Before it was annexed by Japan, Korea had been a monarchy basically for ever. But after its independence there was essentially zero attempt to revive that monarchy and both Koreas became republics....

Lithuania was the first part of the USSR to leave as it was falling apart. But given that the Soviet Union had a large army and was able to crush any attempt at secession why didn t it? Why...

Why does the western world, who are proudly descended from the Romans, use the Arabic Numeral system instead of the Roman one? You can find out why and when that change happened in this short...

Since the second world war major land wars have been pretty rare. One notable exception is the 1962 Sino-Indian War which saw China annex lands from the north of India. But why did this happen?...

When Russia was divided in the wake of its 1917 revolution, the Entente powers intervened and occupied parts of the country. In Siberia, Japan sent a very large force and took control over...

When did Time Zones happen and why were they created? At what point did people formalise the fact that the earth is round and that it was noon in different places at different times? Watch...

Woodrow Wilson and his government were early proponents for an international forum of countries to mediate any future conflicts. This dream of theirs came to fruition in the form of the League...

Otto von Bismarck is famous for being the architect of German Unification and one of the 19th century s greatest political minds. Despite his achievements, when Emperor Wilhelm II took the...

Britain and France haven t historically been the best of friends yet nowadays they are firm allies and there hasn t been a war between them in over two hundred years. But why did this age-old...

Yugoslavia was a nation whose end goal was to unify the South Slavic people under a single government but there was one group which never joined: the Bulgarians. So why not? Why didn t the...

When Austria-Hungary fell apart, many ethnic groups went their own way. The Czechs and the Slovaks, despite never living in a single state before opted to not only leave the empire but to unite...

Twitter: https://twitter.com/Tenminhistory Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/user?u=4973164 Special Thanks to the following Patrons for their support on Patreon: Chris Fatta Joshua Mitchell...

Twitter: https://twitter.com/Tenminhistory Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/user?u=4973164 Merch: https://teespring.com/stores/ten-minute-historys-store Special Thanks to the following Patrons...

Twitter: https://twitter.com/Tenminhistory Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/user?u=4973164 Merch: https://teespring.com/stores/ten-minute-historys-store Special Thanks to the following Patrons...

Twitter: https://twitter.com/Tenminhistory Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/user?u=4973164 Merch: https://teespring.com/stores/ten-minute-historys-store Special Thanks to the following Patrons...

At the end of the nineteenth century, Argentina was seen by many as on the cusp of becoming a great power. Yet as you ll know, that never happened and instead Argentina declined relative to...

Given Franco s preferences during the Second World War (despite his official neutrality) along with his government s ideology, why didn t the allies get rid of him after world war 2? To find...

There s an internet legend that at one point, due a deal with the USSR, that Pepsi owned, briefly, the sixth largest navy on the planet. So did it? To find out the answer, watch this short...

It might seem odd to ask why New Zealand is an independent nation but in the late nineteenth century, its inclusion in Australia was seen as a certainty. Yet, as you ll know, it never joined...

Emperor Hirohito of Japan was a rare case of an axis leaders who didn t get Nuremburged or Tokyo d and managed to keep his position (and life). But why? Why was Hirohito not punished and Japan...