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Republic of West Florida -

The Republic of West Florida survived as a nation for just over two and a half months during 1810. It occupied a region in what is now West Florida.

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Republic of West Florida -

The region had recently been purchased by the United States from Spain as part of the Louisiana Purchase. The locals, however, were not at all taken with the prospect of a new government, especially as they were already in the process of kicking out the Spanish. So they declared themselves an independent nation in September 1810.

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Republic of West Florida -

The West Floridians named their new capital St. Francisville, and a president was elected to run the fledgling country. But it wasn't to last. In December, the United States forcibly annexed the area and West Florida was no more. St. Francisville, meanwhile, ended up in Louisiana.

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The Paris Commune -

The Paris Commune was a seizure of power by a popularly-led socialist government that ruled Paris for three months, from March 18 to May 28, 1871.

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The Paris Commune -

Essentially an insurrection, it occurred in the wake of France's defeat in the Franco-German War and the collapse of Napoleon III's Second Empire.

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The Paris Commune -

Over the next two months, the Paris Commune governed the "City of Light" as an independent sovereign state. The Versailles government, however, was having none of it and, on May 21, 1871, instigated what became known as La Semaine Sanglante, the "Bloody Week." The barricades fell and the Paris Commune was no more.

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Republic of Formosa -

Few people realize that the short-lived Republic of Formosa existed on the island of Taiwan.

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Republic of Formosa -

The republic came into being by default. In 1895, Guangxu, emperor of the Qing Dynasty, ceded Taiwan to the Empire of Japan through the Treaty of Shimonoseki, which ended the First Sino-Japanese War.

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Republic of Formosa -

The prospect of Japanese rule irked the locals to the point where on May 23, 1895, they proclaimed the establishment of a new country, the Republic of Formosa. Nonetheless, just 155 days after the birth of their nation, the Japanese waded ashore and took over the Republican capital Tainan.

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Republic of Hatay -

The Republic of Hatay is best described as a transitional political entity, such was its short-lived existence. For 10 months from September 1938 to June 1939, it survived as a completely sovereign nation within Turkey. Pictured is a telegram of congratulation sent by Mustafa Kemal Atatürk (the first president of the Republic of Turkey) after the proclamation of the Hatay republic.

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Republic of Hatay -

The Republic of Hatay was actually located in territory controlled as part of the French Mandate of Syria, with the French and Turkish authorities overseeing joint military supervision.

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Republic of Hatay -

Nine months after declaring independence, the Hatay legislature had a change of heart. It voted to disestablish the state and rejoin Turkey.

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Republic of Slovene Styria -

The modern-day nation of Slovenia was once part of Yugoslavia. In April 1941, Nazi Germany invaded Yugoslavia and immediately annexed the region of Slovene Styria as their own territory.

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Republic of Slovene Styria -

The locals were enraged, but the Nazi jackboot kicked in and Berlin prohibited the use of the Slovene language or any historically Slovene-related cultural relics. Many hundreds were executed. But the Slovene people fought back. They declared their homeland a sovereign state, the Republic of Slovene Styria, and over the next few years effectively engaged in guerilla warfare with their unwelcome occupiers.

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Republic of Slovene Styria -

After the war ended, the Slovene population were for the most part content with being integrated within a reformed Yugoslavia. In 1991, Slovenia declared independence from Yugoslavia and became an independent sovereign state.

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Republic of Mahabad -

On January 22, 1946, a man named Qazi Muhammad announced the establishment of the Republic of Mahabad, a self-governing Kurdish ethnic state located in Iran.

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Republic of Mahabad -

The Republic of Mahabad, a puppet state of the Soviet Union, was located in northwestern Iran. Its capital was Mahabad.

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Republic of Mahabad -

Qazi Muhammad had ambitious dreams of turning his new nation into a regional player, backed by Moscow. But then the unthinkable happed. The Soviets, under pressure from the United States, left the region. Iran moved back in and by December 1946 it was all over. For his trouble, Qazi Muhammad was hanged for treason.

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Republic of South Maluku -

The Republic of South Maluku was an unrecognized secessionist republic that used the Dutch withdrawal from Indonesia to declare itself an independent, sovereign nation in 1950. In the process, nearly 13,000 South Moluccans followed their former colonial rulers back to the Netherlands, where they settled for good (pictured).

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Republic of South Maluku -

Independence was short-lived, however. With the Dutch having deserted, Indonesian authorities moved to take back control of the errant state. By 1963, South Maluku had been reintegrated into the Maluku Islands archipelago.

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Republic of South Maluku -

Today, the Maluku Islands enjoy a reputation as an exotic tourist hotspot, helped by the fact that the destination was once known as the Spice Islands, famous for the nutmeg, mace, and cloves that were exclusively harvested there.

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Republic of Katanga -

Out of the violence and turmoil that was Congo in the early 1960s was born the Republic of Katanga, which claimed its independence on July 11, 1960. The bold move was declared by Congolese businessman and politician Moïse Tshombe.

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Republic of Katanga -

Katanga's independence came after Belgium had withdrawn from the Congo. The former colonial power wanted nothing more to do with the ethnic strife engulfing the African country. Tshombe saw an opportunity to fill the political vacuum left by Brussels. But Katanga's mineral wealth also played an important part in the secession.

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Republic of Katanga -

The Katanga Republic, though, failed to be recognized as a state by the wider world. And as proxy Cold War conflict broke out across the region, people simply lost interest in Katanga. By 1963, Moïse Tshombe was languishing abroad in exile. His republic vanished the following year.

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Republic of Biafra -

The tragedy that was Biafra began in in 1967 when Colonel Odumegwu Emeka Ojukwu established the breakaway Republic of Biafra as Nigeria tottered on the brink of civil war.

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Republic of Biafra -

The Nigerian military immediately attempted to reclaim the territory, its actions precipitating the bloody and brutal Nigerian Civil War.

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Republic of Biafra -

Biafra bore the brunt of the conflict. An estimated two million died in the conflict, many thousands from famine. In 1970, Ojukwu fled the country, his nation broken and beaten.

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East Timor -

East Timor, a former Portuguese colony, declared its unilateral independence in 1975, a year after Portugal's Carnation Revolution that saw the country withdraw from all its colonial outposts.

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East Timor -

By removing itself from East Timor, Portugal left the door open for Indonesia to invade the country and brutally stamp its authority on the islanders. In a vain attempt to govern themselves, the Timorese declared themselves independent. By early 1976, however, Indonesian strongman Suharto had effectively closed the country down.

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East Timor -

Independence was restored in 2002. Suharto died in 2008. Today, the country is known as the Democratic Republic of Timor-Leste. 

Sources: (USC U.S.-China Institute) (Britannica) (New World Encyclopedia) 

See also: Independence days around the world

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