Jonathan Rogers wrote:I introduced ... my patented game "World Cup invasion". You had to work out which of the 32 starting countries had invaded the most of the other 31 countries in the past. "Invasion" requires non-consensual occupation of at least 60% of the land mass of another country for at least two months. No bonus points for repeat invasions of the same country.
Richard Bates wrote:Does Rome qualify as Italy for the purpose of this?
Quite, the whole exercise looks like an East Saxon trap. No wonder our two shires are no longer a united and complete kingdom, a kingdom whose name I have forgotten.
Jonathan Rogers wrote:You might have thought that England would have done well, given that Australia and NZ qualified. But at the end of the evening France and Spain seemed to be tied first with nine conquests each.
The tricky part, of course, is to observe that two human feet only occupy a small area. It is exceedingly improbable that the feet of any army ever occupied even thirty percent of the land area of all but the tiniest of countries. Thus the answer is almost certainly that they have all "invaded" each other equally often, i.e. not at all. I doubt if even England's football fans have ever been able to non-consensually occupy sixty percent of another state's land area.
Consider, instead, the game variant of a military subjugation of at least sixty percent of the land area of another country. As Richard has pointed out, "country" is a shifting term; do we, for instance, mean the present boundaries of France or her
natural frontiers? Do we just mean the Fifth Republic, or all the manifestations (sic) of France.
Let us leave these problems to the game's designers and assume we have the answers.
According to
http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/footbal ... efault.stm the list of entrants is:
Algeria, Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Cameroon, Chile, Denmark, England, France, Germany, Ghana, Greece, Honduras, Italy, Ivory Coast, Japan, Mexico, Netherlands, New Zealand, Nigeria, North Korea, Paraguay, Portugal, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia, South Africa, South Korea, Spain, Switzerland, USA and Uruguay.
Taking them one at a time and looking at what
La Belle France did to them. Note that I am writing this from memory. There are probably some slip-ups.
Country Notes Running total.
Algeria, former colony 1
Argentina, 1
Australia, 1
Brazil, 1
Cameroon, former colony 2
Chile, 2
Denmark, During the Napoleonic wars it was controlled by France. However, it enjoyed a measure of autonomy. Denmark also contributed troops. For instance, Hamburg was occupied by a Franco-Danish force under the command of Davout. On balance I leave the running total unchanged at 2, although I'd understand why some may wish to bump the number up to 3.
England, Who can forget what the Orcs did in 1066? I say the running total is 3, for the feudal overlord of these demons was the King of France.
France, Given the French revolution; I'd say yes, sixty percent plus has been subjected to a non-consensual military occupation. I make the running total 4
Germany, Boney overran nearly all 5
Ghana, 5
Greece, 5
Honduras, 5
Italy, Yep, Boney 6
Ivory Coast, former French colony 7
Japan, 7
Mexico, Maximilian 8
Netherlands, Boney 9
New Zealand, 9
Nigeria, 9
North Korea, 9
Paraguay, 9
Portugal,
The Lines of Torres Vedras were designed to defend Lisbon from the French. I don't know how much of Portugal the French occupied, but it is possible that they reached sixty percent. I'll stick my neck out and say yes. 10
Serbia, Soult was made the Duke of Dalmatia by Boney. I believe it included bits of Serbia, but less than sixty percent. Hence no and the running total is 10.
Slovakia, Boney often defeated the Hapsburgs, however, I doubt his forces occupied more than sixty percent. 10
Slovenia, See Soult above. 11
South Africa, 11
South Korea, 11
Spain, Peninsular War 12
Switzerland, During the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars, Switzerland's neutrality was violated by both sides. For instance. on the allied side, the Army of Bohemia invaded France after the Battle of Leipzig via Basle. On the French side bits of Switzerland were occupied to assist the Army of Italy etc. It was in the late 1790s, I can't recall the precise date. I suspect the answer is yes, but am not certain. So
13
USA 13
Uruguay 13
