Cheezy the Wiz
Socialist In A Hurry
In the cycle of time, some nations have just plain gotten screwed. What's the worst one off, though? From luck, of course.
UNluckiest Nation Ever?
- Thread starter Cheezy the Wiz
- Start date
Poland had the bad luck to be next to Austria, Prussia, and Russia, and that never seemed to help them. I mean, unlike the Nazis, the Soviets never had to give back what they took in 1939.
sydhe
King of Kongs
Belgium has the misfortune to be on a major route between Germany and France. An awful lot of important battles have been fought there and just south in French Flanders, and not just in World War I.
Cheezy the Wiz
Socialist In A Hurry
My unluckiest nation ever would have to be Paraguay. In the War of Paraguay, they got the worst luck, they were boxed in by hostile nations with 30 times their population. They acutally won for a while, but when Argentina entered the war, they had to stop. For four years they fought, and in the end, Paraguay lost something like 3/4 of its working men. This ruined its economy, that and the fact that, after they lost occupied Uraguay( the reason for the war in the first place) they lost the route to the sea, and were landlocked. Before the war, they had the highest GDP in the Americas, after the war, well, look at them now. And this was 150 years ago!
The War of Paraguay was also the bloodiest war in the Americas, even moreso than the American Civil War, which is a close second.
The War of Paraguay was also the bloodiest war in the Americas, even moreso than the American Civil War, which is a close second.
blackheart
unenlightened
The Congo. Years of war, millions dead, etc.
Poland. Just as an example, the three partitions of Poland between Russia, Prussia, and Austria in 1772, 1793 and 1795 ultimately dissolved the country.
In the mid-17th century a Swedish invasion rolled through the country in the turbulent time known as "The Deluge." Numerous wars against the Ottoman Empire, Russia, Cossacks, Transylvania and Prussia ultimately came to an end in 1699. During the following 80 years, the waning of the central government and deadlock of the institutions weakened the nation, leading to anarchistic tendencies and a growing dependency on Russia. In Polish Democracy every member of parliament was able to break any work or project by shouting 'Liberum Veto' during the session. Russian tsars took advantage of this unique political vulnerability by offering money to Parliamentary traitors, who in turn would consistently and subversively block necessary reforms and new solutions.
In the mid-17th century a Swedish invasion rolled through the country in the turbulent time known as "The Deluge." Numerous wars against the Ottoman Empire, Russia, Cossacks, Transylvania and Prussia ultimately came to an end in 1699. During the following 80 years, the waning of the central government and deadlock of the institutions weakened the nation, leading to anarchistic tendencies and a growing dependency on Russia. In Polish Democracy every member of parliament was able to break any work or project by shouting 'Liberum Veto' during the session. Russian tsars took advantage of this unique political vulnerability by offering money to Parliamentary traitors, who in turn would consistently and subversively block necessary reforms and new solutions.
allhailIndia
Deity
Vietnam:
Having to deal with French colonialism, followed by a brutal Japanese occupation, then the French want to come back, then the nation gets split, then they are torn in a terrible war between the two countries involving, 500,000 American troops and a lot of American planes turning jungles, villages and Vietnamese into charred debris, and topped up by a war with China...not really great luck.
That they are still a nation says something for the people.
Having to deal with French colonialism, followed by a brutal Japanese occupation, then the French want to come back, then the nation gets split, then they are torn in a terrible war between the two countries involving, 500,000 American troops and a lot of American planes turning jungles, villages and Vietnamese into charred debris, and topped up by a war with China...not really great luck.
That they are still a nation says something for the people.
Heretic_Cata
We're gonna live forever
Belgium ? Ha, if it was that bad then why are they so prosperous now ?
Paraguay ... 150 years ? that's nuthin, but good pick.
Poland - between 2 big empires ... Very good pick ... though it could have been 3 empires.
I present you Romania:
From the first recorded documents after the dark ages we find a torn nation standing between 3 of europe's largest empires.
To the North & NE - we find the Russian Empire
To the West - the Hungarian/Austro-Hungarian Empire
To the South - the Ottoman Empire
This was reflected in the political map of the country. It was split in 3 nations, speaking the same language, same ancestry, same stuff.
For about 600 years (aprox) unification was prevented to preserve the intrest of the 3 empires in the area. Sure we had a brief several months of unification in 1600-1601 but they it was quickly put down.
A bit after this Phanariot rule was appointed by the ottoman empire in Moldavia and Wallachia. So the country was preety much forced to stay underdeveloped and to pay enormous amounts of tribute to the Sublime Porte. Armies, trade fleets & stuff were forbidden. Foreign trade with other nations was also forbidden, only trade with the turks was allowed - so you can imagine the prices if they had the monopoly.
This happened in Moldavia & Wallachia. Transilvania itself didn't do any better with the Austro-Hugarian Empire.
During the Habsburgic Empire RomaniansTransylvania experienced one of the worst oppression in the form of the Magyarization policies of the Hungarian government.
(And nowadays the ****ers- read magyars living in transilvania- want their language to be the official one in translivania
- but that's OT ...)
In the late 19th century, the diplomatic situation in Europe allowed the 3 nations to be united (eventualy) in one big country and eventually it was recognized by the neighbouring empires.
The period between 1877-1939 is considered the Golden Age of Romania. The absence of ottoman empire's laws of preventing developement allowed Romania to become a modern (at that time), industrialised country. (railroads, large factories were also forbidden before ...)
In WW1 - several millions died, Romania was left with 1/3 of it size but the territorial integrity was remade after the peace.
Anyway i should also mention that in it's whole history, Romania was invaded by Russia at least 12 times. And this happened at the outbreak of WW2, about 1/4 was taken.
We found ourselves on the wrong side of this war (we had a fascist dictatorship). During this time there were lots of civilian casualties because the allies bombed lots of major cities.
So we switched sides a bit afterwards and joined the russians in the war. In return, or armies (just like Poland's IIRC) was put in the front line, it was not supplied with ammo and stuff like that ... that's what they did to all countries the red army "freed" from the german influence. Suprisingly some ppl actually survived that.
At the end of WW2 Romania was agreed (by Churchill) to fall in the influnece of the Soviet Union. So obviously the teritories they invaded at the beggining of WW2 remained torn form Romania (and they still are).
So till 1989 life just sucked, as it did in all Eastern Europe. And Ceausescu's neverending dictatorship really "helped". I'm sure these kinds of stuff happened in all Eastern Europe. When the Danube-Black Sea canal was built, convicts, soldiers and "disliked" citizens were sent to work there. Lots of them died from exhaustion and were not fed ... as it was intended. And other such common things.
Nowadays, post 1989, people still don't know what happened during the 1989 revolution. The revolution in romania was the only one opressed in blood. So ppl still don't know who gave the order to shoot. Those that got rich during the communist regime by cooporating with the Secret Police (Securitatea) are the most powerfull ppl in the country today. The torturers & executioners roam free and all are rich, despite the cries of those they tortured ...
Today the country is still in a "transition period" to democracy (even though 17 years have passed) because we are ruled by exactly the same people that ruled us during the communist period (minus Ceausecu and his wife). So we have to wait for them to die of old age and let the newer generation that doesn't have blood on it's hands take over. Untill then, the country will always be in a transition period.
That's it.
Sorry for any typos, i was typing fast.
Paraguay ... 150 years ? that's nuthin, but good pick.
Poland - between 2 big empires ... Very good pick ... though it could have been 3 empires.
I present you Romania:
From the first recorded documents after the dark ages we find a torn nation standing between 3 of europe's largest empires.
To the North & NE - we find the Russian Empire
To the West - the Hungarian/Austro-Hungarian Empire
To the South - the Ottoman Empire
This was reflected in the political map of the country. It was split in 3 nations, speaking the same language, same ancestry, same stuff.
For about 600 years (aprox) unification was prevented to preserve the intrest of the 3 empires in the area. Sure we had a brief several months of unification in 1600-1601 but they it was quickly put down.
A bit after this Phanariot rule was appointed by the ottoman empire in Moldavia and Wallachia. So the country was preety much forced to stay underdeveloped and to pay enormous amounts of tribute to the Sublime Porte. Armies, trade fleets & stuff were forbidden. Foreign trade with other nations was also forbidden, only trade with the turks was allowed - so you can imagine the prices if they had the monopoly.
This happened in Moldavia & Wallachia. Transilvania itself didn't do any better with the Austro-Hugarian Empire.
During the Habsburgic Empire RomaniansTransylvania experienced one of the worst oppression in the form of the Magyarization policies of the Hungarian government.
(And nowadays the ****ers- read magyars living in transilvania- want their language to be the official one in translivania
- but that's OT ...)In the late 19th century, the diplomatic situation in Europe allowed the 3 nations to be united (eventualy) in one big country and eventually it was recognized by the neighbouring empires.
The period between 1877-1939 is considered the Golden Age of Romania. The absence of ottoman empire's laws of preventing developement allowed Romania to become a modern (at that time), industrialised country. (railroads, large factories were also forbidden before ...)
In WW1 - several millions died, Romania was left with 1/3 of it size but the territorial integrity was remade after the peace.
Anyway i should also mention that in it's whole history, Romania was invaded by Russia at least 12 times. And this happened at the outbreak of WW2, about 1/4 was taken.
We found ourselves on the wrong side of this war (we had a fascist dictatorship). During this time there were lots of civilian casualties because the allies bombed lots of major cities.
So we switched sides a bit afterwards and joined the russians in the war. In return, or armies (just like Poland's IIRC) was put in the front line, it was not supplied with ammo and stuff like that ... that's what they did to all countries the red army "freed" from the german influence. Suprisingly some ppl actually survived that.
At the end of WW2 Romania was agreed (by Churchill) to fall in the influnece of the Soviet Union. So obviously the teritories they invaded at the beggining of WW2 remained torn form Romania (and they still are).
So till 1989 life just sucked, as it did in all Eastern Europe. And Ceausescu's neverending dictatorship really "helped". I'm sure these kinds of stuff happened in all Eastern Europe. When the Danube-Black Sea canal was built, convicts, soldiers and "disliked" citizens were sent to work there. Lots of them died from exhaustion and were not fed ... as it was intended. And other such common things.
Nowadays, post 1989, people still don't know what happened during the 1989 revolution. The revolution in romania was the only one opressed in blood. So ppl still don't know who gave the order to shoot. Those that got rich during the communist regime by cooporating with the Secret Police (Securitatea) are the most powerfull ppl in the country today. The torturers & executioners roam free and all are rich, despite the cries of those they tortured ...
Today the country is still in a "transition period" to democracy (even though 17 years have passed) because we are ruled by exactly the same people that ruled us during the communist period (minus Ceausecu and his wife). So we have to wait for them to die of old age and let the newer generation that doesn't have blood on it's hands take over. Untill then, the country will always be in a transition period.
That's it.
Sorry for any typos, i was typing fast. 
Surely Armenia should be up there - unfortunately situated between the Roman and Persian empires, which meant that the main thing that happened there was Romans fighting Persians. When it got incorporated into Persia, it was time for years of Persians fighting Armenians in an attempt to impose Zoroastrianism on them. Armenia got so screwed about with that (a) its people are now among the most dispersed population in the entire world, and (b) the modern country of Armenia shares no common geography with the ancient country.
Other than Armenia, surely the most screwed countries are those of Africa that got exploited by the colonial powers. Congo is the obvious one there, I'd say: there was a time when you could buy a slave in Congo for the price of a missal. And so many people did that eventually the nation barely existed any more.
Oh, and not exactly a nation, but I'd say the unluckiest people in history are the Ainu. So marginalised and exploited that most people haven't even heard of them.
Other than Armenia, surely the most screwed countries are those of Africa that got exploited by the colonial powers. Congo is the obvious one there, I'd say: there was a time when you could buy a slave in Congo for the price of a missal. And so many people did that eventually the nation barely existed any more.
Oh, and not exactly a nation, but I'd say the unluckiest people in history are the Ainu. So marginalised and exploited that most people haven't even heard of them.
El Justo
Deity
great comments here guys! well done!
Rumania is one that i hadn't thought of as well as Armenia. good points gentlemen.
Poland was the first nation i thought of when i saw the thread title.
also, the Jews, up until they even had their Zion, is as good a choice as any of the others imo. Palestine is also a good nominee in the post WW2 landscape. of course, they're not a nation per se. however, their ethnic peoples have dealt w/ a lot of crap over the years.
how about the Kurds? the Turks didn't want them and Saddam though it'd be better to just kill them off. that's pretty unlucky if you ask me.
Rumania is one that i hadn't thought of as well as Armenia. good points gentlemen.
Poland was the first nation i thought of when i saw the thread title.
also, the Jews, up until they even had their Zion, is as good a choice as any of the others imo. Palestine is also a good nominee in the post WW2 landscape. of course, they're not a nation per se. however, their ethnic peoples have dealt w/ a lot of crap over the years.
how about the Kurds? the Turks didn't want them and Saddam though it'd be better to just kill them off. that's pretty unlucky if you ask me.
Well, once again, the Kurds aren't really a nation, any more than the Jews are. Of course, the reason they're not a nation is because of the way the imperial powers divided up the Middle East, without any regard for "natural" ethnic boundaries. The plight of the Kurds is similar to that of many peoples in Africa, where countries were created by someone with a map and a ruler, lumping people with little in common into the same nation and splitting other peoples between nations. This is one of the key factors behind all the civil wars and things that have happened in Africa in the past hundred years.
Afghanistan. It managed to find itself a border zone between British controlled India and the Russian Empire in the 19th Century. British paranoia of the Russian Empire taking Afghanistan and using it as a base to invade India led to decades of interferance, which was somewhat pointless as the Russians wouldn't have done any better at controlling it either.
Then Afgnaistan became a battlefield in the Cold War with the Russians, Americans and Islamic Fundamentalists battling it out, although the Americans mostly did it by supplying local allies, including the fuindamentalists they opposed in Iran. The fighting never stopped when the Russians pulled out, and now the national infrastructure is non existent and most of the country is controlled by brigands. With the Taleban on the rise again, it doesn't look as if the American and British occupation is going to end Afghanistan's misery anytime soon.
Finland gets an honorary mention for me for WWII. The Soviets tried to bully Finland into handing over land that the Soviets claimed was necessary for the defence of Leningrad (against whom, exactly?). The Finns refused, so the Soviets invaded. Despite mounting a heroic resistance, the Finns were defeated by force of numbers and they had to cede the disputed territory. Then Germany invaded the Soviet Union and Finland became diplomatically isolated because it had stood up to Stalin, who was now helping to defend the world against Nazi tyranny.
Then Afgnaistan became a battlefield in the Cold War with the Russians, Americans and Islamic Fundamentalists battling it out, although the Americans mostly did it by supplying local allies, including the fuindamentalists they opposed in Iran. The fighting never stopped when the Russians pulled out, and now the national infrastructure is non existent and most of the country is controlled by brigands. With the Taleban on the rise again, it doesn't look as if the American and British occupation is going to end Afghanistan's misery anytime soon.
Finland gets an honorary mention for me for WWII. The Soviets tried to bully Finland into handing over land that the Soviets claimed was necessary for the defence of Leningrad (against whom, exactly?). The Finns refused, so the Soviets invaded. Despite mounting a heroic resistance, the Finns were defeated by force of numbers and they had to cede the disputed territory. Then Germany invaded the Soviet Union and Finland became diplomatically isolated because it had stood up to Stalin, who was now helping to defend the world against Nazi tyranny.
El Justo
Deity
that was a good post Gallienus 
Wiki is easily available...
Che Guava
The Juicy Revolutionary
I think I would have to say afghanistan, at least in terms of consistent misery and bad luck....
Dann
Green bug
China. Ridiculously ahead vis-a-vis the rest of the world at the time and yet her rulers weren't able to parlay this into: a) utter destruction of the barbarians to the north, then b) overseas colonization and then c) world conquest. 
