim in Libya, circa 1940. (Photo by Three Lions). P.S. All pictures are presented in high resolution.

Londoners sleep on the platform and on the train tracks at Aldwych Underground station,London, during heavy all night Nazi bombing raids, October 8, 1940. (Photo by AP Photo)

Following a large air raid by German bombers, local people, coming out of their air raid shelters found a bus standing on end in a large crater, in Balham, London, October 15, 1940. (Photo by AP Photo)

Folk artist Han Xiaoming demonstrates painting with his tongue in Hangzhou, Zhejiang province December 4, 2014. Han dips his tongue in ink to paint on paper, and uses his fingers to fill in final adjustments. The artist also uses a paintbrush held with his mouth and utilizes fish and vegetables as paint tools, local media reported. (Photo by Aly Song/Reuters)