As the title suggests how would we get more nations like San Marino and Liechtenstein, small nations part of ethnic groups of larger nation-states but left out of consolidation because of geography or politics. San Marino left out of Italy not because they arent Italians but because of politics; Liechtenstein left out of Germany because of Austrian Empire/Austria-Hungary being between the principality and the rest of Germany; Luxembourg being left out of Germany because of politics, the personal union with Netherlands at the time of consolidation. So how do we get more little nations left out of the bigger nations? Doesn't have to be in Germany and Italy.
AHC- More San Marinos and Liechtensteins
- Thread starter Georgie Washington
- Start date
Marc
Donor
Don't forget Andorra.
In the same neighborhood, I have thought some truncated version of Navarre had a shot at being a codependent state between France and Spain.
The Lowlands had some possibilities besides Luxembourg. A formally divided Belgium between the Walloons and the Flemish.
And there is there real life current example of Slovenia.
They aren't micro-states, but they are quite small in context.
In the same neighborhood, I have thought some truncated version of Navarre had a shot at being a codependent state between France and Spain.
The Lowlands had some possibilities besides Luxembourg. A formally divided Belgium between the Walloons and the Flemish.
And there is there real life current example of Slovenia.
They aren't micro-states, but they are quite small in context.
Puzzle
Donor
I wonder if colonial empires could focus more on trading ports like Singapore and Hong Kong instead of filling the map with one color. Say the British never fully take India but they do bring in some coastal cities. After 100 years of random brushfire wars there’s no appetite for an Indian Unification, but the various trading ports don’t want to stay British or give up their autonomy. They’re enough richer than the surrounding countryside that they can’t be easily conquered, and they just keep going along.
More fractitious politics in the German region leave some capacity for more minor German states to remain independent, though going far back enough to prevent national unification fervor leading to their consumption by the usual suspects is a challenge of its own.
For pushing the boundaries of what could a "state" be, there is/was the self-declared Kingdom of Tavolara on the titular isle of Tavolara (just shy of 2 square miles) off the coast of Sardinia; it only became part of Italy due to being willed to the state by its last regent after nearly a century of de facto independence. With a population of only a few dozen people there's a question as to what sort of economy the country would be able to support, but keeping it independent to the present is only a matter of keeping more independence-minded people in charge. (For a very interesting fellow Italian example, though outside the pre-1900 timeframe, there is the Principality of Seborga somehow attaining independence.)
For pushing the boundaries of what could a "state" be, there is/was the self-declared Kingdom of Tavolara on the titular isle of Tavolara (just shy of 2 square miles) off the coast of Sardinia; it only became part of Italy due to being willed to the state by its last regent after nearly a century of de facto independence. With a population of only a few dozen people there's a question as to what sort of economy the country would be able to support, but keeping it independent to the present is only a matter of keeping more independence-minded people in charge. (For a very interesting fellow Italian example, though outside the pre-1900 timeframe, there is the Principality of Seborga somehow attaining independence.)
Do the Crown dependencies count? If so then i would think it possible to arrange things such that the City of London becomes one
You'd have to convince the guys in charge that a trading port would be more profitable than a colony, and that the natives would be better off as loyal customers than as a resentful underclass.
jocay
Banned
After being deposed by Ataturk, the Ottoman Sultan sets up in his last remaining possession Ada Kaleh, a small island on the island situated between Romania and Serbia. Upon pressure from Britain and France, the Romanians and Serbs and Austrians give up their claims up. Ada Kaleh is a small Islamic constitutional monarchy with a population that fluctuates between 600 and 1,000 on a given day.
Last edited:
this is my favorite. In your scenario do you think the Sultan would try to turn his little fiefdom into an Islamic Vatican by way of keeping his Caliph title? Not saying he could succeed, just saying whether he would even bother.
World War One goes badly enough for the Turks that they lose Constantinople, but nobody can agree on who gets it so it gets set up as a city state with guaranteed neutrality and unrestricted access to the straits.
The unification between England and Scotland goes differently, leaving Berwick upon Tweed as part of neither country.
Calais stays English for long enough that by the time the English crown can no longer hold on to it for whatever reason it is spun off as a Monaco like free port with worse weather rather than going to France.
An English mercenary company during the 100YW gets lost and sets up in an isolated Swiss valley which is overlooked by its neighbours for long enough that everybody gets used to it being there.
The unification between England and Scotland goes differently, leaving Berwick upon Tweed as part of neither country.
Calais stays English for long enough that by the time the English crown can no longer hold on to it for whatever reason it is spun off as a Monaco like free port with worse weather rather than going to France.
An English mercenary company during the 100YW gets lost and sets up in an isolated Swiss valley which is overlooked by its neighbours for long enough that everybody gets used to it being there.