

Only 22 countries have never been invaded by Britain - snowy
http://www.statista.com/chart/3441/countries-never-invaded-by-britain/

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Arnt
Amazing what you can count if you want to.

Norway is on the list. Why? Perhaps because the Royal Navy invaded Copenhagen
(without setting foot on land), and the Danish king at the time considered
Norway part of his domain. But Norwegians didn't quite see it the same way
(the declaration of independence was already being drafted).

Chile is on the list. Why? Perhaps because the Royal Navy beat the Spanish
Armada, and then invaded Cadiz without setting food on land, and the Spanish
king at the time considered Chile part of his domains? Or one of the other
wars that didn't involve British soldiers marching on Madrid. I wonder what
the Chileans thought and how many of them ever heard of the hostilities at
Cadiz.

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soneil
You've pretty much hit on the goal of the book - that there were a lot more
military actions than popular history likes to remember.

For Norway, it starts with the Battle of Bergen (1665) - which was while the
Danes controlled Norway, but is today Norwegian territory. Continues through
various naval encounters during the Napoleonic wars, and into attacks on
german-held Norwegian territories during WW2 - ending with 1st Airborne
landing at Oslo and Stavenger.

While very few of these are actually actions against Norway, they are on what
is today Norwegian soil, which is the general theme of the book.

Chile is similar, in that while there's very little against Chile as a nation,
there's plenty of attacks against the Spanish territory that became Chile,
starting with the sacking of Valparaiso in 1578, and ending with british
fighting with chile to establish their independence from Spain.

The general theme of the book isn't "we've attacked every country on this
list" \- it's more that if you put a pin on the map for every british military
action listed through the book, a good 90% of today's countries will find a
pin within their territory.

~~~
Arnt
Yes, many military engagements and some that are well beyond the category of
gunboat diplomacy, but I can't name any I would call invading either of those
two countries. Invading is a big word.

Edit: Perhaps what I really dislike is that that map draws the actions of the
Royal Navy on land. Which isn't _entirely_ untrue, people on land are affected
by e.g. a blockade, but it does look like yet another infographic that aims to
infuriate rather than inform.

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davelnewton
THERE'S STILL TIME

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mariusz79
I don't recall Britain ever invading Poland. So 23?

~~~
Someone
I don't recall, either, and even Wikipedia doesn't have much, but apparently,
there was
[http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/British_Military_Mission_to_P...](http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/British_Military_Mission_to_Poland).
There also is operation Freston, an SOE operation into Poland in 1944. In
neither case, I don't think the Brits fought against Poles, but certainly in
the second case (at least, that's what the many links with limited information
point at), they invaded Poland. Operation Freston even has a book:
[http://www.amazon.co.uk/Operation-Freston-British-
Military-M...](http://www.amazon.co.uk/Operation-Freston-British-Military-
Mission/dp/0953735206)

(Given the scarce information, this could still be a hoax, but if so, I fell
for it)

~~~
mariusz79
Well, by invasion I consider attack against a specific country. Either one of
does not fit this definition.

~~~
acqq
From the comment on Amazon:

> Mac McAleer: The author deliberately stretches the definition of "invaded"
> to include short military interventions and actions by pirates, privateers
> and armed explorers.

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sarciszewski
Given this article and the number of surveillance cameras in the UK, I guess
it's safe to say that Britain is quite... invasive.

~~~
ve7cxz
The vast majority of cameras in the UK are owned by private organizations.

~~~
JoeAltmaier
Still, lots of govt ones. North Lanarkshire has 300!

[http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/scotland/glasgow_and_west...](http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/scotland/glasgow_and_west/8570216.stm)

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cam_l
pretty sure Britain invaded Australia, we even celebrate it with a national
holiday.. 'invasion day'.

