When Was Each European Country Last Occupied? 

Who did *your* country famously invade? Or get invaded by?

At the airport: -Nationality? -Russian! -Occupation? -No, no just visiting!

'Most of it has been at peace since the 2nd half of the 20th century' Balkan: Yes, most.

England was so effectively occupied that the Normans never left.

Well, that introduction hasn't aged well

“When was each European country occupied” “England: Never” *angry Norman noises*

“First up Portugal because it’s my country and I’m biased” Best line I’ve ever heard today

“Europe has been in peace longer than any period before.” Russia: I am about to destroy this mans whole carrier.

This video didn't age well

Ah yes, the famous balkan country of Monte, known for being a single mountain

I like how your pfp is napolean who is french , you speak english in your video and also you are Portuguese which makes you a complete western European lol

Fascinating video and I learned a lot. Also liked your adventurous pronunciation of Weserübung (actually stressed on the first syllable with a secondary stress on the ü).

That intro is just depressing now.

Technically, Russia was occupied by Poland for a very short while in the 1610s. They intervened in the dynastic crisis and put Wladyslaw as the Czar. He got deposed almost immediately, but that techncially still counts as an occupation.

Turkey and Russia: "I fear no man..." * looks at the Mongols * Turkey and Russia: "But that thing... It scares me."

About Iceland: They became de facto independent in 1918 with a home government, however, they formally remained in a personal union with Denmark until 1944, with the Danish king as the official head of state (like f.e. the Irish Free State, or present day Commonwealth states like Canada and Australia). In 1944 the Republic of Iceland was declared. Moreover, Iceland was under Allied occupation during World War II.

Russia looking at Ukraine "lets update this map"

As a Polish person I can confirm: We consider ourselves being under foreign occupation until '89 / '91

Love from England to our Portugese friends in the oldest international alliance still in force. We'll do the same again if necessary :-)

To be honest, the UK has indeed been occupied/invaded a few times. Vikings invaded from Norway, Sweden, Denmark and Finland. Although they never fully gained administrative control, they did control most of the English and Scottish lands at one point, having executed King Ælla via use of the "Blood Eagle" in retaliation for Ælla having allegedly thrown Ragnar Lodbrok into a snake pit. Subsequently, the King of England at the time, Alfred the Great, ceded north and east England the Danes, and even formed an England/Scotland-Nordic treaty under Danish king Cnut the Great. The vikings (Harald Hardrada, king of Norway) invaded England in 1066 when Edward the Confessor died. The vikings lost to William the Conqueror at the Battle of Hastings in 1066. William invaded from the south, taking the throne, while Hardrada was busy up north The Normans invaded from Normandy, France. Took full control over England in 1066 when William the Conqueror won at the Battle of Hastings. Saxons invaded from Netherlands, Germany and Denmark All of this, is why English as a language cannot be simply traced back to one single language group. It has been so heavily influenced by everyone which has invaded at the various points. The majority of English comes from Old German, but there is still a lot of Romance and others mixed in thanks to the French and other occupations.

This was a great opportunity to mention the Lines of Torres Vedras, one of the greatest defensive actions of all time, and of particular interest to someone Portuguese. Maybe it is worthy of an entire video some time?

6:00 “The invasions of Napoleon and Germany” *Sad polish Moscow occupying in 1610 noises*

Slovakia "occupied" by the Czech Republic until 1993? Lol. It was a peacefully dissolved federation of two very close nations with almost the same language and culture who joined together in 1918 to win independence upon Austria-Hungary and share awesome relations until today. We are like brothers between CZ and SK. Dozens of thousands Slovaks study in Czech Republic on our universities for free and its usually ths first country where we expand our companies/enterpreneurship.

Well, the intro didn't age well.

The introduction of this video about peace in Europe hasn't aged well...

I do not understand the Slovakia 1993 example. We were in a federation with Czechia. The split was bilateral move by both governments. You may as well assume that Czechia was occupied by Slovakia and also gained independence in 1993. Also as an example during 1968 but also after both heads of government (Alexander Dubcek and Gustav Husak) were Slovaks. Federation is not occupation.

The Portuguese invasion by Napoleon and the British backing them up sounds just like the *Last Alliance of Elves and Men* from Lord of the Rings

When Britain was (at least partially) invaded or occupied: 1st Century BCE to 5th Century CE by Rome 8th Century to 11th Century by Vikings (Danes/Swedes/Norwegians/Icelanders/Norse in general) 1066 by William the Conqueror and the Normans

Love your videos, always well researched!! Greetings from germany

First time hearing the break up of Jugoslavija described as a ''simple process of separation''

Well this intro didn't age well...

wouldn't Iceland's freedom be earned not from Denmark but from the British occupation? the UK went and occupied Iceland in order to increase the air cover range for the convoys and reduce the mid-Atlantic gap in the anti-sub efforts. The occupation shifted hands between the British, the Canadians, and the Americans and ended in 1944/45. The occupation was a bit strange though. Iceland's government remained for the most part untouched, but the island was turned into an allied base of operation for the duration of the war...

Slovakia wasn't occupied by the Czech Republic, we were together one equal state and we feel to this day like brothers, not enemies.

the breakup of Yugoslavia was far from "a simple process of separation".

@General Knowledge a few words more about Russia. During the war between Poland and Russia in 1609 - 1618 a Polish prince Władysław IV Waza was appointed as a Tsar of Russia. He was on the throne in years 1610 - 1613. The day, when the polish army was driven out the Moscow now is a National Day in Russia (it was established in 2005 and it is celebrated each year on 4th of November).

Man, you do the best videos. Super-interesting.

Ah, yes. The Breakup of Yugoslavia. Famous for being a "simple process of separation." (14:04)

One could argue the occupation of England has been ongoing since 1066.

Well this got recommended to me at a good timing

Well... this needs to be updated...

LOL at the “NEVER?” On the U.K. Ancient Romans, Danes & Franco-Normans: Are we a joke to you?

As for the Slovakian case. It was embraced by Slovakian politicians of the time as to end the Hungarian rule. In the 1993 two political rivals couldn't settle their differences and decided to split. There was no referendum at all. Just a politicians choice. I as a half Czech half Slovakian don't consider it to be an occupation. Thanks for the content!

I love how its a tendency to just not mention baltics because the countries are too small for someone to care and be interested and then people are surprised when they do not know that Latvia is a seperate country and not part of Lithuania or Russia. The priorities🙂❤️

i just realize that i seriously dont know why im watching this video and what its about its just that this guy is so good at talking and keeping the enjoyment in the video that i dont click it away even though im not even paying attention to the video

The Czechs never occupied Slovakia. Even when they were Czechoslovakia they could have been considered two different countries in one. The separation in two countries was the natural thing to have occurred

it is amazing to think that this relative peace going on in Europe right now is pretty rare

Is no one gonna talk about this man using the beginning narration of the Lord of the Rings to describe Portugal and Britain fighting Napoleon. Brilliant sir Bravo

As a Pole I can say that a big part of our population considers 1991 as the end of the occupation of our land.

man the LotR quote on the portuguese-british alliance gave me goosebumps

13:23 Had to laugh. Slovakia was never occupied by Czechia. The last occupation was 1968 and lasted until 1990.

11:50 About Iceland, you seem to have missed a lot. First of all, the reason that it gained independence from Denmark in 1944 probably has something to do with the fact that, after Germany invaded and occupied Denmark in 1940, the UK responded by invading and occupying Iceland to prevent Germany from controlling it. (As violent as this sounds, Wikipedia claims the only casualty was a Brit who committed suicide.) To relieve British troops, the Canadian military joined the occupation on 16 June 1940, and USA joined it on 8 July 1941, which, very interestingly, was before Pearl Harbor, and thus before they declared war on Germany. Second of all, ignoring a slightly earlier mysterious aborted colonization by Irish monks, Iceland was first colonized by Norse settlers starting around 874 CE, forming the commonwealth and Althing in 930. This state was very weak and decentralized and, after gradual Christianization and a civil war in the 13th century, Norway got the Icelandic chieftains to pledge loyalty to King Haakon IV of Norway in 1262. They continued to be ruled by Norway, Sweden-Norway, Denmark-Norway, and Denmark until the 1940 British invasion; however, an Icelandic independence movement had existed prior to that since the 19th century.

I'm a history buff from Iceland, and I can answer your question. Iceland started as a bunch of men who came from Sweden, Norway, and Denmark. They took on the enormous risk of the journey because they wanted to become land-owners, and there was no more land available in their home countries. While making the journey, they often made a stop in Ireland, so each man could kidnap a young Irish woman, and force her to become his wife. And this is why the Icelandic genetic and cultural heritage is just as much Irish as it is Scandinavian. Immediately upon arrival, these men formed their own independent state, and it was ruled by a republic in which only male land-owners could vote. So, to answer your question, Iceland was born as an independent state in the 10th century, and then it was conquered by Norway in the 13th century, but then Denmark conquered Norway, which brought Iceland under Danish control as well. So basically, Iceland started as an independent state, and it existed as an independent state for roughly three centuries before falling under foreign control.

I knew you where Portuguese how 1 your accent 2 in almost EVERY video you talk about them 3 in the first minute of the video you said our continent especially number 2 Edit: wow never had this many likes

Switzerland: Is this some war joke I'm too neutral to understand.

This video has aged like fine milk.

So the intro says Europe hasn't seen a war since the XXth century...

Portugal is Britain's oldest ally😁

General Knowledge: Which country did you famously invade? Great Britain: *Yes.*

Nicely and done. Fascinating

I love the disclaimers about the what the video is not about. There is a lot to clarify when you use the word Europe and Occupied.

Between 1066 and 1707, the Kingdoms of England and Scotland warred a hell of a lot and Scotland did see occupation during that period. The Glorious Revolution can arguably be viewed as a Dutch invasion (albeit with parliamentary assistance) but it is probably better described as a coup with an army backing it up.

The last succesvol occupation of England is in 1688 by the dutch actually. the invasion also known as the Glorieuze Overtocht or Glorious Crossing by the Dutch, was the deposition of James II and VII, king of England, Scotland and Ireland and replacement by his daughter Mary II and her husband, William III of Orange, stadtholder and de facto ruler of the Dutch Republic. A term first used by John Hampden in late 1689, historian Jeremy Black suggests it can be seen as the last successful invasion of England

I don't know if anyone else noticed, but my guy missed Malta. (FYI I'm Maltese) On Malta, was a colony of the UK. We gained independance from the UK in 1964, but kept the Queen as head of state, but declared a republic in 1974, although we had a defense agreement with the British until 1979. Before the UK we were controlled by France for two years after we were invaded by Napoleon in 1798 while he was on his way to Egypt. The British came to help and removed the French after some brief conflict. The British didn't know what to do with Malta and so left it for some time before taking it as a protectorate and then a colony in 1814, after the Maltese asked the British to do so. So the last unwilling occupation was in 1800, whereas the last time we willingly allowed ourselves to be part of another country was the UK.

In 1066, the French Normans conquered England. This is why english has so many French words.

Forgotten Cyprus & Malta: We are also countries in Europe, in eurozone even. Do you have to be occupied by Germans or French to get a mention around here?

Never knew you were Portuguese. Very nice. I adore that place. I studied there in economics and law

About the thing with Iceland. So, Iceland was originally settled around the 800s and around that time there was an "Icelandic Commonwealth" established. If this counts as an actual country is debatable, as each Goði within it essentially acted like a king and waged wars and battles with other Goðar, the only thing that makes this technically a single state is the establishement of the Alþing, where all the Goðar and impðortant people of the island met and discussed/resolved issues, think a primitive parliament mixed with a judicial court. But this Alþing had no real authority. Anyhow, after the "Commonwealth" was absorbed into Norway it essentially stayed under foreign rule for ~900 years, mostly between Denmark/Norway. In 1918, after the first world war Iceland gained its official independance as an country, though it was a Kingdom under a personal union with Denmark and could not conduct it's own foreign affairs, so practically still under Danish control. This Kingdom ended when Germany invaded Denmark in 1940, where the Icelandic Alþing (not technically a direct continuation of the original, at this time it was just the Parliament of the Kingdom) declared that the King no longer had authority, installed a Regent who would rule the nation "in the king's stead" and declared it would conduct it's own foreign diplomacy (aka, it declared independance). About a month after Iceland declared de-facto independance the British approached the Alþing and offered to protect them from the Germans by stationing troops there, the Icelandic Government declined the offer and stated that they intended to stay neutral in this conflict. The British then conducted Operation Fork in responce where they deployed troops to the most important towns of Iceland, notably Reykjavík, Akureyri and some ports in the east. When they landed they faced no resistance and went on to occupy the central telephone stations, Alþing and post office amongst other places, it is notable to say that the Icelandic Police was ordered by the Alþing not to oppose the British and just let them land. The island was practically under British (an then American as they replaced the British forces in 1941) occupation from then on. It is important to state that the Icelandic Government cooperated greatly and was friendly to Britain (and America) but they did not accept the troops landing there and thus is is officially an invasion and occupation, even though noone was hurt or injured. You asked if at this point in time if Iceland was it's own "nation" or if it shares much with Denmark and simply split off, the answer is that Iceland at this time was very much a different place to Denmark, the customs, language, culture and such differred greatly from that of the Danes and the Icelanders had wanted intependance since the 1800s if not earlier. The Icelandic and Danish did not share a national identity apart from the obvious 1000 year old ties, but at that stage they were very seperated. Much of Iceland population was native to the island and almost everyone can still trace their lineage for hundreds of years, the population of the island in the 1940s was definately native to the land, and only a small amount of immigrants from Denmark lived there. It is important to remmeber that Iceland was not and never was a "colony" of the Danish or Norwegians, the original Icelanders came from all over Scandinavia in the 800s and settled on the uninhabited island, eventually becoming Iceland as it is known today, and due to it's partial isolation to the rest of Europe it still preserves customs and language from those times, a modern Icelander is able to read Old Norse (with some difficulty) unlike other Scandinavians who cannot understand it. Essentially, the last time Iceland in it's entirety was occupied was in 1940 and was occupied by the British forces, until about 1944 where it was oficially allowed it's independance from Denmark, though the American troops would still be stationed there until 2006.

Iceland was settled in 874 (having no indigenous people before the time) and became an independent nation in 930 with the establishment of the "Althing" - the parliament that still functions to this day (thus being the oldest continually operating parliament in the world). Attempts were made in the 1200 of an alliance or merger with Norway (notably men like Snorri Sturluson (d.1241) felt a need for some form of recognition of the king of Norway as the ruler of the island) - In 1262 the "old covenant" was signed and in effect it handed legislation over to Norway from that date onward. Indeed Iceland was side-baggage in the Kalmar Union and eventually wound up under Danish rule. As Danish dependents, the Icelandic people were de-facto occupied by the Nazis when they seized Denmark on April 9th 1940 so in an attempt to deny Iceland to Germany, the British were welcomed on May 10th 1940. That then is the only real "occupation by a foreign country" that Iceland has ever had to endure, Seizing the opportunity and knowing that Denmark could do nothing about it, the Icelandic nation declared independence on June 17. 1944 - 11 days after D-Day in Normandy. Actually though, things had been set in motion prior to that and King Christian IX brought with him Iceland's first constitution on his visit in 1874 - on the 1000 anniversary of the settlement of the island. Self governing had been established in 1918 making Iceland an autonomous region within the kingdom of Denmark - so it was almost a pro-forma gesture to declare independence in 1944 but events were governed by the uncertain and volatile situation in Europe. Iceland is a founding member of both The United Nations and The North Atlantic Treaty Organisation "NATO" as an independent nation. Thank you for the wonderful work displayed on your channel - I am happy to relay any information you might need regarding Iceland - my home country. Stay safe :-)

I love your videos! The fact that you are Portuguese is just a small reason why. Your videos are so insightful and well done? Keep up the great work!!!

Well England were occupied by the Vikings back around year 800 under the Danelaw. But i guess that doesn't count. I think it all depends on how you define an occupation. It can get complicated really quick. Especially if we're going to discuss how border and territorial claims should be defined. Typically there's a connection between an occupation and how a country claims this occupational territory.

Me, an Englishman: *sips tea* ah, we all love to see it (no seriously, while I was watching this video I was drinking some fancy flavoured instant teas I'd bought a long time prior from the Whittards tea company). In all seriousness though, what about William of Orange? Surely that technically counts as an occupation, even if the people supported it, as the regime did in fact change.

The 1993 date for Slovakia is a massive stretch. The name "Czechoslovakia" should be a pretty big hint for what happened.

It’s hard to pinpoint an exact year when Sweden was founded, it’s a matter of how you define a country. The first national law came with king Magnus Eriksson in 1350, before that you could argue that Sweden was just a union of more or less independent regions. From 1397 to 1523, Sweden was a part of the Kalmar Union, with Denmark and Norway. Denmark invaded Sweden in 1520 and occupied the country until 1523, so 1523 is still a correct date for when the last occupation ended.

I am no historian, I only know what I was taught in my English school and what I have since learned from web sources such as yours. Every Empire had its downsides but the most successful provided long term benefits, improvements in infrastructure, law, government, farming and commerce. Since 1066 us English have become Normans. Every war was between the interrelated nobility of Europe and Russia. Our Royal Family had to change their name from Saxe-Coburg-Gotha to Windsor in 1917. I read elsewhere that the alliance between England and Portugal is the longest standing in Europe; I hope that is still true!

Iceland poses some interesting questions. When Denmark fell to Germany in 1940, Britain briefly occupied Iceland to prevent a possible subsequent German occupation. In 1941 defense was turned over to US who sent a regiment of Marines. Iceland's Althing kept functioning so it may be more accurate to describe those situations as protectorates rather than an occupation

Congratulations man! No idea you were Portuguese! Congratulations in being the first and only Portuguese youtuber that I follow!

Iceland's situation is a bit complex. It was initially part of Norway, who settled the island (as well as the Faroes, Orkney, Greenland and for a short time America) - which had no native population to my admittedly surface-level knowledge. Due to its distance and relative isolation from the rest of Scandinavia, Iceland became something of a language isolate, and started having minor cultural divergence as well - though in the same way Norway and Sweden has, rather than something more extreme. When Norway fell under the Danish crown in the Kalmar Union, so did all their colonies. To my knowledge, the cultural makeup of Iceland wasn't much changed during this time. When Norway reestablished its independence in the 1800s, this was sans the colonies, which remained under Danish rule, until they later got their independence as well. So it wasn't an occupation in the sense that Danish posession of them wasn't acquired through force - the Kalmar Union was a dynastic/diplomatic thing - and no natives were conquered to subjugate it in the first place. I wouldn't see Iceland as having ever been occupied, really; it was simply one country splitting into two countries, though it split from a different country than it originated in.

As a Brit i love our Portuguese friends. Our oldest ally.

Muitos parabéns pelo teu trabalho, continua! És primeiro (e único) 'youtuber' Português que subscrevi e sinceramente não sei se isto é bom ou mau sinal haha.

Me ( a Slovak ) after looking at the thumbnail : We were occupied by Mongolia until 1993 ?

when you speak about russia you forgot about Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth conquer of Moscow and his Tsar puppet (1605) Russia was full contorl but they rise after some time when they saw Polish influance in Moscow

In fact, 27 European countries are currently under some kind of EU occupation, because none of the EU countries is a sovereign country anymore!

Anyone else understood the Lord of the Rings reference when he talked about Portugal? I thought that was very clever, well done General Knowledge! From New Zealand :)

Lmao YAS! "A last alliance of Portugese and English..." I'm glad you went good on that follow through xD

0:27 hearing you saying this made me laught :D

you're forgetting that england got invaded by william of orange in 1688 and by louis the lion in 1216

Fun fact: Napoleon declared that Spain, along side with russia, was his greatest mistake

Congratulations for the awesome video and keep up the good work! And didn't knew you were Portuguese! Bom saber que um tuga está a fazer um bom trabalho didático neste cantinho do RU-vid 👍 Grande abraço de Portugal para todos os irmãos lusófonos 👋🇵🇹

Well that intro aged well.

0:09 Russia: ima bout to end this man’s whole career

Obrigado por mais um grande vídeo! Sem dúvida dos canais mais interessantes do RU-vid! Um grande abraço e continua neste trabalho incrível! 😁

Good video 👍🏻 I like history. Nice to know your Portuguese, you learn something new everyday 😉 Greetings from Ireland 🇮🇪

This aged like milk

You should do a video on how long each country has been occupied for, with #1 being the least (denmark) and then everyone below them

I didn’t know you were Portuguese. Your English is extremely good. Muito bem, meu amigo!

First of all: Great video! I was interested in that, so when I saw the video in my recommendation, I clicked immediately! I don't know how accurate your drawings are meant to be, but the tank (at 10:26) looks more like an M4 Sherman (American). But then again, considering you chose a half-naked gallic warrior to depict the Irish rebels, maybe it's really not that important :) Speaking of the Irish, I'm surprised the date wasn't 1922. Maybe it's because of the difference between "occupation" and "control".

Change Ukraine to 2022? And perhaps Belarus as well? And yes, Slovakia was not "occupied" by Czechs. It was a pragmatic binational union that was separated by peaceful means, using democratic decision-making process, after it was found to be no longer functional.

With respect to the UK, Scotland and Wales were both occupied - by the English. England, though, was last occupied in 1689, not 1066. And Iceland was occupied by the British in 1940, whose troops were replaced by the Canadians later that year, and then by the US in 1941. The occupation ended in 1946.

Haha, I see what you did there with Portugal/UK alliance and the Lord of the Rings intro. Nice! I am Portuguese-American, my parents are from Santa Maria, Azores.

I've always wondered where you were from. I think it's awesome you're from Portugal. I heckin love your country.