Western Europe's Forgotten Countries

Western Europe has been a major part of world history in the past two centuries, but even in that period many countries have come and gone from the region. We'll learn about some of those forgotten countries, and examine why they formed and how they disappeared from the map. Let's Explore!
Notes:
Napoleon III was the original Napoleon's nephew, not his grandson
The French Third Republic ended in 1940, not 1840 (typo)
More information about Sardinia-Piedmont will come when we get to Italy
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COUNTRIES COVERED:
Irish Republic
Southern Ireland
Irish Free State
Irish Soviets (incl. Limerick Soviet)
Duchy of Normandy
Vichy France
Sardinia-Piedmont
Menton and Roquebrune
French Communes (incl. Paris Commune)
Free Republic of Vercors
United Kingdom of the Netherlands
Duchy of Limburg
Neutral Moresnet
Sonderbund
Austrian Empire
Austria-Hungary
Vorarlberg
Heinzenland
Lajtabánság
Principality of Sealand
Global State of Waveland
Republic of Kugelmugel
Republic of Saugeias
CHAPTERS:
0:00 Intro
0:31 Definitions
1:28 Ireland and Great Britain
3:03 France
4:30 Netherlands, Belgium & Luxembourg
5:33 Switzerland, Liechtenstein & Andorra
6:20 Austria
7:31 Micronations
8:02 Outro
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CREDITS:
Flag Map Thumbnail: Signore Galilei, CC BY-SA 4.0 derived from:
Irish Republic Flag: ArnoldPlaton, CC BY-SA 3.0
Sardinia Map: Arbalete, CC BY-SA 3.0
Austrian Empire map, United Kingdom of the Netherlands Map: Alphathon, CC BY-SA 3.0
Swiss Cantons Map: Tomchen1989, CC BY-SA 3.0
Blank map of Europe 11890: unbekannt, scan by sidonius, CC BY-SA 3.0
Waveland Flag: Jaume Ollé, CC BY 2.5
European colonialism: Davius, CC BY-SA 4.0
City of London: GJMarshy, CC BY-SA 4.0
Holy Roman Empire map: ziegelbrenner, CC BY 2.5
Menton & Roquebrune Flag: Dekodrak, CC BY-SA 4.0
Luxembourg partition: Signore Galilei derived from Furfur, CC BY-SA 4.0
German Confederation arms: David Liuzzo
Prussian Flag: David Liuzzo
Sonderbund map: Signore Galilei derived from Tomchen1989, CC BY-SA 4.0
Sonderbund War Map: Sandstein (translation), Marco Zanoli, CC BY-SA 3.0
Federal State of Austria Flag: R-41 from David Liuzzo, CC BY-SA 3.0
Karl Nehammer: Bundesministerium für Finanzen, CC BY 2.0
Sealand: Ryan Lackey, CC BY 2.0
Rockall: Irish Defence Forces, CC BY 2.0
Saugeais: Carnby, CC BY-SA 4.0

[@halldirector]

This was a great video! One small bit of feedback: You put a lot of information right in the lower middle, the area of the subtitles. In this video, most of the years of existence were under the subtitles and you didn't verbally say those years. So, a lot of watch, pause, rewind, watch again (or maybe this was your master plan to increase play time).

[@SignoreGalilei]

That wasn't a master plan or anything haha. I just wanted to use the whole visual field. I'll try to keep that in mind for the future.

[@jamsistired]

also, you can move subtitles, at least on desktop

[@Ttegegg]

@@SignoreGalilei grandson? You mean grand nephew

[@piuthemagicman]

@@jamsistired statistic say most people watch on phones (and tablets) so it's a no-no for us

[@englishtwister]

@@jamsistired Until this moment, I was unaware that this was an option. :O

[@danny-sc8gl]

The great nation of Sealand still exists today and is not forgotten !

[@SignoreGalilei]

That's fair, that one's still around. It wouldn't have felt right not to include it though.

[@Mr_Blah]

Long live the Principality of Sealand!

[@eshaantubegaming5811]

@@Mr_Blah I'd love it if a government actually recognised it

[@SportyMabamba]

SEALAND WILL RISE AGAIN 🫡

[@british35]

Once the sun blows up

[@ovs8691]

The fact that Normandy still technically exists is the best thing I have heard all day

[@SignoreGalilei]

Glad I could be the one to share it with you!

[@bobagingo_]

Around 3:20 when you were talking about the Second French Empire. Louis-Napoleon III was the nephew of Napoleon I.

[@SignoreGalilei]

Can't believe I didn't catch that one, thanks!

[@bobagingo_]

@@SignoreGalilei no problem

[@NorseNorman]

In the Channel Islands, the monarch of Britain is is still referred to as our Duke! In fact, Elizabeth was referred to as Duke Elizabeth, as there was no term for 'duchess' in Norman law.

[@SignoreGalilei]

I'd read about that, it's very cool!

[@Mentocthemindtaker]

Just wanted to say that this was a really interesting, well-narrated and well-edited video. Thank you for shedding some light on the chaos of just _one_ part of Europe. I imagine that one could easily make several seasons of videos of several hours length each video on the topic! I especially appreciate the easily-digestible length. (And the inclusion of Micronations! They are a very cool topic on their own).

[@SignoreGalilei]

Thanks! I expect to keep making more of these as time goes on, so stay tuned!

[@funchable212]

My feedback is that your channel is dope and you should keep making these videos

[@SignoreGalilei]

Thanks! I'll keep at it.

[@TheClousn]

I just stumbled across your videos and I really like them! Well made, entertaining :) please continue...

[@SignoreGalilei]

Thank you! I plan to keep releasing one every couple of weeks.

[@cleansingflame9335]

The Duchy of Normandy no longer exists as a separate polity; the Channel Isles are two of the three Crown Dependencies (which are in a sense successors to Normandy but are legally distinct).

[@SignoreGalilei]

That's fair. I think what I said was accurate in that the British Monarchs rule over the islands because they are part of the Duchy of Normandy, and King Charles III is still Duke of Normandy in the Channel Islands. You are correct, though, in that there isn't a parliament of Normandy or anything like that, as Jersey and Guernsey have separate governments.

[@cleansingflame9335]

@@SignoreGalilei That's true enough, though the title of "Duke of Normandy" is merely a courtesy title these days

[@Mentocthemindtaker]

@@cleansingflame9335 So is "King of the United Kingdom" 😂

[@doctor_brennan439]

Good stuff and nice video very underrated channel

[@SignoreGalilei]

Thanks!

[@chiefmonrovia6691]

Fantastic work as always! I've always wanted to know more about the myriad baby kingdoms Charlemagne had to wrangle, the 101 Dalmatians of post roman Europe if you will!

[@SignoreGalilei]

Oh man there were a lot of those. It might be a good topic.

[@saccorhytus]

101 dominions

[@piuthemagicman]

@@saccorhytus goat comment

[@AmongUsSussyBaka1827]

This vid is good! I love learning about this given that I am a huge history nerd, so I give this a 11/10! :D

[@SignoreGalilei]

Glad you enjoyed the video!

[@AmongUsSussyBaka1827]

@@SignoreGalilei :D

[@emilianohermosilla3996]

Great vid!

[@SignoreGalilei]

Thanks!

[@thebluke]

Please do all of the videos you mentioned i would love to watch all of them

[@SignoreGalilei]

I'm definitely doing Germany, maybe Napoleon also.

[@kaiserfranzjoseph9311]

The Austrian Empire may be lost, but it will never be forgotten

[@SignoreGalilei]

That's fair, Kaiser.

[@paulharvey6503]

great videos! keep it up

[@SignoreGalilei]

Thanks!

[@togerboy5396]

You deserve more subs!

[@SignoreGalilei]

Thanks!

[@oliverclothesoff5397]

At 1:24 the painting you show is pretty cool. I've never seen that one before. Thanks for the great content!

[@SignoreGalilei]

You're welcome!

[@pinasonhand]

Lived on Guernsey as a child. Beautiful place and dream of returning one day.

[@SignoreGalilei]

Nice!

[@ErickReyesRomeroBanks]

W2s

[@YungFett]

Actually yes I'd like a video about Napoleon

[@SignoreGalilei]

It looks like there is some demand there, I'll see how it goes.

[@konstantinosadamopoulos9918]

Very good video! Slight correction is that Napoleon III was Napoleon I's nephew not grandson.

[@SignoreGalilei]

Thanks for catching me on this - I appreciate people pointing out my mistakes. I believe there's a correction in the description, since a previous commenter also mentioned it.

[@Hijiri_MIRACHION]

I'm surprised you didn't bring up Seborga. That's definitely one of the ones I think of for European Micronations.

[@franwex]

Never heard of this before. Nice.

[@barfazoid5773]

yeah but its not a microstate, its a micronation. Microstates are small, yet recognized countries, and micronations are unrecognized

[@Hijiri_MIRACHION]

@@barfazoid5773 Ah, I messed that up, didn't I? I absolutely meant Micronation, not sure why I came up with Microstate instead...

[@SignoreGalilei]

I hadn't specifically heard of Seborga. I might bring it up when I do Italy.

[@mathieuleader8601]

the construction of sealand is facinating

[@iceworld6104]

can we see napoleon and hre forgotten countries? maybe 2 videos on the hre since there so many.

[@SignoreGalilei]

Yeah it might make sense to split the HRE up into two videos. I'll see how it goes.

[@DreadMaps.]

I got a question how make the nice maps on your videos I would like to know

[@SignoreGalilei]

I get a lot of them from Wikimedia Commons (links in the description). For the ones I make myself I usually use Paint.NET and imagery from NASA's WorldWind.

[@EdbertWeisly]

Please add Lanfang Republic if you ever do one of South East Asia

[@SignoreGalilei]

I definitely will, Lanfang is cool.

[@iceworld6104]

oh can you do a video specifically on the countrys and break away states that called for seperation after ww1 or during. or before.

[@SignoreGalilei]

That's an interesting idea. I've mostly been covering countries by region rather than by time period, but World War One did have a lot of breakaway countries involved.

[@iceworld6104]

@@SignoreGalilei good luck. love your channel.

[@Ggdivhjkjl]

@2:07 Well done using the correct flag!

[@SignoreGalilei]

Thanks!

[@ericwininger1778]

Napoleon III was napoleon's nephew, not his grandson.

[@SignoreGalilei]

Yeah, I messed that one up. There's a correction in the comments.

[@ghost2130Main]

ireland:i want freedom! britain:best i can do is change your name

[@SignoreGalilei]

Yeah, oof. Ireland got their freedom eventually at least.

[@Mentocthemindtaker]

@@SignoreGalilei Most of Ireland anyway! Scotland has been pushing for it but so far it's been vetoed.

[@danny-sc8gl]

That Germany video would be cool!

[@SignoreGalilei]

I'll be sure to make it!

[@ItsViixy]

Suggestion, a video about the petty Kingdoms of Norway?

[@SignoreGalilei]

I might get to them along with the rest of the Nordic countries, we'll see.

[@ItsViixy]

@@SignoreGalilei would be sick, theres little about these kingdoms and i would love to watch some old local history!

[@celesteheinen6043]

As a Dutch i never knew this thank you.😊

[@isaacbibic2532]

good video but i tought you say piedmont-sardinia not sardinia-piedmon maybe im wrong i dont know

[@SignoreGalilei]

I've seen it as Sardinia-Piedmont where I've looked but I'm not 100% tied to that.

[@ntm4]

Loved the Limerick limerick. 😆

[@SignoreGalilei]

Thanks! I had fun with it.

[@danny-sc8gl]

A video about Napoleons states would also be cool since I mainly know about the fact that he created a polish puppet state that helped him invade Russia I am pretty sure.

[@SignoreGalilei]

That would definitely be cool to include

[@ciaocomestai945]

Can you do a video on eastern europe too

[@SignoreGalilei]

I might at some point soon, it's on the list

[@AlsayidHaddosh]

3:13 No buddy Napoleon III is a nephew of Napoleon Bonaparte Not Grandson Napoleon II (Napoleon Bonaparte's only legitimate son) only lived to the age of 21

[@Bacony_Cakes]

i'm pretty sure sealand still exists i mean i took a picture of it from felixstowe last year so surely it hasn't disappeared since then

[@bbamgidsvanens2788]

this channel has 14k subs? i expected like 800k

[@SignoreGalilei]

Thanks! Here's hoping I get there someday.

[@kpfabrykanudy]

Some of these give me same vibes as modern Polish joke "micronation" Kingdom of Kabuto (Królestwo Kabuto) I just found some articles saying it really existed in 2016 lmao, but idk how it looks now

[@SignoreGalilei]

I can't find stuff about it in English, only Polish and unfortunately I don't understand Polish. It looks cool though.

[@DugrozReports]

Where is that Germany video?

[@magickymajk]

"most enduring one lasting about 11 days" Most stable French government

[@SignoreGalilei]

Oof

[@Mentocthemindtaker]

😅

[@dragondefeu9837]

fun fact : because of the free republic of vercors, grenoble, the closest city, has the titre, sister city of the liberation

[@SignoreGalilei]

That's cool that it has that honor as a city.

[@altheamantes2041]

7:18 from I will join to I joined?

[@catdemon922]

Woooo, HRE video. I love the HRE

[@SignoreGalilei]

It's quite an interesting entity

[@AmongUsSussyBaka1827]

ja

[@CrisisMoon7]

Today is May 28th as of me watching this video :0 5:43pm May 28 2023, Sunday

[@wohnai]

3:17 1870-1840 its just a typo but repeated inaccuracies damage credibility.

[@SignoreGalilei]

Good catch, I'll put it in the description. Credibility is very important, and I know it suffers when these kinds of mistakes happen.

[@iandoster4680]

0:52 1. I view Western Europe as these countries: Ireland, Britain, The Netherlands, Belgium, Luxembourg, France, Monaco, Italy, San Marino, Andorra, Spain, Portugal and Malta.

[@iandoster4680]

1:13 2. That is the flag of the Kalmar Union, a personal union between Denmark-Norway and Sweden which existed from 1397 to 1523.

[@iandoster4680]

2:08 3. That isn't the flag of Australia. That is the civil ensign of Australia. The national flag is the same but the background is blue, not red.

[@iandoster4680]

3:31 4. Piedmont-Sardinia was not French, or at least what I have looked at. Piedmont-Sardinia was Italian, and was therefore not French.

[@SignoreGalilei]

Australia used what is now the red ensign as a civil flag up through the 1950s

[@iandoster4680]

Oh really? Well, the blue ensign flag was adopted in 1901 in a federal flag design competition.

[@zachl3330]

Looking forward to the free state of Bottleneck in the Germany version

[@SignoreGalilei]

It'll be there!

[@billclinton4207]

Jan misali type beat

[@SignoreGalilei]

Jan Misali is definitely one of my role models on KZbin.

[@VaxlandMapping101]

What’s this flag? 1:08

[@SignoreGalilei]

The Saar protectorate. I'm planning to cover it in the Germany video.

[@EdbertWeisly]

3:15 oh no

[@SignoreGalilei]

Yeah France had some turbulent politics in the 19th century.

[@user-hd2sd7nb2c]

You forgot Saarland.

[@GolemDude]

Wait why was The Netherlands forced to compensate for what Belgium did?

[@SignoreGalilei]

I think it's because Belgium beat the Netherlands in the independence war and so the Dutch didn't have a strong negotiating hand.

[@cleansingflame9335]

Piedmont-Sardinia wasn't really a state as such; it was a composite state, legally referred to as the States of His Majesty the King of Sardinia. The parts that France got were the Duchy of Savoy and the County of Nice. I know the map shows that, but your narration was technically incorrect.

[@SignoreGalilei]

Yeah, I didn't want to go into too much detail about Sardinia-Piedmont since I'll include it again when I get to Italy. I'm happy to put a correction up in the description if you have an idea of what I should write for it.

[@cleansingflame9335]

@@SignoreGalilei I'd just put "further clarification in the Southern Europe video" or something like that. Sorry for the nitpicking, I really did enjoy the video!

[@IronMar1O]

Didn’t know Spain, Portugal and Italy were in east Europe 😄

[@SignoreGalilei]

I'm counting them as Southern Europe, for the sake of video length.

[@petercroves8562]

napoleon 3rd was the nephew of napoln 1st

[@wan1edguy382]

i want all the forgotten countries

[@SignoreGalilei]

There will be more of these!

[@5nhyfiery]

i will always remember austria

[@igorgdlt8744]

I give you another forgotten country of western Europe (so forgotten you didn't know about It). Coto Mixto, I'm from Galicia, Spain, and I can tel you 99+% of people from here doesn't even know that Coto Mixto existed lol

[@SignoreGalilei]

Thanks! I'll be sure to talk about it when I get to Iberia.

[@Max-nt5zs]

How the hell could you forget the Saarland protectorate…

[@SignoreGalilei]

It's in Germany, so I excluded it on purpose

[@nacelnikprosiak1260]

could have talk about Republic of Zakopane during post Austro Hungary collapse countries Fun fact: after chaos of collapse of Austro Hungary alot and alot of micro nationes were being created, every single train station could create its own nation, many of these fought other nationalities micro states, like Polish train stations fighting agaist czech one for control of small villages to secure them in borders of Polish State

[@SignoreGalilei]

I left out a lot of Austria-Hungary that isn't part of modern Austria. That is a fun fact too though.

[@menoflowicz]

Napoleon III was Napoleon's nephew, not grandson.

[@SignoreGalilei]

Thanks. There should be a correction in the description.

[@Tsuruchi_420]

0:01 ill, very ill

[@rezzoc91]

Don't forget the Republic of Genoa, that held all of the Spanish gold for long time

[@SignoreGalilei]

It's a cool country, but it had just been annexed by Sardinia-Piedmont by the video's cutoff date.

[@rezzoc91]

@@SignoreGalilei makes sense

[@ayvasovskiy6726]

What about Mann?

[@SignoreGalilei]

It's cool. It's still around though (although so are the Channel Islands and the micronations I suppose).

[@ethanbrown7233]

Ok how did the German empire somehow was included in here

[@SignoreGalilei]

I needed something to go in that part of the map, and the German Empire fit the bill. Germany will be in its own video.

[@eaturcookiescookie7462]

I…. I forgor again 💀

[@EdbertWeisly]

South Asia and South East Asia (Mainland and Maritime) will be a Pain for you

[@SignoreGalilei]

Yeah, I am hoping to do it sometime but it might be complex.

[@stone8268]

Napoleon the 3rd is Napoleon's nephew not grandson

[@SignoreGalilei]

Yep, I think I've added that in the description.

[@user-of1hi3dy6v]

Couto Miso

[@just_the_letter_a]

More micro nation stuff!

[@SignoreGalilei]

They're definitely fun to cover.

[@randalltilander6684]

Did you forget the Isle of Man?

[@SignoreGalilei]

I mean it's still around, so I didn't consider it to be forgotten. It is interesting though.

[@jonathanwilliams1065]

How are Italy, Portugal, and Spain not Western Europe?

[@SignoreGalilei]

I'm counting them as Southern Europe to keep the video from getting too long

[@valentintapata2268]

If you want to se forgotten countries look for small nations through history.

[@SignoreGalilei]

That's what I'm looking for!

[@valentintapata2268]

@@SignoreGalilei Nice, but go further back in history. Practically all big nations are just an amalgamation of several smaller ones.

[@Abs0luteCha0s]

Napoleon plz.

[@bennruda11]

Do em all, including the siberian republics like tuva

[@SignoreGalilei]

I did cover Tuva in my East Asia's Forgotten Countries video. Check it out!

[@David-yw2lv]

The Ausro-Hungarian Empire was never popular with Austrians Hungarians or any other nationalities in it.

[@Order-Joshua]

Ireland is pronounced without the I.

[@Mentocthemindtaker]

Re-land? lol I think it's only pronounced without the "I" if you're Irish. Just like Germans don't call their country "Germany", they call it "Deutschland".

[@dafinger]

Technically the Irish Republic has continued to exist through the IRA and post 69' splinter groups.

[@SignoreGalilei]

You could construe it that way, though they don't control territory I suppose.

[@notsimpman2980]

is you like brain not work sealand is still here

[@SignoreGalilei]

It is.The micronations (and the Duchy of Normandy) I included even though they're still around because people may not have heard of them.

[@CoinyforReal]

Sealand still exists

[@SignoreGalilei]

Yep, it does. I chose to include it anyway because it's fun.

[@CoinyforReal]

@@SignoreGalilei lol yea

[@ddelv1601]

In the 90s there were running homes about African nations forming and collapsing seemingly overnight. It wasn't until I was an adult that I realized most of the world was like that before WWII. The United Nations and nuclear weapons have really helped firm up the world's boarders. Let's just hope the nukes continue their role of scarecrow. All the security benefits they have provided over the years could quickly be meaningless

[@edoardobaia7927]

Bro doesn't even know about the cospaia republic

[@SignoreGalilei]

That's in Italy, I'll get to Italy in a future video. (Sardinia-Piedmont only got in because part of it is French now.)

[@panduwidagdo7051]

Nice video, but your voice made me hard to breath.

[@SignoreGalilei]

Huh. How so?

[@panduwidagdo7051]

​@@SignoreGalilei your pitch is too low, and sounds like you run out of breath, which made me feel like suffocated.

[@SignoreGalilei]

@@panduwidagdo7051 Well I don't know how much I can do about the pitch but I'm hoping to upgrade my audio setup soon so maybe that will help.

[@panduwidagdo7051]

@@SignoreGalilei I believe it will. Good luck, buddy!

[@Dr.Schlitz]

Spain, Portugal, and Italy are not “Western Europe”?

[@SerbianNationaIist]

who says Sealand doesn't exist anymore?

[@Mentocthemindtaker]

Oh, I don't think the video was implying that the micronations mentioned don't exist any more but I completely understand how that could be inferred. I'm aware that Sealand is thriving!

[@SignoreGalilei]

Yeah the micronations mostly still exist (except maybe Waveland), I just thought I should mention some of them too.

[@columbannon9134]

The whole island of Ireland had its own country before the British came.

[@SignoreGalilei]

It was a lot of smaller kingdoms as far as I'm aware.

[@thurmanmerman2720]

@@SignoreGalilei It had its own system of kingship, think of it as a federal state in today's terms. Kings even had to be elected and its legal system was very progressive for the time.

[@SignoreGalilei]

@@thurmanmerman2720 That makes sense. From what I'm reading it looks similar to feudal Japan or the Holy Roman Empire maybe.

[@kaiserfranzjoseph9311]

You forgot Vichy France and you didnt even talk about germany

[@SignoreGalilei]

I did mention Vichy France when I went through all the French governments. Germany will be its own video.

[@kaiserfranzjoseph9311]

@@SignoreGalilei ok, didnt notice that

[@SignoreGalilei]

@@kaiserfranzjoseph9311 No worries!

[@namedtruman]

do the free republic of trieste next

[@SignoreGalilei]

That'll probably be in with Southern Europe once I get to it

[@namedtruman]

@@SignoreGalilei thanks

[@ItsSealandGaming]

sealand will exist forever

[@slametdinatadinata645]

Atlease he has not mention naz-

[@SignoreGalilei]

Yeah it might be hard to avoid in the Germany vid

[@slametdinatadinata645]

@@SignoreGalilei yeah because that.

[@slametdinatadinata645]

@@SignoreGalilei also thank you for replying to me

[@SignoreGalilei]

@@slametdinatadinata645 You're welcome!

[@BanCommies_Fascists]

History of Austria be like: ".....Germany", ".......Germany", "........Germany" and repeat.

[@SignoreGalilei]

Yeah that's what I was going for haha.

[@Metal_detector_denmark]

it was napoleons NEPHEW

[@SignoreGalilei]

Yep, I put a correction as such in the description.

[@doublezero2001]

Napoleon > Louie Is fact 😂

[@superluk8_]

You can do USA communists site 😂😂😂

[@maikotter9945]

"Socialist Republic of Massachusetts"?

[@jamesruscheinski8602]

need substantive nature choice for God's free will sovereignty

[@drderper]

Please delete Lichetenstein, they have very expensive kebab.

[@SignoreGalilei]

And lose the world's premier makers of false teeth? Nah, man, just buy your kebabs across the border in Vorarlberg. (Also, hi)

[@LunarPenguin42]

@@SignoreGalilei also expensive there. And vivadent/ivoclar is a shit employer.

[@therealoldnosey8689]

Not sure why you wanted to mention tiny communist cities that lasted weeks lmao

[@SignoreGalilei]

Just for completeness sake (and so I could put in the Limerick gag)