Unconquered nations Following are the best candidates that have been suggested to me as nations which may have been invaded, but never lost their independence. Arabia (now Saudi Arabia) Bhutan Liberia Nepal Russia Sweden Turkey/the Turks Can anyone provide more information to support or disqualify these suggestions?
I would VERY much like to know if Turkey had truly never been invaded (and any other countries in the immediate area).
It has. The Greeks in 1919, the British, French and Anzacs (and some other assorted nations) in 1915, depends on how far back you want to go. Unless of course you're talking about successful invasions, in which case the list gets much shorter. It also depends on what you consider to be Turkey. The Cymmerians and Persians both invaded that area when Turkey was probably Phrygia. Alexander the Great? I'm fairly certain the area now known as Turkey lies within that which he went through like a dose of prune juice. The Romans (Later becoming the Byzantine Empire) occupied it for some time. The Mongols and Timurids fell a little short, from memory - probably ran up against that very same Byzantine empire but I'd have to go look that up.
The example of LIBERIA occurred to me when I first stared reading this thread. One cannot exactly say that it was "invaded" when freed African slaves from America began to be settled there, but for the native tribes of Liberia most of its history has been one of occupation. The American Africans became the effective ruling class of the country from the inception of the Republic of Liberia in 1847 until the revolution of 1980. Individual native Liberians were not barred from a role in the political and economic life if the nation, but few rose to significant positions, and practically all resented the incomers -- who tended to look down upon the natives with a contempt that would have done credit to a Boer. So: Liberia NOT really to be pointed at as a best example of a country that never lost its independence.
I'm not so certain they did, and neither did the Timurids. I'm going to go check that - they expanded mostly into Europe, probably past the Longitude where Turkey lies, but I'm reasonably sure they didn't get into Turkey itself, but rather operated a little north of that. Curiosity peaked now.
Unconquered nations My lastest reading says the Mongols conquered Turkey around 1260, causing the downfall of the Seljuk Turks. After the Mongols withdrew, the Ottoman Turks arose. If true, this would disqualify Turkey. As for Arabia: although the Persians and the Ottoman Empire conquered most of coastal Arabia, did they ever control central Arabia, where the Saudi tribe was based?
