Some countries that no longer exist

(Source: Msn)

From ethnic turmoil and civil war to struggles for independence and political mergers, countries come and go over time. Here’s a look at some countries that no longer exist.
 

Union of Soviet Socialist Republics

In 1922, the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR) was established in northern Eurasia, stretching from the Baltic and Black seas to the Pacific Ocean. Toward the end of its reign, the communist country comprised 15 Eurasian republics encompassing over 100 distinct nationalities and was geographically the largest country in the world. The USSR was a major superpower that nearly came to nuclear blows with the United States during the Cold War. The Soviet Union collapsed in 1991 and many of the republics within it declared their independence.


Yugoslavia

Yugoslavia (Land of South Slavs) was located in Europe on the west-central Balkan Peninsula. Once part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, Yugoslavia was first established in 1918, but called the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats, and Slovenes. It became the Kingdom of Yugoslavia in 1929. After World War II, the monarchy was dissolved, and the country became communist, under the rule of Josip Tito. After his death in 1980, it succumbed to ethnic tensions and a brutal civil war. In the mid-1990s, Yugoslavia separated into seven distinct states: Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Macedonia, Kosovo, Montenegro, Serbia, and Slovenia.


 

Rhodesia

Located in south-central Africa in the region that is now known as Zimbabwe and Zambia, Rhodesia became a self-declared yet unrecognized country in 1965. Rhodesia was administered by the British South Africa Company seeking gold, copper, and coal, until the country gained independence in 1979 following the 14-year Rhodesian Bush War.


 

Austria-Hungary

Created in 1867 through a union of the Austrian Empire and the Kingdom of Hungary, Austria-Hungary included 11 different ethnic groups, was the largest Catholic-led empire of its time, and lasted until 1918. The empire eventually succumbed to nationalist sentiments, becoming the separate nations of Austria, Hungary, Poland, Czechoslovakia, and Yugoslavia.


North and South Vietnam

Vietnam was a French colony during World War II, but occupied by the Japanese Empire. After Japan lost the war, the Vietnamese were able to oust the French, but in 1954, at the Geneva Conference, the country was divided into north and south—communist and non-communist respectively. What ensued was a long, bloody war involving the North, the South, and the United States, as well as smaller contingents from South Korea, Thailand, Australia, and New Zealand. The U.S. finally pulled out in 1973, after which North Vietnam seized Saigon in 1975, and Vietnam was reunited under a communist government.


Tuvan People’s Republic

In 1921, with Russia’s support, Bolsheviks created the Tuvan People’s Republic, which was only recognized as independent by the Soviet Union and Mongolia. The state lasted until 1944, when it was annexed by the Soviet Union, and today the territory of Tannu Tuva, known as the Tuva Republic (pictured is the modern-day Tuva flag), is part of the Russian Federation.

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