16 Countries That Vanished Off the Map

National borders may look permanent - but many are softer than soap bubble. One day they’re etched in ink… the next, they’re gone, erased by war, diplomacy, or collapse. Gone forever, just like these countries... and you won't believe what happened with number 9. 16. Sundaland Take this country that never existed - but it easily could have… if its timing hadn’t been off by about 20,000 years. This is the 695,000-square mile (1.8 million-square kilometer) place known as Sundaland. It was vast landmass, stretching from what’s now the Gulf of Thailand almost all the way to the Philippines - containing the countries we know as Malaysia, Indonesia, Singapore, and part of Thailand. Modern humans have been living in the area for at least 50,000 years. Sea levels were lower back then - almost 394 feet (120 meters) lower at the Last Glacial Maximum about 20,000 years ago. Look at map of the world from then and Sundaland sticks out. If it were modern country, it would probably be powerhouse… but these borders never got to be. The ice melted, the sea level rose, and any of those ancient hunter-gatherers that were unfortunate enough to be in the low places had to get out or they would be underwater, too. The project that could have been the nation of Sundaland was at an end before anyone could realize how great it might have been. But other borders did get to be - for the blink of an eye. Some countries actually did exist for brief periods. Their times might have been short, but lot still happened in them - some brilliant, others downright hilarious. Try the country that came to be because American immigrants were pouring into Mexico. Seriously. 15. The Republic of Texas Invited by the Mexican government, American settlers flooded into Texas — and surprisingly, the Spanish-speaking Tejanos didn’t mind. In fact, they shared common ground. Both groups grew increasingly resentful of Mexico City’s distant rule, heavy taxes, and restrictions on local self-governance. Now combine an unresponsive, but highly centralized government with wannabe caudillo in Antonio López de Santa Anna, and you have recipe for revolt. On March 2nd, 1836, at the settlement of Washington-on-the-Brazos, the independent Republic of Texas was declared. Four days later came the Alamo. And that was big mistake. It just made everyone angrier. The Texans got their revenge at the Battle of San Jacinto and captured Santa Anna. Humiliated, he had no choice but to sign the Treaty of Verasco and recognize Texas’ independence. But not every country jumped to recognize Texas - including the United States. America kept its options open, delaying recognition partly out of strategic interest… and partly out of jealousy. It wanted Texas for itself. It became official on December 29th, 1845. Texas was admitted to the Union as the 28th state. The Republic had only lasted for 9 years, 11 months, and 17 days. But it had good run, and everything is bigger in Texas. Other short-lived countries we’ll look at made even the Republic of Texas’ lifespan look long… but there’s single exception. The Republic of Texas sort of had twin in the southern reaches of Brazil. 14. The Older Ragamuffin Republic The mid-18th to mid-19th centuries was the Age of Revolution, and it spread to Brazil by 1822. The Brazilians declared their independence from Portugal on September 7th. They made the dream reality and set up their own state complete with an emperor, Pedro But victory didn’t stop the spirit that led to the revolution - Brazil was place of battles between an empire and republic. The new empire didn’t seem to be such good thing to the people in the province of Rio Grande do Sul. They thought they were being too tightly controlled by central government that didn’t care about their interests. It undermined them by taxing the charque, salted dried beef they produced, while allowing cheaper imports from Argentina and Uruguay. They wanted more of say in their local affairs and were influenced by the republican ideals surging throughout the world. So the Ragamuffin War began on September 20th, 1835. It earned its name from the fringed clothing worn by the rebels - the iconic gauchos - who declared the formation of new nation, the Riograndense Republic, on September 11th, 1836. The new country would soon have an ally in its struggle for independence from the dastardly empire. We’ll get to that one in bit because their fates were intertwined. For now, all you need to know is that the Riograndese Republic lasted for 8 years, 5months, and 19 days - just little bit shy of the Republic of Texas. For now, let’s turn to another little republic across the Pacific that also tried its hand against the rise of an empire… republic with very unique constituency. 13. The Republic of Ezo In 1853, Japan was retro, to say the least - and not in the cool way. It was land frozen in time, isolated from the world, locked in the 17th century under the rule of its Tokugawa Shogunate. You know, the one that inspired that hit show from 2024. Then the Japanese in Tokyo Bay watched as large, well-armed black ships loomed on the horizon. These visitors from across the Pacific made simple demand under the leadership of Commodore Matthew Perry – open Japan up to American trade or else. Naturally, Japan agreed. It’s hard to say no when you’re staring down fleet of warships and wall of cannons. But Perry and his largely forgotten boss, President Millard Fillmore, sparked more than they ever anticipated. Their gunboat diplomacy set off wave of modernization almost without parallel in the history of the world. Less than 20 years later, Japan was transformed. The Tokugawa Shogunate was gone – except in one place which would soon look like anything but shogunate. In January 1869, the Shogun’s remnant forces fled to Hokkaido, then called Ezo. The fleet’s admiral Enomoto Takeaki, took charge and created the Republic of Ezo with the help of couple of French military advisors, Jules Brunet and André Cazeneuve. The Republic of Ezo didn’t have long to live. The superiority of Emperor Meiji’s forces was overwhelming. It lasted for only 151 days – but look what it did in those five months. This remnant shogunate had constitution based on the United States and held the first-ever elections in Japan, with Takeaki becoming President. Voting rights were limited to the Samurai class, but hey, that sort of thing was standard for the time. It might have been one of the world’s shortest-lived countries, but the Republic of Ezo set precedent for how Japan would structure its government. Takeaki’s rebellion was forgiven and he became an important figure in the rapidly modernizing Japan. All’s well that ends well, at least here. But if you head east to North America, you’ll find different story that’s little less serious. 12. The Great Republic of Tax Evasion Drive 61 miles (98 kilometers) northeast of Sacramento and you’ll find an unusually-named town, Rough and Ready. With population of 905 in the 2020 census, it was formerly known as the Great Republic of Rough and Ready. decade before the Civil War, this tiny place decided to set precedent the self-declared Confederacy would follow. It declared its secession from California and the United States. Fortunately it wasn’t to protect slavery. The people here just wanted to shelter their gold from the taxman. plaque in the town’s center records the details. In 1850, new mining tax was put in place, sparking mass protest on April 7th. Supposedly, an officer named Colonel E.F. Brundage delivered manifesto declaring the place’s independence. He was naturally elected President under its Constitution but his rule only lasted three months. It turns out that running your own country is harder business than mining, so maybe the tax was worth it after all. On July 4th, The Great Republic of Rough and Ready dissolved and rejoined the Union. Even now, though, the Secession Day of April 7th is the biggest event in town. If you want to say you’ve been to an unusual party, this commemoration of one of the world’s shortest-lived countries might be for you. And now, back to Brazil. There was an even shorter-lived country that popped up there. 11. The Younger Ragamuffin Republic Have you ever heard of the Free and Independent Catarinense Republic? No? Let’s look at Brazil’s Ragamuffin War again. As their compatriots to the south struggled against imperial authority, the locals in the province of Santa Catarina were also growing restless. They didn’t like the high taxes imposed on their salted beef, either - who does? They also disliked Brazil’s centralized form of government. So they declared themselves free and independent republic and joined the cause of their comrades in Rio Grande do Sul. They were less successful and their republic was overrun and dissolved in less than three months. It lasted only from July 29th to November 15th, 1839, but there’s an important wrinkle in this story. The Catarinese Republic wound up leaving an important legacy for the world, but not so much in “what” like the last of the Samurai did in Ezo. This legacy was more like “who.” There was an Italian among the Ragamuffins in Santa Catarina, hiding out there after he was sentenced to death for taking part in revolt back home in modern Piedmont. His name was Giuseppe Garibaldi, and he would use his combat experience here to help unify Italy when he finally returned there. That’s why he got one of his nicknames, “the Hero of Two Worlds.” Maybe modern Catarina should ask the Italians for some sort of favor to pay them back. OK, so what about the fate of that other republic we talked about before? Let’s get to it. The Riograndense Republic further to the south lasted lot longer, but it was ultimately losing effort. The empire gained the upper hand, and both sides agreed to the Treaty of Poncho Verde on March 1st, 1845. The Riograndense Republic was dissolved, but everyone who had taken part in it was granted amnesty. The ragamuffins wound up having the last laugh, though. The Empire of Brazil didn’t even make it to the end of the century. Pedro II was overthrown in coup in 1889. The Empire they hated is now as much of historical curiosity as their fledgling republics. The end of the Empire of Brazil was an early harbinger of things to come. The 20th century saw the end of empires all over the world - but like in South America, the results weren’t always smooth. 10. The First and Second Zanzibars The Zanzibar Archipelago off the coast of modern Tanzania is strategic location. This made it target for outside influence, and decolonization can make for some turbulent times. The Sultanate of Zanzibar was technically already there, but it was basically under British rule as protectorate. Then the British left on December 10th, 1963, preferring the Sultanate to remain under Jamshid bin Abdullah. And you can guess what happened next. Without Britain’s help, he only stayed in power for another month. coup took place and the Sultan was gone. The People’s Republic of Zanzibar was declared on January 12th, 1964, with Abeid Karume as President at the head of socialist government. But he wasn’t the only one there. Karume hadn’t led the actual revolt. That came by way of Ugandan named John Okello. He was hotheaded guy and Karume tried to keep him away from politics with the honorary title of Field Marshal. But that didn’t stop his followers from brutal reprisals against Zanzibar’s Arab and Asian population. Sources vary on how many were slaughtered. Somewhere between 2,000 and 4,000. However, the numbers vary depending on the source - some report up to 20,000 died. The Europeans there were spared because Okello didn’t want those complications. At least this People’s Republic didn’t last long, either. It merged with the short-lived state of Tanganyika at the end of April, giving it lifespan of only 104 days. That was still much longer than reef nation almost literally in the middle of nowhere. 9. The Republic of Rock Las Vegas and eccentric personalities often go hand in hand. We’ll let you judge whether the city creates the personalities or the personalities create the city, but the Vegas real estate magnate Michael Oliver was one of them, either way. In 1972, he came up with an idea that seemed brilliant… at least to him. He would build Libertarian island nation in the South Pacific. So the Ocean Life Research Foundation was born. Oliver found the perfect place for his island nation – the Minerva Reefs, 301 miles (484 kilometers) southwest of Tonga. All he needed to do was raise them at least foot (.3 meters) above the high water mark at high tide. Do that, and under international law, he could legally claim sovereignty. Pretty simple… or so he thought. He hired dredging ship and the effort succeeded. On January 19th, 1972, the Republic of Minerva was officially declared. There might not have been any towns in this new country, but at least there was flag and beaches. It even had its own President – Morris “Bud” Davis, elected in February. Then the Tongans reacted. Their 400-pound (181 kg) King Taufa’ahau Tupou IV sent force of 90 working prisoners and four-piece band - is it really an invasion party without one? The men landed, took the Minerva flag down, and raised their own. Then the band played the Tongan National Anthem. Presto, the new islands had been conquered in the name of Tonga. The Republic was at an end. President Bud returned in 1982 to try to liberate the reef, but Tongan troops repelled him after three weeks. The dream is still alive through Michael Oliver’s Phoenix Foundation, though. But there’s problem… Minerva has been mostly reclaimed by the sea from whence it came. No word on where the Foundation will try to go next. Wherever it is, the next Minerva at least won’t be the product of an invasion like this country was. 8. The Puppet Republic August 2nd, 1990. Saddam Hussein invades neighboring Kuwait to seize its oil, wipe his debts clean, and entrench himself against what he fears as rising tide of American hegemony. But that’s not the official story. Officially, Iraq said that it invaded Kuwait to assist movement of Kuwaiti revolutionaries against its monarchy. The Emir fled and the Republic of Kuwait was set up in his place. But this country was only there for one reason – to make Iraq’s acquisition of it look legitimate. That’s what it did on August 28th, when it was formally annexed and its territory divided. The northern part of the country was absorbed into Iraq’s Basra Governorate, while southern Kuwait became leftover province under the name Kuwait Governorate. So went the “independent” Republic of Kuwait, which lasted just shy of four weeks. Then the rest of the world mobilized against the Iraqi invasion and well, we all know what happened from there. But hey, the puppet republic was around week longer than another republic that became arguably the most prized possession of the United States. 7. Bear Flag Republic Remember the Great Republic of Rough and Ready? Aside from the whole secession from the United States thing, it was just following local and very recent tradition. Look at California’s flag. Have you ever wondered why it has bear with the words “California Republic” on it? It all goes back to 1846, when this place itself became one of the world’s shortest-lived countries. California was once part of Mexico – neglected part with lot of American settlers. When war between their mother country and Mexico loomed, the alarm bells tolled louder. They didn’t want the Mexicans to attack them first. So the settlers rebelled. This was the Bear Flag Revolt. And soon, there was an army on the move to respond - just not the one you would expect. The whole revolt was encouraged by John Fremont, an officer in the US Army, who was supposed to be there on scientific survey. Wink wink. The California Republic was declared on June 14th in present-day Sonoma County. Phase one, complete. On July 1st, Fremont and his troops occupied territory including San Francisco while Commodore John Sloat took Monterey without fight on the 7th. Two days later, it was clear that there was no need for California Republic. The Bear Flaggers had performed their job as proxies perfectly. The independent country of California was dissolved after lifespan of just three weeks. But even three weeks was long time compared to what some rebels had in mind across the Pond few decades earlier. 6. The Republic of Connacht The relationship between Britain and Ireland has always been tense one, and it certainly wasn’t going to escape the mania of the Age of Revolutions. The French Revolution supercharged things in the Old World, and the relationship between the French and Irish was always source of anxiety for London - especially now that Revolutionary France was trying to spread its project further afield. group called the United Irishmen jumped at the chance. They and their French allies actually won against British force at the Battle of Castlebar on August 27th, 1798. Riding that wave, the French general, John Joseph Humbert, declared an Irish republic and became its Commander-in-Chief. The first step toward that ultimate goal? Establishing the Republic of Connacht in the province. local man named John Moore was declared as its president. Naturally, London wasn’t going to just sit back and take this. Irish independence was bad enough. Irish independence as French puppet state was intolerable. So it sent famous general, one who was eager for redemption against revolutionary forces like this. General Charles Cornwallis may have lost to George Washington once, but he wasn’t about to treat this uprising as sequel. Just to make extra sure of victory, he hired lot of mercenaries and added them to the British regulars. The results were immediate. The United Irishmen and their French allies were crushed just 12 days after the Republic of Connacht came into being. Still, the uprising spooked London, so two years later, the Acts of Union were passed to create the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland. 12 days doesn’t sound like very long, but the 1798 independence movement in Ireland lasted three times as long as another doomed effort far to the north. We’ve seen tax-free republics, utopian reef states, and dictators flexing their power - but things are about to get even stranger. 5. The Northern Island Nation The 18 Faroe Islands have history of being bounced around from one owner to the next. Maybe that’s not surprising given their location and size. They’re just small archipelago between Iceland, the United Kingdom, and Norway, but they have distinct people and language, Faroese. They’re the product of Norse adventurers who ventured to the British Isles and mingled with the people there. Their descendants in turn moved up to the archipelago. Norway claimed sovereignty over the islands for the better part of their history, but then, the union between Denmark and Norway broke down in the early 19th century and the Danes got the islands. DNA tests have shown that the Faroese Islanders are closer in relation to those of the British Isles than to Scandinavia. Naturally, the Danes tried to impose their own language and laws on this far-off place anyway. So after the chaos of World War II, the Faroe Islands saw their chance to reassess this relationship. In 1946, the local parliament, the Løgting, held an independence referendum. The result? 50.72% to 49.28% in favor of breaking free. The ballots came in on September 14th. Ten days later, King Christian of Denmark dissolved the Løgting and called for new election, where conveniently, the unionists gained more ground. The islands and Denmark got back to the negotiating table, and the Kingdom granted them greater autonomy, but they’re still under Copenhagen’s sway. It might sound crazy, but the Faroe Islands lasted about four times as long as another fledgling republic to the east. There’s no room for such things as democracy when the glories of socialism are dangling before your eyes, after all. 4. The Russian Democratic Federative Republic When it comes to short-lived countries, perhaps no one did it more extremely than the Russians, or rather, the Russian Bolsheviks. World War was time of complete chaos for Russia. The Czar was toppled. Then the Provisional Government came in and declared republic. Then the Bolsheviks carried out successful coup against the Provisional Government at the beginning of November. But there was problem. The Provisional Government had already called for elections to be held later that month to determine permanent government. The leader of the Bolsheviks, Lenin, understood that his party wouldn’t be able to secure majority. Still, he allowed the election to go ahead. The delay would at least buy some valuable time. As he expected, the Bolsheviks came in distant second with 23.3% of the vote compared to the Socialist-Revolutionaries’ 37.6%. But Lenin had never believed that socialism and democracy were compatible. This result only reinforced his opinion. He launched into tirade, claiming the election wasn’t truly democratic - arguing that the ballot failed to distinguish between Socialist-Revolutionaries who supported the overthrow of the Provisional Government and those who opposed it. Then, he doubled down, insisting that the Soviets he was forming represented higher form of democracy - because unlike the Constituent Assembly, they reflected the true will of the workers. He allowed the Constituent Assembly chosen from the election to meet – for day, January 5th, 1918. It declared the formation of the Russian Democratic Federative Republic and adjourned. The business was far too moderate and bourgeois for Lenin. Only the Bolsheviks could actually enact the necessary reforms, he said. So the next day, Lenin’s troops barred the gates. The Russian Democratic Federative Republic lasted for total length of less than day, although the fictitious version of it had little better luck. It lasted until January 25th, when the Russian Socialist Federative Soviet Republic was declared. Fortunately, neither that nor the Soviet Union made it to the end of the century. The Russian Socialist Federative Soviet Republic sort of still exists, though. Its borders are now the ones recognized as being part of the Russian Federation. No matter how long country may have lasted, it can still be wiped off the map with astonishing speed. Just look at one of the world’s greatest paradises for an example. 3. The Kingdom of Hawaii America’s territorial expansion didn’t always come as easily as it did in Texas and California. With the Pacific Coast in the fold, the United States started to look to the ocean. Washington couldn’t expect to find large numbers of ordinary American settlers there like in Texas or California, so territorial expansion would have to be done through means that recall smoke-filled rooms instead of romantic rebellions. Hawaii would make perfect testing ground. There was flourishing kingdom there. Toward the end of the 18th century, the powerful Hawaiian King Kamehameha had grand plan. He only ruled part of the big island, Hawaiʻi, but his ambitions were vast. Captain James Cook’s arrival there in 1778 was wakeup call to the astute locals. If the islands remained divided, they’d be more easily exploited by Western interests, so Kamehameha launched his unification campaign. By 1810, all the islands were under his control. But he only succeeded with Western weapons and advisors. And that was sign of trouble to come. But the threat of foreign encroachment on country as small but attractive as this was always going to be present. Western interests were present almost as soon as the kingdom was established. Christian missionaries came in the early 19th century, and laws against things they considered vices were enacted - including dancing the hula. Whalers soon followed the missionaries. Hawaii was fantastically good as base for supplies, including food, fuel, and water. Other business interests came after the whalers, because Hawaii was also great place for sugar plantations. Foreigners got more and more powerful in the Kingdom, even rising to offices like Prime Minister. Naturally, some of these foreigners began to get ideas about taking over, and it seemed the right time. The monarchy was becoming turbulent. without naming successor, ending the line of the kingdom’s great unifier. His elected successor, King Lunalilo, died the following year - also without an heir. King David Kalakaua was then elected, but in 1877, his brother and heir-apparent, William Pitt Leleiohoku II, died as well. So Kalakaua named his sister, Liliʻuokalani, as his successor. The 1880s brought even more turbulence. Kalakaua angered the United States and Germany when he made confederation treaty with the Samoan King Malietoa Laupepa - who the Germans were trying to overthrow by backing some local rebels. German flotilla soon ended Malietoa Laupepa’s reign in Samoa, but Berlin didn’t forget. The independent Hawaiian monarchy was becoming more trouble than it was worth. Kalakaua adjourned the legislature in 1886 and it wasn’t scheduled to meet again until 1888, despite being constitutionally mandated to meet every April. This was mistake. The legislature’s long absence allowed the foreigners to start making their moves to topple the Kingdom. The first smoke-filled meeting came on June 30th, 1887. Soon afterward, the Honolulu Rifles were sent out. This group of soldiers was supposed to serve the King, but they were foreigners. So was the Prime Minister at the time, Walter Gibson. He might have been an American, but he was too loyal to the King, so the Rifles almost hanged him. The Rifles made their way to the King and delivered simple demand – agree to new Constitution or else. Kalakaua preferred the new Constitution to “or else,” so he put his signature on the document. It later came to be called the Bayonet Constitution. That name sounds bad, but there were also things in it that might sound good by our standards. The monarchy was stripped of its functional political power and turned into something more like the British Monarchy. But voting rights were constrained to disproportionately white male property owners. Basically, both of these things were convenient for foreign interests. few years later, Kalakaua died and his sister, Queen Lili’uokalani, took the throne as he wished, but she soon had to deal with the second smoke-filled room. There was an Annexation Club, formed in 1892. This secret society’s ultimate goal was always to join the United States, and it was ready to act against the Queen if necessary. When she announced her intention to create new constitution, the Annexation Club formed Committee of Safety and overthrew her on January 17th, 1893. It helped that 162 American sailors and marines had arrived in Hawaii the day before. The new country was in limbo for few years, as then-President Cleveland disapproved of the methods used, but the Republic of Hawaii lasted for shorter time than the Republic of Texas. counterrevolution in favor of the Queen failed and victory in the Spanish-American War put America back into an annexation mood. Hawaii was officially transferred to American control on August 12th, 1898. The former Kingdom became America’s 50th state in 1959. The United States government issued an official apology about these events in 1993, but that didn’t mean it was planning on giving it up. Pearl Harbor alone is way too valuable. As far as the fall of nations goes, the Kingdom of Hawaii proceeded relatively smoothly and with minimal bloodshed. Those two things usually don’t go together in Europe, even when it’s supposed to be in times of peace and prosperity. In this case, things weren’t planned. It just sort of happened because it was bound to happen – with disastrous results. 2. The Project that was Always Doomed The US intelligence community issued dark prediction on October 18th, 1990. “Yugoslavia will cease to function as federal state within year, and will probably dissolve within two… serious intercommunal conflict will accompany the breakup and will continue afterward. The violence will be intractable and bitter…” That was exactly what came to pass, because Yugoslavia never made much sense as country to begin with. As the victorious Allies in World War were proclaiming the right of self-determination for large and small nationalities alike, they created state that looked more like the old Austro-Hungarian Empire they defeated. The old empire’s Balkan territories were merged with that of its former enemy, the Kingdom of Serbia. The result was union of Serbs, Croats, Bosniaks, Slovenians, Albanians, Macedonians, and others. The nation didn’t have long to live before the Nazis came in. Common enemies usually help to unify people, especially ones that proclaim their own ethnic superiority at the expense of all others. Nazi occupation ended at the hands of partisans under the victorious Josip Broz Tito, who promptly took over and steered Yugoslavia on distinct course. He was communist, but kept Yugoslavia out of the Warsaw Pact. It led to one of the oddest footnotes in the Cold War. The United States tried to do its best to keep this communist country together. But even supposedly benevolent dictators aren’t immortal. Tito died in 1980 and without his force of personality to hold the nation up, the forces of political and ethnic gravity were free to act to bring it down. There was constitutional provision in 1974. After Tito’s death, it devolved power away from Belgrade and to the provinces, with collective presidency of eight provincial representatives. The move helped to satisfy the different nationalities, but it also made the federal government little more than figurehead. Now take away the potential common enemy in the Soviet Union, and you have country with very little reason left to exist. The weakening of the Yugoslav economy with the end of the Cold War meant the house of cards was ready to collapse. Serbia’s President Slobodan Milosevic made his move when Slovenia and Croatia declared their independence on June 25th, 1991. The Yugoslav People’s Army was dominated by Serbs and Milosevic used this instrument brutally. Slovenia was only invaded for ten days, and North Macedonia also escaped the worst when it declared its independence that September - although it saw an insurgency in 2001. But Croatia was the site of devastating war over the next four years that saw tens of thousands of deaths and hundreds of thousands of refugees. And that was only one part in this long and brutal story. The worst was yet to come. The following May, Bosnia-Hergezovina also declared its independence. Serbian minorities refused to go along and declared their own independence. Their goal was an ethnically Serb Republic, and they would resort to any means to get it. In July 1995, the breakup of Yugoslavia saw its darkest days. Over 8,000 Bosniak men and boys were slaughtered in the Srebrenica Massacre, acknowledged by international authorities as Europe’s second genocidal act of the 20th century. Then violence erupted again between 1998 and 1999 in the Kosovo Province, when the majority Albanian population expressed its desire for independence from Serbia. America participated in NATO air strikes that finally forced Milosevic to behave. UN peacekeeping force was put in place, and Milosevic fell from power in 2001 when Serbia’s economy started to hit rough waters. There is something like happy ending to this story. Milosevic was arrested and tried by the International Crimes Tribunal in The Hague, and he died in prison in 2006 before the trial concluded. Kosovo declared its independence two years later. There are now six countries where Yugoslavia used to be – Slovenia, Croatia, Bosnia and Hergezovina, Montenegro, Serbia, and North Macedonia. Kosovo’s status remains disputed. Serbia still claims it as part of its territory, but 108 members of the United Nations recognize it, including the United States and most members of the European Union. The Yugoslav Project always hung on by thread. In an era of self-determining nation-states, it looked more like an old empire, and old empires were always turbulent. But the Mongol Empire brought turbulence that made Yugoslavia’s breakup look like walk in the park. 1. The Mongol Empire Today, Mongolia is subject to particularly harsh geography. It’s cold, there’s only one major city - the capital of Ulaanbaatar - and it’s sandwiched between Russia and China. With neighbors such as these, you have to be on your best behavior. But it wasn’t always this way. The Mongols here once ruled them both with an iron fist. At its peak, the Mongol Empire spanned from Korea to Poland, and all in span of less than century. The scale and speed of its expansion was unprecedented. Today’s Chinese and Russians should probably just be thankful that their civilizations survived. Not everyone was so lucky. It might not seem like it today, but Central Asia was once one of the wealthiest regions in the world. It was right in the middle of the Silk Road, and it benefitted enormously as the middleman. In the early 13th century, the Khwarazmian Empire was the lucky occupier of this land – until its luck ran out. Actually, that could be giving it too much credit. In diplomacy, especially with the Mongols, there’s one thing you never do. Never, ever, harm the envoys. In 1218, Genghis Khan sent caravan of merchants to the city of Otrar, but its governor accused the traders of being spies and executed them. Genghis was outraged, but he was willing to seek diplomatic solution. He sent an ambassador to Shah Muhammad II, who responded with another execution, this time by beheading. Genghis Khan responded with brutality that would break the Sultan – and also executed campaign that looked more like 20th century operation than medieval one. In lightning assault, he isolated and annihilated the cities of Otrar, Samarkand, Gurganj, Bukhara, Herat, Nishapur, and Merv - wiping out entire populations. The region never fully recovered. And that was just the beginning. Two of the Mongol generals, Jebe and Subutai, chased the fleeing Sultan west. They didn’t catch him, but wound up going around the Caspian Sea, crushing the Armenians, Georgians, and Rus army before returning home. The Mongols were still far from finished. Jebe and Subutai’s campaign showed them the broader world. They moved into Eastern Europe and routed the kingdoms there, but they would eventually recover. The Middle East got the worst of it. Baghdad was another of the world’s greatest cities in the early 13th century, the capital of the Abbasid Caliphate. It had lasted for 500 years and was the center of the Islamic Golden Age - where everything you think of when you think of the word “civilization” advanced. Then its caliph refused submission to the Mongols. Genghis Khan’s grandson Hulegu sacked the city. He himself estimated that over 200,000 people were massacred. Some estimates go as high as million, and that wasn’t all. The Mongols destroyed everything they got their hands on. Witnesses report the Tigris River running black from all the ink on the books thrown into it. The Islamic Golden Age came to an abrupt and bloody end. This region, too, never quite recovered. But even the Mongols were subject to turbulence. Their Empire would split into four before the century ended, but its ghosts continue to linger over the world. The country that became Russia got its itch for territorial expansion to protect themselves from future conquerors like the Mongols. And the United States? It, like all other countries in the New World, exists because Europeans developed an insatiable appetite for the spices on the Silk Road that the Mongols opened up in unprecedented ways. When those routes closed off in the late 15th century, they needed to find another way, and so the great ships of discovery sailed. Thanks for joining me today! hope you enjoyed the video, and if you want to see more videos like this, then please consider subscribing and turn on those notifications, really does make difference. This script had lot of foreign terms and places and names and if you have pronunciation guides for words that couldn't find, please drop them in the comments below, I'd love to see them and learn more about how to say things correctly. Thanks again, and I'll see you next time on Map Pack!