After the end of World War II, the colonial empires established by Britain, France and other countries collapsed, and many regions became independent from the control of colonial lords, which ushered in a blowout in the number of countries in the world. At the same time, 10 countries also died out after the end of World War II.
1. The Soviet Union
The predecessor of the Soviet Union was Tsarist Russia.
Putin commented: Lenin's biggest mistake was to transform a unified country into a union of states.
Tsarist Russia was once a huge empire with a land area of 22.88 million square kilometers. During the First World War, Tsarist Russia suffered heavy losses, which caused discontent among the people at home, and the February Revolution and the October Revolution broke out in Tsarist Russia, the rule of Tsar Nicholas II was overthrown, and Tsarist Russia established a Soviet power. In order to gain the support of the regions of Tsarist Russia, Russian leader Lenin allowed Finland, the Baltics, Central Asia, Ukraine, Belarus, the Caucasus and other regions owned by Tsarist Russia to establish their own independent regimes.
In 1922, the Russian Federation and the Federations of Ukraine, Belarus and the South Caucasus formed the Soviet Union. Soon after, the five Central Asian countries, the three Baltic states, Georgia, Armenia, Azerbaijan and other countries joined the Soviet Union one after another, making the Soviet Union a huge empire.
During World War II, the Soviet Union and Germany signed the Soviet-German Non-Aggression Pact and became quasi-allies, and both sides sent troops to partition Poland. In 1941, Germany tore up the agreement and began a large-scale invasion of the Soviet Union. The United States has always been hostile to the Soviet Union, but in order to win the anti-fascist war, it also began to fully aid the Soviet Union, and finally helped the Soviet Union defeat Nazi Germany and win World War II.
After the end of World War II, the United States and the Soviet Union quickly turned against each other in order to compete for world hegemony. In order to suppress each other, the two sides successively co-opted their younger brothers to form NATO and the Warsaw Pact, and began a half-century-long Cold War. The Soviet Union, with its military power, was not weaker than that of the United States, but its economic development was always inferior to that of the United States. This, coupled with the rigidity of the Soviet system and its high level of corruption, eventually led to its collapse.
In 1991, the huge giant Soviet Union collapsed and split into 15 countries, including Russia, Belarus, Ukraine, and Lithuania.
Yugoslavia
The Balkan Peninsula, with its many small countries and frequent wars, is a famous "powder keg" in Europe, and they have been repeatedly bullied and invaded by neighboring powers.
In 1918, after Austria-Hungary lost World War I, it collapsed and disintegrated into Austria, Hungary, the Czech Republic, and Slovakia. Croatia, Slovenia and other regions that broke away from the Austro-Hungarian Empire formed Yugoslavia with Serbia in order to avoid being bullied by other countries because of their weakness. During World War II, Yugoslavia was destroyed and partitioned by Germany.
In 1945, after the end of World War II, Tito formed a Yugoslavia, consisting of Serbia, Croatia, Slovenia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Macedonia and Montenegro. Yugoslavia is known as "seven national borders, six republics, five nationalities, four languages, three religions, two languages, and one country", and there are many internal contradictions, but because Tito once led the Yugoslav people to resist the German army and helped the Yugoslav people win World War II, he has high prestige in the hearts of the Yugoslav people, and no one dares to resist him. During the Tito period, Yugoslavia's rapid economic growth also concealed various contradictions in the country. After Tito's death in 1980, Yugoslavia's economy began to decline, and domestic contradictions became apparent.
In 1992, Yugoslavia, which was riddled with contradictions, finally disintegrated and split into six countries, including Serbia, Croatia, and Macedonia.
3. The Federal Republic of Yugoslavia
After the dissolution of Yugoslavia, Serbia and Montenegro did not want to become independent, and the two countries formed the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, that is, the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia.
Since the formation of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, there have been constant troubles. The Croatian War and the Bosnian War broke out between the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia and independent Croatia and Bosnia and Herzegovina because of ethnic contradictions and territorial divisions, as well as the Kosovo War in Kosovo, an independent Serbia. The United States and other Western countries intervened in the Kosovo War and bombed the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, causing heavy losses to Serbia and Montenegro.
In 2003, Serbia and Montenegro, which had not had a satisfactory life after the alliance, decided to break up peacefully and split into two countries, Serbia and Montenegro.
4. The Federal Republic of Germany and the GDR
After World War II, after the defeat, Germany was occupied by the Soviet Union, Britain, France, and the United States. The Soviet Union established the GDR in the eastern part of Germany that it had occupied. The United States, Great Britain and France established the Federal Republic of Germany in the western part of Germany they occupied.
After the United States and the Soviet Union successively formed NATO and the Warsaw Pact, the two camps began a cold war that lasted for half a century. East Germany and West Germany, as the frontier forts of the Cold War between the United States and the Soviet Union, fought against each other for a long time, and relations were tense. After the division of Germany, West Germany benefited from the Marshall Plan of the United States and quickly emerged from the ashes of the war to become the world's third largest economy, a rich country. With the support of the Soviet Union, East Germany was also the most economically developed country in the socialist camp at first, but in the 80s of the last century, after the decline of the Soviet Union's national strength, the economy of East Germany also declined, and the gap with West Germany widened day by day, so that the East German people became increasingly dissatisfied with the Soviet Union and began to yearn for the reunification of the two Germanys. At the same time, West Germany also won the goodwill of the East German people by providing supplies to East Germany.
In 1989, the German peoples, eager for reunification, tore down the Berlin Wall. At this time, the Soviet Union was in a state of internal and external troubles, and it was already in a state of self-care. Although the Soviet Union had 300,000 troops stationed in East Germany and could prevent the merger of the two Germanys, the Soviet top brass knew very well that the reunification of the two Germans was the general trend and the Soviet Union was powerless to prevent it. In order to obtain economic aid from West Germany and the United States, the Soviet Union eventually agreed to allow the two Germany to be united.
In 1990, Germany was reunited, and the GDR and the Federal Republic of Germany were withdrawn.
South Vietnam and North Vietnam
Vietnam, a former French colony. It was occupied by Japan during World War II. After the end of World War II, France made a comeback and wanted to continue colonizing Vietnam.
South Vietnam was soon controlled by France, but the people of North Vietnam were always unwilling to be colonized by France and insisted on resisting. Unable to conquer North Vietnam, the French chose to withdraw from Vietnam and let the South and North Vietnamese regimes they had supported govern Vietnam. After the departure of France, a civil war broke out in Vietnam. Fearing that South Vietnam would be annihilated by North Vietnam, the United States turned Vietnam into the socialist camp and intervened in the Vietnam War.
The Vietnam War lasted 20 years, and the United States invested a lot of manpower, material and financial resources, but it was never able to defeat North Vietnam. The huge casualties of the United States during the Vietnam War caused dissatisfaction among the people at home. In 1975, the United States had no choice but to end the Vietnam War amid a wave of domestic anti-war protests. After the departure of the American army, South Vietnam was quickly destroyed by North Vietnam, Vietnam was reunified, and North Vietnam and South Vietnam disappeared from the stage of history.
6. Czechoslovakia
Czech Republic and Slovakia, once the territory of Austria-Hungary.
In 1918, after the dissolution of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, the Czech Republic and Slovakia formed Czechoslovakia. In 1993, the two countries formally separated through negotiations.
7. Sikkim
Sikkim, located in the southern foothills of the Himalayas. Sikkim, once a vassal state on the mainland, later became a British protectorate. Independence in 1947.
After independence, Sikkim remained under the control of India and had no autonomy in domestic and foreign affairs. In 1975, India annexed Sikkim, making it its own territory.
United Arab States
In 1958, Egypt and Syria formed the United Arab Republic. In the same year, North Yemen also got involved, forming the United Arab States.
The Arab countries have always been riddled with contradictions and disunity. In 1961, Syria and North Yemen withdrew from the United Arab States after resenting Egypt, which lasted only three years and ended Egypt's "pan-Arabism".