AH: The 22 countries who escaped british invasion: how could the brits get them?

I was amazed to learn that we brits have managed to invade, raid, pillage or hold to ransome 90% of the worlds counties-all but 22 out of 200.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/art...-invaded-staggering-90-worlds-nations.html?IT

Now i think you'll agree with me that 90% is such a freakish number, so my challenge to you is this: how could we create the conditions for britain to have a reason to invade thoes 22 who somhow escaped the dubious embrace of britain. These include:
Mongolia, Tajikistan, The vatican, Luxumburg, Paraguey, Krygystan, Ivory coast, Sweden, Congo, Andorra,Chad,Marshell islands, Centeral african republic, Monaco, Berundi, Lichtenstein, Mali, Uzbekistan, San tome and principe, Guatamala.

So then: how could these contries be invaded and, as an extra challenge, how could such invasions go down.

Oh and by invasion, i will go with the artical writers definition: any serouse raid, attack, piracy, full scale invasion counts.
 
Luxembourg: should be really rather easy. Anything in the 7YW/Coalition Wars/WW1 could be a suitable possibility.

Sweden: Coalition Wars, very possible...

Well, basically, most of these nations are relatively recently formed and inland. Any that aren't can easily run afoul of the British Navy.

In any case, Britain was rather busy.
 
Surely, during WW2 there was an errant unit or 2 of His Majesty's forces in Luxembourg? Doesn't that count as "invasion"?:D

Could have been an invasion of Guatemala at various times in the 20th Century(possibly just before) as a result of G. going too far in pursuing it's claims on then British Honduras ( now Belize).
 
Surely, during WW2 there was an errant unit or 2 of His Majesty's forces in Luxembourg? Doesn't that count as "invasion"?:D

Not unless you mean individual officers.:rolleyes: Too far south. US 3rd Army sector. The closest British unit was the 29th Royal Armoured Brigade, which saw considerable action on the north side of the Battle of the Bulge. But they had the German Army between them and Luxembourg.

OTOH, Luxembourg was an Ally of the Burgundians and English in the Hundred Years War. It was the Count de Luxembourg who handed Joan of Arc over to the English (1).:mad: If he had been a less steadfast friend, I could see the Anglo-Burgundian forces trashing the country. But Luxembourg was always seen as being in "Burgundy's" sphere of influence.

1) Which is why Luxembourg has been such a doormat ever since. Joan got her vengeance...:D
 
I seem to remember the survey used some pretty lose criteria - e.g. privateers, any sort of military raid counted as an invasion, provided it was with government approval. And that boundaries don't count - if the region involved in the particular conflict falls within modern boundaries, even if it didn't historically, it counts

So let's try:

- Mongolia - 19th Century. 2nd Opium War with China. British blame Sengge Rinchen for some sort of war-crime (chopping heads of missionaries or prisoners or something), chase him to Mongolia.

- Tajikistan - 1840, First Anglo-Afghan War -
Dost Mohammad Khan, flees to Tajikistan and is chased there by the British


- The vatican - 1944, Nazis put up a fight from the Vatican during the fall of Rome, British case them in

- Luxumburg - 7 years war or WW1

- Paraguey - Sir Edward Thornton manages to get Britain to send a token-force to support the the Triple Alliance during the Paraguayan War

- Krygystan - Dost Mohammad Khan again

- Ivory coast - 1940/41 over-throwing a pro-Vichy colonial regime

- Sweden - some sort of raid during the latter part of the Great Northern War - say 1717 or 1718

- Congo - easy could easily have been a British colony

- Andorra - 1940 Spain joins the Axis. In 1943, the Allies invade Spain, reaching the Pyran

- Chad - Rabih az-Zubayr ibn Fadl Allah was a powerful Sudanese warlord who established a kingdom in Chad, and was allied to the Mahdi. British take exception to him, and...

- Marshell islands - 1914, British (not the Japanese) occupy the then German islands

- Centeral african republic - can't get this one

- Monaco - 1944 British invade it to drive out Nazi occupiers

- Berundi - 1944 British invade it when its German

- Lichtenstein - 1945 British invade to capture Nazis. Lord Haw-haw flees there?

- Mali - 2012 SAS raid on Al-Q allied militants

- Uzbekistan - 1840 Dhost Mohammed again

- San tome and principe - Scientific American documented in words and pictures the continued use of slaves in São Tomé in their March 13, 1897 issue - Britain intervenes.

- Guatamala - launches attack on Belize (British Honduras) and some sort of British attack/raid/SAS-raid, etc. in retaliation or to disable the airforce etc. 1970s or 1980s would be the likely period.
 
Cool! Most seem plausible/doable/not ASB
But re. Mali, not likely. It would be the French, not the British, launching the commando raids...
Ditto the C.A.R. that you were stumped by.
 
Some of the countries not on the list are intriguing.

When did Britain invade Switzerland? Slovakia? Angola?
 
Some of the countries not on the list are intriguing.

When did Britain invade Switzerland? Slovakia? Angola?

I haven't the foggiest.

Given that it's the Mail, lack of accuracy/extraordinary levels of hyperbole are to be expected.

And yes we were at war with the Swiss during Napoleon, but I can't recall British armies ever getting near the Alps during that conflict
 
They were at war with Switzerland during the Napoleonic Wars and Slovakia during WW2. I don't know about Angola.
They were in war with Slovakia but never invided. Except British military mission during Slovak National Uprising. Air Raids on Rafineries were done by Americans. For some small night bomber attacks, I am not 100% sure if there were any. Some Czechoslovak paratroopers could be dropped durin war.
 
Centeral african republic - can't get this one

There was a lot of slave raiding in the eastern CAR during the latter part of the 19th century. A British expedition that's in southern Sudan for some other reason, and which is commanded by an exceptionally zealous officer, might decide to go into what is now the CAR and suppress the slavers.
 
Vatican: in the reign of Elizabeth I, during which successive Popes actively encouraged Philip II of Spain to invade and even sent papal troops to support Irish rebels. Elizabeth retaliates with a naval attack on the Papal States.
 
Vatican: even easier than Elizabeth Tudor. In the buildup to the Frist Vatican Council, the British Cabinet was concerned at the impact if the Council adopted the doctrine of Papal Infallibility:eek:. (Given it was only dealing with matters of Faith, not sure why the concern, but they were.)
Anyway, Cabinet debated sending a gunboat up the Tiber to threaten Oops, I mean monitor the Council. (Seriously, they really did!) Have the vote go the other way and the boat sent.
 
Vatican: even easier than Elizabeth Tudor. In the buildup to the Frist Vatican Council, the British Cabinet was concerned at the impact if the Council adopted the doctrine of Papal Infallibility:eek:. (Given it was only dealing with matters of Faith, not sure why the concern, but they were.)
Anyway, Cabinet debated sending a gunboat up the Tiber to threaten Oops, I mean monitor the Council. (Seriously, they really did!) Have the vote go the other way and the boat sent.

Well, I'll be damned. That apparently happened, sorta! However, best I can tell is that he threatened, and while cabinet may have discussed it, I can't find evidence for a vote.
 
Let's break these up by region and type:

Tiny European Nations (5)
Andorra, Liechtenstein, Luxemborg, Monaco, Vatican City
During WWII, the Western Allies decide that each nation must have an ABC Force contingent to help with the wider de-fascist-ification of Europe (and Britain has the lion's share of the tinier nations).

South America (2)
Britain sends a minor force to help Brazil during the War of the Triple Alliance against Paraguay (and deploys the force via Bolivia for good measure)

Sao Tome and Principe
Portugal gets in a war with Britain at some point

Sweden
No idea.

Guatemala
Wait, when did Britain invade Central America? If it was before 1823, this could be another national existence solution...

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Half of these could be handled with how the countries were formed in the first place.

Former USSR (4)
Belarus, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan
Easy, USSR still exists; conversely, the three Stans and Turkmenistan could have conceivably seceded as a single nation (though that leaves the issue of Belarus).

French Africa (4)
Chad, Central African Republic, Mali
Trickier, but could Ivory Coast and Guinea form one nation, while the other three and Niger have conceivably held together as a nation?

Central Africa (2)
Burundi, Congo
Easier than French Africa -- just keep the Congo together.

Marshall Islands
Still US Territory.

Mongolia
Still part of China, or outright annexed by the USSR.
 
If the countries involved just have to be fought in rather than independent than the various 'Stans should be simple in a Great Game war in the 19th century with Czarist Russia.
The Great Northern War somehow merging with the War of Spanish Succession could at least see RN raids on the Swedish coast. Having Sweden try to stay neutral rather than Denmark during the Napoleonic Wars could see the Copenhagen battles end up being Stockholm battles.

Sao Tome and Principe could be attacked by Drake or the other Sea Dogs during the Elizabethan period when Portugal is united with Spain.

Luxembourg and Liechtenstein can easily be fought in by one of the British armies in the Low Countries or Germany during the 17th and 18th century.

Guatemala can be attacked during one of the various wars with Spain between the 16th and 19th centuries. Anyone know if anything in colonial Guatemala would warrant a Havana style amphibious attack?

Andorra can be invaded by British expeditionary forces in Spain and Portugal during the War of Spanish Succession or the Peninsular War.

Marshall Islands can be invaded if you have British forces fighting alongside US troops during the Pacific War like the China-Burma-India Theater IOTL.

Chad, Ivory Coast, Mali, Burundi can be invaded or raided if the Fashoda Incident leads to a big Anglo-French war in the late 19th-early 20th centuries.

Congo- Belgium allies with Germany during WWI or goes Vichy in 1940 and the British move in to prevent Germany using the area as a base.

Paraguay- Attacked during colonial period during and Anglo-Spanish war or Britain gets involved in the Paraguayan War.

Belarus can be invaded in a scenario where the Crimean War is bigger. Say Austria and Sweden joins on the allied side and British sends an expeditionary force to fight in the Baltic or Central/Eastern Europe. Changing where British forces intervened during the Russian Civil War could also work.
 
Chad, Ivory Coast, Mali, Burundi can be invaded or raided if the Fashoda Incident leads to a big Anglo-French war in the late 19th-early 20th centuries.

Except, none of those countries existed until after WW2. All but Burundi were part of French West Africa until the 50's. Burundi was an independent kingdom
from the 16th Cent. until it became part of German E. Africa in the late 19th Cent., then a Belgian League of Nations mandate and independent in 1959.
 
Sweden could join the Continental System during the Napoleonic Wars, or they could end up on opposite sides during one of the 18th century European wars.
 
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