Which Of The Worlds Countries Have Never Been Conquered By Another Nation?

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All areas of the world have been conquered numerous times in history (or prehistory). If you mean modern states as they exist now, few have actually been conquered. For example, Germany as it exists now only came into existence at the reunification in 1990. It hasn't been conquered since then, but the territory itself has been invaded/conquered/occupied times and again. The last time was by Allied forces at the end of WWII and WWI. Before that, Prussia (over half of which lied in modern Poland) conquered and unified the various German kingdoms, duchies, principalities and counties. Napoleon conquered Germany in 1806. In the early Middle Age, most of Germany was conquered by the Franks (who were based around modern Belgium), and earlier still by the Huns. Let us not forget too that the south-west of Germany was annexed by Rome and approximately half of modern Germany was defeated and occupied by the Romans (as far as the Danish border). You can go back even further with the Celts and Germans invading the region in the Bronze Age.

The same kind of scenario holds for any place on Earth. Australia, the Pacific Islands and Japan were probably the least invaded/conquered places since humans first set foot there. Australia and the Pacific Islands were only colonised once by Europeans after their indigenous populations got there, and never since. Japan was progressively conquered by the Yayoi people starting 2500 years ago, and since then was only successfully occupied by a foreign power in 1945.
 
Romans and Normans both conquered England or the territory known today as England.
 
If you mean modern states as they exist now, few have actually been conquered. For example, Germany as it exists now only came into existence at the reunification in 1990.

That's why I stayed with a broader concept of countries and nations as thread title suggested. As long as the culture, language and genetics of population doesn't change much we are talking about same country/nation.
Surely it's never a clean cut, and every situation is different, and could be argued about.
 
Spain has never been conquered.
 
Spain has never been conquered.

Depends on how you define "Spain", but in any case, the answer has to be "no":

- The Phoenicians conquered parts of the Iberian Penninsula.

- The Romans conquered the entire Iberian Penninsula.

- The Goths conquered the Iberian penninsula.

- The Umayyad Caliphate conquered the Iberian penninsula.

- The Almoravids conquered one by one the Taifa states in Muslim Iberia that emerged after the collapse of the Umayyad rule.

- The Alomhads conquered in turn Muslim Iberia from the Almoravids in the wake of their insurgency.

- The reconquista conquered most Muslim territories, with only the Emirate of Granada persisting into the 15th century.

- The French occupied Spain during the Napeolonic Wars.

- Even though this was technically a Spanish-internal thing, nationalist forces of Franco at the start of the Spanish civil war operated initially out of North Africa and orchestrated their campaign from there.
 
Depends on how you define "Spain", but in any case, the answer has to be "no":

- The Phoenicians conquered parts of the Iberian Penninsula.

The Phoenicians did not conquer anything. They only established trading enclaves in some coastal areas of southern Iberia.

- The Goths conquered the Iberian penninsula.

- The Umayyad Caliphate conquered the Iberian penninsula.

- The Almoravids conquered one by one the Taifa states in Muslim Iberia that emerged after the collapse of the Umayyad rule.

- The Alomhads conquered in turn Muslim Iberia from the Almoravids in the wake of their insurgency.

Neither the Goths nor the Muslims conquered the whole Peninsula.

- The reconquista conquered most Muslim territories, with only the Emirate of Granada persisting into the 15th century.

This was really more of an "Iberian-internal thing" as well. The reconquista has even been described as "a civil war between Spaniards of different religions" (Gonzalez Palencia), a justifiable statement, considering that the bulk of Muslims in Iberia were really natives who had embraced Islam.

- The French occupied Spain during the Napeolonic Wars.

This occupation was not really an "invasion" in the proper sense. It was a maneuver in which Napoleon betrayed Spain, an ally who had allowed French troops to enter its territories.
 
- The Phoenicians conquered parts of the Iberian Penninsula.
First, I said SPAIN, not the Iberian Peninsula. Second, the phoenicians didn't conquer the Iberian Peninsula. They had trading coastal posts, they never put a foot outside their trading posts, that's hardly conquering.

- The Romans conquered the entire Iberian Penninsula.
Again, they did not conquer Spain, the conquered Iberia. But romans were a minority anyways.

- The Goths conquered the Iberian penninsula.
Not Spain. And they were also a minority.

- The Umayyad Caliphate conquered the Iberian penninsula.
The Almoravids conquered one by one the Taifa states in Muslim Iberia that emerged after the collapse of the Umayyad rule.
- The Alomhads conquered in turn Muslim Iberia from the Almoravids in the wake of their insurgency.
Not Spain. They were a minority also.

- The reconquista conquered most Muslim territories, with only the Emirate of Granada persisting into the 15th century.
The reconquista was made by native people, hardly a conquest. And again, Spain didn't exist yet.

- The French occupied Spain during the Napeolonic Wars.
Hardly 'conquered' which what this thread is about.

You failed. Try again.
 
Mmmm... I think that @Wilhelm ( :rolleyes: ) "nationalism" is something to admire.

Objectively, there are many acceptions of the world "conquered". I think that in the from page, there is still visible thread in which some Spaniard deny that the Arabs have ever "conquered" Spain.

Naturally, I could find self gratifying arguments to "demonstrate", that Spaniards also never "really" conquered Mexico. :wary2:

(Starting from the fact that Spaniards where here 300+ years, not 800+ as the case of Arabs. I don't know what @Wilhelm will think of that :LOL: ).

Regards.
 
(Starting from the fact that Spaniards where here 300+ years, not 800+ as the case of Arabs. I don't know what @Wilhelm will think of that :LOL: ).

Regards.
Well, it's not true. To start with, they were not arabs, but Berbers. Second, they were not here for 800+ years. Only in Granada they stayed 781 years, the rest of the Peninsula is much less. For example, Galicia 20 years, Cantabria 0 years, Catalonia less than 100 years, Castille 150 years, etc. But it was hardly a conquest, since they were always a minority.
 
Well, it's not true. To start with, they were not arabs, but Berbers. Second, they were not here for 800+ years. Only in Granada they stayed 781 years, the rest of the Peninsula is much less. For example, Galicia 20 years, Cantabria 0 years, South-Catalonia 100 years, Castille 150 years, etc. But it was hardly a conquest, since they were always a minority.
And in Portugal the last Muslim territory was recaptured in the 1200's. In the Minho and Tras os Montes provinces, they were present for about 20 years (essentially outposts), the Porto region ~ 100 years and the Coimbra area, on and off, ~ 300 years. Muslims were likely an even smaller minority in Portuguese territory, compared to Spain as a whole.

Genetically, the Germanics actually had a substantially greater impact on Iberia than some other groups, since they came as a result of migrations and, considering all elements (Visigoths, Suevi, Vandals and Asding Vandals), amounted to at least 325,000 and perhaps as many as 400,000, at a point in time. Moreover, and most important, they were settlers. Haplogroups I1 and I2 (Germanic / Nordic) are found at relatively high levels in various parts of Iberia, including ~ 18% in the Braga region, 15% in parts of Galicia, ~ 17% in Tras-os-Montes, ~ 14% in Leiria and Evora and ~ 20% in parts of Castile. The great majority of NW African E markers are the result of ancient migrations and Semitic J1 clades average less than 2% in the entire Peninsula.

see: Beleza et al (2006).
 
Genetically, the Germanics actually had a substantially greater impact on Iberia than some other groups, since they came as a result of migrations and, considering all elements (Visigoths, Suevi, Vandals and Asding Vandals), amounted to at least 325,000 and perhaps as many as 400,000, at a point in time. Moreover, and most important, they were settlers. Haplogroups I1 and I2 (Germanic / Nordic) are found at relatively high levels in various parts of Iberia, including ~ 18% in the Braga region, 15% in parts of Galicia, ~ 17% in Tras-os-Montes, ~ 14% in Leiria and Evora and ~ 20% in parts of Castile. The great majority of NW African E markers are the result of ancient migrations and Semitic J1 clades average less than 2% in the entire Peninsula.
see: Beleza et al (2006).
Yes. About the germanics theres also another key factor that differentiates their impact from other invaders : Christianity. The law of Leovigildus in the Liber Iudiciorum that permitted the marriage between Goths and the natives.
 
Yes. About the germanics theres also another key factor that differentiates their impact from other invaders : Christianity. The law of Leovigildus in the Liber Iudiciorum that permitted the marriage between Goths and the natives.

Quite correct. Very significant.
 
This doesn't change anything about the fact that the Visigoths invaded the Iberian penninsula, overthrew Roman authority and established their own in place.

Of course, Visigothic Kingdom != Spain, but in some respects modern Spain certainly bears some continuity with the Visigothic state.

The Phoenicians did not conquer anything. They only established trading enclaves in some coastal areas of southern Iberia.

They verymuch did. Of course, early Phoenician settlements were merely along the coast, but later on the Carthaginians (at the even of the 1st Punic War, and in the interwar period between the 1st and 2nd Punic Wars) actually expanded their influence and subjugated the Turdetani, as well as most Iberian tribes (up to the Ebro river). Iberians were a major part of the Carthaginian fighting force in the Second Punic War.

Neither the Goths nor the Muslims conquered the whole Peninsula.

The Goths did, and the Moors very nearly did. Besides, both incidents prettymuch refute that the place had never been conquered. Roman Hispania was conquered by the Visigoths. And the Visigothic Kingdom was conquered by the Umayyad Caliphate. Period.
 
Mmmm... I think that @Wilhelm ( :rolleyes: ) "nationalism" is something to admire.

Objectively, there are many acceptions of the world "conquered". I think that in the from page, there is still visible thread in which some Spaniard deny that the Arabs have ever "conquered" Spain.

Naturally, I could find self gratifying arguments to "demonstrate", that Spaniards also never "really" conquered Mexico. :wary2:

(Starting from the fact that Spaniards where here 300+ years, not 800+ as the case of Arabs. I don't know what @Wilhelm will think of that :LOL: ).
Regards.

Actually, spaniards conquered more than Mexico, they conquered "New Spain"...

new-spain-map.jpg


And right after you finally gained your independence, the "gringos" conquered like 2/3 of your newborn country.

Warm regards.
 
First, I said SPAIN, not the Iberian Peninsula.

Napoleon conquered Spain and placed his family on the throne of Spain. It wasn't long lasting, but it still counts as a foreign conquest. A conquest doesn't require a mass migration, just a military capitulation and a foreign occupation. Otherwise Germany and Japan were never conquered since ancient times, and few countries were, except those that were colonised. But colonisation, especially migratory colonisation like in the Americas, Australia or New Zealand, is far more than just a conquest. It is genetic and cultural replacement. A conquest is purely military and political.
 
Napoleon conquered Spain and placed his family on the throne of Spain. It wasn't long lasting, but it still counts as a foreign conquest. A conquest doesn't require a mass migration, just a military capitulation and a foreign occupation. Otherwise Germany and Japan were never conquered since ancient times, and few countries were, except those that were colonised. But colonisation, especially migratory colonisation like in the Americas, Australia or New Zealand, is far more than just a conquest. It is genetic and cultural replacement. A conquest is purely military and political.
Napoleon never conquered Spain. A conquest is when your nation becomes part of the nation of the conquerer, and Spain has never been part of France. Only what is now Catalonia has been part of France, but at that time Spain didn't exist.
 
Yes. About the germanics theres also another key factor that differentiates their impact from other invaders : Christianity.

Goths embraced chrisitianism, they didn't bring it in Iberia.
 
Actually, spaniards conquered more than Mexico, they conquered "New Spain"...

And right after you finally gained your independence, the "gringos" conquered like 2/3 of your newborn country.

It is wrong for the Louisiana (now Middle-west). This region has not been conquered, but given by the French authorities for compensation to the participation of Spain in the seven years war. They will take it back, and sell it to US.
 
They very much did. Of course, early Phoenician settlements were merely along the coast, but later on the Carthaginians (at the even of the 1st Punic War, and in the interwar period between the 1st and 2nd Punic Wars) actually expanded their influence and subjugated the Turdetani, as well as most Iberian tribes (up to the Ebro river). Iberians were a major part of the Carthaginian fighting force in the Second Punic War.

Carthaginians and Phoenicians weren't exactly the same. And as you yourself say, they did not manage to conquer the whole Peninsula either.


The Goths did, and the Moors very nearly did.

As far as I can remember, the Visigoths never fully managed to conquer all of Iberia:

visigoth_kingdom.jpg


They always had trouble trying to conquer & control the Cantabrians, Asturians, the Suebians (occupying NW Portugal & Spain), Basques and the Byzantines (who held territories in the south of the Peninsula.)
 
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