The vexillology nerd in me loves the fact that you took the time to correctly place all three of Lesotho's historical flags in their respective time periods throughout the video. Your attention to detail does not go unnoticed.
@@crusadersamerica3730 By the time Europeans discovered Nauru in 1798, the island was unified into a tiny kingdom of a little over 1000 people. Its remote location-even by Pacific standards-and lack of known natural resources, made its colonization a very low priority for Europeans. In 1888, Germany seized the island, but it didn't become profitable until the discovery of large and pristine-quality phosphate reserves in 1900, which could then be used in the manufacture of military equipment. The UK seized the island (and associated phosphate industry) during World War One, and after the war, it was turned into a League of Nations mandate. Not wanting to deal with a colony which was essentially worthless during peacetime, the UK thrusted administration of the island onto Australia. Japan saw the island as a potential base from which the Allies could conduct aerial raids against their own forces. To prevent this, they seized the Island in World War Two, and enslaved nearly the entire population to work in phosphate mines and on the construction of a Japanese military base. The Allies, in turn, would heavily bomb Nauru to disrupt Japanese operations from the islands, who quickly became unable to resupply the isolated island, but nonetheless maintained control until the end of the war. This would devastate the island, with over half of all native inhabitants being killed. In 1947, Nauru was reconstituted as a UN trust territory, but in effect operated as a small colony co-ruled by Australia and New Zealand. Continued poor conditions for native workers, along with massive environmental damage and the memory of exploitation and destruction during WW2, led to calls for true independence, with governance and control of the phosphate mining industry handed to the Nauruan people themselves. While Australia was hesitant, pressure from the UN to grant the Nauruans' request led to them quickly relenting, granting the island independence in 1968, and selling control of the phosphate mines. Nauru was initially successful after independence, but with agricultural prospects effectively destroyed by catastrophic environmental practices under colonial rule, and the phosphate reserves slowly running out, threatened doom in the long run. That doom would come in the 1990s, with the total collapse of Nauru's economy over the course of more than a decade of recession, that reduced the country's GDP per capita from over $5000 in 1989 to under $2000 in 2002. Unemployment soared to over 90%. Nauru now depends on aid from foreign governments for survival, using its status as a technically independent state to profit from deals with foreign powers, which would otherwise be difficult or impossible to achieve. This mainly takes the form of selling fishing rights to foreign corporations, but also includes aiding money laundering efforts by drug cartels, assisting the CIA in espionage against North Korea, and hosting a high-security internment camp for refugees seeking to enter Australia. As a result of these initiatives, today most of Nauru's workforce are employed in banking, diplomatic services, and internment camp operation. These efforts have proven successful in alleviating the economic catastrophe, with GDP per capita exceeding $11,000 by 2018, and the unemployment rate falling to "just" 26%. However, these efforts have also sacrificed much of Nauru's sovereignty, and the island continues to operate, in many ways, as a pseudo-colonial holding of Australia, New Zealand, and the United States.
The reason why subduing the Basotho was so hard was because it's basically the African equivalent of Switzerland. It's very mountainous and the capital at the time was located on top of a mountain fortress.
South African here: Short answer is that South Africa used to be 4 different countries that all bordered Lesotho. Lesotho is a mountain kingdom (like Switzerland) and can be easily defended. Some other interesting news. King Moshoeshoe of Lesotho never wanted war (kind of like Switzerland), so he sent offers of peace to all his neighbours. He was the only southern African king from the time, that lived long enough to have his photograph taken. Mostly because he never went to war. Their existence as an independent country is purely because of political negotiation.
And don't forget that at a point in time the South African apartheid system began creating Bantustans in its own territory rather than trying to annex neighbours. The independence of Lesotho was a very pleasent situation for them.
In truth from the position of the British it actually had a lot to do with the number of Boers (Dutch) in SA. Having separate territories that were firmly under British control in the Anglo-Dutch contest for control of the Union of South Africa was of advantage to Britain. Had the minority electorate of SA been completely Anglo, South Africa would have just annexed Lesotho. And as the video explained from the position of the later Apartheid government, Lesotho was already in native labour reserve form, without them having to engineer it like elsewhere in SA. Strategically they controlled it anyway where it really mattered, as guarantor of the ruling establishment. (same in Swaziland) But it wasn't because invasion wasn't doable. Some people don't realise how completely lopsided the power differential between the Union of South Africa and Lesotho was (and is).
As a South African i have always thought about this topic...especially since there are alot of basotho in our country as well. Sadly this was never covered in our schools. Thank you for the video
Wow, I never knew that. We had an Apartheid education so we learned about it, with Swaziland and Botswana. The Apartheid government was not happy that they lost Lesotho, Swaziland and Botswana when Britain gave them independence. Botswana was the only country in the world whose capital was located outside its borders, Mafikeng. Moreover Namibia was ruled as a 5th province when I was in school. The war with Cuba in Angola brought freedom to Namibia and an end of Apartheid as Fidel Castro was determined to defeat the Apartheid army at the time. This fact is conveniently forgotten today.
It was covered briefly in the South Africa episode of Geography Now so I'm glad you covered it in detail. Also I miss the little clips you'd have at the end of your videos.
Lesotho is also very mountainous, which makes invasion tricky. Beautiful country. Fun fact: Lesotho's lowest point is around 1400m in altitude. No other country on earth has a lowest point above 1000m.
@TraceHolstein-rw1nk the lowest point in Nepal is around 80m above sea level. Kathmandu's centre is actually lower than the lowest altitude in Lesotho.
Can confirm. I grew up in Pretoria, which has an elevation of 1300m. I'm used to living at altitude. I can confirm Lesotho is in a whole different league. The air get's real thin up there.
I live in Lesotho and appreciate the information your content has provided, on point and quite entertaining 👌🏾 I did find it funny how you pronounce Moshoeshoe I though.😹😹😹 The country’s a natural fortress; mountains everywhere you look. It’s the third most mountainous country in the world, and has the world’s highest lowest point, hence it being called ‘The Kingdom in the sky’
You have the name of Monarchs' family, are you related to them? Anyway, I think it's harder for anglophones to say names in other languages. If I say Moshoeshoe as I would in Portuguese, it would sound practically the same as in Sesotho.
"I hope you enjoyed this episode..." Yeah because you give us a choice not to enjoy it. I always enjoy the episodes, I was literally just about to watch one of your videos at random and then saw the notification for this. Thank you for the amazing content and keep it up!
@Robert Kaevur I mean considering it's only happened once, I doubt the US is the best example, their republic has been ridiculously stable historically speaking for a society so heavily armed, with such a weak central govt with such a diverse population. It's insane the US has had really only one major armed rebellion in 250 years.
@@happygilmore5948 Yh that's the one I'm talking about. The US has had a grand total of one mass uprising. (lots of tiny, near insignificant ones tho like Blair mountain or the farmers war, but nothing of note)
My dad actually went to Lesotho on a business trip. He told me a story about his driver and that he kept calling him “daddy” for some reason. And when my dad pointed out that the city he went to had a lot of pizza restaurants, the driver said, and I quote, “Oh daddy, pizza is for women and children. Men eat chicken!”
This was funny AF 🤣🤣 If you are unfamiliar with Sesotho, I could try thinking of an explanation. Either: your dad was mishearing the driver, who could have referring to your dad using the Sesotho word 'ntate' (which sounds something like "nduh-DEH' to an English-speaker) It means 'father', but it is the word used to show formal respect to any male, i.e. it's used in an equivalent way to 'Sir'. OR, the driver WAS calling him 'daddy' 🤣🤣🤣 because the driver didn't speak English well enough to just use the term 'Sir' instead of the directly translating 'ntate' into 'daddy' and didn't know that calling a man you don't know 'father' is weird for Westerners.
@@Barc112 Spot on, the guy was just direct translating Sesotho to English and as you can see as with most of our indigenous languages they do not translate well when doing that
It's not unusual for Africans to call people the age of their parents daddy or mummy, people the age of their grandparents grandpa or grandma, people near their age bro or sis, and people the age of their kids son or daughter in the native language or even in English.
Hi. A lady from Lesotho here. I love it there. It's amazing and our culture is wonderful. I have a 30 minutes video on a day in my life in Lesotho. And it captured the beautiful rural area of Lesotho. Drinking water from the mountains, and everything else.
1 Like the prophets of the Bible, in April 1993, I, Kacou Philippe, a man who had never been in a church, I receive in a vision, the visitation of an Angel who commissions me for a Message destined to the whole earth in fulfillment of Matthew 25:6 and Revelation 12:14. This is the account of my conversion, as well as the three great visions of the call and commission as I received them: 2 I came to conversion on April 24, 1993 according to Daniel 10:4 to 11 by a vision in which I saw myself standing on the sand of the sea and then on top of a high pyramid and then again on the sand of the sea in another place and I saw an old military truck coming out of the depths of the sea and leave behind me. I turned and I saw that it contained living people. They were women and one of them was mixed-race. 3 Then two doves came toward me and went back over the waters. And there was an eclipse, then a man having the appearance of a Cloud and holding a sword came down from Heaven with a Lamb and the earth was illuminated again. They stood on the waters and the Lamb began to speak to me in an unknown tongue. The sound of his voice came into me and I fell dead. My soul went to stand on the waters with them while my body was lying on the sand of the sea. When He had finished speaking to me, my soul came into me and I became alive again but I no longer saw Them. 4 Then a crowd of people came toward me from the right side and I asked them if they had seen the Angel and the Lamb. They said, "No!" And I said: “But, how did you not see the Angel and the Lamb and all the things They have done?” They replied, "We have not seen the Angel and the Lamb and we have not heard the Words the Lamb pronounced, but we entirely believe It because what God gave and that the devil took, has now been restituted to you ". I looked up and I saw a ladder set up between the sky and the earth, above the waters and angels ascended and descended. And the vision ended and I felt what I know today to be the Holy Spirit and I wept and I believed in God on the spot. [Kc.64v3] [Kc.130v9] 5 The following day at around 3 p.m. while I was sitting with my family, I was transported again in vision into a totally desert country and I saw eastward Words that were coming down from Heaven carried on Clouds. It was after these two visions that I got up and went to church for the very first time. [Kc.137v37] 6 In a third vision, we were sitting in an examination room for the Advanced level test and the examiner was distributing the test-papers. I said to myself, "But what am I doing here? I do not have a good school level and what am I going to write?” And later, It was said to me: "The same way that Mary conceived miraculously, without knowing any man, the same way that Moses received in details what happened at the creation, you too, you have received the Words of eternal Life on this April 24, 1993 and it is decreed by God. At the appointed time, you will understand and you will teach what you did not learn in order that whoever believes has eternal Life". [Kc.9v34] [Kc.30v1-3]
You truely are a great craftsperson. I love how you're able to condense, narrate and present great interesting stories and leave an audience feeling 'I've learned something new today' . Its a great craft. Dont stop. You're doing an amazing job. The characters are great to watch. Love the tongue-in-cheek humor. Especially love the inclusion of 'Fun fact, No' into presentations.
@Onuphrius my great grandfather lived in this city called Mumias. He went from citizen of the Wanga Kingdom to citizen of The east Africa protectorate to citizen of the Kenya colony to Citizen of the Short lived Kenyan federation to citizen of the Republic of Kenya
Another country enclaved within South Africa is Eswatini (the former Swaziland). The Swazi king Sobhuza II was the longest reigning monarch in all of history (1899-1982). A Swazi king has multiple wives (some of whom are government-appointed). The king shares power with his mother should she be living, as is the case today with King Mswati III and Queen Mother Ntfombi Dlamini.
Basically although interesting, a large reason they are independent (and you can see by their geography) is that they are on a massive mountain, surrounded by a mountain range. Invading them besides being a logistic nightmare, is difficult given the terrain advantage to defensive warfare. Very cool how they have pulled it off for so long and become completely friendly.
I really enjoy this series, but as a Central American, I kind of fear I will one day see our little countries as part of the series as well. Not sure if that will be a happy or sad day, though.
@@rorychivers8769 fun fact central American states exist in part thanks to Argentina when corsairs and navy ship attacked Spanish garrisons in their forts during the revolutionary era when the Spanish Navy was occupied in Europe during the Napoleonic wars, hence giving chance to locals to revolts. Thus the creation of the United Provinces of Central America with a flag almost identical to the United Provinces of the River Plate. But soon caudillos started to fight each other and the country broke in tinny irrelevant small countries. If you look at them most have still an Argentine based flag. Fun fact 2, same corsairs attacked the fort of Monterey and captured it. For 5 days California was a province of Argentina.
His name is prenounced "Mo-shwe-shwe" and Lesotho is extremely difficult to conquer as they have a near impenetrable mountain fortress named "Ta-ba-bi-si-ho"
One reason the Brits did not seriously attempt to incorporate Lesotho into the Cape Colony (and later the South Africans into South Africa) is that the territory the Basotho were forced into by Boer and Zulu expansion (modern Lesotho) is mountainous and relatively resource poor. It wasn't worth the trouble. If you haven't already done so, can you do a video on the South African tribal "Homelands"? Lesotho, Botswana, and Swaziland were models that the South African govt. decided to replicate within the territory of South Africa. By declaring resource poor areas within South Africa as "independent" tribal countries they could strip black South Africans of South African citizenship and "deport" them to their Tribal "Homelands" whenever the need arose.
Usually with your excellent vids, it's a question I never realised I needed the answer to. In this case, however, I've frequently wondered why Lesotho exists, but never could be arsed enough to find out. Thanks for saving me the trouble, in funny and informative fashion, now back to the wine.
Anyone know of any further reading material on Lesotho? It's one of those historical curiosities I'd like to delve deeper in to, great video and as always I can't wait for the next one!!
Basically although interesting, a large reason they are independent (and you can see by their geography) is that they are on a massive mountain, surrounded by a mountain range. Invading them besides being a logistic nightmare, is difficult given the terrain advantage to defensive warfare. Very cool how they have pulled it off for so long and become completely friendly.
@@marcelkruger5187 Yeah, that definately helps. A fun fact is that Lesotho is the only country in the world which is entirely above 1000 meters of elevation.
So, basically, they managed to somehow succeed in a rebellion one time that the British couldn't be arsed to quell and then people sort of just accepted it's existence from then on as there was no immediate benefit to conquering it.
@@brianjonker510Well the 13 Colonies also had some help from foreign powers during the Revolutionary War who had a bone to pick with Britian, namely France, the Netherlands, and Spain.
@@brianjonker510 Not even close, the loss of the 13 colonies was a major disaster for the first British empire (hell it is generally accepted to be the end of the first British empire) If not for the fortuitous conquest of Caribbean and Indian territories, the UK might not have gotten a second British empire (the one on which the sun never set). So not, not at all similar to a nearly decade-long war with over 150,000 soldiers involved that involved multiple great powers and resulted in the loss of about 20% of the Realm's population. Almost no historian of note does the British nationalist thing of erroneously claiming "Loosing the 13 colonies was not a big deal". It was, Britain was just lucky/competent enough to pick itself back up stronger and better.
This was one of the best you've done in awhile, sarcastically speaking at least. Nearly every sentence in this three minute video had a sarcastic edge to it. Bravo! (Well done!)
Too bad the trees barely grow there (at least Sani side) altitude there is crazy. Must have been really nice if you were there for a lucky snow winter.
I actually know the old tennis partner of the Lesotho king who was overthrown. They used to make a team in doubles tennis when he lived in the south of England. Said the last time he saw him was in the 80’s (I forget where but it was either the Netherlands or Belgium). It was an interesting conversation, I asked him about his best tennis partner and he said in the way only an old English gentleman could manage ‘well I used to play tennis with the king of Lesotho before he went to become king. Was overthrown in a coup though, which wasn’t too good’
It's worth noting that a lot of German states pre-Napoleon were inside other German states, separated by other German states, or in other bizarre situations after the Treaty of Westphalia. Then Napoleon and some other people thought that was stupid and now there are far fewer Lesothos. Funny how that sort of thing happens.
At first they were annoyed, then later their head was on a stick. No but actually I think some Crusader kingdoms allied with the Mongols at one point. That's pretty interesting. As is the Franco-Timurid alliance.
South Africa basically adopted the Lesotho model for their “Homelands” project, creating several other enclave countries within its borders for various native groups, while other native enclaves existed autonomously within South Africa proper
@@ANWRocketMan true there was almost a war in 1994 involving the enclave Republic of Boputhatswana, the transitioning Republic of South Africa, and Boer nationalist rebels. Luckily it ended with both Boputhatswana and the Boers backing down, although initial skirmishes sadly saw a handful of deaths.
1 Like the prophets of the Bible, in April 1993, I, Kacou Philippe, a man who had never been in a church, I receive in a vision, the visitation of an Angel who commissions me for a Message destined to the whole earth in fulfillment of Matthew 25:6 and Revelation 12:14. This is the account of my conversion, as well as the three great visions of the call and commission as I received them: 2 I came to conversion on April 24, 1993 according to Daniel 10:4 to 11 by a vision in which I saw myself standing on the sand of the sea and then on top of a high pyramid and then again on the sand of the sea in another place and I saw an old military truck coming out of the depths of the sea and leave behind me. I turned and I saw that it contained living people. They were women and one of them was mixed-race. 3 Then two doves came toward me and went back over the waters. And there was an eclipse, then a man having the appearance of a Cloud and holding a sword came down from Heaven with a Lamb and the earth was illuminated again. They stood on the waters and the Lamb began to speak to me in an unknown tongue. The sound of his voice came into me and I fell dead. My soul went to stand on the waters with them while my body was lying on the sand of the sea. When He had finished speaking to me, my soul came into me and I became alive again but I no longer saw Them. 4 Then a crowd of people came toward me from the right side and I asked them if they had seen the Angel and the Lamb. They said, "No!" And I said: “But, how did you not see the Angel and the Lamb and all the things They have done?” They replied, "We have not seen the Angel and the Lamb and we have not heard the Words the Lamb pronounced, but we entirely believe It because what God gave and that the devil took, has now been restituted to you ". I looked up and I saw a ladder set up between the sky and the earth, above the waters and angels ascended and descended. And the vision ended and I felt what I know today to be the Holy Spirit and I wept and I believed in God on the spot. [Kc.64v3] [Kc.130v9] 5 The following day at around 3 p.m. while I was sitting with my family, I was transported again in vision into a totally desert country and I saw eastward Words that were coming down from Heaven carried on Clouds. It was after these two visions that I got up and went to church for the very first time. [Kc.137v37] 6 In a third vision, we were sitting in an examination room for the Advanced level test and the examiner was distributing the test-papers. I said to myself, "But what am I doing here? I do not have a good school level and what am I going to write?” And later, It was said to me: "The same way that Mary conceived miraculously, without knowing any man, the same way that Moses received in details what happened at the creation, you too, you have received the Words of eternal Life on this April 24, 1993 and it is decreed by God. At the appointed time, you will understand and you will teach what you did not learn in order that whoever believes has eternal Life". [Kc.9v34] [Kc.30v1-3]
"The british thought that by asking protection they are conceding their independence" That's pretty much how it works bub. You ask for protection, that means you are at their mercy.
@@linzeeb4 Allyship is between countries of equal size, against a stronger enemy Puppeting is between a powerful state and a weak one, against one that is less weak than the junior but more weak than the senior The two are not the same and they cannot expect protection without a price, as this is real life, not some fairyland fantasy of unicorns and friendship
@@shubielechesa8836 listen love and light to batho ba Basotho Mara they are southern African NOT South African…if SA changed it’s name say maybe Azania like some people want, Basotho would still be Southern African but NOT Azanian… people from SADC countries love claiming SA when it suits y’all Mara ge dilo di beta le chencha fast fast…no wayyys. Not to be snaaks or anything mara let’s not lie… I know our country’s name is a direction😂😂 but still please respect that direction and its people and also Basotho from Lesotho and Basotho from SA are one people but due to borders different nationalities and until otherwise changed those nationalities should be respected
"Welcome to South Africa, CAUTION: RACISM". If there was ever a way to boil down to the point of almost hilarious triviality the shall we say, "troubled history" of South Africa between like 1902 and 1994, that first statement would be it! Ahhh I love this channel because of how it just cuts through so much important detail with a single, succinct and arguably subjective turn of phrase. Keep it Mister person who does the channel stuff whoever you are! :D
Yeah racism shouldn’t exist. Some people in South Africa are racist to whites, some people in the USA and many European countries are racist to blacks. Racism is so stupid and makes no sense in my opinion. Why is one race superior? I think all races should be seen the same, and racism in public should be given fines if it’s seen.
I remember when I first saw the full map of Africa and the Leshoto. I kept asking myself Wtf kind of country is this for over 10 years... thank you for freeing me history matters, how I can rest
I did a huge research paper on this very subject in college. Cool to see a video on it. One correction, I don't believe that's how you pronounce Moshoeshoe. Trying to spell it phonetically, I believe it's pronounced more like ma-shway-shway.
I just finished a massive scroll back and watching every single one of your videos. This is now one of my favourite channels. (I also love the occasional sneaky Star Wars reference.)
I remember asking for this video, when you made a video on Gambia. The video is accurate, insightful and you pronounced some names horribly which MAKES THIS VIDEO A GREAT WATCH. GREAT JOB!!!
It would have been good to mention that Lesotho's geography makes it very difficult to outright invade as it is very mountainous. It's basically surrounded by a wall of mountains. Edit: removed false information about the cause of the Basotho settling in Lesotho. I was misinformed on this beautiful country's history.
You are probably very much misinformed if you think we can run away from anyone/nation except that we are peace loving nation hence can do anything to embrace it🙂
You are so misinformed. We, Basotho have never ran away from zulus. Unfortunately you read fake history about that mfecane/lifaqane times. If Basotho ran away from that Chaka, we couldn't have lot of zulus who arrived here during mfecane/lifaqane time fleeing Chaka's brutal regime of that time. You will not find Basotho zulus who resided there during chaka's reign but we have population of zulus who settle in northern side of Lesotho whom their forefathers fled Chaka's brutality. Dont ever lie to yourself. We did real history in schools but not fake history written by boers you did in SA schools. They wrote all lies!
Stop lying. Moshoeshoe beat Shaka on many occasions. After whooping his behind, he sent him a token of peace so that He, Shaka, could feel better about losing against the only King in South Africa never to loss a major battle against anyone. The small nguni tribes team away from Shaka and sought protection from our founding father, and Moshoeshoe ever being the peace loving, strategic King, he offered Shaka gifts so that he doesn't attack the other small Nguni tribes that were running away from him, and to allow them to settle in what is now the northern part of Eastern Cape, which used to be part of Moshoeshoe's territory. Moshoeshoe used the small Nguni tribes and a buffer between himself and Shaka. Ask us Basotho about our history and stop learning it from a white man.
He forgot to mention that Wakanda tribe in Black Panther is loosely based on Basotho tradition, particularly the blankets and the mountainous landscape....
![Noob To Max With DRAGON REWORK In Blox Fruits [FULL MOVIE]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/LnBMOinoOvA/mqdefault.jpg)
The vexillology nerd in me loves the fact that you took the time to correctly place all three of Lesotho's historical flags in their respective time periods throughout the video. Your attention to detail does not go unnoticed.
Same here!
Is vexillology the collecting of flags?
@@Cambutalgirl The study of flags, yes.
Same
As another person who is interested in flags, I agree!
Another fine addition to the "Why does this country exist?" collection.
I didn't even know it existed
Next should be “Why does society exist”
Up next Nauru
History Matters is always suspicious about tiny countries. ;)
@@crusadersamerica3730 By the time Europeans discovered Nauru in 1798, the island was unified into a tiny kingdom of a little over 1000 people. Its remote location-even by Pacific standards-and lack of known natural resources, made its colonization a very low priority for Europeans. In 1888, Germany seized the island, but it didn't become profitable until the discovery of large and pristine-quality phosphate reserves in 1900, which could then be used in the manufacture of military equipment. The UK seized the island (and associated phosphate industry) during World War One, and after the war, it was turned into a League of Nations mandate. Not wanting to deal with a colony which was essentially worthless during peacetime, the UK thrusted administration of the island onto Australia.
Japan saw the island as a potential base from which the Allies could conduct aerial raids against their own forces. To prevent this, they seized the Island in World War Two, and enslaved nearly the entire population to work in phosphate mines and on the construction of a Japanese military base. The Allies, in turn, would heavily bomb Nauru to disrupt Japanese operations from the islands, who quickly became unable to resupply the isolated island, but nonetheless maintained control until the end of the war. This would devastate the island, with over half of all native inhabitants being killed.
In 1947, Nauru was reconstituted as a UN trust territory, but in effect operated as a small colony co-ruled by Australia and New Zealand. Continued poor conditions for native workers, along with massive environmental damage and the memory of exploitation and destruction during WW2, led to calls for true independence, with governance and control of the phosphate mining industry handed to the Nauruan people themselves. While Australia was hesitant, pressure from the UN to grant the Nauruans' request led to them quickly relenting, granting the island independence in 1968, and selling control of the phosphate mines.
Nauru was initially successful after independence, but with agricultural prospects effectively destroyed by catastrophic environmental practices under colonial rule, and the phosphate reserves slowly running out, threatened doom in the long run. That doom would come in the 1990s, with the total collapse of Nauru's economy over the course of more than a decade of recession, that reduced the country's GDP per capita from over $5000 in 1989 to under $2000 in 2002. Unemployment soared to over 90%.
Nauru now depends on aid from foreign governments for survival, using its status as a technically independent state to profit from deals with foreign powers, which would otherwise be difficult or impossible to achieve. This mainly takes the form of selling fishing rights to foreign corporations, but also includes aiding money laundering efforts by drug cartels, assisting the CIA in espionage against North Korea, and hosting a high-security internment camp for refugees seeking to enter Australia. As a result of these initiatives, today most of Nauru's workforce are employed in banking, diplomatic services, and internment camp operation. These efforts have proven successful in alleviating the economic catastrophe, with GDP per capita exceeding $11,000 by 2018, and the unemployment rate falling to "just" 26%. However, these efforts have also sacrificed much of Nauru's sovereignty, and the island continues to operate, in many ways, as a pseudo-colonial holding of Australia, New Zealand, and the United States.
The reason why subduing the Basotho was so hard was because it's basically the African equivalent of Switzerland. It's very mountainous and the capital at the time was located on top of a mountain fortress.
Is that why it used to be called Swaziland
@@haydencrawford8552 you're confused with Eswathini (Swaziland) that is north east of RSA, north of Zululand.
@@Waldemarvonanhalt oops! 😅
@@haydencrawford8552 Swaziland is a different kingdom of its own.
@@haydencrawford8552 And even then, the name literally meant "The land of the Swati people". It has nothing to do with Switzerland.
South African here:
Short answer is that South Africa used to be 4 different countries that all bordered Lesotho. Lesotho is a mountain kingdom (like Switzerland) and can be easily defended.
Some other interesting news.
King Moshoeshoe of Lesotho never wanted war (kind of like Switzerland), so he sent offers of peace to all his neighbours.
He was the only southern African king from the time, that lived long enough to have his photograph taken. Mostly because he never went to war.
Their existence as an independent country is purely because of political negotiation.
And do'n't forget being allowed to own guns.
And don't forget that at a point in time the South African apartheid system began creating Bantustans in its own territory rather than trying to annex neighbours. The independence of Lesotho was a very pleasent situation for them.
What about Swaziland?
In truth from the position of the British it actually had a lot to do with the number of Boers (Dutch) in SA.
Having separate territories that were firmly under British control in the Anglo-Dutch contest for control of the Union of South Africa was of advantage to Britain.
Had the minority electorate of SA been completely Anglo, South Africa would have just annexed Lesotho.
And as the video explained from the position of the later Apartheid government, Lesotho was already in native labour reserve form, without them having to engineer it like elsewhere in SA.
Strategically they controlled it anyway where it really mattered, as guarantor of the ruling establishment. (same in Swaziland)
But it wasn't because invasion wasn't doable.
Some people don't realise how completely lopsided the power differential between the Union of South Africa and Lesotho was (and is).
Bring back our Free State
“The British believed that him asking for protection meant that he was surrendering all sovereignty of his nation to the British”
Seems accurate
Yes.
The Scots went through a similar issue. Anglos been doing it for millenia.
Britain is a helicopter parent, confirmed
Most British thing ever.
@@writerconsidered apart from five o'clock tea maybe?
Was literally thinking this 3 days ago and wanting you to make a video on it. My telepathic powers grow ever stronger.
I swear to god I also was thinking the same thing
Human beings in 100 or so years can probably unlock our minds to actually do that shit
Uh... Same.
Bro wtf same
Just remember to use your powers for good.
As a South African i have always thought about this topic...especially since there are alot of basotho in our country as well. Sadly this was never covered in our schools. Thank you for the video
Wow, I never knew that. We had an Apartheid education so we learned about it, with Swaziland and Botswana. The Apartheid government was not happy that they lost Lesotho, Swaziland and Botswana when Britain gave them independence. Botswana was the only country in the world whose capital was located outside its borders, Mafikeng. Moreover Namibia was ruled as a 5th province when I was in school. The war with Cuba in Angola brought freedom to Namibia and an end of Apartheid as Fidel Castro was determined to defeat the Apartheid army at the time. This fact is conveniently forgotten today.
Nothing gets covered by the public school system.
@TheWeeaboo doubt what?
@@MogaleMalaka americans think no one lives in africa
I was in High School at a public school in Johannesburg, SA 🇿🇦 and learned about King Moshoeshoe sometime between 2003-2006
It was covered briefly in the South Africa episode of Geography Now so I'm glad you covered it in detail.
Also I miss the little clips you'd have at the end of your videos.
I'm pretty sure Geography Now has a dedicated Lesotho episode.
I love geography now
@@Jotari it was the half-way through episode too
@@eternalRBLX why?
@@Persona1996 Considering you have an anime profile picture. I am not surprised.
Lesotho is also very mountainous, which makes invasion tricky. Beautiful country. Fun fact: Lesotho's lowest point is around 1400m in altitude. No other country on earth has a lowest point above 1000m.
I live here.
@yes admin strictlylesothomusic8938
Wait not even Nepal?
@TraceHolstein-rw1nk the lowest point in Nepal is around 80m above sea level. Kathmandu's centre is actually lower than the lowest altitude in Lesotho.
Can confirm. I grew up in Pretoria, which has an elevation of 1300m. I'm used to living at altitude. I can confirm Lesotho is in a whole different league. The air get's real thin up there.
I live in Lesotho and appreciate the information your content has provided, on point and quite entertaining 👌🏾
I did find it funny how you pronounce Moshoeshoe I though.😹😹😹
The country’s a natural fortress; mountains everywhere you look. It’s the third most mountainous country in the world, and has the world’s highest lowest point, hence it being called ‘The Kingdom in the sky’
You have the name of Monarchs' family, are you related to them?
Anyway, I think it's harder for anglophones to say names in other languages. If I say Moshoeshoe as I would in Portuguese, it would sound practically the same as in Sesotho.
@@Ediel_Lins It's a common Basotho first name.
"I hope you enjoyed this episode..." Yeah because you give us a choice not to enjoy it. I always enjoy the episodes, I was literally just about to watch one of your videos at random and then saw the notification for this. Thank you for the amazing content and keep it up!
Yes
@John Hathorne bruh nice
I'm also here for the dry humour.
@Otto von Countryball yufgh
@Otto von Countryball ⁹⁹⁹⁹⁹⁹⁹⁹⁹⁹⁹⁹9⁹⁹⁹⁹⁹⁹⁹⁹⁹⁹⁹
Lesotho: Sure is a nice day to be alive
History Matters: WHY DO YOU EXIST?!
Why is KALININGRAD a thing!?(I know why it's a thing don't tell me.)
Lesotho : Who says I exist?
because Lesotho is invulnerable
@@fullmetaltheoristYOU EXIST
"They were not allowed to posess guns, because in case of a rebellion, they might shoot back..."
Italy in Abyssinia: "Nah, nothing to worry about!"
well some of the ethnic groups like the tigray liked italy so a gun ban wasn’t really necessary not to mention it wasn’t practical to implement
@Robert Kaevur I mean considering it's only happened once, I doubt the US is the best example, their republic has been ridiculously stable historically speaking for a society so heavily armed, with such a weak central govt with such a diverse population.
It's insane the US has had really only one major armed rebellion in 250 years.
@Robert Kaevur On that note indeed, I do see your point
British learned the hard way in 1776 and 1857.Thats why we still can't even have blades longer than 6inch without license legally.
@@happygilmore5948 Yh that's the one I'm talking about. The US has had a grand total of one mass uprising. (lots of tiny, near insignificant ones tho like Blair mountain or the farmers war, but nothing of note)
That "Caution: Racism" sign whenever South Africa is shown gets me every time 😂
Because it's accurate ASF
No it would be accurate if it were shown on every single country that ever existed not just South Africa 🙄@@accountretired9479
Test
@@accountretired9479only as accurate as it is for every state that's ever existed
🙄
My dad actually went to Lesotho on a business trip. He told me a story about his driver and that he kept calling him “daddy” for some reason. And when my dad pointed out that the city he went to had a lot of pizza restaurants, the driver said, and I quote, “Oh daddy, pizza is for women and children. Men eat chicken!”
Weirdness on top of weirdness.
This was funny AF 🤣🤣 If you are unfamiliar with Sesotho, I could try thinking of an explanation. Either: your dad was mishearing the driver, who could have referring to your dad using the Sesotho word 'ntate' (which sounds something like "nduh-DEH' to an English-speaker)
It means 'father', but it is the word used to show formal respect to any male, i.e. it's used in an equivalent way to 'Sir'.
OR, the driver WAS calling him 'daddy' 🤣🤣🤣 because the driver didn't speak English well enough to just use the term 'Sir' instead of the directly translating 'ntate' into 'daddy' and didn't know that calling a man you don't know 'father' is weird for Westerners.
@@Barc112 Spot on, the guy was just direct translating Sesotho to English and as you can see as with most of our indigenous languages they do not translate well when doing that
It's not unusual for Africans to call people the age of their parents daddy or mummy, people the age of their grandparents grandpa or grandma, people near their age bro or sis, and people the age of their kids son or daughter in the native language or even in English.
@@Barc112 🤣perfect explanation!
Here’s an interesting question that can be asked: How did Lithuania get so big prior to there Union with Poland?
they had an good army
Thicchuania
Let me spoil you: diplomacy and insanely good leaders leading the country.
fall of Mongolian horde (i don't remember how it's called in English)
@@marcinkrz3140 that's the start of it, but there's way more to the story than: mongolia + gone = Lithuania big
The "Why does [Place] Exist?" series is great, maybe you could do one on a larger nation as a bit of a joke
"Unless you're the Mongols"
But then we'd get to " -Why- does Australia exist?"...
"Why does this place exist? Answer: Nobody knows."
We need why does Canada exist
Denmark is not real!
We need to make a playlist of history matters' Videos answering questions we didn't ask but it's actually interesting after watching
I can make one
That's basically all his "3 minute short documentary" type videos.
@TotallyAwesomeness idk how to set it up like this but ill try.
So basically all of history matters videos
@@Fsast9707 except of his older videos when History Matters was "Ten Minute History".
Hi. A lady from Lesotho here. I love it there. It's amazing and our culture is wonderful. I have a 30 minutes video on a day in my life in Lesotho. And it captured the beautiful rural area of Lesotho. Drinking water from the mountains, and everything else.
1 Like the prophets of the Bible, in April 1993, I, Kacou Philippe, a man who had never been in a church, I receive in a vision, the visitation of an Angel who commissions me for a Message destined to the whole earth in fulfillment of Matthew 25:6 and Revelation 12:14. This is the account of my conversion, as well as the three great visions of the call and commission as I received them:
2 I came to conversion on April 24, 1993 according to Daniel 10:4 to 11 by a vision in which I saw myself standing on the sand of the sea and then on top of a high pyramid and then again on the sand of the sea in another place and I saw an old military truck coming out of the depths of the sea and leave behind me. I turned and I saw that it contained living people. They were women and one of them was mixed-race.
3 Then two doves came toward me and went back over the waters. And there was an eclipse, then a man having the appearance of a Cloud and holding a sword came down from Heaven with a Lamb and the earth was illuminated again. They stood on the waters and the Lamb began to speak to me in an unknown tongue. The sound of his voice came into me and I fell dead. My soul went to stand on the waters with them while my body was lying on the sand of the sea. When He had finished speaking to me, my soul came into me and I became alive again but I no longer saw Them.
4 Then a crowd of people came toward me from the right side and I asked them if they had seen the Angel and the Lamb. They said, "No!" And I said: “But, how did you not see the Angel and the Lamb and all the things They have done?” They replied, "We have not seen the Angel and the Lamb and we have not heard the Words the Lamb pronounced, but we entirely believe It because what God gave and that the devil took, has now been restituted to you ". I looked up and I saw a ladder set up between the sky and the earth, above the waters and angels ascended and descended. And the vision ended and I felt what I know today to be the Holy Spirit and I wept and I believed in God on the spot. [Kc.64v3] [Kc.130v9]
5 The following day at around 3 p.m. while I was sitting with my family, I was transported again in vision into a totally desert country and I saw eastward Words that were coming down from Heaven carried on Clouds. It was after these two visions that I got up and went to church for the very first time. [Kc.137v37]
6 In a third vision, we were sitting in an examination room for the Advanced level test and the examiner was distributing the test-papers. I said to myself, "But what am I doing here? I do not have a good school level and what am I going to write?” And later, It was said to me: "The same way that Mary conceived miraculously, without knowing any man, the same way that Moses received in details what happened at the creation, you too, you have received the Words of eternal Life on this April 24, 1993 and it is decreed by God. At the appointed time, you will understand and you will teach what you did not learn in order that whoever believes has eternal Life". [Kc.9v34] [Kc.30v1-3]
@@desiredibi1621 Bro this is a history matters video 💀
You truely are a great craftsperson. I love how you're able to condense, narrate and present great interesting stories and leave an audience feeling 'I've learned something new today' . Its a great craft. Dont stop. You're doing an amazing job. The characters are great to watch. Love the tongue-in-cheek humor. Especially love the inclusion of 'Fun fact, No' into presentations.
or the "he got a case of being dead" followed by the thud sound. Awesome :)
This man really don't miss... as a history nerd, I love and appreciate all the awesome content my good sir
I wish people are more like that, 'history nerd' people here in the history community are self proclaimed historians
0:14 as a Kenyan, I can confirm this is exactly how it happened.
you are kenyan now
As a south african, i can confirm you are right
What is the Kenyan opinion of James Bisonette?
@@Unknowngfyjoh he has massively inflated he economy with his pure presence
@Onuphrius my great grandfather lived in this city called Mumias. He went from citizen of the Wanga Kingdom to citizen of The east Africa protectorate to citizen of the Kenya colony to Citizen of the Short lived Kenyan federation to citizen of the Republic of Kenya
“As result of Napoleon being Napoleon” sums up modern history
Exactly.
50/50 chance it’s either Napoleon or the British.
@@ryanrodriguez644 Or the Spanish Inquisition, but nobody expects them so they get left out.
Napoleon being Napoleon saw Brazil becoming an independent country some years later...
Or Garibaldi
I love how 90% of quirky historical stories have this beautiful pattern of "everything was fine and normal but then Napoleon..."
"This democratic tradition lasted until... the next election"
God I love this channel
Fitting for the entirety of post independence Africa as "bankrupt" for XVIII and on Spain
Another country enclaved within South Africa is Eswatini (the former Swaziland). The Swazi king Sobhuza II was the longest reigning monarch in all of history (1899-1982). A Swazi king has multiple wives (some of whom are government-appointed). The king shares power with his mother should she be living, as is the case today with King Mswati III and Queen Mother Ntfombi Dlamini.
they have a border with mozambique!!!!
@@fclp67 Yeah but it's basically surrounded mostly by South Africa.
Weird to think about, Sobhuza II became King when Queen Victoria was alive and died when Thatcher was in office.
@@northatlanticcommonwealth1188 what amazes me is that there is only 80 years between queen victoria and Thatcher
@@fclp67 Queen Elizabeth II: finally a worthy opponent, our battle will be legendary
Funny coincidence, Lesotho just got eliminated in Sicilian Bard’s poll battle royale
We *NEEDED* this. Why tf is Lesotho a thing
Thank you history matters
Basically although interesting, a large reason they are independent (and you can see by their geography) is that they are on a massive mountain, surrounded by a mountain range. Invading them besides being a logistic nightmare, is difficult given the terrain advantage to defensive warfare. Very cool how they have pulled it off for so long and become completely friendly.
I just watch to hear him read the list of Patreons
My friends and I have been plotting our invasion for two years now 😪
@@marcelkruger5187 you can see the border from space
Literally any country: Hey Britain can you please protect us?
Britain: Sure I can annex you if you want
You might notice, Lesotho flag is changing constant:
2:07 flag between 1966-1987
2:55 flag between 1987-2006
2:57 flag after 2006
That before and after of the british taking control of the dutch colonies reminds me of that saying: "You are being liberated, do not resist!"
I really enjoy this series, but as a Central American, I kind of fear I will one day see our little countries as part of the series as well. Not sure if that will be a happy or sad day, though.
But it's literally just a straight factual explanation of why these countries exist......... :)
@@rorychivers8769 fun fact central American states exist in part thanks to Argentina when corsairs and navy ship attacked Spanish garrisons in their forts during the revolutionary era when the Spanish Navy was occupied in Europe during the Napoleonic wars, hence giving chance to locals to revolts.
Thus the creation of the United Provinces of Central America with a flag almost identical to the United Provinces of the River Plate. But soon caudillos started to fight each other and the country broke in tinny irrelevant small countries. If you look at them most have still an Argentine based flag.
Fun fact 2, same corsairs attacked the fort of Monterey and captured it. For 5 days California was a province of Argentina.
Belize
"Why Guatemala exists" "Why Costa Rica exists" "Why Nicaragua exists" "Why Belize exists"
“Once upon a time, all of Central America was united. And then it broke. Why?”
His name is prenounced "Mo-shwe-shwe" and Lesotho is extremely difficult to conquer as they have a near impenetrable mountain fortress named "Ta-ba-bi-si-ho"
If it was so hard to conquer why did it ask someone else for protection?
@@maxdavis7722 Because getting invaded still sucks.
@@maxdavis7722 It's hard to farm and raise cattle when you're holed up in a fortress.
@@Waldemarvonanhalt why didn’t the British just do that? Everyone on the internet seems to think the British empire is the embodiment of evil.
@@maxdavis7722 because evil people still like money and it was not profitable.
One reason the Brits did not seriously attempt to incorporate Lesotho into the Cape Colony (and later the South Africans into South Africa) is that the territory the Basotho were forced into by Boer and Zulu expansion (modern Lesotho) is mountainous and relatively resource poor. It wasn't worth the trouble.
If you haven't already done so, can you do a video on the South African tribal "Homelands"? Lesotho, Botswana, and Swaziland were models that the South African govt. decided to replicate within the territory of South Africa. By declaring resource poor areas within South Africa as "independent" tribal countries they could strip black South Africans of South African citizenship and "deport" them to their Tribal "Homelands" whenever the need arose.
I also crave a video series that explains how exactly areas tyrannical governments functioned
Transkei, Ciskei, Bophuthatswana were some of the so called homelands
Lesotho is not poor in resources they are just not tempered with as yet, we have everything here, surveys have been done
Lol, keep fooling yourself, british marched into deserts with no arable land in Southern Africa to capture. They lost the gun war so accepted peace.
@@mphosealiete9168 Thank you
Usually with your excellent vids, it's a question I never realised I needed the answer to. In this case, however, I've frequently wondered why Lesotho exists, but never could be arsed enough to find out. Thanks for saving me the trouble, in funny and informative fashion, now back to the wine.
Anyone know of any further reading material on Lesotho? It's one of those historical curiosities I'd like to delve deeper in to, great video and as always I can't wait for the next one!!
Did you watch Geography Now’s vid on it? It’s a good watch
wikipedia has a lot of information
Basically although interesting, a large reason they are independent (and you can see by their geography) is that they are on a massive mountain, surrounded by a mountain range. Invading them besides being a logistic nightmare, is difficult given the terrain advantage to defensive warfare. Very cool how they have pulled it off for so long and become completely friendly.
@@marcelkruger5187 Yeah, that definately helps. A fun fact is that Lesotho is the only country in the world which is entirely above 1000 meters of elevation.
@@marcelkruger5187 also having a leader like musheshe who was pragmatic as hell
Is this where I make a joke about it existing because of me in some way?
you are the messiah everyone is talking about
Considering my country's whack history i wouldn't even be surprised if u rode into battle with the Basotho people
@@mistifalcon3332 Bissonnette war?
Lesotho: exists
History Matters: and I took that personally
incredible video. looking forward to your Swaziland/Eswatini episode of the topic
Finally seeing a video about my country!🤧💚
So, basically, they managed to somehow succeed in a rebellion one time that the British couldn't be arsed to quell and then people sort of just accepted it's existence from then on as there was no immediate benefit to conquering it.
Sort of similar to an earlier rebellion with 13 colonies
@@brianjonker510Well the 13 Colonies also had some help from foreign powers during the Revolutionary War who had a bone to pick with Britian, namely France, the Netherlands, and Spain.
@@brianjonker510 Not even close, the loss of the 13 colonies was a major disaster for the first British empire (hell it is generally accepted to be the end of the first British empire)
If not for the fortuitous conquest of Caribbean and Indian territories, the UK might not have gotten a second British empire (the one on which the sun never set).
So not, not at all similar to a nearly decade-long war with over 150,000 soldiers involved that involved multiple great powers and resulted in the loss of about 20% of the Realm's population.
Almost no historian of note does the British nationalist thing of erroneously claiming "Loosing the 13 colonies was not a big deal". It was, Britain was just lucky/competent enough to pick itself back up stronger and better.
This what happens when you accidently spill your tee on the map. And then you say ups it seem like I spawned another country.
Queen Elizabeth
*any country exists*
History Matters: WHY, WHY DO YOU EXIST
Why does the United States exist?
@@tomrogue13 E.G.
This was one of the best you've done in awhile, sarcastically speaking at least. Nearly every sentence in this three minute video had a sarcastic edge to it. Bravo! (Well done!)
As someone who lived in Lesotho for a while, I can say this is pretty accurate! 👏
Mxm
Me: Sees a question about something in Africa.
Me a second later: It’s the Brits again, isn’t it…
It's always the Brit's.
@@MrFarmer110 sometimes it's even worse; sometimes it's the French
@@victortisme You've got to _hand_ it to Belgium though, they've had their moments as well.
@@victortisme both suk
@@theshlauf that would make the Japanese giggle
Today I learned...Lesotho exists.
Thank you again for giving me answers to the question I never knew I had
So, technically it's not a country within a country, just one surrounded entirely by another country.
I must say that Lesotho have a suprisingly interesting history. Great video, as always
South Africa: we're whole!
Lesotho: the hell you are.
Namibia: Bye, bitch!
@@zachryder3150 😂
@@zachryder3150 It literally was. Thank Fidel Castro for that.
South Africa: wtf is this in me...😵
@@LexlutherVII 😂
No one:
Literally no one ever:
History matters to random countries: Why do you exist
Spent half a year in Lesotho. Was the most beautiful place I’d ever been. I’d love to go back to live forever. 22 from North Carolina
Too bad the trees barely grow there (at least Sani side) altitude there is crazy. Must have been really nice if you were there for a lucky snow winter.
@@marcelkruger5187 I was there late summer to fall. I was all over the country and there were trees everywhere
The donkeys are the weirdest part. Lol.
Yes, I ran into many donkeys, got to ride a few too.
At least Lesotho only has a single neighbor to worry about 😂
I actually know the old tennis partner of the Lesotho king who was overthrown. They used to make a team in doubles tennis when he lived in the south of England. Said the last time he saw him was in the 80’s (I forget where but it was either the Netherlands or Belgium).
It was an interesting conversation, I asked him about his best tennis partner and he said in the way only an old English gentleman could manage ‘well I used to play tennis with the king of Lesotho before he went to become king. Was overthrown in a coup though, which wasn’t too good’
This is what happens when you encircle enemy but he still has supply in the region. So you can't finish him unless he finishes himself.
Hate it when the game glitches like that
It's worth noting that a lot of German states pre-Napoleon were inside other German states, separated by other German states, or in other bizarre situations after the Treaty of Westphalia. Then Napoleon and some other people thought that was stupid and now there are far fewer Lesothos.
Funny how that sort of thing happens.
@@Dyknown Ironic to think Napoleon and his reorganization of the German States was one of the key factors for German unification.
@@mikerodrigues9822 And then Germany came back in WW2 and beat France.
@@fullmetaltheorist dont need to go that far back. French Prussian war of 1871
History Matters: *drops the "and thank you for watching at the end"*
Me : I guess James Bizonette deserves it all
Small country: (exists)
History matters: "but why tho?"
Lesotho - best country I’ve ever been to
"everything goes back to Napoleon" seems like a worthy corollary to David Starkey's "All bad ideas are French"
"How did Europe and the Islamic world reacted to the Mongol Invasion" Would be a good question
Poorly at first, then better
Hungary was devastated.
islamic world ended very badly didnt it?
they were mad
At first they were annoyed, then later their head was on a stick.
No but actually I think some Crusader kingdoms allied with the Mongols at one point. That's pretty interesting.
As is the Franco-Timurid alliance.
Everybody jokes about James Bissonnette. In the meantime Kelly MoneyMaker: 🥺
Good girl Kelly Moneygiver, we love her just as well!
I'm from the Lozi tribe in Zambia and we're related to sothos.
South Africa basically adopted the Lesotho model for their “Homelands” project, creating several other enclave countries within its borders for various native groups, while other native enclaves existed autonomously within South Africa proper
Importabt to note those homelands were abolished after Apartheid though. They don't ecist anymore.
@@ANWRocketMan true there was almost a war in 1994 involving the enclave Republic of Boputhatswana, the transitioning Republic of South Africa, and Boer nationalist rebels. Luckily it ended with both Boputhatswana and the Boers backing down, although initial skirmishes sadly saw a handful of deaths.
everyone talks about james bizzonette but no one gives the deserved love to kelly moneymaker
That's what I've been saying bro!
I think Spinning Three Plates is the best.
Boogly Woogly a close second.
Kelly makes the money.
James nettes the bizzo.
@@Unknowngfyjoh Boogly Woogly gets my vote 😆
😂😂😂
History Matters: "Why does Lesotho Exist?"
Me: "it does!?!"
I should admit: unlike most questions I never thought about, this question really interested me a lot even before History Matters video
1 Like the prophets of the Bible, in April 1993, I, Kacou Philippe, a man who had never been in a church, I receive in a vision, the visitation of an Angel who commissions me for a Message destined to the whole earth in fulfillment of Matthew 25:6 and Revelation 12:14. This is the account of my conversion, as well as the three great visions of the call and commission as I received them:
2 I came to conversion on April 24, 1993 according to Daniel 10:4 to 11 by a vision in which I saw myself standing on the sand of the sea and then on top of a high pyramid and then again on the sand of the sea in another place and I saw an old military truck coming out of the depths of the sea and leave behind me. I turned and I saw that it contained living people. They were women and one of them was mixed-race.
3 Then two doves came toward me and went back over the waters. And there was an eclipse, then a man having the appearance of a Cloud and holding a sword came down from Heaven with a Lamb and the earth was illuminated again. They stood on the waters and the Lamb began to speak to me in an unknown tongue. The sound of his voice came into me and I fell dead. My soul went to stand on the waters with them while my body was lying on the sand of the sea. When He had finished speaking to me, my soul came into me and I became alive again but I no longer saw Them.
4 Then a crowd of people came toward me from the right side and I asked them if they had seen the Angel and the Lamb. They said, "No!" And I said: “But, how did you not see the Angel and the Lamb and all the things They have done?” They replied, "We have not seen the Angel and the Lamb and we have not heard the Words the Lamb pronounced, but we entirely believe It because what God gave and that the devil took, has now been restituted to you ". I looked up and I saw a ladder set up between the sky and the earth, above the waters and angels ascended and descended. And the vision ended and I felt what I know today to be the Holy Spirit and I wept and I believed in God on the spot. [Kc.64v3] [Kc.130v9]
5 The following day at around 3 p.m. while I was sitting with my family, I was transported again in vision into a totally desert country and I saw eastward Words that were coming down from Heaven carried on Clouds. It was after these two visions that I got up and went to church for the very first time. [Kc.137v37]
6 In a third vision, we were sitting in an examination room for the Advanced level test and the examiner was distributing the test-papers. I said to myself, "But what am I doing here? I do not have a good school level and what am I going to write?” And later, It was said to me: "The same way that Mary conceived miraculously, without knowing any man, the same way that Moses received in details what happened at the creation, you too, you have received the Words of eternal Life on this April 24, 1993 and it is decreed by God. At the appointed time, you will understand and you will teach what you did not learn in order that whoever believes has eternal Life". [Kc.9v34] [Kc.30v1-3]
"The british thought that by asking protection they are conceding their independence"
That's pretty much how it works bub. You ask for protection, that means you are at their mercy.
Not really. That's also how allyship works, which of course did not occur to the British Empire.
@@linzeeb4 Allyship is between countries of equal size, against a stronger enemy
Puppeting is between a powerful state and a weak one, against one that is less weak than the junior but more weak than the senior
The two are not the same and they cannot expect protection without a price, as this is real life, not some fairyland fantasy of unicorns and friendship
I'm South African and I liked this video
Good job
The main thing I know about Lesotho is that its companies' house register is quite possible the most helpful one in the world
What’s It’s gonna take for a ten minute history revival! They’re Your best work
Way RUclips ads work iirc.
RUclips sucks
He explained in a video that RUclips take away ad revenues it would be too risky to have 10 min videos if they do that
As a South African, I'm finally glad I know why Lesotho exists, South Africans tend forget that there is a country within South Africa
Tbf it doesn't really do anything, it just sits der :p
There is also Swaziland, right?
@@mistifalcon3332 what about the water you drink,fool 😏
Basotho are also South African, in case you are not well informed. We come from the South of Africa, were are found in Central South Africa.
@@shubielechesa8836 listen love and light to batho ba Basotho Mara they are southern African NOT South African…if SA changed it’s name say maybe Azania like some people want, Basotho would still be Southern African but NOT Azanian… people from SADC countries love claiming SA when it suits y’all Mara ge dilo di beta le chencha fast fast…no wayyys. Not to be snaaks or anything mara let’s not lie… I know our country’s name is a direction😂😂 but still please respect that direction and its people and also Basotho from Lesotho and Basotho from SA are one people but due to borders different nationalities and until otherwise changed those nationalities should be respected
I visited Lesotho in January 2024 🇱🇸
This was my 71st country and I highly recommend it for any keen traveller ❤️
To me, it's wild that a whole other country is currently closer to me, geographically, than my old address 😂
"Welcome to South Africa, CAUTION: RACISM". If there was ever a way to boil down to the point of almost hilarious triviality the shall we say, "troubled history" of South Africa between like 1902 and 1994, that first statement would be it! Ahhh I love this channel because of how it just cuts through so much important detail with a single, succinct and arguably subjective turn of phrase. Keep it Mister person who does the channel stuff whoever you are! :D
Probably a way to ensure that James Bizenette keeps funding it.
My second favourite was the mention of Britain "liberating" French colonies and literally the only difference is the uniform
@@Matthy63 the subtle dry humour is what keeps me coming back
Yeah racism shouldn’t exist. Some people in South Africa are racist to whites, some people in the USA and many European countries are racist to blacks. Racism is so stupid and makes no sense in my opinion. Why is one race superior? I think all races should be seen the same, and racism in public should be given fines if it’s seen.
lol racism is worse in SA than it ever was and is even closer to genocide/civil wat than ever before
I had always wondered about that whenever looking at a map of Africa. It’s a strange geographic situation. Thanks for the video and concise facts.
"Like many things throughout history, Lesothi can be traced back to Napoleon".
This shows the Corporal was someone special
Yes, indeed.
@@mcfahk I mean being a great leader does not mean being all sunshine and compassion. It means being competent and not shy at showing ruthlessness
God this channel answers almost every random question I have ever thought. Excellent work, never stop!!
History Matters answering a question I never had but now I’m glad was answered! What a fascinating history.
I remember when I first saw the full map of Africa and the Leshoto.
I kept asking myself Wtf kind of country is this for over 10 years... thank you for freeing me history matters, how I can rest
I did a huge research paper on this very subject in college. Cool to see a video on it.
One correction, I don't believe that's how you pronounce Moshoeshoe. Trying to spell it phonetically, I believe it's pronounced more like ma-shway-shway.
I just finished a massive scroll back and watching every single one of your videos. This is now one of my favourite channels. (I also love the occasional sneaky Star Wars reference.)
I remember asking for this video, when you made a video on Gambia.
The video is accurate, insightful and you pronounced some names horribly which MAKES THIS VIDEO A GREAT WATCH.
GREAT JOB!!!
2:00 "We broke it" 😂😂😂
This was the first place in Africa I ever went (with the exception of SA cause we went through Joburg to get there)
3:01 Jesus Churchill.
Thank you History Matters. You guys are awesome. Nailing out the fundamentals of a certain time in less then 5 minutes is great. 😁👍🏼
As a Mosotho, i say this was good, but the pronunciation killed me😂👏
Pls do how was life in Central Asia during the Soviet Union
Good video!
Man ... Lesotho stood down the British empire and forced them to concede.
That's a real David and Goliath story if ever there was one
Similar to Haiti.
It would have been good to mention that Lesotho's geography makes it very difficult to outright invade as it is very mountainous. It's basically surrounded by a wall of mountains.
Edit: removed false information about the cause of the Basotho settling in Lesotho. I was misinformed on this beautiful country's history.
No Moshoeshoe and Shaka were actually in good terms because Moshoeshoe constantly sent him peace offering gifts
You are probably very much misinformed if you think we can run away from anyone/nation except that we are peace loving nation hence can do anything to embrace it🙂
Basotho didn't run away from Shaka, but small Nguni tribes that were being attacked by Shaka. They ran and seeked protection from Moshoeshoe
You are so misinformed. We, Basotho have never ran away from zulus. Unfortunately you read fake history about that mfecane/lifaqane times. If Basotho ran away from that Chaka, we couldn't have lot of zulus who arrived here during mfecane/lifaqane time fleeing Chaka's brutal regime of that time. You will not find Basotho zulus who resided there during chaka's reign but we have population of zulus who settle in northern side of Lesotho whom their forefathers fled Chaka's brutality. Dont ever lie to yourself. We did real history in schools but not fake history written by boers you did in SA schools. They wrote all lies!
Stop lying. Moshoeshoe beat Shaka on many occasions. After whooping his behind, he sent him a token of peace so that He, Shaka, could feel better about losing against the only King in South Africa never to loss a major battle against anyone. The small nguni tribes team away from Shaka and sought protection from our founding father, and Moshoeshoe ever being the peace loving, strategic King, he offered Shaka gifts so that he doesn't attack the other small Nguni tribes that were running away from him, and to allow them to settle in what is now the northern part of Eastern Cape, which used to be part of Moshoeshoe's territory. Moshoeshoe used the small Nguni tribes and a buffer between himself and Shaka. Ask us Basotho about our history and stop learning it from a white man.
I’ve always wondered this. And it made more sense than I was expecting. Thanks for another lesson!
He forgot to mention that Wakanda tribe in Black Panther is loosely based on Basotho tradition, particularly the blankets and the mountainous landscape....
What does Black Panther have to do with anything, it's a shit film.
*Angered Sotho have left the chat.*
Kinda strange having a independent country in the middle of a country.
It´s the same with San Marino and the Vatican - even two countries within another country. :-)
both are inside Italy
That's imperialism for you. Borders first, concern about what the people living in those borders thinking about them second.
@@Bombsbombsbombs Yes, indeed.
Us South Africans tend to forget it even exists and just make a slight detour on our way from Durbs to Bloem :P
First: They resisted the British. Second: The Cold War. Great video!
Lisotho is mad crazy🙏😪
I have been waiting years for this-thank you!
After watching this video, I'm still left with a pertinent question: Why isn't there a statue to James Bisonette in Lesotho yet?
"A direct invasion would have seen major international condemnation"
*Apartheid:* "First time? "