The national boundaries we see on the globe or Google Maps seem to be fixed, but in actual history, there have been many "short-lived" countries that were founded and disappeared, and some did not even exist before they had time to record, such as the 2 Kingdom of Torlosa, Alteclud, Burgundy, the Kingdom of Prussia and other countries, as well as the larger countries of the Soviet Union, Yugoslavia, East Germany and other countries, now do not exist, and even whether the United Kingdom that left the EU in 2016 can continue to maintain unity is a question.
It is very difficult to define a country itself, it is not difficult to establish a country simply by declaring independence, and it is very difficult to maintain the independence of a new country, especially when the military intervention of a major power. In today's world, many regions are striving for independence, some through legal means and some through violent means. Perhaps the safest way is to keep a low profile the country's independence, known only to the citizens themselves.
The following lists 10 "short-lived" countries, some of which died days or even hours after their establishment, and the contingencies of history determine the unpredictability of national destinies, proving that the survival of a country has no laws at all.
1. Russian Democratic Federative Republic (about 6 hours)
The Democratic Federative Republic of Russia may have the shortest life in history, and the Democratic Federal Republic was proclaimed at noon on January 19, 1918, but dissolved on the evening of the same day, and given the circumstances of the time, the short-lived existence is understandable.
In 1917, multiple right, left, and centrist factions of the Russian Empire vied for power, and two violent revolutions shook the core of the empire. On January 19, 1918, the democratically elected Russian Constituent Assembly proclaimed the establishment of the Russian Democratic Federative Republic.
An executive committee controlled by the Bolsheviks dissolved the new republic as overly moderate in its ideas, and Bolshevik leader Lenin gave a two-hour speech explaining how bourgeois the Constituent Assembly was, while another superpower was brewing, this time for a longer period of time, the Soviet Union.
2. Faroe Islands (2 days)
Located in the North Atlantic Ocean, between Norway and Iceland, Norway ruled the Faroe Islands for centuries.
In the 19th century, Denmark gained control of the Faroe Islands, the problem is that the Faroe Islands have their own language and culture, and they are very far from Denmark, these problems have not prevented the Danes from occupying the islands, and for the past few centuries, Denmark has tried to enforce the Danish language and laws in the Faroe Islands.
In 1946, the Faroe Islands Parliament held a referendum in favor of independence, and a new country was born. But two days later, the Danish government dissolved the Faroe Islands parliament and held general elections, and the newly elected parliament negotiated an agreement that granted the Faroe Islands greater autonomy and continued relations with Denmark.
3. Connaught Republic (12 days)
In 1798, the French cut off the king's head and established a republic based on the principles of freedom, fraternity and equality. The breath of the French Revolution pervaded, and even in the distant Irish countryside, the news had spread. At this time, the American colonies also got rid of the shackles of British rule and turned to a government of people's self-government and rule by the people.
By this time, the Irish had been oppressed under the British monarchy for 600 years, and the news of the Revolution seemed to see a glimmer of hope for a group of Irish rebels known as the United Irish. The United Irish, supported by the French military, General Jean-Joseph Amable Hambert and the Irish Combined Forces, won a significant victory at Castlebar, County Mayo, and established the Republic of Connaught.
The British governor at the time was Lord Cornwallis, who fought with George Washington in the American Revolutionary War, but ended the Revolutionary War by surrendering to American forces in Trenton, New Jersey, a defeat that brought pain and humiliation to Cornwallis. In 1798, when there was a rebellion in Ireland, the British governor was determined not to let the American Revolutionary War repeat itself in England, so he hired a large number of mercenaries to suppress the Irish rebellion, and destroyed it only 12 days after the establishment of the Republic.
The Republic of Connaught was a short-lived republic in Irish history to resist British rule, founded in 1798 by Irish nationalist Robert Emmett. The Republic of Connaught includes the province of Connaught in western Ireland, with its capital at Castleba. Although it lived only 12 days, it had an important influence on the later Irish independence movement, reflecting the Irish desire for independence and statehood.
4. Biaqnabato (44 days)
In 1897, with the suppression of the Philippine independence movement by the Spanish army, a full-scale revolution broke out. When the Spanish army surrounded the revolutionary leader Emilio Aguinaldo, he led 500 men to break through the encirclement of the enemy army and flee into the wilderness area called Biaque-Na-Bato. There, Aguinaldo proclaimed the Republic of Biacona Bato and issued a series of declarations, including the Declaration of Independence of the Philippines.
Aguinaldo and his followers enjoyed a great deal of support among the Filipino people, and the Spanish governor realized that defeating Aguinaldo militarily alone would not eradicate the movement. So negotiations took place. In the end, Aguinaldo agreed to go into exile in exchange for financial and political concessions, and the Republic of Byak-Na-Bato existed for only 44 days.
By May 1898, the United States had taken over the Philippines from Spain, essentially replacing Spain as a colonial power, and Aguinaldo returned to the Philippines, but his hopes for an independent republic were dashed, and it was not until 1946 that the Philippines truly gained independence.
5. Palm Republic (2 months)
In 1860, when Abraham Lincoln ran for president, the declaration was to abolish slavery in the United States, and South Carolina was a staunch state that supported slavery, and they announced that if Lincoln was elected, South Carolina would secede from the United States.
In December 1860, after Lincoln's historic election, South Carolina became the first state to secede from the Union, and the separatists declared themselves an independent state known as the "Republic of Little Round Palms." In fact, this is already the second Round Leaf Palm Republic, South Carolina has declared the first Little Round Leaf Palm Republic on the eve of the American Revolutionary War in 1776. The Second Palm Republic did not intend to fight alone, and they soon persuaded the other slave states to secede from the Union, and in February 1861, South Carolina and six other states formed the Confederate State.
After Lincoln's election, the federal government took a hard line, refused to make concessions, and prepared to suppress the rebellious southern states by force, and the small round leaf palm republic was under great pressure, so the country that had been established for only 2 months disappeared.
6. Saskatchewan (62 days)
In the 19th century, the Canadian government expanded its territory westward through the construction of railroads and mounted police forces, and the indigenous people in order to protect their land from colonists, so the Aboriginal resistance, also known as the "Northwest Rebellion", broke out, Louis Riel was the main leader of this resistance.
Riel is a Métis of mixed French Canadian and Aboriginal descent. Historically, the Métis were a First Nations ethnic group in Canada with mixed Aboriginal and French-Canadian ancestry. The Métis originated in the 17th and 18th centuries, when European explorers, traders and fur traders intermarried with the First Nations of Canada. In addition to retaining a certain indigenous culture, they also integrated into European culture.
In the spring of 1885 under Riel's leadership, the Métis established the Saskatchewan Provisional Government on their own land, and after a series of battles, the Provisional Government existed for only 62 days and was defeated by Canadian forces, and Riel was convicted and sentenced to death by hanging.
In the decades that followed, he remained a traitor to Anglo-Canadians, yet he was a hero in the eyes of Méti, First Nations and French Canadians. Now, many scholars regard him as one of the most important figures in Canadian history.
7. The Great Rough and Ready Republic (84 days)
About an hour northeast of Sacramento, you might see signs to the small town of Rough and Ready, California, which had a population of more than 3,000 during the 1849 gold rush and is less than 1,000 today.
The Gold Rush attracted many independent-seeking settlers here, and it is said that when a new mining tax was introduced in 1850, people here expressed strong dissatisfaction. On April 7, Colonel E.F. Brundage read a proclamation at a mass rally declaring the creation of a new state called the "Great Rough and Ready Republic," independent of California and the U.S. federal government. The newly formed state elected Brendag as president and enacted new laws.
However, running a country is a daunting task, especially when you're busy panning for gold. Just 12 weeks later, on July 4, the young republic declared its end and rejoined the home country, and it is still unknown whether the gold miners eventually paid the new taxes.
8. People's Republic of Zanzibar (104 days)
The beautiful and rich African archipelago of Zanzibar, rich in spices, tropical climate, excellent beaches and convenient coastline, has become a place that many countries want to control. Over the centuries, the Persians, Arabs, Portuguese, and British have all had varying degrees of influence on the Zanzibar archipelago.
In 1963, Britain ceded its control of Zanzibar to the constitutional monarchy of the Sultanate of Zanzibar, and in January 1964, two political parties in Zanzibar united to overthrow the Sultan, which became known as the Zanzibar Revolution. Through this revolution, Zanzibar established a republic, ended the absolute monarchy of the sultan and achieved independence, and this revolution marked the transformation of Zanzibar from an absolute monarchy to a democratic republic.
After the revolution, Abeyd Karrum, the leader of one of the two political parties that overthrew Sudan, was appointed president of the newly established Zanzibar People's Republic. By the end of April 1964, Karum had completed merger negotiations with Tanganyika (then mainland Tanzania) to form the new United Republic of Tanzania, so the People's Republic of Zanzibar existed for only 104 days. Through this merger, the two polities originally composed of the Zanzibar Islands and the Tanganyika mainland were eventually united into the United Republic of Tanzania, and Karum became the first president of Tanzania.
9. Republic of Juliana (4 months)
In the 20s of the 19th century, Brazil declared its independence from Portugal and established the Brazilian Empire with an emperor. In the 30s, herders in the southern part of the empire, dissatisfied with the government's high taxes on beef, launched a republican uprising called the "Ragmofen War". "Ragmofen" refers to the tassels on the clothes of herders, an Italian military leader who was exiled for revolution in Europe and decided to join the "Ragmofen" rebel army, followed by a series of military victories for Brazilian herders and the Italian leader's troops.
In July 1839, the rebels declared the independent Republic of Juliana, but were defeated by the Imperial Army four months later. Although the Republic of Juliana did not achieve independence, Italy did.
The Italian military leader who joined the rebel army named Garibaldi was one of the key figures in the Italian unification movement in the 19th century, born in Italy and exiled to South America from 1836 to 1848, participating in the Brazilian independence movement. This revolutionary career in South America had an important influence on his later career. After returning to Italy, Garibaldi led many uprisings and campaigns, becoming a leader and national hero of the Italian unification movement. He promoted the unification of the Italian regions and played a key role in the eventual unification of Italy as a state.
10. The Republic of Shuangyi (151 days)
Since 1185, Japan's de facto political and military power has long been controlled by the military dictator "Seiji Daisaigun", and the role of the emperor is mainly ceremonial, so in 1868, some dissatisfied aristocrats and court officials persuaded Emperor Meiji to take back power, and then the shogun resigned and rebelled, which eventually led to a civil war in order to regain power.
In January 1869, the emperor's forces defeated the shogun, and the remnants of the shogun's fleet retreated to Japan's northernmost island, Takeo Enomoto, where the fleet commander, Takeyo Enomoto, established the Republic of Shōki. Modeled after the U.S. Constitution, which recognized universal suffrage for all samurai classes, the Republic is sometimes seen as the first example of democratic governance in Japan.
In the spring of 1869, the Emperor's troops attacked the island, which lasted only 151 days, and at the end of June, the new republic, which lasted only 151 days, was dealt an overwhelming blow, and was subsequently unified under the Meiji Restoration, and the island was renamed Hokkaido.
The picture comes from the Internet, and the copyright belongs to the original author.