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Author Topic: The Great (Country) History Thread  (Read 5132 times)

Skyrunner

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Re: The Great (Country) History Thread
« Reply #15 on: April 23, 2013, 05:25:36 am »

How far back do I have to go? x3

We have (1) ancient ancient Korea, five thousand years previous, or more interestingly (8) modern Korea, around 1940ish.
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Sigulbard

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Re: The Great (Country) History Thread
« Reply #16 on: April 23, 2013, 07:48:34 am »

Estonia's a small farm that the Russians, Germans, and Swedes have been fighting over and subjugating for as long as they're been able. Then America came along and was all like

U.S.A: "Hey Russia, we'll give you stuff if you give us Europe!"

U.S.S.R: "(grumbling) Okay..."

U.S.A: "Alright Estonians, we'll make you a sovereign democracy in our sphere of influence, sound cool?"

Estonia: "Yes please!"

And then we got back to farming and tree cutting with a parliament rather than a dictator.
This looks slightly incorrect.
« Last Edit: April 23, 2013, 07:56:17 am by Sigulbard »
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Owlbread

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Re: The Great (Country) History Thread
« Reply #17 on: April 23, 2013, 08:51:56 am »

During the Dark Ages, over a thousand years ago, Scotland was once several independent kingdoms. They were formed by various colonial powers who arose around about the time of the Romans' decline. They included the Vikings, the Ancient British (some may call these particular people Cumbrians or Northern Welsh, though we called them Britons), the Picts (the ancient aborigines of Scotland) and the Scots, a Northern Irish tribe who settled in the West and finally the Germanic tribes e.g. the Angles and Jutes.

The Britons controlled most of the South, including areas like Glasgow, Edinburgh, the Borders and so forth until the Angles and Jutes started to conquer their land from the borders upwards. The Scots ruled in the West in Argyllshire and parts of the Western Isles while the Picts ruled almost everything else. The Vikings had strong footholds in places like the far North in the Northern Isles of Shetland and Orkney, later the Western Isles where they took on the language of the Scots that they had conquered. That is why today we have people called "MacAuley" i.e. "Mac Olaf". A mish-mash of Norse and Gaelic.

With time, the Britons were picked apart by the Germanic tribes (the English), the Scots and the Vikings who brutally massacred them and turned them into slaves. Their strongholds became forever known as "Dun Breatainn" - Fort of the Britons, or "Dumbarton" today and "Cymru", now known as Cumbria in the North of England. The Picts suffered various power struggles until a single king arose with claims of rule over both the Picts and the Scots. They united and called their country "Alba", also known as Scotland. Their king was Cinaed mac Alpin, our first king, the man who presided over the birth of the modern Kingdom of Scotland in around the year 800 - the first modern "nation" in the British Isles to unite into a recognisable form. Later during the middle ages much of the lands that were formerly owned by the Kingdom of Norway were ceded to Scotland through business dealings.

The ghostly outlines of these kingdoms remain, their influence in placenames and customs. In the borders and in Ayrshire there are sheep-counting languages that are the last remnants of the old Brythonic language spoken by the Britons, while the linguistic influence of the Picts is strong in the East and Eastern Highlands - Aberdeen, Aberfeldy, Aberfoyle and so forth, Aber being a Pictish word for a river confluence. There are also folk memories of people with dark skin and black hair being associated with them. In the far North the broadest accents could be confused with Nordic people trying to speak English. Incidentally the first piece of recognised "literature" in Scotland is an epic poem about the Northern Britons fighting the Germanic Tribes, written in Old Welsh called Y Gododdin.

Here's a bit of it:

Quote
Men went to Catraeth with a war-cry,
Speedy steeds and dark armour and shields,
Spear-shafts held high and spear-points sharp-edged,
And glittering coats-of-mail and swords,
He led the way, he thrust through armies,
Five companies fell before his blades.
Rhufawn His gave gold to the altar,
And a rich reward to the minstrel.

There's one stanza that's famous because it "may" make reference to King Arthur, using him as an example of a heroic, valorous person:

Quote
He fed black ravens on the rampart of a fortress
Though he was no Arthur
Among the powerful ones in battle
In the front rank, Gwawrddur was a palisade
« Last Edit: April 23, 2013, 09:22:46 am by Owlbread »
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da_nang

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Re: The Great (Country) History Thread
« Reply #18 on: April 23, 2013, 09:16:04 am »

Let's see... For the "modern" early years, there was the Kalmar Union, ruled by King Christian II of Denmark aka Christian the Tyrant. In the early 1500s, there was the Stockholm Bloodbath, after which a certain Gustav Vasa, whose father was executed during the bloodbath, fled to Mora in the hopes of raising an army. Failing to raise enough troops, he headed towards Norway but was stopped near Sälen by people from Mora who had changed their minds. This dash from Mora to Sälen later became the background for Vasaloppet or The Vasa Race. He later raised an army, started the rebellion and managed to liberate Sweden, dissolve the Kalmar Union and be crowned king of Sweden. This is seen as the formation of "Modern" Sweden and has remained independent ever since.

Not that it stopped the perpetual wars between Sweden and Denmark...
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Ameablable

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Re: The Great (Country) History Thread
« Reply #19 on: April 23, 2013, 12:10:44 pm »

It is a western word, comes from Latin if I recall correctly, not unique to Australia but most often connected to indigenous Australians.
Some indigenous Australians use the term 'Aboriginal' as a mark of pride, signifying a unique culture, while others would spit at you for using the term and see it as being as more racist as the infamous 'N-word'

It is a case where a label was given to an indigenous race by colonists, and some people took it different ways. In it is the kind of thing that the public will say, but you won't hear in the media.
huh. here in Canada "Aboriginal" is politicly correct although most of the population calls Aboriginals "Natives"

the politicly incorrect term here is "Indian" 



How far back do I have to go? x3

We have (1) ancient ancient Korea, five thousand years previous, or more interestingly (8) modern Korea, around 1940ish.

Go from the 5000 years ago :D
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werty892

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Re: The Great (Country) History Thread
« Reply #20 on: April 23, 2013, 02:11:39 pm »

Aw yeah, we shot some brits, then some french guys, then some more brits, then we shot each other, then we shot germans twice and then we shot people who communism supported, then we shot middle easterners.

USA!

misko27

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Re: The Great (Country) History Thread
« Reply #21 on: April 23, 2013, 02:15:21 pm »

Serbs spent the vast majority of their time getting attacked, then attacking back, then getting attacked. Seriously, that is all Serbian history in a nutshell.
« Last Edit: April 23, 2013, 02:23:32 pm by misko27 »
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SoHowAreYou

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Re: The Great (Country) History Thread
« Reply #22 on: April 23, 2013, 07:58:06 pm »

Aw yeah, we shot some brits, then some french guys, then some more brits, then we shot each other, then we shot germans twice and then we shot people who communism supported, then we shot middle easterners.

USA!

Don't forget the time we shot at Mexico, and shot at the Spanish
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misko27

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Re: The Great (Country) History Thread
« Reply #23 on: April 23, 2013, 08:07:58 pm »

Aw yeah, we shot some brits, then some french guys, then some more brits, then we shot each other, then we shot germans twice and then we shot people who communism supported, then we shot middle easterners.

USA!

Don't forget the time we shot at Mexico, and shot at the Spanish
And the Philippines. And Japan. And Libyan Pirates.

And the Soviets (pre-WW2), and, Libya again. And Canadians. And I think I'm forgetting something. Haiti! Let's not forget that. Indians, too. And Slave rebellions. And Tripoli (So Libyans, again). And shot at China. And Austria. And France And all the members of the Axis. And Serbia.i And far, far too many African and South American rebels to name. But Panama is notable.

That's a lot of history you're neglecting.

Interestingly, the US has only formally declared war 5 times. So in terms of that, the US has never lost a war (Never declared war on Vietnam)
« Last Edit: April 23, 2013, 08:12:11 pm by misko27 »
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SoHowAreYou

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Re: The Great (Country) History Thread
« Reply #24 on: April 23, 2013, 08:10:53 pm »

Aw yeah, we shot some brits, then some french guys, then some more brits, then we shot each other, then we shot germans twice and then we shot people who communism supported, then we shot middle easterners.

USA!

Don't forget the time we shot at Mexico, and shot at the Spanish
And the Philippines. And Japan. And Libyan Pirates.

And the Soviets (pre-WW2), and, Libya again. And Canadians. And I think I'm forgetting something. Haiti! Let's not forget that. Indians, too. And Tripoli. And shot at China. And Austria. And all the members of the Axis. And Serbia.i And far, far too many African and South American rebels to name. But Panama is notable.

That's a lot of history you're neglecting.

Ehhh... other than the Japanese none of those are really things people talk about much, well maybe the Native Americans too
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werty892

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Re: The Great (Country) History Thread
« Reply #25 on: April 24, 2013, 05:16:33 am »

Aw yeah, we shot some brits, then some french guys, then some more brits, then we shot each other, then we shot germans twice and then we shot people who communism supported, then we shot middle easterners.

USA!

Don't forget the time we shot at Mexico, and shot at the Spanish
And the Philippines. And Japan. And Libyan Pirates.

And the Soviets (pre-WW2), and, Libya again. And Canadians. And I think I'm forgetting something. Haiti! Let's not forget that. Indians, too. And Tripoli. And shot at China. And Austria. And all the members of the Axis. And Serbia.i And far, far too many African and South American rebels to name. But Panama is notable.

That's a lot of history you're neglecting.

Ehhh... other than the Japanese none of those are really things people talk about much, well maybe the Native Americans too
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kahn1234

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Re: The Great (Country) History Thread
« Reply #26 on: April 24, 2013, 09:42:25 am »

Dear England formed in the fires of war.

First there were the warring Brythonic tribes of England, who likes to fight each other. Then the Romans came and bashed a few skulls together.

Then at the fall of the Roman Empire, a load of Germans came over and ruled/interbred with the native Celts (just like the Romans had interbred with the Natives).

Then they liked fighting each other.

Then the Normans, bad tempered Vikings who loved both war and living in northern France (for some reason), who came and bashed a few skulls together, who also came and ruled over us/interbred.

SO now we have the (70% Celtic) English who live in one of the oldest, if not THE oldest, modernly recognisable modern country in the world. Who liked fighting and hating the french in equal measure.

The Middle Ages were pretty much the English beating everyone to a pulp (especially the French) until they ran out of money and got pushed back. We loved to use the 5 foot 5 inch welsh advanced composite version of the longbow. we loved it so much we designed and built the famous 6 foot, up to 150lb pull version in the first ten years of the 1300's.

Then the renaissance, followed by the Industrial revolution (starting in the 1650's) happened and England became one of the foremost countries for technology, business, trading and industry, becoming hellishly rich and building the first 80-85% of its empire-fueling trading/business empire before the Act of Union with Scotland in 1707.

The English had also, parallel to becoming great in the home country, started building a load of colonies on various little islands globally, as well as North America, some parts of Africa and Oceania too. English, and later British, rule wasn't without hiccups and problems, but by and large the British Empire was one of the most benevolent European Empires. We also started and maintained a 500 year winning streak, only broken by the US War for Independence (which was actually a civil war).
« Last Edit: April 24, 2013, 09:44:53 am by kahn1234 »
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Owlbread

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Re: The Great (Country) History Thread
« Reply #27 on: April 24, 2013, 11:28:14 am »

"Benevolent" though it was when compared with some, it was indisputably fueled by selfishness and tortured Christian principles and ultimately lead to the exploitation of millions, along with the utter ruination of entire races like the Australian Aborigines and the Native Americans (though some say we weren't as bad as the "Americans" that followed us, I'm sure we would have been as destructive if we'd had the chance).
« Last Edit: April 24, 2013, 11:52:27 am by Owlbread »
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XXSockXX

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Re: The Great (Country) History Thread
« Reply #28 on: April 24, 2013, 03:27:00 pm »

I've settled on a starting date for my country: 23 April 1516. Before that life in germany wasn't worth living.

Incidentally the first piece of recognised "literature" in Scotland is an epic poem about the Northern Britons fighting the Germanic Tribes, written in Old Welsh called Y Gododdin.
Y Gododdin is awesome:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gg_vJKIeP_A
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