Taalex- also Taleh. In 1894, a young Islamic scholar named Maxamed Abdullah Hassan from Somalia traveled to Mecca. While there, he joined the Salihiyah order of the Sufis, which was both puritanical and reformist. Upon his return to Somalia, he attracted a strong following of dervishes and declared jihad against the European powers which had divided Somalia in 1899. After a series of expeditions by the British, Italians, and Ethiopians, Maxamed sued for a truce, under which he was allowed to build a small theocracy within Italy’s protectorate. In 1908, he reignited the guerrilla war, and defeated the Italians in 1913 in the battle of Dulmadobe. In 1920, the Italians bombed his stronghold at Taalex, forcing Maxamed to retreat to the Ogaden. He died of influenza shortly after the escape, and the jihad ended with him.

Tafea- see Tanna.

Tagalog Isles- After the American conquest of the Philippines during the Spanish-American War, many Filipinos continued to fight for independence. As happens many times when men are armed and then reduced to desperation, the guerrilla units soon became little more than brigands. By 1904, many of these fighters had flocked to the banner of Macario Sakay, who declared himself "Supreme President of the Tagalog Isles." Sakay's men robbed and killed with impunity throughout much of southern Luzon. After a former governor was kidnapped only twenty miles from Manila, martial law was declared and hundreds of American troops sent into the region. By February of 1905, the back of Sakay's power was broken and martial law was lifted in July.

Taiping, Heavenly Kingdom of- In 1845, Hong Xiuquan, a Chinese convert to Christianity, declared himself the younger brother of Jesus and led a peasant uprising that succeeded in capturing Nanjing and a vast area of the countryside south of the city. Although aided at first by the incompetence of the Manchu commanders, Hong was eventually pushed out of Nanjing. In 1864, he was killed and the Heavenly Kingdom rapidly collapsed. The wars against the Heavenly Kingdom, and Hong's persecution of those who refused to convert to Christianity claimed over twenty million lives.

Taiwan, Empire of- Until the 17th century, Taiwan was largely left to its own devices, despite its nominal subjection to China. The Dutch East India Company seized the island and established the capital of Fort Zelandia in order to protect their traders on the Chinese coast. At this time, the Ming Dynasty was collapsing under the weight of the Qing (or Manchu) invasion. The half-Japanese Admiral of the Ming fleet, Koxinga, turned his attention to Taiwan after attacking and burning most of the coastal cities controlled by the Qing. The Dutch surrendered in 1661. Koxinga declared himself the new Emperor of the Ming dynasty. Unfortunately, he died the next year, and his son prudently declared Taiwan a tributary state of the Qing. A descendant of the last Ming emperor resurrected the Empire of Taiwan in 1722, but was defeated within a year.

Taiwan, Republic of- The Sino-Japanese War was concluded in April of 1895 by the Shimonoseki Treaty, which ceded Taiwan to Japan. A group of intellectuals declared the Republic of Taiwan's independence in May, but failed to receive widespread support. The Japanese arrived to take possession of Taiwan and ousted the Republic in June.

Taleh- see Taalex.

Taluga- see Abalonia.

Talysh-Mugan Republic- The Talysh are one of Azerbaijan's largest ethnic minorities, Shi'ites who speak an Iranian language and live near the Iranian border. When Azerbaijan collapsed into civil war in 1993, a retired colonel named Aliakram Humbatov attempted to set up an independent Talysh republic. The Talysh-Mugan Republic failed to garner much support, as its establishment seemed to owe more to manuevers in the capital than to the aspirations of the Talysh people. The central government sent in soldiers, and Humbatov's government rapidly collapsed. Extradited from his refuge in Iran, Humbatov was convicted of high treason, and remains in prison. With most of the secessionist leaders in prison or exile, the Talysh have remained quiescent since the rebellion.

Tana- Along with Genoese Kaffa, the Venetian colony of Tana in the Crimea controlled the lucrative China-Europe trade in the early Renaissance, dealing in silks, porcelain, spices, and Russians. Slavic prisoners (the English "slave" comes from the Italian Slava, or "Slav") shipped to Mameluke Egpyt made up 80% of Tana's profits in the fourteenth century. Founded in the early 1200s, Tana fell to the Turks in 1475. Kaffa collapsed not much later. The Italian residents retreated to the Mediterranean, rather than remain under Muslim suzerainty.

Tangier- When France and Spain divided Morocco between them at the Algeciras Conference of 1906 (no Moroccans in attendance, naturally), the port of Tangier was a sticking point. Neither country wanted to see the other in control. The Conference therefore declared Tangier an international port, although Spain refused to ratify the agreement until 1923. During the Second World War, Spain assumed control of the port, but a new convention between France, Spain, the US, the USSR, and the UK returned the city to international administration in 1945. Upon Morocco's independence in 1956, Tangier reverted to its control. Tangier is featured- slightly exaggerated- as "Interzone" in the fiction of William S. Burroughs.

Tanna- also Tafea. Tanna is an island in the south of Vanuatu. The inhabitants were converted to Presbyterianism around the turn of the century. However, membership began to decline during the 1930s. Church officials discovered that they were losing adherents to a cargo cult called the John Frum movement. John Frum, who always wore a spotless white suit and a hat with a veil, appeared to several shamans and said that if the Tannese lived honestly, he would summon the Americans to build factories and show the Tannese how to become a rich nation. The cult's success was ensured by American occupation during the Second World War.

When the British and French began discussing independence for the Condominium of Vanuatu during the 1970s, France was keenly interested to retain a foothold in the archipelago. The French government began supporting John Frum by allowing the cult leaders to form a private militia and donating vehicles. In elections just prior to independence, a John Frum representative won a seat in the national legislature. Several moderate parties accused the cult of vote fraud. In response, John Frum leaders announced on February 15, 1980, that Tanna and four other southern islands had seceded as the nation of Tafea (an acronym formed from the names of the islands).

No action was taken until May 26, when Tafea supporters stormed government offices on Tanna. Interestingly enough, French officials disappeared shortly before the revolt began. On the next day, Vanuatan government forces landed on Tanna. After a short firefight, the John Frum forces dispersed, promptly quashing Tafea's hopes for independence. The simultaneous revolt on Espiritu Santo raises serious questions about coordination of the independence movements, whether through the good offices of France or the Phoenix Foundation.

Tannu Tuva- also Urganchai Republic. Tannu Tuva is a small enclave on the Russian-Chinese border. It seceded from China in 1911. The nation reluctantly accepted a Russian protectorate in 1914, but rescinded it in 1917. Tuva's government was seized by Communists in August of 1921, who declared the nation a Soviet Republic. A revolution in 1924 ousted the Communists, and an international commission ruled in favor of Tuva's independence. The Communists returned to power in 1931. Tuva was occupied by Soviet forces in 1944 and annexed the following year.

Tarangambadi- see Tranquebar.

Tatarstan, Sovereign State of- Tatarstan is an oil-rich region, located in a vital part of central Russia. The Tatars, descendants of the Mongols, seceded from Russia in January of 1918, but were reconquered by the Red Army in March. In September of that year, Tatarstan joined the Idel-Ural Federation of the Volga region. In 1920, the Red Army defeated the Idel-Ural Federation, and Tatarstan was annexed to the Russian Federation. In early 1992, President Yeltsin announced the promulgation of the Federal Treaty, which was meant to reaffirm the authority of the Russian Federation. Tatarstan refused to sign the treaty and sent less than 10% of its tax receipts to the federal government. In 1992, Tatarstan adopted a new constitution and declared itself a sovereign state. However, Tatarstan stopped short of declaring itself independent. The war in Chechnya put a chill on Russia's developing secessionist movements, and Tatarstan has cooperated much more closely with Moscow in recent years.

Taurida, Republic of- see Crimea.

Tavolara, Kingdom of- Tavolara is a tiny island located off the northeast coast of Sardinia. Abandoned, the island was resettled by Corsicas in the early 19th century. The islanders found themselves outside the notice of the world, which ended when King Charles Albert of Savoy visited the island in 1836. Agreeing with the settlers' claim that Tavolara was outside the jurisdiction of Sardinia, Charles Albert recognized the Tavolaran leader Paolo Bertoleoni as King. The Kingdom of Tavolara thus became the world's smallest kingdom, at about half a square kilometer. The Kingdom basically ceased to exist when the Italian government evicted the inhabitants to make way for a NATO submarine base. The remainder of the island is now a nature preserve.

Tejas, Republic of- also Republica del Norte. In 1810, Napoleon installed a puppet ruler on the Spanish throne. In response to this, rebellion broke out throughout the Spanish colonies in the New World. José Gutiérrez was a young officer who traveled throughout the United States, gathering support for his dream of an independent Republic of Tejas. In 1812, he was joined by an American army officer named Augustus McGee. They invaded Texas that year with an army of American freebooters, and routed Spanish troops. Mexicans and Indians poured into the Republican Army of the North, and in April of 1813, Gutiérrez became President of the Republic of the North. He proved to be a better general than president, and soon alienated the Americans, who deserted his army en masse. Soon, his policies of heavy taxation and reprisal exhausted the patience of his Mexican followers, and he was ousted two months after his ascension to the Presidency by a cabal of his remaining American and Cuban officers. Spanish Royalists recaptured Tejas following a rout of Republican forces in August of the same year.

Terek, Republic of- Terek seceded from Russia in March of 1917. In October, the Terek Cossacks united with the Don and Kuban Cossacks in the Southeastern Union. Terek offered an alliance to the Dagestani Muslims, then a part of the autonomous self-declared Union of Mountain Peoples. On October 20, the Terek-Dagestan Government was formed. Angered by the growing power of the Christian Cossacks, Chechen and Ingush fighters attacked the Southeastern Union in November of 1917. In January of 1918, the Russian Terek People's Council took control of the government, and withdrew the Terek from the Southeastern Union. In March, the People's Council declared itself a Soviet Socialist Republic, and allied with Moscow. The Terek Cossacks rose up, and in alliance with the Kuban Cossacks and Denikin's White forces, drove out the Soviets in January of 1919. The Terek was recaptured by the Red Army in January of 1920.

Terek-Dagestan Republic- see Republic of Terek.

Texas- Long Republic- This republic was declared by the filibuster James Long at Nacogdoches in June of 1819. Joined by José Gutiérrez, former president of Tejas, he allied with Jean Lafitte at Galveston and began a methodical push to the Gulf Coast. The Mexican government was understandably cautious in its military manuevers, since this was the closest thing to a League of Supervillians that antebellum Texas had to offer. It accordingly took almost five months for Long to be completely routed and sent whimpering back to Tennessee. In April of 1820, Long assembled a new force, and spent months avoiding direct conflict with Mexican troops. Holed up in the city of La Bahia, Long surrendered on October 8. He was killed in Mexico City in 1821 by a prison guard, who argued unconvincingly that Long was "attempting to escape".

Thessalonica- Thessalonica is a city in northern Greece, a port which was formerly the second city of the Byzantine Empire. In the late 1330s, Byzantium was a teetering state, with a child emperor on the throne. The commander of the army, John Cantacuzenas, served as regent. As the aristocracy became increasingly concerned over the loss of strong central authority, Cantacuzenas conceived a bold plan. Marching on Constantinople, he had himself crowned Emperor. While the landed gentry rallied behind him, hailing his decisive action, the people were less pleased. Encouraged by the Orthodox Church, the people of Byzantium demanded that Cantacuzenas step down and rebelled in the name of the child emperor.

In 1341, Thessalonica was seized by the mob, and a faction calling themselves the "Zealots" took the city over. Ruling the city as a republic, the Zealots held out against Byzantine military and diplomatic efforts until 1350, when Cantacuzenas and the child emperor, now the 18-year-old John Paleologus, reached a peace agreement.

Tierra del Mar- see New Atlantis.

Tigre Island- Tigre Island is one of the least known possessions of the United States. In 1849, the American government was anxiously negotiating treaties with several Central American states to build a trans-isthmus canal. One of these treaties, negotiated by Ambassador-at-large Ephraim Squier, gave the United States the right to build a canal across Honduras from the Caribbean to the Gulf of Fonseca.

Frederick Chatfield, the British commander in Central America, was convinced that American presence in Honduras would destabilize the British Mosquito Coast. He sent a message to the President of Honduras, announcing that Britain intended to seize Tigre Island, which commanded the entrance to the Gulf of Fonseca. His fleet then occupied the island. Shortly thereafter, Squier sent a message to Chatfield demanding British withdrawal. He had anticipated this move, and negotiated the island's temporary cession to the United States. Painfully embarrassed, Chatfield ordered the British troops removed.

Tigre Republic- The Tigre inhabit northwestern Ethiopia, and have long maintained a distinct identity. In 1943, the British expelled the Italians from Ethiopia, but Emperor Haile Selassie lacked the resources to assert control over his nation. The Tigre took advantage of this power vacuum to secede, but were swiftly defeated by joint British-Ethiopian forces. Tigrean rebels played a central role in the capture of Addis Ababa in 1991, and effectively control the Ethiopian government at present.

Tiraspol- Tiraspol is a city of 200,000 on the eastern bank of the Dniestr River in Moldova. Since the late 1980s, the city's Russian workers have come into repeated conflict with Moldova's Romanian-speaking majority. This tension mounted steadily as perestroika reforms allowed the Moldovans to assert their ethnic identity. In 1989, the Gagauz of southern Moldova declared their territory an autonomous republic. On January 27, 1990, a referendum declared that Tiraspol was an independent territory. The nearby city of Bendery also declared its independence. As the Russian-speaking independence movement gained steam, the local governments banded together to resist pressure from the Moldovan government. On September 2, 1990, Tiraspol became the capital of the new Trans-Dniestr Republic.

Tisquisio- Tisquisio and Norosí were a pair of Maroon palenques (villages) on the lower Cauca River of southern Colombia. Both appeared in the late 17^th century, and had vanished by the beginning of the 1700s.

Tolú- A Maroon settlement in Colombia's Bolivár province; it was founded in 1621. The palenque was rebuilt in 1748. Neither settlement lasted long.

Tomochic- In the late nineteenth century, a girl named Teresa Urrea began preaching to crowds in her native village of Tomochic in northern Mexico. While many dismissed her, many others believed in her utopian vision, and in 1891 Tomochic renounced its ties to Mexico. The government tried to resolve the crisis through negotiation, but the village leadership refused to back down. As tensions rose, half of the 300 Tomochitecos fled. Finally, President Porfirio Diaz ordered the Mexican Army to attack in September of 1892. The villagers repulsed this assault, largely because the soldiers hesitated to open fire on their neighbors. Over the next month, a much larger force was assembled from different parts of Mexico. These fresh troops launched a new and much fiercer attack. After a week of siege, a flag of truce was raised. Before the Army could send in a negotiator, Tomochic's women and children filed out of the village gates. The white flag was then hauled down and the villagers resumed fire. The last of Tomochic's men was killed later that day. Inspired by this tragedy, a guerrilla war against the Mexican government broke out across the northern states, and Teresa Urrea was deported to the United States. She died heartbroken in 1906, after spending several years touring in a medicine show as the centerpiece of the "Curing Crusade."

Topasses- The Topasses were Christians on the Indonesian island of Flores, who had adopted Portuguese customs and intermarried with the Portuguese. After Portugal was driven from Indonesia by the Dutch East India Company, the Topasses organized a new government and competed with the Dutch for control of the rich sandalwood trade of the Moluccas. The two sides were stalemated from the mid-16th century until 1749, when a Topaso assault on the Dutch fort of Kumpang was decisively repulsed. The Dutch extended their control into the Moluccas, and the Topasses lost their independence. The region never lost its distinctive blend of Indonesian and Portuguese Christian elements, and this cultural divide drove the 1950 secession of the South Moluccas.

Toro- see Ruwenzururu Republic.  

Tortuga- In the late 16th century, the island of Hispaniola had been largely abandoned by its Spanish conquerors, and was occupied by English and Huguenot French settlers who hunted and herded the pigs and cattle roaming the island. In 1634, the Spanish drove them off Hispaniola, and the Protestants took refuge on a small island off the Hispaniolan coast- Tortuga. A year later, the Spanish retook Tortuga. In 1640 a group of Huguenot French under a Levasseur took the island by storm and constructed fortifications. The Brotherhood of the Coast, as the Protestant buccaneers called themselves, drove off an invading Spanish fleet, and Tortuga was assured of its independence. After repeated Spanish raids, the buccaneers abandoned Tortuga for safer refuge at Nassau around the turn of the 18th century.

Tranquebar- also Tarangambadi. Following the commercial successes of the English and Dutch against the Portuguese in India in the late 16th century, a group of Danish investors approached Christian IV, King of Denmark, and asked him to charter a Danish East India Company. This was done in 1616, and the first Danish exploratory vessel arrived along the coast of southeast India three years later. After skirmishes with the French, Portuguese, and Ceylonese navies, the Danes signed a treaty with the nayak of Tanjore in November of 1620 ceding to them the village of Tarangambadi, which the Danes redubbed Tranquebar.

While the Danes rapidly made a name for themselves as middlemen in the south India trade, the colony's economy languished. Matters worsened when Barent Pessart became governor in 1636. Within a few years, Pessart had destroyed the colony's accounts, and was held hostage by his creditors. In 1643, Pessart's replacement arrived and seized a merchant ship, securing Pessart's release. Pessart immediately repaid this by shutting the fortress gates and refusing to hand over control of Tranquebar until the new governor started assembling siege machinery. Willem Leyel, the new governor, went from crisis to crisis, and eventually became involved in a naval war with the Sultan of Golconda. In 1648, his military aides mutinied against him, and Tranquebar under the dictatorship of Poul Korsør became a base for privateering against most of the Bengal coast, which provoked a declaration of war against all European powers by the Mogul Empire. The colony went into rapid decline, and by 1660, the only European left was the virtually illiterate Governor Eskild Kongsbakke. His successful prosecution of a naval war against half of India by himself says more about Indian naval expertise at the time than about Kongsbakke's martial prowess. A Danish expedition finally arrived in 1669, and the colony prospered for several decades. However, Denmark's participation in the Great Northern War crippled its economy, as well as the Danish East India Company. With its finances tottering, the Company was dissolved in April of 1729, and Tranquebar became a Danish crown colony. In 1845, the port was sold to Great Britain.

Transbaikal Republic- see Buryatia.

Transcarpathia- see Carpatho-Ukraine.

Transcaspia- Transcaspia was a Russian province which stretched along the eastern coast of the Caspian Sea, occupied largely by Turkmen tribesmen. Following the brief Turkmenistan revolt, tensions were high. In June of 1918, the Ashkabad Soviet ordered a census of able-bodied males. Fearing a draft, a mob gathered to protest on June 17. The protest quickly became a riot, and rifles were seized from the armory. Under duress, the Bolsheviks promised new elections. Reinforcements quickly arrived from Tashkent. The new Communist commander, Frolov, made arrangements to fix the election and instituted martial law. Ashkabad became quiet, and Frolov left in early July.

In his absence, the Soviet government was overthrown. Frolov was shot by his own troops. The new Transcaspian government, fearing invasion, went to Great Britain for assistance. An Indian Army sepoy detachment was sent to help guard Ashkabad. The government promised to send food to the rural villages, but was unable to do so, as war disrupted any meaningful crop production. By the end of 1918, the Transcaspian government had no control outside the cities. In June of 1918, the British withdrew from advancing Red Army columns. The last Transcaspian stronghold, Krasnovodsk on the Caspian shore, fell in February of 1920.

Transcaucasia, Democratic Federative Republic of- Following the October Revolution, representatives of Georgia, Armenia, and Azerbaijan met and decided that they could not support the Bolshevik government. Accordingly, they formed a provisional Transcaucasian Commisariat, which would govern the region until a Russian Constituent Assembly was convoked. A short armistice was negotiated with the Ottomans, which the Turks broke in late February. Trancaucasia responded by declaring war on April 14, the lag due to Azerbaijan's reluctance. The Ottomans proceeded from victory to victory, and within two weeks forced Trancaucasia to sue for peace under the terms of the Brest-Litovsk Treaty. Two days before the final agreement, Transcaucasia declared its independence.

The newly independent Federation was rudely shocked when Turkey came to the peace conference demanding the cession of Armenia. Meanwhile, the fighting continued. As Armenia and Georgia came close to collapse under the strain of the Turkish assault, Azerbaijan offered little more than sympathetic words. Turks themselves, the Azerbaijanis were happy to see the Ottomans advance. Resigned to the failure of the Transcaucasian experiment, Georgia began moves towards independence. On May 26, the Ottoman commander handed the Transcaucasian government an ultimatum demanding the cession of even more territory. At the same time, one of the last Armenian garrisons fell, and two districts in the west declared their intention to be annexed to Turkey. Panic exploded throughout the Federation, and Georgia declared its independence. With that act, the Transcaucasian Federation was dissolved, and the three nations became independent entities. The Soviet Union absorbed all of the Caucasus nations by the end of 1922.

Trans-Dniestr Republic- also Dniester Moldavia, Transnistria. The strip of Moldova east of the Dniestr River, also called the Trans-Dniestr, has a majority of Russian- and Ukrainian-speakers. Tension between these two ethnic groups and the Romanian-speaking Moldovans sparked into open rebellion after Moldova began distancing itself from the central government in Moscow. Following the Gagauz declaration of independence, several Russian communities, including the industrial city of Tiraspol, declared independence. In September of 1990, the entire Trans-Dniestr seceded from Moldova. Moldovan government troops had nearly forced a victory when General Aleksandr Lebed moved his Fourteenth Soviet Army into the Trans-Dniestr. Moldovan troops and Trans-Dniestr militia forces reinforced by Lebed fought for several months. Talks in July of 1992 ended with Moldova granting the Trans-Dniestr autonomy, and in 1997, peace talks settled that Trans-Dniestr would remain part of Moldova. The Russian presence in Trans-Dniestr has dwindled to 2,600 troops, and the peace agreement states that the last Russian troops will be withdrawn by the end of the year.

Transkei- Transkei was the first and largest independent Bantustan. It was the showpiece of South Africa's homeland project, and fittingly it was the first to fall apart. South African troops were forced to intervene after the military staged two coups on top of each other in 1988 amid economic collapse, and in 1990 Transkei's Prime Minister told South Africa's newly elected President De Klerk that the homelands had failed. Transkei rejoined South Africa on January 1, 1994.

Transpadane Republic- see Cisalpine Republic.

Transylvania- In 1774, Judge Richard Henderson of North Carolina organized a company of speculators to settle the Cumberland River. The company acquired more investors, and was reorganized a year later as the Transylvania Company. Henderson’s agents, headed by Daniel Boone, explored the region and concluded a treaty with the Cherokee acquiring nearly all of Kentucky and large tracts of Tennessee west of the Watauga region. Operating in defiance of the royal governments of North Carolina and Virginia, Henderson arrived in the new colony of Transylvania a day after the Battle of Concord. In May of 1775, Henderson organized the Transylvanian legislature, which enacted a highly progressive legal code, including religious liberty and provisions for the protection of wildlife. Transylvania sent a delegation to the Continental Congress. but was rebuffed. The Congress was at this point still holding out reconciliation with the British Crown as a bargaining chip, and furthermore hoped not to alienate the all-important Virginia delegates. Vicious squabbling broke out in the Legislature between Henderson’s faction, original frontiersmen who resented him as a trespasser, and radicals who urged Transylvania’s formal independence. Transylvania’s end came in December, when Virginia’s Governor Patrick Henry dissolved the Transylvania Company’s charter and declared Transylvania to be Kentucky County of Virginia.

Transylvania, Republic of- In the wake of the First World War, the Austro-Hungarian Empire collapsed. As the monarchy was overthrown and the army began to dissolve, no meaningful authority existed throughout much of the Empire. The need for some form of government became apparent after peasants attacked noble manors across Hungary. In Transylvania, the Romanian National Council took control after moving to Arad from Budapest. It quickly organized a small military force, although plans to draft the 50,000 Romanian soldiers returning from the fronts were scuttled by the Serbian government. The Republic of Hungary anxiously opened negotiations in early November, but was informed that the Romanian Council intended to secede. While negotiations were continuing, the Council invited Romanian troops across the border. Although nearly half of Transylvania's population was Hungarian or German, the Council proclaimed the annexation a victory for "self-determination". By the end of January, the Romanian Army had occupied the entirety of Transylvania. While the Romanian National Council exercised complete authority throughout Transylvania, it never claimed sovereign rights or declared independence.

Travancore- Travancore was a British province on the southwestern corner of India. After Indian independence in 1947, Travancore proclaimed its own independence, but agreed to autonomy within India a few months later. The region's autonomy was revoked a few years later.

Trieste, Free Territory of- This area was separated from Italy after the Second World War. Its fate was hotly debated, as the Americans refused to give it to Yugoslavia, and the Soviets refused to give it to Italy. In 1947, both powers agreed to declare Trieste a Free Territory under UN jurisdiction. Manuevering in the Security Council hobbled the Territory's government. The territory was partitioned when Cold War tensions were eased by Stalin's death in 1953, with Trieste going to Italy and the hinterland to Yugoslavia.

Tri-Insula, Free City of- As the American secession crisis of 1860 moved slowly towards the specter of civil war, many Northerners declared their support for peace, no matter the cost. In January of 1861, New York's spectacularly charismatic and thoroughly corrupt Mayor Fernando Wood announced that the secession of the South was "a fixed fact" and urged the City Council to declare the secession of Tri-Insula- an independent nation comprising Manhattan, Long Island, and Staten Island. Wood's Democratic machine was desperate to maintain revenues (and kickbacks, if one is uncharitable) which depended on Southern cotton. While public opinion swung sharply against Wood's scheme after Fort Sumter, parts of New York's populace remained less than enthusiastic about the war- a state confirmed most tragically in 1863's Draft Riots.

Trinidad, Principality of- James Harden-Hickey was born in San Francisco in 1854. He moved to Paris as a young man after he inherited a small fortune and married a countess. He also was made a Baron of the Catholic Church after writing several passionate tracts in defense of Catholicism. He was stripped of his title after he divorced his wife in 1894 and announced his intention to move to India and take up a life of Hindu asceticism. On the trip there, a storm forced his ship aground on the island of Trinidad (no relation to the Caribbean Trinidad) in the South Atlantic. Seeing that the island was uninhabited, Harden-Hickey declared himself King James I of Trinidad and advertised for settlers in the London Times. The following year, the United Kingdom annexed the island in order to anchor a transatlantic telegraph cable. King James was encouraged, hoping that the cable would bring the attention he needed to start his reign. Unfortunately, the plan was scrapped and Brazil annexed the island again in 1896. Furious, King James sold his lands in Mexico hoping to launch an invasion of Great Britain. Fortunately for the British Empire, Harden-Hickey failed to attract a following. In 1898, he fell into a deep depression and killed himself with a morphine overdose.

Tripolitania, Republic of- In April of 1915, a noble from the town of Misurata in central Libya named Ramadan Suwayhili defeated Italian forces, pushing the Italians north into a few coastal enclaves. Suwayhili declared Misurata an independent republic. He received covert aid from the Central Powers, including arms smuggled aboard German submarines. Suwayhili could not consolidate his gains, however, as his followers were divided and Suwayhili failed to win the trust of Sanusiyah. Suwayhili declared his state the Republic of Tripolitania in 1918, and began attacking neighboring areas in order to subjugate them. After he was killed on one of these raids in 1920, the Italians launched an invasion. The Republic ended when Suwayhili's successors ceded control to the Emir of Sanusiyah.

Tripuram- Tripuram is a small Indian region in southern Assam, bordered on three sides by Bangladesh. The Tripurese are now a minority group, outnumbered by Hindu and Muslim refugees. In 1980, the Bengali residents of Tripuram elected a Marxist state government. The Tripuram Volunteer Force, allied with their tribesmen in Chittagong, declared Tripuram an independent nation and slaughtered over a thousand Bengalis. The TVF was rapidly defeated by the Indian Army. The TVF agreed to surrender in 1988, after the Marxists lost control of Tripuram's government and New Delhi agreed to halt immigration.

Tristan da Cunha- Tristan da Cunha is a lonely group of rocks roughly halfway between St. Helena and the Falklands in the South Atlantic. Discovered by the Portuguese in 1506, it remained unsettled for three centuries. In 1811, however, a British ship stopping for fresh water found three men living on Tristan, one of whom was Jonathan Lambert of Salem, Massachusetts. Lambert gave the British captain a letter to carry back to civilization, proclaiming himself King of Tristan da Cunha. In the letter, Lambert declared himself "bound by the principles of hospitality... and by no other Laws whatsoever." Perhaps realizing that his two subjects and himself weren't a very viable kingdom, Lambert informed the British captain in private that he would be glad to become a British subject should he ever be asked. When another British ship landed the following year, the crew discovered that Lambert was dead, and that only one man, Tommaso Corri, was on the island. The British suspected foul play, but could prove nothing. The truth will probably never be discovered; Corri died shortly after British settlers arrived in 1816, annexing the islands.

Tuaregs- see Azawad.

Tule Republic- see Kunas.

Tunganistan- The Tungan Turkish warlord Ma Chung-wing first entered Xinjiang politics when he invaded this westernmost province of China in support of the Kumul rebellion. In May of 1933, Ma wiped out the remains of Kuomintang power in western China. Although he attempted to create a warlord fiefdom, Ma faced serious opposition from the local Turks, who created a rival Islamic government of East Turkestan at Khotan. Ma added southern Xinjiang to his lands after ethnic tension erupted into fighting against Khotan there, and rapidly consolidated his gains. Realizing the fragility of his control, Ma approached Great Britain and then the USSR for support. The Soviets, anxious to maintain the power of the legitimate Chinese governor (who had long been virtually a Soviet puppet), invited Ma Chung-wing to Moscow to discuss the possibility of aid. Ma was never heard from again. His brother, Ma Hu-shan, was quick to sign an armistice with the governor which acknowledged Tungan control over a third of Xinjiang.

Tungan rule was harsh and inept, based solely on exploitation of the Turkish population. This oppression caused a serious revolt in 1937, which the Tungans clumsily tried to direct against the Kuomintang government. Ma Hu-shan succeeded only in angering Stalin, who sent a full division of Red Army troops in May, backed by an armor regiment and a bomber wing. This overwhelming intervention sealed the fate of the Turkic rebellion and Tunganistan. At the end of summer, not one Tungan soldier remained in Xinjiang.

Tunglan- see Right River Soviet.

Tungus National Government, Provisional- The Tungus are a nomadic people of northern Siberia. In 1924, a Tungus nationalist army (two-thirds of them actually the remnants of the independent Yakut army) gained control of the Siberian coast in the vicinity of Okhotsk. The Tungus forces comprised only 500 men, and were easily dispersed by the Bolsheviks in August of 1925.

Turcomanistan- see Turkmenistan, First Republic of.

Turkmenistan, First Republic of- Throughout the turmoil of 1917, Turkmen nationalism gained strength. As a precaution, the Tashkent Soviet sent Red Army recruiters and agitators into the area, which turned out to be a wise plan; in February of 1918, the Turcoman National Committee began organizing an army outside Ashkabad to drive out the Bolsheviks. Tashkent immediately sent out troops to disarm the nascent army, which quickly ended the Turkmen revolt.

 Tuva- see Tannu Tuva.

Tyrol, Free State of- see Republic of Vorarlberg.

Footnote: Trans-Dniestr Republic. As Russia's Minister of the Interior, Lebed would ironically later play a hardline role in denying independence to Chechnya. Back.