During the 90’s, the newborn Ukrainian state was somewhat affected by an Habsburg nostalgia, mostly in its westernmost part that largely coincided with former eastern Galicia. Exactly one hundred years before, in 1895, one of the last Austrian Archdukes was born in present-day Croatia: Wilhelm Franz of Habsburg-Lorraine. His father, Charles-Stephen, was committed to reform the House’s view of the very concept of “nation”.

At the turn of the century

A multiethnic empire, Austria-Hungary was struggling to maintain its control over Slavic populations. On the southern border, Serbian designs on unifying  Jugoslavia led to mounting tensions between the Empire and Belgrade. The contention became potentially explosive after 1908, when Bosnia was annexed to the Habsburg domains and the house of Karadjordevic, adverse to Austria, usurped the Serbian throne. It was in fact the assassination of Franz Ferdinand in Sarajevo on June 28, 1914, by the hand of a Serbian-Bosnian terrorist that brought these two countries, and the World, at war.

North of the Balkans, on the other side of the Hungarian plains and the Carpathian mountains, the border with Russia was certainly problematic as well. Poland and Ukraine were divided, some people living under the rule of Wien, some others under the Tsar. The Polish nation was a largely recognized and ancient entity, once a leader of East Europe alongside Lithuania in the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, one of the biggest countries in late medieval and modern era. However, the Commonwealth was partitioned three times during the XVIII century and ceased to exist in 1795, ending in the Polish lands being divided between these empires and Prussia.

Ukraine was, instead, not yet recognized as a nation: Russia called its Ukrainian speaking population “Malorussians”, literally little Russians, and conducted russification policies to eradicate their language. Moreover, Austria named those Ukrainians living in eastern Galicia “Ruthenians”, from the Latin term for Russians.

Although the Tsars and the Habsburgs feared Polish and Ukrainian desires for union, both knew that, if war came, these national aspirations could be turned against each other. That’s why Charles-Stephen decided to act in a revolutionary way for an Austrian Archduke. He became the first Habsburg not only to recognize the concept of nation as essential to the stability of a country, but to embrace a well-defined nationality himself. He dedicated his life to the creation of a Polish branch of the Habsburg dynasty, with his final goal being the creation of a new Kingdom of Poland. The territories of this new country should have been carved from the Russian Empire and unified with Galicia, under the rule of an Habsburg ruler.

Revolutionary Archdukes

Charles-Stephen knew that to succeed a lot would have to be sacrificed. First of all he moved from Pola, on the Adriatic coast, to the Polish city of Żywiec. Located in the Duchy of Teschen, part of Austrian Silesia, Żywiec was not that far from the Galician border and Krakow itself. Its population was largely Polish, but the Habsburgs ruled that land since 1653, making it the oldest possession in which the two coexisted. When his children grew up to marriage age, Archduke Charles-Stephen managed to connect his House with high Polish nobles. Two of his daughters and one of his sons, Charles-Albert, paved the way to an Habsburg-Polish lineage, but in doing so they had to renounce to their imperial and royal status, making it impossible for them and their heirs to claim Wien and Budapest crowns. Both Charles and his family became fluent in Polish language, studied Polish literature and decided to define themselves as Polish.

It was an absolute novelty for an Habsburg archduke to embrace a defined nationality. During the XIX century the Empire tried to crush any nationalistic aspiration but visibly failed in doing so. To Charles-Stephen, the conviction that nation states were stronger than non-national ones came from the incredible rise of the German Empire. The only way for the Austro-Hungarian Empire to survive and expand was to recognize its constituent nations, giving them some autonomy, but still under an Habsburg rule.

While Charles-Stephen was busy building the foundation of a new Polish Kingdom, his son Wilhelm travelled to Galicia and got acquainted with another nation: Ukraine. Day after day, the young prince made his father plan his own, and started dreaming of an Ukrainian Kingdom with him as its monarch. The creation of both Poland and Ukraine would have certainly created problems in defining their borders in Eastern Galicia, where the majority of the population was Ukrainian, but the aristocracy was Polish. Nevertheless, when Austro-Hungarian and German troops advanced in the western territories of the Russian Empire during World War One, Charles-Stephen and Wilhelm golas of redrawing the map of Europe came close to reality.

The fight for independence in the interwar period

The reason why no Habsburg Poland or Habsburg Ukraine were created was the rivalry between Berlin and Wien over the newly acquired territories – and the Central Powers losing of the war didn’t help. Germany was the strongman of the alliance and tried to gain control of both Polish and Ukrainian territories: Poles should have served as cannon fodder on the western front while Ukraine was meant to provide wheat for the army. Although Wilhelm reached popularity in Habsburg-occupied Ukraine and Charles-Stephen came close to a Polish throne, the Germans got the upper hand.

When the war came to an end, Eastern Europe was a total mess: Poland and Ukraine were struggling to define their borders, fighting each other in Galicia. At the same time they feared a Soviet aggression (that actually happened). While the Poles succeeded in preserving their independence and established a quite vast country, most Ukrainians ended up living as part of the USSR, suffering under communist rule. The Treaty of Riga in March 1921 defined the soviet-polish border until World War 2, and caused the first relocation of Ukrainians and Poles among the Galician frontier.

Despite this lackluster result, the very fact that a semi-independent Ukraine existed between 1918 and 1921 meant much to nationalists in the homeland and abroad. While the latter resorted to guerrilla until the defeat by soviet forces, those who expatriated found support under German and Austrian protection. Instead, the Allies didn’t consider the Ukrainian nationality to be fit for self-determination and didn’t support its cause for independence, Ukrainian nationalists cooperated mostly with right-wing revanchist groups of the former German Empire and the Habsburgs. Archduke Wilhelm, or Vasyl Vyshyvani as he began to name himself during his stay in Ukraine in 1918, was one of those committed conspirers for independence, and identified himself as Ukrainian. In the meantime, Charles-Stepehen and his son Charles-Albert pledged allegiance to the Polish Republic, recognized themselves as Poles, and kept on living in Żywiec.

All the attempts to overthrow Soviet rule over Ukraine in the interwar period failed. Nonetheless, the dream of a free country never faded, and seemed to gain new strength with the rise of national-socialism. Wilhelm was formlery known ad a constitutional-monarchist, a democrat and socialist – to the point of being nicknamed “The Red Prince” when he protected Ukrainian partisans who acted against his own Empire during WWI occupation. Surprisingly, he partially embraced Hitler’s ideology, while probably not understanding it to the full, especially considering the contradiction of him identifying himself as Ukrainian but being racially German. On the other hand, he appreciated the nationalistic and anti-soviet principles of national-socialism. Anyway, after realizing that the Third Reich had no intention to free Ukraine as an independent and friendly country, numerous nationalists tuned to arms against both German occupation forces and the Red Army, fighting at the same time against Ukrainian communists and nazi collaborationists.

World War II, Soviet oppression and finally freedom

After the war began, Wilhelm became even more critic of national-socialist Germany. The Polish branch of his family suffered terribly from the occupation, for Charles-Albert refused to identify himself as racially German during the census in Silesia. His insistence in calling himself Polish, alongside with the fact that he actually fought in the ranks of the Polish army during the 1939 invasion, provoked the Gestapo’s reaction, resulting in imprisonment and torture. Its family estates in Żywiec were seized and his wife, a Swedish aristocrat, didn’t follow his consort fate only because of the Gestapo’s unwillingness to prosecute her, even though she was herself staunchly Polish.

In Wien, while receiving news both from his sister-in-law and Ukraine, Wilhelm started cooperating with the French intelligence in signaling potential objectives for Allied airstrikes. He also worked with Ukrainian expats and western secret services to reach his long-standing goal of Ukrainian independence. Unfortunately, the fate of Easter Europe was to be decided somewhere else, among high profile politicians and military officials. In 1947, Wilhelm was arrested by the Russian counter-intelligence in the Soviet-occupied area of Wien he was living in, and died in prison the next year. Charles-Albert and his family fled the communist regime in Poland and expatriated to Sweden.

After the collapse of Soviet Union, new nations gained independence and old ones regained their lost freedom. The Baltic countries came back onthe maps, while Ukraine and Belorussia found their own new place. Poland went back to democratic life. Wilhelm and Charles-Stephen dreams partially became true: no monarchies were founded and the Habsburgs never regained a central role in European geopolitics, but both Poland and Ukraine are now officially recognized, although Russia is trying to destabilize the region once again.

Nonetheless, the concept of identifying both as a nation and as something greater still lives to this day through a revolutionary institution: the European Union. To be clear, such a concept was not an Habsburg exclusive, but the life of those late Archdukes can be an example of the commitment some people have been willing to carry out for a better Continent – a general idea far more similar to the one of the European founding fathers than some of us may be ready to accept when talking about monarchies and the Habsburg Empire.

As of today, Poland is one of the most staunch supporters of Ukrainian EU membership bid, and their historical Habsburg ties are not unrelevant: some time after the aforementioned protest in Cracow where demonstrators recreated a symbolical Galicia, a group of Ukrainians in Kiev celebrated the 170th birthday of Franz-Joseph. This partial wiennese legacy contributes to an ideal separation from the East, from Russia, and to strenghten the European feeling. The EU motto is “United in diversity”: to reject existing differences is crazy, but not to recognize a shared past and to embrace a common future is foolish.

If you liked this article you may also like The Great Union: How Romania Achieved National Unification or The Bulldozer Revolution: When the Serbians ousted Milošević.

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This opposition to separatism is being tested, however, by events in the troublesome Britain. In response to Brexit, ardent near majorities agitate for independence in Scotland and unification in Northern Ireland. European politicians have flirted, publicly and often, with the ideas of Scottish independence and Irish unification as possible solutions to the democratic deficit that Brexit has exposed. Even states once ardently opposed to Scottish secession have started to warm to the idea.

Distinguishing the cases

With the Scottish Parliament laying out the framework for a second independence referendum late next year, it is necessary to look at these two cases of potential secession and distinguish them from other contemporaneous European movements.

In 2014, at the culmination of a two-year campaign, the people of Scotland voted on their possible secession, and chose to remain. The Yes movement (the primary campaign in favour of independence, supported by multiple parties and factions) was a vibrant, progressive, pro-European movement, but it wanted to separate from a state that was, at the time, seen as a relatively safe EU member.

European officials and leaders were cautious of the movement, despite its pro-European character, for multiple reasons; mostly to avoid tensions with an already problematic member state, and to avoid encouraging similar separatist movements across Europe. The Yes movement was, after all, very closely entwined with the Catalonian independence movement.

However, five years is a long time in politics, and in the UK’s case it has seemed far longer than that. While Scotland voted to remain in the UK by a margin of ten percent, the two deciding factors in that vote were: one, a pledge of greater, near federal, powers for the Scottish parliament, and two, the desire to avoid crashing out of the EU as a consequence of leaving the UK (15% of no voters listed their desire to remain in the EU as their primary motivation for voting against independence).

With the UK’s (allegedly) imminent departure from the EU, and with the complete failure for “devolution-max” to materialise, the Scots’ claim that the result of the 2014 referendum are somewhat outdated is a solid one. What’s more, while before the Scottish independence movement was one to leave an EU member state to become another one, it is now a movement to remain in the EU and depart a leaving state. This places it in stark contrast with every other independence movement in the EU.

The Northern Irish issue seems rather easier, but is far riskier too. The Good Friday Agreement, the foundation of peace in Northern Ireland, is put under threat by the UK’s departure from the EU without concrete assurances over the Irish border. To ensure the Irish peace, many have discussed the possibility of re-uniting Ireland as a single state within the EU, which would bypass the necessity of Northern Ireland meeting EU accession criteria on its own and possibly avoid the return to a conflict that has already claimed a life in its recent upsurge, and seen a bombing campaign across the UK.

If Irish unification is to be touted as a solution to the Northern Irish issue, then grave consideration must be given to the opinions and temperament of traditional loyalist communities in the North too. While the legal implications are simpler than an independent Scotland’s accession, the practical considerations and risk of violence should give pause to any European politician who espouses Irish unification as a simple solution to the Northern Irish issue.

Thus, we have two populations, both with strong pro-European tendencies, with the possibility of leaving a departing EU member in order to remain in the EU. No true parallel can be drawn with the Corsican, Breton, Catalonian, Flemish or any other contemporaneous European secession movement inside the EU, as their circumstances are different. It is therefore possible for the EU to accept the legitimacy of Scottish separatism and Irish unification. Their political goals are aligned with the EU and all its member states, and it wouldn’t give weight to the secessionist movements within other member states. In fact, by creating a clear distinction, the EU could even undermine the Europhile credentials of other European separatist movements.

The case for EU recognition

If the EU is to make a clear distinction between the cases of Scotland and Northern Ireland and other separatist movements, why should it recognise their secession, and place no impediments in their way back to the union?

First, this would be the most democratic of options. If a people or nation vote to remain in the EU but their wider state decides to leave, and then that same people or nation vote to leave their state to form their own with a view to re-join the EU, then there is an argument to be made that there is an onus on the EU to welcome them back. To not do so would be to undermine their democratic rights as recent, or even current, European citizens. The national will would be clear, and if their attempts to remain in the EU were rejected it would not be a case of a state or people voting to leave, but rather the EU deciding that they must.

However, this appeal to respect the will of the people must obviously be applied both ways, and the wishes of the rest of the European people need also be considered. That said, polling has shown that there is strong support for the accession of an independent Scotland into the EU in other European countries, and there is no reason to assume that same feeling of European solidarity and desire for re-unification would not apply in future similar cases, where the drive for separation is one to remain in Europe.

The second argument for allowing the accession of leaving-to-remain states is a similarly value laden. If the purpose of the EU is to unite the people of Europe, then it would be counter-productive to turn away Europeans who wish to remain in the EU rather than leave. Unlike the citizens of states wishing to join such as Bosnia, Turkey, Georgia etc, the citizens of departing states are already European Union citizens, with all the rights and duties that entails. They have been a part of the European framework, their taxes contributing to the European budget, their rights entwined with their fellow citizens across the continent. More important than expanding the EU is to keep those within its borders in the fold, thus maintaining the unity that Europe has fought so hard to achieve.

The final reason is purely pragmatic. The unification of Ireland avoids conflict, and while possibly an initial financial burden for the Irish state, it is a burden that the people of the Republic appear happy to bear to achieve unification of their ancient nation. Retention or rapid accession of Scotland would maintain Europe’s access to one third of the continent’s oil supplies, keep a nation with some of the highest potential renewable energy capability in the Union, and boost the proportion of pro-EU members of the European Parliament, at least for for some time.

A 21st Century Trianon

With the 99th anniversary of the Treaty of Trianon recently passed, the intentional dismembering of states, and the possible consequences of such punitive action, loom large in many minds. This does not dissuade some from believing that the EU should deliberately support the breakup of the UK to dissuade other states from following in its steps, however. To some, separatist movements in departing Member States should not only be accepted but encouraged. While a 21st century Trianon would be an anathema to most, how could it be done, and would there be any incentives for the EU in embracing such extreme measures?

For the how, there are several ways. The first and least extreme would be the EU simply providing support to secessionist political parties and movements that would aim to remain in the EU. Through the provision of such support and the guarantee of entry into the union secessionist movements would probably be more likely to succeed. This is unarguably meddling in the internal affairs of a member state, but if the intention is to punitively divide up the departing member then such measures hardly seem extreme in comparison to the goal.

A second would be to mandate, as part of any negotiation between the departing state and the EU, that all sub-state regions with potential secessionist movements be granted a chance to pursue a referendum on independence, if the aim is to remain in the EU. This would likewise be considered meddling in the departing state’s affairs, but arguably less so as it is simply a negotiating condition, as opposed to a provision of aid.

The third option for the EU in this regard is much like the second option, but far harsher. This would be to include as a part of any negotiated settlement with the EU the condition that sub-state regional entities with national characteristics, which voted to remain, be partitioned from the departing state to remain as successor states. This could be further bolstered as a mechanism by including this provision, or the mandate of secession-to-remain referendums, within the very architecture of the departure process. In effect, requiring any state seeking to leave the EU by referendum to promise the unilateral right of secession to its constituent sub-state regional assemblies.

As to the incentives for the EU, there is one overriding one: deterrence. Under this framework, states seeking to depart the EU would put themselves at risk of, at the very least, increased chance of secession, and at worst a treaty mandated dismembering of the state; it would make the possibility of a slim departure highly unpalatable. At the same time, this would achieve the aims of maintaining as much European unity as possible and supporting the democratic wishes of European citizens who wish to remain in the EU.

Its is unlikely, however, that this position, or anything remotely close to it, will ever be taken by the EU, and it’s for the very same reason it would be endorsed by those with greater federalist tendencies: it would add a grave barrier to exit for member states. Member States don’t tend to agree to sacrifices of sovereignty unless clearly beneficial to themselves, and endorsing an EU position of dismembering departing states would be a sacrifice of freedom that no state with possible secessionist movements of their own would accept.

Even among those who seek to strengthen the EU and are happy to put up barriers to Member State exit, these conditions would likely prove extreme or even draconian. Such moves would most certainly be moving beyond ensuring democracy and attempting to keep the Europe united and into the realms of punishing departing states, an accusation that has dogged the EU even in the comparatively generous Brexit negotiations. It could be argued that becoming a bloc that is seen as punishing those that try to leave would, in the long run, encourage the very division of Europe it is attempting to prevent, although it would momentarily dissuade departure.

Unity through secession?

Much as the appeal of dismembering the UK is clear to some, a 21st century Trianon would do nothing but destroy the good will between central EU bureaucracy and Member States, and potentially set the stage for revanchism and conflict. The cause of pro-European secessionists cannot be ignored though.

In the face of departure from the Union, the EU itself should be more flexible when it comes to secessionist movements from departing states. The aims of the EU, to unite Europe, to spread democracy, to ensure the voice of the European people is heard and respected, are best served in recognising the legitimacy of movements that seek to remain through secession. For a more united Europe, let’s give the secessionists a chance.

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However, it is the 11th November that is remembered by Polish people as their Independence Day. In honour of his important centenary, here are ten facts you may not know about the Republic of Poland!

1 – From 2016, Jesus Christ is the official king of Poland. The symbolic coronation came from the idea of a young nurse, who in the early 1900s had a vision that foresaw Poland’s imminent demise if Jesus Christ were not crowned as its king. The idea was initially dismissed by the clergy, but started gaining more and more traction until the officialisation in 2016. 

2 – In 1926, ahead of the USA’s 150th anniversary of its Declaration of Independence, Poland sent the US a unique birthday card, signed by over 5.5 million Polish citizens. The over 30,000 pages of The Polish Declarations of Admiration and Friendship are full of art, photos, poems, pressed flowers, and the signatures of nearly one-sixth of Poland’s population at the time. In addition to being a unique gift, the Polish Declarations are also a priceless treasure trove for genealogists and historians. World War II erupted 13 years after these signatures were gathered. During those years, close to six million Polish citizens were killed. For those who did not survive the war, in many instances their signature in this declaration is the only evidence that they ever existed.

3 –  Foreign movies and series in Poland are dubbed, but not by Polish actors. There is instead a single man reading parts of everyone (including women and children). The original version is still there, so viewers can hear the first two seconds of each sentence, before the reader starts saying the same thing in Polish.

4 – During the German occupation of Poland (1939-1945) two Polish doctors in Rozwadów, Eugene Lazowski and Stanisław Matulewicz, created a fake typhoid fever epidemic in the town. The quarantined area that Lazowski and Matulewicz created became a haven for Polish Jews, who could hide in Rozwadów under the cover of the fake epidemic without fear of the Nazis discovering them. It is estimated that thanks to their concocted outbreak, the two doctors saved approximately 8,000 people from being killed or imprisoned during their three-year campaign. 

5 – Ever since 1960, Poland awards a medal to couples who have been married for at least 50 years, called Medal for Long Marital Life. It ranks higher than the Campaign Stars, the medal awarded to military and civilian personnel serving overseas in support of Polish forces.

6 – In 1605, a Polish man claimed to be the youngest son of Tsar Ivan the Terrible, tsarevich Dmitry Ivanovich. He reigned on the throne of Russia for 10 months before he was recognised as an impostor. False Dmitry I was then executed, burned, and had his ashes shot out of a cannon back towards Poland.

7 – Polish King Kazimierz Jagiellończyk (1427 – 1492), became known as the “Father of Europe.” Of his nine children, one became a cardinal, four became kings, one was canonized, and the three daughters were married off to become mothers of the heirs of the greatest dynasties in Western Europe.

8 – Every 17th August, Poland celebrates the Patron Saint Hyacinth (or Jacek). Originally, he was known for being the patron of those in fear of drowning, as well as of weight-lifters. Somewhere along the line, though, Hyacinth also became the patron saint of pierogi – one of the country’s national dishes. It is thought this is the only Polish dish with its own dedicated Saint.

9 – In 2014, the Polish town of Słubice, Poland, unveiled a Wikipedia Monument, a statue designed by Armenian sculptor Mihran Hakobyan in honour of all Wikipedia contributors. It was the world’s first monument to the online encyclopedia.

10 – Poland has a desert, the Pustynia Błędowska, which spans circa 30 sq. km in the Silesian Highlands. This desert was not created naturally, but is rather as a result of human activity which lowered the water table to such a degree that the ground could no longer support plant life from as far back as the Middle Ages.

Did you enjoy learning more about Poland? Check out also our Top 10 list about the Czech Republic or Hungary!

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1 – Switzerland has a history of accidentally attacking Liechtenstein. In 1985, they launched rockets at their tiny neighbour during a drill. In 1992, they invaded it while setting up an observation post (but apologised by sending a wine and cheese basket to the king). Again, in 2007, 170 Swiss soldiers lost their way and ended up in Liechtenstein. More than once – while practising their flamethrower skills – the military have started forest fires in the country next door. But far from being angry at these invasion, the response from the Liechtenstein government was: “These things happen”.

2  – In the two Swiss cantons of Appenzell Innerrhoden and Glarus, men can vote by bringing along their family sword instead of their voter ID. Appenzell Innerrhoden moreover conducts its votes by a public show of hand (or sword) in the main square.

3 – The Swiss air force only works during regular office hours, from 8AM to 6PM every day. This turned out to be problematic in 2014, when an Ethiopian Airlines plane was hijacked and entered Swiss airspace. It had to be the French and Italian jet pilots to escort it to the Geneva airport because, at 6:02AM, it was still nearly two hours before the Swiss air force came to work. Would-be airspace infiltrators take note: they also take an hour and a half break for lunch. 

4 – In 2009, the Swiss police arrested Libyan leader Gaddafi’s son, Hannibal, for aggravated assault. In response, his father responded by expelling Swiss diplomats, shutting down Swiss-owned businesses in Libya, and submitting a proposal to the U.N to abolish Switzerland and divide it between France, Germany and Italy.

5 –  According to a study by the aquatic science institute Eawag, approximately 43kg of gold are flushed through the country’s sewage system every year, for a total worth of over EUR 1.7 million. Researchers believe the tiny flecks of gold flow into the sewage from the watchmaking industries and gold refineries. Other findings include almost 3000kg of silver yearly and even rare earth minerals used in the manufacture of electronic devices.

6 – The international data code for Switzerland is CH, which stands for Confoederatio Helvetica, the Latin name for the country. Switzerland chose this code to avoid favouring any of their four official languages – Italian, German, French and Romansh.

7 – Switzerland is unique in having enough nuclear fallout shelters to host its entire population, should it ever be needed. This systematic construction in every home began in the second half of the 1960s, as a reflection of widespread fear of a nuclear strike and Soviet invasion. One of the most popular slogans at the time was: “Neutrality is no guarantee against radioactivity”. To this day, Parliament has shot down all proposals to remove the legal obligation that “apartment block owners are required to construct and fit out shelters in all new dwellings” (article 46 on the Swiss Federal Law on Civil Protection).

8 –  There is a hotel which is half in France and half in Switzerland. Its strategic position made Hotel Arbez of fundamental importance for the French Resistance during the German occupation in World War II. Because of Switzerland’s famed neutrality, German soldiers were not allowed to enter the part of the hotel which was located on Swiss soil. The hotel thus became a safe place for Resistance members and refugees alike. 

9 – If you fail your practical driving exam more than three times, you will have to see an official psychologist who can assess the reasons for your previous failures and determine whether you are fit to drive. You will also have to be assessed by a psychologist in case you repeatedly drive over the speed limit. 

10 – There is a Swiss political party called Anti-PowerPoint Party which is dedicated entirely to decreasing the professional use of Microsoft PowerPoint and other presentation softwares. Its founder seeks to initiate a national referendum to prohibit PowerPoint during presentations, and advocates the use of flip charts in its stead.

Did you enjoy learning more about Switzerland? Why not check out some more fun facts about Lithuania or Georgia?

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1 – In 2007, the World Bank dubbed it “the number one economic reformer in the world”. That year, the country improved from rank 112th to 18th in terms of ease of doing business and its real GDP growth rate reached 12%. Since then, Georgia hasn’t stopped developing: the 2018 World Bank report confirmed it to be the highest ranked economy in Europe and Central Asia, and it even claimed a place in the top ten countries worldwide.

2 – Between 2004 and 2006, the country went through an unusual reform of its police force. Newly elected President Mikheil Saakashvili, capitalising on his popular support, decided to undertake the daunting task of reforming the corrupted police services, which were seen by Georgians as the epitome of the State’s dysfunction. By the end of 2006, his administration had abolished the KGB-style security ministry and related police unit and dismissed every member of the country’s uniformed police (approximately 30 thousand officers), creating a new force from scratch.  

3 – Georgia is one of the oldest wine regions in the entire world. From archaeological and archaeobotanical studies, it appears that wine production has existed in the Southern Caucasus since approximately 6000 BC. The traditional Georgian wine-making method, which uses large clay jars, is called qvevri for the fermentation process. It’s so unique that is has even gained a place in the UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage List! 

4 – NASA sent a Georgian song in space. In 1977, when the Voyager 2 was launched on its interstellar mission, it included an audio-visual disk in the event that the spacecraft is ever found by intelligent life-forms. This contains 116 images, different natural sounds, a range of scientific information, spoken greetings in 59 languages, and 27 traditional songs from various countries. Chakrulo, a polyphonic folk song usually sung at festivals and celebrations, was chosen to be one of them.

5 – Georgia has a living culture of three different writing systems: Asomtavruli, Nuskhuri and Mkhedruli. The evolution of its written language has produced different coexisting scripts, each one reflecting a different aspect of this country’s diverse cultural and social identity. The educational system is based almost exclusively on Mkhedruli, but the other two continue to live on amongst the community of the Georgian Apostolic Autocephalous Orthodox Church. Asomtavruli, in particular, is still used intensively in iconography and engravings.

6 – According to the country’s Constitution, the Parliament should have two separate chambers: a Council of the Republic and a Senate. To this day, however, the Parliament remains unicameral. 

7 – Georgia has incredible ecological diversity, boasting 12 different climate zones. You can find everything, ranging all the way from subtropical semi-desert to alpine climate.

8 – Body contact between men is the norm in Georgia. Hand-holding and hugging in public are normal and in fact expected. But don’t let that fool you into thinking homosexuality is tolerated. Research shows that its inhabitants express overwhelmingly negative attitudes towards the LGBTQ community, with over 85% indicating that homosexuality is never acceptable. This makes it the least accepted amongst all the marginalised groups in the country. Interestingly, biphobic attitudes are even stronger than the homophobic sentiment. Bisexuality is perceived as a fluid and unstable orientation, thus making it less desirable.

9 – Soviet dictator Joseph Stalin was actually Georgian, born in the town of Gori. His cult survives in his hometown and support for his figure is still widespread amongst the older generations in the country. 

10 – Georgians call their country Sakartvelo, which means “the land where Kartveli live” (Kartveli being the historical inhabitants of Kartli, the central region of Georgia). There are many theories concerning where the English version of Sakartvelo might have come from. The most popular one is that the name was coined by Christian reformers in the Middle Ages, inspired by the country’s patron St. George. However, modern scholars consider this theory erroneous and have traced the etymology back to the Persian root gurğ/gurğān (wolf/land of wolves).

Did you enjoy learning more about Georgia? Do you want to find out more curious facts about other European countries? Try our Top 10 Curious Facts about Lithuania, Kosovo, or Estonia!

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1 – Greece has been in a state of default for about 50% of its modern history as a sovereign state. In particular, Greek defaults on external debts were in 1826 (which is impressive if you consider that the country only became independent in 1829), 1843, 1860, 1893, and lastly in 1932. It was also the first developed nation to have defaulted on a payment to the IMF since its founding in 1944.

2 – To raise the people’s living standards, 19th-century governor Ioannis Kapodistrias introduced the cultivation of potatoes into Greece. The legend goes that although Kapodistrias ordered the potatoes to be handed out for free to anyone interested, the population was initially reluctant to take advantage of the offer. Refusing to grow discouraged, he devised a plan to get people interested in them: he ordered that the whole shipment be put on public display and placed under guard. Soon, believing them to be very valuable, people started stealing the guarded potatoes, thus making Kapodistrias’ plan successful.

3 – In order to advertise their services through the city, prostitutes in ancient Greece often wore sandals that left the words “follow me” imprinted in the dirt as they walked.

4 – The two rival churches of Aghios Markos and Panagia Ereithiani on the island of Chios have an interesting Easter tradition, known as rouketopolemos, ‘rocket war’. After every Holy Saturday Easter mass, the two shoot more than 100.000 homemade fireworks at the other’s church bell towers. The winner is supposed to be determined on the next day based on the number of direct hits on each tower, but each parish invariably claims victory over the other. The result is that both parishes agree to settle the score the following year, and the tradition is thus perpetuated. While the origin of this event is unclear, it is thought to go back to the Ottoman era. In fact, according to local lore, it was earlier performed with real cannons, until Ottoman authorities prohibited their use in 1889.

5 – Entry into the peninsula of Mount Athos is prohibited to all females, due to the peninsula being home to 20 male monasteries. The ban is in place to make living in celibacy easier for those who have chosen to do so. This also extends to some female animals, including all female chickens, cows, ewes, nanny-goats, mares, and sows. Exceptions are made for cats, insects and songbirds.

6 – In the month before the ancient Olympics, no wars were permitted so that spectators could travel from across Greece unharmed.

7 – During the Nazi occupation of Greece, the mayor of the island of Zakynthos was ordered to make a list with the names of all Jews on the island and turn them in. Together with the local Bishop, he proceeded to hide all of them in various mountainous villages and handed over to the Nazis a list which contained two names: the mayor’s and the Bishop’s. All of the 275 Jews who lived on Zakynthos survived the Holocaust.

8 – In 1862, Greece held a referendum to elect a new king after the previous one was deposed in a popular revolt. The top 17 candidates in the plebiscite were disqualified either by virtue of not being human or being a member of the French, Russian or British royal family, as these Great Powers refused to permit any of their respective royal families to accept the Greek throne. This threw the election to a Danish prince with 0.00002% of the votes – just 6 votes. He and his descendants ruled Greece for 100 years. Non-human selections included: Long Live the Three Powers (482 votes), A King (1,763 votes), and An Orthodox King (1,917 votes).

9 – Some ancient sling bullets excavated from the city of Athens, Greece were inscribed with the word dexai, which translates to “catch!”

10 – Ikaria Island, off the coast of Greece, is called “the island where people forget to die” because of the high proportion of 100-year-olds. It is one of the world’s five Blue Zones, that is an area with a longer-than-average life expectancy and with lower disease rates. On Ikaria, in particular, nearly 1 out of 3 people make it to their 90s, and inhabitants have about 20% lower rates of cancer, 50% lower rates of heart disease and almost no dementia.

Did you enjoy learning more about Greece? Do you want to find out more curious facts about other European countries? Try our Top 10 Curious Facts about Lithuania, Kosovo, or Estonia!

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1 –  After being deposed by the Soviet Union in 1940, the President of Estonia was sent to a psychiatric hospital in Russia for “persistent claiming of being the President of Estonia”.

2 – In 1962, a factory in Põltsamaa started producing food in tin-packaging that could be sent to space. It was the first country to produce food meant for space travel.

3 – In Estonia, kiiking is very popular. This extreme sport sees people swinging on swings all the way, a full 360 degrees. As a sport, it is fairly young, having first been introduced in the early 1990s. However, it has deep roots as wooden swings are traditionally a big part of Estonian culture. 

4 – It is home to thousands of stateless people, most of them ethnic Russians who found themselves on the wrong side of the border after the country acquired independence from the Soviet Union. Estimates put their number between 80,000 and 90,000 – a visible minority in a country of only 1.3 million – the world’s 10th largest stateless population.

5 – In 2015, Estonia found out its territory was larger than what it thought it was, when cartographers discovered 800 previously unrecognised islands. After that, the country has learnt it is made up of 2,222 islands, or 2,355 if those in lakes are included – not the 1,521 that has been taught in schools for more than two decades.

6 – A whopping 34% of all alcohol sold at liquor stores in the entire country of Estonia is bought by people from Finland.

7 –  Kihnu, one of Estonia’s islands, is one of the last matriarchal societies in the world. The men of Kihnu, mostly fishermen, go out to sea for months at a time, leaving wives and children behind. Women govern the island in their absence and act as guardians of its traditions and culture.

8 – There is a road in Estonia that goes through 900 meters of Russian territory before going back into Estonia. Russia doesn’t require any permit for driving through the area. However, it is forbidden to pass through the area on foot or stop one’s car. People who stop their car are arrested and released after interrogation and payment of a fine.

9 – A group of Estonians was fundamental to the invention of Skype. In fact, 44% of the company’s employees are still based in Tallinn and Tartu. Thanks to it having the highest number of startups per capita, Tallinn is sometimes dubbed the Silicon Valley of Europe. This is not too surprising if you think that since 2014, Estonian primary schools have been teaching children as young as seven computer coding.

10 – Estonia has the lowest male-to-female ratio in the world, with only 0.84 men per every 1 woman. However, Estonian women live 10 years longer, on average, which might help explain why.

Did you enjoy learning more about Estonia? Try also our Top 10 Curious Facts about Lithuania or Kosovo!

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1 – Serbia has been topping the global raspberry export list for several years now, accounting for over 30% of the world’s raspberries.

2 – Seventeen Roman emperors originally came from territories that are now part of modern Serbia – the highest number of Roman rulers born outside of the Italian peninsula. The most important and well-known of these emperors was Constantine the Great, who was born in present-day Niš, a city in the south of Serbia.

3 – During the first satellite broadcast signal from Europe to North America in 1963, a Serbian fresco by the name of White Angel was chosen as the message, symbolising peace and civilisation. This is a detail of one of the most famous frescoes in Serbian history, Myrrhbearers on Christ’s Grave, which can be found in the Mileševa monastery. This same image was later sent to space in an attempt to establish contact with extraterrestrial life, with no success. 

4 – The Serbian language uses both the Cyrillic and the Latin alphabet at the same time, which are respectively known as Azbuka and Abeceda. This grammatical occurrence is termed digraphia, and Serbian is the only European language to currently use this method of alphabet melding.

5 – The Belgrade Fortress, the core and the oldest section of the urban area of Belgrade, has been at the centre of over 100 battles for its control. The citadel has been destroyed and rebuilt over 40 times throughout the centuries. Much of what stands today is the product of 18th-century Austro-Hungarian and Ottoman reconstructions.

6 – Serbia has great business relations with Japan, to the point where the two countries have donated millions to each other in times of need. Since 1999, Japan has given assistance for the value of more than 500 million euros to the Serbian population, mainly for the development of the private sector and environmental protection, as well as healthcare and education.

7 – Milunka Savić was a Serbian war heroine who fought in the Balkan Wars and in World War I. After her brother was called for mobilization, she chose to cut her hair and don men’s clothes in order to join the army in his place. She managed to rise to the rank of corporal before the truth about her was discovered, and is thought to be the the most-decorated female combatant in the entire history of warfare. 

8 – Ever since 2013, Serbia has observer status in the Collective Security Treaty Organisation, the Russian counterpart to NATO.

9 – There is a tower made of skulls in Niš, Serbia. Skull Tower was constructed during the First Serbian Uprising, after Serbian rebels were attacked by the Ottomans on Čegar Hill, near Niš. Knowing that they would be impaled if captured, they detonated a powder magazine within the rebel entrenchment, killing themselves and the encroaching Ottoman soldiers. The Ottoman Vizier Hurshid Pasha ordered that a tower be made from the skulls of the perished rebels. The tower is 4.5 metres high, and originally contained 952 skulls embedded on four sides in 14 rows, although only 54 skulls remain today.

10 – Serbia is the world’s second largest producer of plums, second only to China.

Did you enjoy learning more about Serbia? Check out more trivia from Kosovo or Malta!

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1.   It conducts business through sauna diplomacy

Finns officials often conduct business in their saunas – with great results! During the Cold War, then Finnish President Kekkonen would leave his political guests to steam in his sauna until a deal had been hammered out. In 1960, political tensions between Finland and the Soviet Union ran high due to the latter’s continuous efforts to thwart Finnish neutrality. After keeping him in his sauna until 5 o’clock in the morning, Kekkonen managed to convince Soviet leader Khrushchev to support Finland’s desire to integrate and cooperate with the West. In another similar event in 1978, the Soviet Defence Minister, Marshal Ustinov, visited Finland with the aim of pulling neutral Finland toward the Warsaw Pact. When Ustinov suggested such while in the President’s sauna, Kekkonen threw more water on the burning hot stones, raising the temperature until the Soviet Union desisted in his attempts.

 2.   It used peculiar units of measurements

The Sami people of Northern Finland used to employ a rather interesting a unit of measurement for length, called the ‘porunkusema’. That translates to the distance a reindeer can walk before needing to urinate, approximately 7.5km.

3.   It is the home of heavy metal

Blame the weather, or maybe the cold, but Finland has the most heavy metal bands per capita, averaging 630 bands per one million of inhabitants.

4.   It is the only country to have fully repaid its WW2 reparations

Following the Moscow Armistice, which put an end to the Continuation War and the conflicts between the Soviet Union and Finland between 1941 and 1944, Finland was obliged to pay US$300,000,000 in war reparations. In the Summer of 1948, the price was then negotiated down to $226,500,000, to be paid in the form of ships and machinery. On the 18th September 1952, the last batch of delivery paying the war reparations crossed the border between Finland and the Soviet Union, making Finland the only country known to have fully repaid all of its World War 2 debts. 

5.   Finns are the world’s biggest coffee drinkers

Averaging a 12kg consumption per capita every year, Finland tops the chart when it comes to coffee drinking. That’s twice more than the Italians, and four times the amount of the British. They also have the highest annual consumption of milk per capita – around 1 litre per person every day. Weird if you consider that 17% of the Finnish population is lactose intolerant.

6.   They have some very eccentric past-times

When it comes to eccentric hobbies, Finland is a gold trophy winner. It hosts annual world championships in Wife Carrying, Mobile Phone Throwing, and Air Guitar Playing. As if that weren’t peculiar enough, the country also accomodates annual world championships in mosquito hunting, swamp football, and rubber boot throwing.

7.   It was the first nation to make internet access a legal right

In 2010, Finland made history by being the first country in the world to make access to broadband a legal right. All of its citizens have the right to access to a 1Mbps (megabit per second) broadband connection, and the government is now working to ensure everyone has access to a 100Mbps connection.

8.   There are over 2 million saunas in the country

Little says Finland quite like a sauna. The country boasts over 2 million saunas for a population of 5.3 million. That’s more than one every 3 people – enough for the whole population to be in a sauna at the same time! Saunas play such a fundamental role in Finnish culture that when Finnish troops are sent overseas, building a sauna is the first thing they do when setting up camp – even if they are in the desert. 

9.   Finns don’t like laziness

Every 27th July, the Finns celebrate National Sleepy Head Day. On this day, the last person in the family to wake up gets woken up by water – either by being thrown into a lake or the sea by the rest of the household, or by having water thrown on them. The belief, coming from a Middle Age tradition, was that whoever slept the latest on this day would be lazy and non-productive for the rest of the year.

10.  Finland keeps growing in size

Every year, Finland increases in surface area by about 7 squared kilometre, because it is rebounding from the weight of ice-age glaciers and rising out of the sea. The country is already the most sparsely populated one in the European Union, counting 18 inhabitants per kilometre squared, and it is becoming more and more so with every passing year!

Did you enjoy this article? Check out also our top ten facts about Hungary or Serbia!

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