was there once a country next to France that no longer exists?

Question

Some where i heard that my family immigrated from a country somewhere in the middle of euroupe. but i can't find any evidence that says there was a country by France that no longer exsists. Does any one know of this country and when it disapered?

Answer 1

The current neighbours of France that are small would be Andorra, Monaco, Luxembourg. In the 16th and 17th century you had places like Burgundy, Corsica, Sardinia, Brittany, Alsace-Lorrainne and a few other feudal states. Further back, you had Normandy and Gaul. The present royal house of Windsor in England can claim ancestry to the Normans. Up until the late 19th century Germany did not exist in the present form. The land was more or less known as Prussia, a powerful state that does not exist any longer. Much of Prussia is in Poland now. Italy at that time was a divided country.
Many of the Nordic countries did not exist in their present form.
Even in the last 20 years, Europe has changed, with Slovenia, Croatia, Serbia,Bosnia, Macedonia and a host of others. There are new rumbles that see Scotland exerting its individuality.

You need to know which part of France or area of Europe before a determination can be made.

Answer 2

Europe used to be dotted with small countries, enclaves and duchies. Scores of them along and within the French border have been annexed just since WWI & WW2. Nearly all small-sized countires have been absorbed into the growing nation-states in the Europe we know today. Without specific dates, it would be impossible to guess correctly which one it was your family comes from.

You could probably do a surname background search to get more information as to the region it was in. Research that region and then you can begin to narrow down your search.

Modern small countries such as Liechtenstein, Andorra and Luxembourg are near France but few know anything about them. Maybe you could look through the surrounding areas near these countries that had once been independent.

Are you sure it was IN Europe and not an island in (or near) the Channel? Some of the dozen island countries that make up the associated Bailiwick of Guernsey were French and then became English before becoming independent again.

Answer 3

If they immigrated from that country to the US, then that country would have had to exist sometime after 1776; probably much later than that. So we can ignore Burgandy, Flanders, etc. They were long gone by then. Since it was next to France, we can ignore Austria-Hungary, Prussia, etc.

By that time, the only independant countries remaining in Central Europe would have been German "states" (Hesse, Schwabia, Hanover, etc.). There were a number of these small, independant countries/duchies/principalities in Western Germany. Most of these were not incorporated into Germany until the 1800's. Bismark, the Chancellor under the last few Kaisers of Germany, was the one that unified Germany by incorporating most of these states. Most of this was done about 1870, (the time of the war with France's Napoleon III).

If you could tell me a surname, and a rough guess as to when they immigrated, I could tell you pretty precisely where they came from.

Answer 4

Way back in the 12th century France was a small country in the middle of modern France. Over the years, it acquired control of neighbouring countries or principalities like Aquitaine and Brittany. The Netherlands and Belgium have slipped in and out of French and Spanish control. Germany and Italy did not exist as countries until 1870 - until then they were a bunch of individual states.

The political map of Europe has never been stable, not even in modern times. New countries in what was the Soviet Union. New countries in the Balkans. The Czech and Slovak Republics emerging fro Czechoslovakia.

Answer 5

It's a little hard to say since during the history of Europe things have changed several times. There was the Austro-Hungarian Empire that no longer exists but eventually became Austria, Hungary and Germany. It was a combination of state-like kingdoms each ruled over by a lord who reported and owed allegience to the emperor. If you tell me the name of the country I may be able to tell you more.

Answer 6

NO, there was no country next to France that no longer exists.

Germany, Switzerland, Belgium, Italy and Spain have always been its neighbors and they are still there. In the ancient times, however, they were part of Europe's Celtic territory known as GAUL.

Answer 7

Well..there were many other countries in Europe that don't exist now as well as countries that do now, but didn't long ago. This all happend because of world war one. The oneI know that was most significant was Austia-Hungary.

Answer 8

Sherman Tanks: human beings had a stunning tank in WWII The sherman became somewhat made because of the easy areas that have been used, making it uncomplicated to repair them. They have been extensively utilized on D- day with an amphibious attachment. additionally, it featured the two armour piercing and explosive rounds. For the Germans i might say the tiger tank or the mouse tank. the two heavily armoured yet extra hearth potential and selection. extra useful proper to take on the Sherman. The soviet T34 had sloped armour making it extra useful risk-free hmmm dont comprehend lots appropriate to the others yet those r my possibilities.

Answer 9

Yep, I agree with ANTIRION, probably part of the huge "German" migration of around 1830 to 1850, that's when my great,g,g,g,g,grandpapa sailed away from Prussia....through Hamburg

Answer 10

Perhaps you are referring to Alsace-Lorraine?

Also, in Middle-Europe- Prussia. (Germany, Poland, and Russia)