WHAT IS THIS?
>WHAT IS THIS?
>WHAT IS THIS?
>WHAT IS THIS?
>EXPLAIN
>>488279
>>488279
The land of the thunder dragon emperor
Why is it that kingdoms like Bhutan, Liechtenstein, and Luxembourg never got absorbed into their larger neighboring empires?
>>488407
There were a lot of wars and conflicts about the Luxemburg question throughout history.
Liechtenstein was too small and unimportant for anyone to notice that they even exist. Whenever there were some wars in the alpine area, everyone just walked over them with no fucks given.
Dont know about Bhutan, but being in the High Himalayas probably helps.
>>488407
Bhutan is composed of Tibetan refugees fleeing the Monastic Civil Wars in Tibet. Tibet tried to reabsorb them in the 1600's only for it to be defeated by Bhutan in the Battle of the Five Lamas.
Since they fled into an area beyond the reach of India or China, they were pretty much OK initially.
Then the Brit Empire had nominal control over Bhutan via India. which protected it from a weakened Qing/ROC China.
In 1950's, Chinese became gommie, took over Tibet, and bits of Bhutan. Bhutan got scared the shit out of it and buddied up with India. India meanwhile can't absorb Bhutan without China going apeshit. And so here they were.
>>488463
>Monastic Civil Wars in Tibet.
Huh?
>>488279
A tibetan kingdom that managed to stay independent (from other tibetan polities too) thanks to geographical isolation. Nowadays they serve as a buffer state between Indians and the Chinese which allows them to survive.
They're known for being very poor but happy. The royal family is kinda cute.
>>488279
It's clean
mountain chinks
>>489714
They're really good looking
>you'll never be ruled by epic movie-tier beatiful kings
>you will always be ruled by old greasy merchant/politicians >>489934
There's no reason to keep on going, isn't it?
>>489934
Didn't meant to quote you
>>489714
I'm currently at Sandhurst with his son. He's a really lovely guy.
>>489682
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_Tibet#Rise_of_Ganden_Phodrang
Tibet's Monasteries are pretty much feudal states in their authority. Pretty much balkanized the power of the Tibetan Kingdoms.
>>490026
I didn't know Bhutan had a military
>>488279
pretty good country and their queen is hot
>>490082
I don't think he's going into the military when he goes back, I think he's going into the civil service. I don't talk to him that often since he's in a different platoon but he's in the same company as me and we chat sometimes when we have social occasions and whatnot. I was on stag (sentry) with him on an exercise once and he was telling me all about Bhutan.
>>490391
https://youtu.be/v3_EezKE0WI
>>488463
>battle of the five lamas
>Peter Jackson Intensifies
>>490393
This guy is fucking obnoxious, and he just summarizes Wikipedia
>>488279
It looks like the dragon is having fun skating on those balls.
>>490082
Dude, its sort of a prerequisite for a country to have an armed force of some kind.
>>489773
How does this work? Can't people just jump over?
>>492608
Says who?
>>492636
Costa Rica has the United States as an armed force.
>>492953
It does not have an active military tho
>>492618
india on right bhutan on left?
kek
>>492958
Yeah, you´re right. But I live in Costa Rica and I can tell you that the government can´t afford to pay for an active military.
>>489773
>>492618
>>492979
Updated for recent years.
>>492994
>Niger can afford one but Costa Rica can't
>>493023
Honestly, the new orange buildings on the right don't look that bad.
>>488279
In the 1990s, Bhutan expelled or forced to leave most of its ethnic Lhotshampa population, one-fifth of the country's entire population, demanding conformity in religion, dress, and language.[56][57][58] The decision was motivated by the concern that the fast-growing Nepali minority were starting to revolt for a separate independent state, recalling similar events that caused the collapse of the nearby kingdom of Sikkim in 1975. Lhotshampas were arrested and expelled from the country and their property was expropriated.[59] An alleged harassment campaign escalating in the early 1990s ensued, and afterwards Bhutanese security forces began expelling people. According to the UNHCR, more than 107,000 Bhutanese refugees living in seven camps in eastern Nepal have been documented as of 2008.[58] Whether all inhabitants are in fact refugees is questionable because the UNHCR did not check the initial inhabitants of the refugee camps adequately.[60] The facilities inside the camp, which were reportedly[citation needed] better than in the surroundings, provided a strong motivation for Nepalese to seek admittance. After many years in refugee camps, many inhabitants are now moving to host nations such as Canada, Norway, the United Kingdom, Australia, and the United States as refugees. The United States has admitted 60,773 refugees from fiscal years 2008 through 2012.[61]
>Bhutan
>happiest country
>>488463
I appreciate you pointing out that the British Empire only had nominal control over Bhutan. Bhutan was still quite autonomous and was never truly under the thumb of any nation or empire, ever.
>>490059
The monasteries were largely dominated by powerful family clans, even if through soft power. Calling the monasteries themselves feudal states in their own right is pretty misleading.
