New nations seem to pop up with alarming regularity. At the start of the
20th century, there were only a few dozen independent sovereign states
on the planet; today, there are nearly 200! Once a nation is
established, they tend to stick around for awhile, so a nation
disappearing is quite uncommon. It’s only occurred a handful of times in
the last century. But when they do, they completely vanish off the face
of the globe: government, flag, and all. Here then, in no particular
order, are the top ten countries that had their moment in the sun but
are, alas, no more.
10. East Germany, 1949-1990
Created from the Soviet controlled sector of Germany after the Second
World War, East Germany was probably best known for its Wall and its
tendency to shoot people who attempted to cross over it. Now, it’s one
(over-reactionary) thing to shoot foreigners who are trying to enter
your country illegally, but these were its own people!
Basically little more than a Soviet satellite state, the collapse of the
notorious Wall and, with it, the demise of the old Soviet Union brought
an end to this failed experiment in Communism, and it was integrated
back into the rest of Germany in 1990. Because East Germany was so far
behind the rest of Germany economically, however, its reintegration with
the west almost bankrupted Germany. Today, however, things are swimming
along nicely, thank you. 09 more countries after the break...
