Countries That Temporarily Didn't Exist (But Then Came Back)

▶ In this video I talk about a few countries that used to exist, temporarily went away, but then came back and exist again today! Going through examples like Iceland - first a Commonwealth, then a Danish domain and then becoming an independent republic again; Norway, that after being its own medieval kingdom also went through a period of Danish and Swedish control, only after centuries returning to its sovereignty; Armenia, who existed as a grand medieval and ancient kingdom - then being occupied by the Byzantines and Turks only to recover their independence much later on as a smaller version of their ancestor state. Just like those, I also go into the examples of Poland, Georgia, Greece, Bulgaria, Sri Lanka and Tunisia. Always attempting to learn how the first instance of the State came to be and what it was, how it disappeared and why, and when it managed to come back.

▶ A special thank you to my Patrons: Richard Hartze, Yasin Chaykh, Stuart Tunstead, The Wanton Dogfish, Cesar Lopez II, Steve the Goat, Yeti , KR, Edward Pucci, Jan Krause, Jeffrey F., Juan Rodriguez, Kalvin Saccal, Kris Rizakis, Lastmatix, Robinhio84, Rogaine Ablar, Ryan Keith, Ryan McMurry, Sandro, Sebastian Karlo, Señor Valasco

TIMESTAMPS:
00:00 Countries That Temporarily Didn't Exist
00:25 Iceland
01:42 Norway
05:02 Armenia
06:29 Poland
07:38 Georgia
08:52 Greece
09:53 Bulgaria
10:50 Sri Lanka
11:46 Tunisia
12:52 Patreon Credits

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[General.Knowledge]

*There were some issues with the editing in this video that led me to have to cut some things in the youtube studio editor, apologies for any weird transitions this may have caused.*

[FastTquick]

There’s also Mongolia. We all know it once existed in the medieval period as the Mongol Empire, but then it was conquered by the Qing Dynasty in the 18th century and then established in the 20th century after the Qing Dynasty’s collapse.

[staffan-]

And this is why Norway hands out the Nobel Peace Price instead of Sweden. As Norway didn't have a foreign policy of its own at the time, Alfred Nobel deemed Norway to be more impartial than Sweden would be.

[theyeening]

Armenia had an independent medieval Bagratid Kingdom between 880 and 1045 + multiple smaller kingdoms and principalities between 1045 and 1700s, though.

[Ewout]

If you connect Tunesia to Ancient Carthage, you can also connect modern Syria to Zenobia's Palmyra, Italy to the Roman Empire, Indonesia to the Majapahit Empire and so on.

[KingAlton]

9:36 Slight correction. The Byzantine Empire _is_ the Eastern Roman Empire it is not the successor, it is the same entity just with two different names given to it. In fact, they still called themselves Romans and referred to there "state" as simply the Roman Empire or Empire of the Romans but in Greek. Let's please not have an argument here about what they actually were, this comment section does not need that. Anyways, I'm team "They were Hellenized Romans" at least when referring to the early ruling nobility, the majority of the population would be Hellenes. 😅

[koldonn]

Saying Tunisia is a continuation of the Carthaginian Empire in any way shape or for is objectively wrong.

Tunisia had periods of independence under Muslim rule as the Hafsid Dynsaty.

[Felipe_XIV-XVI]

Tunisia was home to one of the Berber dynasties: the Hafsids, between XIV & XVI centuries. That on its own challenges the statement that Tunisia hadn't been independent since Carthage.

[Sco]

Fun fact: Iceland got the hell out with a rushed independence vote while Denmark was occupied and their parliament taken out of function by the Germans. That way Denmark couldnt stop it or negotiate a deal to keep Iceland with some admissions or monetary grants as with Greenland and the Faroes.

[Nefferious]

Greece is a terrible example for this list, at least the way you presented it.
Firstly macedonian hegemony isn't a rule by a foreign power like the Romans as you alluded to, but one Greek state simply dominating the rest, "uniting" them for the first time since the fall of the Mycenaeans.
Also it is totally incorrect to pretend that the byzantine empire "exerted control over Greece". There was no "Greece" at that point, if there had to be a Greek state it would have been THE EASTERN ROMAN EMPIRE. The "Byzantines" weren't overlords, they WERE the Greeks. Greece isn't defined by it's borders, but by it's people.

[cubbelicommando]

In about 1440 John Argyropoulos wrote of the struggle for the freedom of ' Hellas ' in a letter addressed to John VIII as 'Emperor of Hellas'. We have come a long way from the days when the ambassador Liudprand of Cremona was thought unfit to be received at the Court because his credentials were addressed to the 'Emperor of the Greeks'. But 'Graeci' was never an acceptable term. George Scholarius, the future Patriarch Gennadius, who was to be the link between the old Byzantine world and the world of the Turcocratia, often uses 'Hellene' to mean anyone of Greek blood. But he had doubts about its propriety; he still retained the older view. When he was asked his specific opinion about his race, he wrote in reply: "Though I am a Hellene by birth, yet I would never say that I was a Hellene. For I do not believe as the Hellenes believed. I should like to take my name from my faith and, if anyone asked me what I am, to reply "a Christian". Though my father dwelt in Thessaly, ' he adds, 'I do not call myself a Thessalian, but a Byzantine. For I am of Byzantium.' It is to be remarked that though he repudiates the name of Hellene he calls the Imperial City not New Rome or Constantinople, but by its old Hellenic name.

[cubbelicommando]

The Bulgars were the first Balkan group to create a state. They had first settled on Byzantine lands in the late seventh century. As they had inhabited territory in close proximity to Constantinople, they were quickly brought into its orbit. As early as 681, the marauding Bulgar chief Isperikh had forced the Byzantines to cede him land south of the Danube, and by the early ninth century, the Bulgars had created a centralized and powerful state. It was at this point ruled by a Turkic aristocracy, which during the next few hundred years became thoroughly Slavicized. Nevertheless, linguists can still trace some fifty words in modern Bulgarian to their origin in the Turkic dialect of the original Bulgars. In the hundred years between the reigns of Khan Krum (803-814) and King Symeon I (893-927), this state expanded from a relatively small territory straddling the Danube to an enormous kingdom that controlled almost the entire Balkan Peninsula.

[nzhdeh_tseghakron]

You are wrong about Armenia. There was also the Kingdom of Bagratunids from 885 to 1045 AD (if we don't consider Cilician Kingdom and Zakaryan principality, then Kingdom of Bagratunids was the last one before Armenia was conquered for 700 years until 1918)

[TheAlchaemist]

How about a certain state in the Levant that used to exist a few millennia ago as a kingdom with its very distinct religion, and then after being conquered many times over by different empires, came to exist again after WWII? :) Any clues?

[ArtyomKalendji]

Cilician Armenia existed outside of Cauasus all the way to 1400s, and Caucasian Principality of Khachen existed from medieval times to 1700s, had a very big amount of autonomy and from time to time - independence

[Scocsviolette]

What about Hungary, Serbia, and Bosnia?

[joeb]

FYI, the Byzantine Empire didn't "exert control over Greece". It *was* Greece. It was the Greek part of the Roman Empire that continued for another 1000 years. Also, it's problematic to conflate "country" with "state". The Greeks didn't go anywhere during Ottoman rule. The Poles didn't go anywhere during Russian rule. Etc.

[ditozarnadze]

Georgia and Armenia were under almost all the great emperes of the world, but have preserved their religion, independence and culture 🇬🇪🇦🇲☦️

[borisivanov]

You're wrong about Bulgaria - we did BRB twice.
The 1st Bulgarian kingdom was 681-1018, as then we went under Byzantium. We were back with the 2nd Bulgarian kingdom, which began in 1185 with the Peter & Asen Uprising, and lasted until Tarnovo fell to the Ottomans in 1396.
And then we were right back in 1878 for the 3rd Bulgarian kingdom.

[SockieTheSockPuppet]

Israel being the most visible example of this.

Though even during the Crusades all the way to when the Ottoman Empire ceded the land to Britain, Jewish settlements were still firmly established there.