What's your countries History and known for

[tofos]

I was wondering what's all your countries History? And we're your country known for is. And maybe typical things from your country.

My country is the Netherlands I think you already saw that.
Well my country was very famous in the Golden Age, we were the richest country in the world. We also had the importantst trade market. Called The Amsterdam Exchange, that was in Amsterdam were other countries maked deals with us. We were the first to get independent. Because of the eighty years war against the Spanish King and we finally won. A lot of famous paintings were made in that time, and the paintings rose. Because we were proud of what we accomplished, because we fought against water and won, we were the first independent country. And some other things, we were the only country with a "free" religion. We had the biggest slave trade . The companies that deals with slaves was called the WIC. We also had another company called the VOC that was a normal companie the traded in spices and other. Well we also maked a lot of other things in the opast. The telescope, the submarine, THE CHOCOLATE BAR, the car, and some other things.
My country is known about, it's cheese, the stroopwafel, the wind meals, clogs (ALMOST NOBODY WEARS CLOGS ANYMORE!!! TO GET RID OF THE STEREOTYPE. I just get mad of how can people think about us with stereotypes.) The legalized weed, the tulips and last but not least bikes.

[tofos]

Weed, tulips and bikes! That's exactly what Netherlands is known for! I didn't know that it bothers you. Please tell more about what those stereotypes come from!

For some time Poland is known as the country that "has been fu#^&d over the most in history" :D

1655: Sweden invades Poland with the help of the Tartars and Cossacks. Poland is devistated. A population of 10 million is reduced to 6 million.
1700s: Russia, Prussia and Austria fight over Poland. They settle the dispute by dividing Poland into thirds.
1791: Catherine the Great invades Poland to break up its new democracy.*
1793: Russia and Prussia take over half of what is left of Poland.
1795: Poland is non-existent for the next 123 years.
1870s: Russia attempts to eradicate Polish culture, making Russian the official language in the Russian partition. Prussia does the same in their portion of Poland.
1890s: Poland experiences mass emigration due to poverty. Four million out of 22 million Poles emigrate to the United States. This good luck for America.
1915: World War I: Poland becomes a front. Poles were forced into the Russian, German, and Austrian armies and forced to fight against one another.
1919: The Polish-Soviet War.
1926: Pilsudski makes himself dictator of Poland.
1930s: Poland signs a nonaggression pacts with Germany and the Soviet Union.
1939: Germany and the Soviet Union sign a nonaggression pact.
1939: Hitler and the Soviet Union invade Poland. Mass arrests, executions, and exiles begin.
1940: The Katyn Massacre was a mass execution of Polish nationals carried out by the Soviet secret police. The massacre was approved by Stalin. The number of victims is estimated at about 22,000,
1941: Poland remains under the Nazi regime for the next three years. Many Poles are deported to labor camps. The Polish intelligentsia are executed. The Germans exterminate Poland's three million Jews.
1941: The Nazis also killed roughly five million gentiles as part of Generalplan Ōst.
1944: The planned destruction of Warsaw occurred while Russian "rescuers" prevented the Allies from helping. The capital was destroyed, every monument, every historical building, every church, every library and the entire national archives. The city was rebuilt by the Soviets into a soulless grey nightmare during the Cold War.
1945: The Soviet Union, the United States and Great Britain meet at Yalta and agree to leave Poland under Soviet control.
1990: Prices in Poland rise by 250%, with incomes dropping by 40%.
2010: A Polish plane crashed in Russia killing all 96 people on board, including the president and former president, the chief of the Polish General Staff, the president of the Bank of Poland, Poland's deputy foreign minister, 15 members of parliament and senior members of the Polish clergy. Russian involvement is suspected by many.

Source: https://www.reddit.com/r/AskReddit/comm ... e_most_in/

And one more funny thing. Probably authentic article in one of the French newspapers.

Poland. Here we find ourselves in a world of absurdity. Country in which every
fifth resident lost his life during the Second World War
a fifth of the people living outside the country and in which every 3
resident is 20 years old.

Country brutally torn from the age-old traditions, which restored
their capital by Canaletto paintings, and restored old town
as new. The country, which is two times more students than France,
and the engineer here earns less than the average worker. Country where
man appears more than twice the earnings, where the average
salary does not exceed the price of three pairs of good shoes, where
while there is poverty, and foreign capital pushes the door
and windows. Country in which licenses govern monopolies.

Country, the capital city, which faces the center of modern office buildings,
offering rooms at 10 to 30 USD per square meter. Country
car in which the price is equal to the three-year earnings, and yet
it is difficult to find a place in the parking lot. Country where you can
to buy rugs, put parking meters and pay the state only
10% tax on their profits. Country in which they were ruled by the Socialists in
the church holidays are days off from work (!), where
to obtain a passport until recently was a problem, yet
Over 3.5 million people a year go on holiday abroad.
The only country of the former socialist bloc, in which the citizen
allowed to possess U.S. dollars, although he may not buy or sell their
outside banks and kantorami. Aliens must resign here
with any logic, if you do not want to lose the ground under his feet.

A strange country where you can talk with the waiter in English,
the chef French, German, and the salesman Minister
or any government official only through
interpreter. Poles ..! How do you do that ..?

Source: http://forum.imperiaonline.org/int/inde ... 348.0;wap2

[Ulnarevern]

Whoooo your country is really fu!#%* up. That your country still is a country surprises me. So many invasions, and bad things happened there like holy crap.


And I don't know we're those stereotypes come from but all that you see will be wrong.

http://www.nationalstereotype.com/the-d ... ereotypes/

That's all false, except for that we all can speak English!

[Ulnarevern]

In short:

As every European country, France was based of risen and fallen kingdoms and empires, sometimes some French kings or else almost achieved Europe domination (Charlemagne and Napoléon are two of them) before everything went to hell for a reason or another.

Alongside with other European countries, French culture had some big recognition from time to time (Renaissance, under Louis XIV who made participated in making France a country where luxury is made or something...) and is still pretty well recognized for Paris and wine (and other stuff)

France was also part of slavery/slave trade (like most of the other European countries), helped the USA getting independent (thanks to Lafayette I think? who helped them kicking British soldiers out). French *almost* became the official US language (English got 1 more voice)


And that's all I can think of.

[tofos]

French *almost* became the official US language (English got 1 more voice)

Realyyyyyyy?

[bsb333]

Apparently there are many languages that think that they almost became the official language of the U.S. The one that German almost won is pretty wide spread and called the Muhlenberg legend. There is a wikipedia article about it: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Muhlenberg_legend

[Ulnarevern]

Ok my bad I mixed stuff up.
There's apparently no official federal language in the US but Wikipedia says that 31 of 50 States have it as their official language. Nothing to do with votes or else.

The other part I was thinking about is that French people wanted to make French the official international language or something, but it failed. Or something.
French is also *supposed* to be the official language for the Olympic Games, even if not used. This data comes from a few years back, it might have changed since then.

[Basher]

Good posts all. Yeah think of Netherlands winning FREEDOM from the spanish occupiers in the late middle ages after a tough war, booted 'em out. Did this led by the Prince of Orange so NOWADAYS that event commerated annually with EVERYONE wearing bright Orange. No half measures this day. Wear orange, have parades, eat and hang out. Like our 4th of July. Nope, trade economic and maritime and land and religious freedom. Yeah then WWIi was very very hard. Lots of cold & hungry. They had an active underground. I learned this from my good friend and would love to go see someday. Eat cheeses and cocoa and a million kinds of licorice and waffles stuffed with caramel. Serious stuff. They are experts at reclaiming lowlying land and maming it productive; they have an egalitarian society.