Oh What A Time... - #166 Small Countries (Part 2)

Episode Date: March 11, 2026

This is Part 2! For Part 1, check the feed!Get the atlas out because this week we’re analysing some of the world’s smallest countries! We’ve got for you Brunei, the Vatican City and how about we take a trip to Andorra?Elsewhere, Chris can now talk to his house to turn off a lightbulb: so is humanity getting lazier and lazier? If you know the answer to that or anything else, do get in touch: [e-mail] from now on Part 1 is released on Monday and Part 2 on Wednesday - but if you want more Oh What A Time and both parts at once, you should sign up for our Patreon! On there you’ll now find:•The full archive of bonus episodes•Brand new bonus episodes each month•OWAT subscriber group chats•Loads of extra perks for supporters of the show•PLUS ad-free episodes earlier than everyone elseJoin us at 👉 patreon.com/ohwhatatimeAnd as a special thank you for joining, use the code CUSTARD for 25% off your first month.You can also follow us on: X (formerly Twitter) at @ohwhatatimepodAnd Instagram at @ohwhatatimepodAaannnd if you like it, why not drop us a review in your podcast app of choice?Thank you to Dan Evans for the artwork (idrawforfood.co.uk).Chris, Elis and Tom x Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Oh Water Time is now on Patreon. You can get main feed episodes before everyone else. Add free. Plus access to our full archive of bonus content, two bonus episodes every month, early access to live show tickets and access to the O Watertime Group chat. Plus if you become an O Watertime All-Timer, myself, Tom and Ellis will riff on your name to postulate

where else in history you might have popped up. For all your options, you can go to patreon.com forward slash O Watertime. Hello and welcome to part two of small countries. You're about to enjoy this episode. But before we kick things off, if you are a subscriber, you will have heard our recent episode in which Tom investigated fitness in the past. Would you like to hear a little 60 second excerpt from that episode? Of course you would.

Here it is. I did a lot of work for the BBC during Euro 2016, which is coming up to 10 years ago because Wales is qualified. I had to meet a producer of a radio thing and a place. in like Bordeaux and he shared his location with me and he is now in my contacts for like find my location

I don't know how to turn him off he hasn't turned himself off I haven't seen this guy for 10 years I constantly know where he is like the international space he's on to breathe today I've been I've spoken for a decade

do you keep it on because it feels comforted because you could turn that off Every time I need to use to find my iPhone, I'm like, oh, there he is. Oh, he said Swansea today. Like, I don't know the guy. It's going to be a rather somber day in about 50 years when it says Kamar than Semmer. Yeah, yeah, yeah.

Oh, right. Yeah. It's not really moving. No, no, no. He hasn't moved for a long time, actually. He's been in that graveyard now for five years. Yeah. It's weird.

I remember the first time someone sent me a link to. where they are using what three words and I had no idea what this was. So it just said something like, by the way, if you want to find my I'm at Kipper, egg, trombone or whatever, and I was just like, what the hell is it? Are you not aware of this? This is a more exact way of giving a map location

than drop pin or whatever or postcode, a postcode, better example. How could it be more accurate than dropped pin? No, drop pin's a bad example than a postcode. So for you, you would write, if you go on your phone and type in what three words, it'll tell you where you are, it'll be something like mongoose chicken, toaster. Pants or whatever.

Yeah, exactly. Just three random words and then I'll know exactly where you are. How? Because it's a coordinate. Every part of the world has this random out of case. I've never heard of this. You've never heard of what three words? So there'll be three words that refer to where you are right now.

What three words? I thought you were doing that as a quiz. It's great. Yeah, don't read about on air, El, because people will know exactly. I thought you were saying until someone used what three words? And I was going to be like, a map atlas. A parchment. Like a Radio 4 panel show.

Where am I? I'll give you three clues. And if you want to get that full episode, you can head over to patreon.com forward slash oh what a time, where that was a bonus episode in Feb. There'll be two bonus episodes in this month. Plus there's a full archive of bonus episodes too, such as unconventional. on flight. If you want to enjoy those, plus get episodes earlier than everyone else, add free, all that good stuff, patreon.com forward slash oh, what a time. And speaking of bonus episodes,

L, you've just done a bonus episode in Feb, which was, I certainly have just recorded in, in fact, and I talked about a book that I read four or five years ago that I absolutely loved, that I re-quainted myself with, just view the subscribers, Dark Continent, Europe's 20th century by Mark Mazawa, which is a big overarching history. of Europe in the 20th century. It's an absolute cracker. It was fascinating. If you were to listen to that, sign up, become a patron.

It's all available to you now. Now I'm going to talk to you. This episode is about small countries. So for me, one of the classic small countries, Andorra. Yes. Yeah, yeah. Classic sort of World Cup qualifier, European qualifier country. Well, exactly.

This is the point I was going to make. I don't know this for certain. But Elle is the kind of man who will follow his country away. from home at the football. L, have you been to Andorra? One of the games I regret not going to the most was Andorra won Wales 2. No way!

But it was about a week before my daughter was born. And we discussed it. And it was decided. And I agreed that it was unwise for me to go to Andorra before my first child was born. So I watched it on the telly. All my mates went... But did you say to Izzy,

but we might win 2-1, isn't it? What if we win 2-1? Well, one of the reasons I wish we'd gone is at Coleman, had he lost that game, would have lost his job. Oh. And we probably wouldn't have qualified for 2016. We certainly wouldn't have got to the semi-finals if you were 2016. So it was won all with a couple of minutes to go,

and bail got given a free kick. We were playing on an astroturf. Wow. Like a 4G pitch, you know, with a little black rubbery bits, like sort of everyone plays five a side on. Yeah. And bail took a free kick and missed. and then to retake it, and then he scored the second one where you ended up winning 2-1, and we were up and running.

But it was an amazingly exciting game against a tiny country. I have a question, Elle. Yeah. Because I play every Tuesday evening on Astridor. What are those little black rubber bits? Because when I come home and I tip out my football boots, they are just full of these little pellets. It looks like a mouse has done its business all over our hallway. Yes. I tip them out in the car park now rather than doing it at home.

Yeah, top. top tip from me. But yeah, it's just a tiny little bit of rubber. But Gareth Bin and Aramese and Joe Allen's boots were full of them. But yeah, September 2014 we played Andorra. I wish I could have gone to that. Don't talk to me about children being born removing footballing greatness from your life because West Ham's 2022 Europa League run was permeated by my son's impending due date.

So I didn't get to go on many of those away trips. Leon, Seville. Oh, no. Never mind. Well, I'm sure West Ham will be back there soon, won't they? Remind me, where are you in the week? Well, is the Anglo-Italian Cup still a thing? Yeah.

Never mind. Right. Andorra. So Andorra is wedged in between the Pyrenees, which is between France and Spain. And if you follow your international football team away, no doubt you may well have been to Andorra at some point. part, but Andorra significance goes way beyond small-time Nations League qualifiers and the like.

It is a country that is actually one of Europe's largest microstates. It's 181 square miles. Massive as microstates go. No wonder we only beat them to one. That's huge. That feels like they're trying to sort of defend themselves when someone's being mean. We're not that small. We're actually one of Europe's largest microstates.

Yeah, may as well as he's been in Argentina. Oh, Jay, you say we're small. It's one of the oldest continuous political entities in Europe. It traces its independence back to the 13th century. Where is Andorra? Is it near Italy? I just said between France and Spain. Oh, I missed that.

We played them in Barcelona. We didn't play them in Andorra from what I remember. Oh, didn't you? Oh, that's interesting. Can I be perfectly honest, by the way, about the way my mind works and why I missed that. You said Pyrenees, and I was thinking, is there a a joke to do with a pair of knees. And that's what I have a mind that works in that way.

There wasn't. But instinctually, the cog started turning. And then they stopped turning after you'd moved on about the fuck. So that's why I missed it. That's how the comedy lasagna is layered. Yeah. So interesting you say that when Andorra versus Wales, that happened in Barcelona because Andorra is the only sovereign state in the world where the Catalan is the official language.

Is it? That's a good fact. That's a great fact. Very good fact. So only Samarino, which was founded in 301 AD, can claim greater antiquity than Andorra. The obvious question is, how did Andorra, with such a small territory,

samaged between two historical powerhouses in France and Spain, managed to survive intact for so long? And the answer comes down to a medieval compromise. So Andorra's political structure dates back to 1278, when a treaty, known as Parage, was signed between two rival powers. The Count of Fu on the French side and the Bishop of Urgel on the Catalan side in what is now Spain, they signed the treaty.

And they signed the treaty because both sides, France and what is now Spain, were claiming rights over the Andoran Valley. And both France and what is now Spain were willing to fight over them. But instead, mediated from the Kingdom of Aragon, brokered a remarkable solution, really. They said, I've just checked it. We did play in Andorra. Obviously, I wasn't there because my daughter. was being born.

It was the national state of of Indora. It's just a lot of my friends flew to Barcelona. There was talk of us playing in Barcelona. I'm so sorry. I hate getting

Welsh football facts wrong. I'm so sorry. It's always good when you get your own. You perform a corrections corner on yourself. Absolutely, yeah. It's already so efficient, isn't it? So here we go.

It's the middle of the 1200s and France and what is now Spain are willing to fight over the territory of Andorra, the Andoran valleys. But instead of the, of war, mediators from the kingdom of Aragon arrived and said, I've got a good unusual solution. Why don't you

both own Andorra? And thus was born the Andoran principate. Like a state ruled jointly by two external princes. That is effectively what Andorra is. It's a way of like, I guess it's like two siblings fighting over a toy and you actually go, well actually, you both own the toy.

How about that? Yes. Interesting. Why don't you all share Andorra? Share the toy. Yeah, share Andorra. So on the Spanish side, the Bishop of O'Gel's authority derived from a much earlier transfer of land in 988 AD when Count Borel the 2nd. Saying Count Borel the second makes me think of Johnny Borel. So now I'm imagining Count Borel the second was the Leasinger of Razorite. He handed the territory to the church.

And when later secular rulers attempted to reclaim it, bishop sought protection, including from the count of Foo, whose dynastic ties soon entangled them in Andoran affairs. the Bishop of Urgill, he's one signing authority for Andorra. On the French side, the Count of Foo, who signed that treaty to look after Andorra, the Count of Fu eventually rise in status until in 1479 the title of Count of Fu

passed into the Kingdom of Nouveir. And when Henry III of Nevaire became Henry the Fourth of France in 1589, the Count of Fu was also the sovereign of France. So from 1518, onwards, the Andoran co-prince was also the French monarch, effectively. Interesting. So from then on, Andorra sovereignty rested on an unusual balance.

So one prince ecclesiastical, which would be the Bishop of Ergel, on the Spanish side, and one secular, which was the king of France. Okay. So it was a system born out of rivalry, but mutual inconvenience preserved it, because neither France nor Spain wanted the other to have sole control. Right. And it survives for centuries like that. So the original treaty was signed back in 1278, and it's fine.

Adora is fine until 1789 when a little thing called the French Revolution kicks off. Okay. A real pain in the ass. Yeah, I've heard of this, yeah. So the French Revolution overthrew the monarchy and executed Louis XVI. And Revolutionary France renounces all feudal titles and privileges, including its role as co-prints of Vandora. And therefore, the balance suddenly collapses because France are saying,

well, we don't really care about Andorra anymore. So the Bishop of Ergel remains in place and the French stepped away from Andorra. So that left Andorra vulnerable to absorption by Spain. So Andorans themselves, who are living there, appeal to Napoleon Bonaparte to come in and do something. And Bonaparte does do something.

He rolls in to Andorra and annexes it at 1812. Not quite what was expected. So once again, Andorra is now on the French side. but then after 1812, the balance is restored, and Andorra's independence is again shared by France and Spain. And to this day, the French co-prince is no longer the king but the president of the French Republic.

So if you're president of the French Republic, you are co-prince of Andorra. Andorra's other head of state remains the Bishop of Ergel in modern times. So for centuries, Andorra remained politically conservative and limited in franchise. But by the early of 20th century, younger Andorans were demanding reform, because only the male head of a household could vote before 1933. Wow.

And the general council, the parliament, was small, dominated by traditional families. Politics was just like local patronage networks. There was no modern Andoran constitution. There's no political parties. So in 1933, there was a bit of an Andoran revolution where people wanted, just meant to have the vote, quite basically. So there was a revolution in Andorra, but nothing like the revolutions we saw across Europe in the 20th century.

It was very mild reform and universal male suffrage was granted in 1933. But it was into this period of instability that one of the most improbable figures in European history steps forward. And his name is Boris Skoswreth. He is a Russian emigre who claimed aristocratic lineage and intelligence connections. But in reality, intelligence agencies across Europe regarded him as a fraudster and opportunist. Oh, wow. So after drifting through Britain, the Netherlands and Latin America, and after being labelled an international swindler by Dutch authorities,

scoffsy F arrives in Andorra in 1933. I'd find that quite hard to take. Being dubbed an international swindler. Well, I think you could probably get... Are you putting that on your LinkedIn? In a pre-social media age, it's probably quite easy to get away with being an international swindler. Like, well, you know, a bit of a disguise

and you can just set up on a new town. Yeah. And that's kind of what he does, old Boris. He settles in Santa Coloma, which is just outside the capital. Within months, he's discussing political reform, constitutional change and the possibility of transforming Andorra into a modern state, including, crucially, a low-tax financial centre. When local authorities expelled him for meddling,

it's got an interesting crime, isn't it? Meddling. Can you still get convicted of meddling? It sounds vague. It's one of those crimes. It's hard to pin on someone, but if you do, it's a life-suffer. sentence. It's quite a weird sort of

admin-heavy version of a con man, isn't it? There's a lot of discussion about luring tax and it's not like putting on a disguise and stealing a speedboat and pretending you're worth a million power or whatever. It's like, yeah, just sitting down and discussing

tax regulations in a country. So Boris gets expelled for meddling. He goes across the border to Spain and from there on the 10th of July, 1934, he declares himself, Boris the first of Andorra. And for 13 days, he styles himself as a monarch. He drafts the Constitution promising civil liberties, freedom of the press, economic modernisation,

and he spoke grandly of foreign investment and prosperity. But he made one crucial mistake, which is that he threatens war on the Bishop of Urgel, one of the co-princes. There really is something about the name Boris, isn't there? Yeah. So at this point, Madrid are like, well, we can't have this. The Spanish civil guards arrest him in his hotel and he was transferred to Barcelona and Madrid

and his Andoran monarchy lasted less than two weeks. His later life was really chaotic. He collaborated with the Nazis during the Second World War. He was captured by Soviet troops. But amazingly, he's imprisoned in a gulag but he gets out and eventually settles in West Germany where he dies in 1988. He lives for a man who a lot of people would want dead.

He does well to live into relative old age, 1989. Yeah. Throughout his escapades, was reportedly supported financially by a wealthy American divorcee, Florence Marmon, whose fortune from the automobile industry bankrolled his ambitions. Wow. So Boris's coup was a little bit absurd, but it did force Andorra to confront modernity. And in the decades after the Second World War,

Andorra did indeed become what Scossief had envisaged a low-tax jurisdiction, attracted tourism, banking and retail commerce, and its economy shifted from subsistence agriculture into services and finance. And in 1993, Andor adopted its first written constitution, formally defining itself as a parliamentary democracy while retaining...

1999, that was? 19903, yeah. Wow, so late. It's also skiing in Andorra as well. It's a ski resort, so it's very popular for tourists. I said, doesn't the United Kingdom be even like, we don't have a written constitution, do we? No.

We need to get around to that. If Andorra's beating us to the post. Yeah. Well, Bajat tried to write it. But it's all, the British Constitution is all customs and traditions and... Yeah, you don't need to write it down. It's vibe-based, isn't it? So, yeah, the balance that Andorra struck in 1278 still survives and was written down more formally in 1993. It's funny that turning Andorra into a like a low-tax jurisdiction.

That seems to be the best way, if you're a small microstate, of surviving these days. Yeah, yeah, absolutely. It's just go, let's have really minimal tax, and everyone kind of goes, all right, you can survive. So, Andorra's story is not one of military might or imperial ambition. It's the story of a state that survived by being really inconvenience for its massive neighbours to annex, but also being quite useful to both neighbours,

and never really being powerful enough to threaten anyone. That really is the key. And that is how Andorra has survived to this day to become one of the most enjoyable away fixtures on the international. Football Canada. Yeah, I can't imagine Andorra if they had nuclear weapons. If Andorra had nuclear weapons,

would countries like England feel so comfortable smashing them 10-0? Yeah. One of the great historic Welsh trips that Andorra won Wales 2. I'd love to have gone to that. I'm imagining meeting him later in his life. Where was he living?

Boris Scrofyev. Germany. Is that right? Yeah. Just in a bar. Just him drunk and telling him. drunk and telling you about how for two weeks he ran the royal family in Andorra. Yeah, yeah.

Of course. Yeah, yeah. And then I did. Yeah, yeah, of course. And I suggested they lowered their taxes and it then became, oh yeah, of course he did, mate, yeah, yeah, yeah, of course. Yeah, yeah. All right, all right, granddad. Yeah, yeah. And you're Tom Hanks'is' agent, aren't you? And you're Ronald Reagan security guy. Yeah, yeah, I get it. Yeah, yeah, yeah.

Of course. This is the best intro to Wikipedia page I've ever read. Boris Skosiewf was a Belarusian adventurer, international swindler and pretender who attempted to seize the monarchy of the Principality of Andorra in the 1930s. That's incredible. Yeah.

No citation needed. That's true. Okay, Nigel Pierce, I know what a time full-timer, a subscriber. You got what you wanted. It's time for some oh-what-a-time, Brunei chat. On the 1st of January, 1984, the small country Brunei,

on the Southeast Asian island of Borneo, which had been under British protections in September 1888, gained its independence, becoming known quite simply as the state of Brunei. Officially Brunei Darussalam, or simply Brunei. Independence is still fully celebrated on Brunei's National Day, February the 23rd, which we've only just missed. It was on Monday. What a shame.

I know really like the phrase the state of whatever, because it sounds like you're sort of describing it in sort of slightly dismiss. Have you seen the state of Brunei? State of Brunei. You wanted to be kingdom, the kingdom of Brunei. That's such a good point. That's a good point.

Have you seen the state of Brunei? You're slagging it off. Yeah, everyone's looking at some guy, you're sleeping at a bus stop. I'm like, the state of Brunei. Now, the process of gaining independence had taken a long time. So it followed the signing of the Treaty of Fellowship

and Cooperation by the Labour government in London in January 19. 1979, which relinquished Britain's control of Brunei's external affairs. And in earlier treaty, this time was owned by Edwards Heath's Conservative Administration in 1971, which had relinquished remaining British involvement in Brunei's internal affairs. Internal autonomy had been granted, otherwise in 1959, when the constitution of Brunei was created. So, yeah, it was from the 50s to the 80s. That's how long it took.

So needless to say, the road to independence was much choppy than all that. There were revolts, rebellions, oppressions, outlawed political parties, legislative compromises. This all featured in the 50s and 60s as the people of Brunei endeavored to throw off British control and grappled with the question of whether to join the wider Malay Federation or to stand apart. Big question for microstates or for small countries or small nations. Who do we go with? Do we stand alone? Yeah. It's a big call, isn't it?

So what made Brunei especially attracted to the British, despite degrading relations between the two world wars, was the discovery in the late 1920s of, your friend and mine, significant oil and gas reserves. No way, they had oil and we fancy a bit of it. Really? You're joking. No, I'm spot on.

And the British Malayan petroleum company was formed in 1922 to lead explanation and exploitation of any discovered resources. The company had been known as, Brunei shelled petroleum since 1957. So in the century that has followed, oil and gas have been the mainstay 's economy and enable the country to secure its independence and to develop rapidly. According to the Human Development Index, Brunei is amongst the most developed countries in Southeast Asia.

So by 2025, oil and gas accounted for 75% of Brunei's governmental income. Wow. Wow. Yeah, yeah, yeah. You've got to start looking at doing other things. I think it's here to today longer than you think else. In some years, that figure's gone as high as 90%. That worries me. Wow.

That's like when I was a circuit stand-up and I looked at my diary and think, I do too much of the Cardiff Glee Club. I need to stretch my legs. Because if the Cardiff Glee Club goes bust or stops booking me. That was your oil reserve, was it? That was my oil reserve. That was the geyser that pumped out two weekends a month. Like Brunei's governmental income, I used to get $1.8 million from the Cardiff Glee Club.

And it was 90. In some years, 90% of my income came from the Cardiff Glee. Now, it was such large revenues. The government's been able to provide healthcare for the country's 466,000 citizens. So it's the biggest of the small nations we're discussing today. It's still tiny, isn't it? 466,000 for an entire nation. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Is it? Is that really? Yeah, as well as to subsidise food supplies, not.

rice and housing. So before the 1920s, but before they started getting booked by the Cardiff Glee Club, Brunei had been a poor rural economy reliance upon rice farming and exploitation of resources found in the Borneo jungle, such as Camp for foreign woods. It kicks of puffs.

In fact, if it wasn't for the emergency intervention in 1906 in the form of a loan made to Brunei by the Federated Malay States, which was another British protectorate in the region, the country's economy would have collapsed entirely, but the loan came at a cost.

So early in 1904, British colonial administrator, Malcolm MacArthur, were sent to Brunei to produce a report on future governance of the country, one of which the authorities in London regarded bluntly as a dying sultanate. Right. So MacArthur arrived on the 3rd of May,

set about his tasks, studying the economy, the political systems, the state, distribution of the population and the surviving official archives. Now, his report appeared in December 1904, It recommended more direct to British involvement in Brunei's affairs, basically ostensibly to rescue the country's people from increased poverty and economic degradation. The colonial office in London agreed on MacArthur,

and he was asked to renegotiate with a sultan. That sounds like an intimidating job. Renegotiating with a sultan. I'm going to say, I hope I never have to renegotiate with a sultan in my life. I don't see that negotiation going well. Unless you're going in and planning on giving him really good terms. So it's just going to be quite a nice weekend when looked after and given good food by ourselves.

May, what do you want? What do you need? Exactly, yeah, yeah. You've been given the green light to go in and give them what they want, and that's fine. So, you know, they amended the 1888 Treaty Protection to allow for the appointment of a British resident, basically an imperial advisor slash overseer. So before that, Britain's interests had been represented by a trade envoy or consuls. So MacArthur was then duly appointed the first British resident in Brunei,

took up his post in January in 1906. Once in residence in the capital, Brunei Town, now called Bandar Seri Bagan. MacArthur said about anglicising Brunei's administration, creating a Western-style civil service, modelled, of course, on the British one. My dad worked for the civil service in the 1980s, so, you know, I'd been intrigued to know if it was like that when he was doing that, and they only should have a pint at lunch. Something tells me that they didn't. And a range of new government.

Would your dad have a pint every day during the week? In the 80s, yeah, they all did. Wow. I'd be asleep by half too. Certainly in the 70s and 80s. Yeah, yeah, that was one of the problems with the British Civil Service in the 70s and 80s, yeah. And a range of new government departments

for policing, health, education, public works, the posts and so on. Now, this modernised Brunei, all that is to recreate, it recreated the country in Britain's image. Although there was a degree of deference to the island's religious allegiance and to its native Malay dialect, and also to its otherwise absolute monarchy, So the first Sultan, he'd converted to Islam in the 14th century. So again, I very much doubt that their civil service was like the British Civil Service.

I'd be absolutely staggered if they're having a pint at lunch. And then until the Constitution of 1959 and the withdrawal of the British residency system, this was how British colonialism functioned in the country. There was one period of exception, right? So that came in the 1940s when the island of Borneo, including Brunei, was invaded and occupied by the Empire of Japan. Oh. So this invasion began on the 16th of December, 1940s.

nine days after Pearl Harbour Brunei Town fell on the 22nd of December 1941 and the Allied forces on the island namely the 215 Punjab Regiment the second battalion of the 15th regiment they were soon overruns so the Japanese reorganised colonial administration but they left the Sultan of Brunei in place as a figurehead

I always think if you're right at the top you're either going to get executed or left alone it's an either or situation in it isn't it? Yeah yeah yeah yeah But the power, of course, was all in the hands of the Japanese governor. So the latter endeavored to promote anti-British, and those parts of Borneo, which formed part of the Dutch Empire, anti-Dutch sentiment.

How can you be against the Dutch? You know, root-holy and legalise cannabis. Oh, it's fine. So local government officials were even sent to night school to learn Japanese, displacing the English or the Dutch that they previously learned. So in the summer of 45, the island was liberated by the Australians, with special forces landing in advance of the main invasion, taking there by US submarines

and tasked with secret surveillance and reconnaissance and spying and guerrilla activities. Such a different mix of types of people coming in. Oh, yeah. I mean, what a melting pot, Brunei, right? America, yeah. So, Manglo was involved in this special operation was the co-founder of Mass Observation,

which I discussed in the subscriber special I did on Dark Continent by Mark Muzawa. Now, mass observations, a fascinating thing, was a British social research project launched in 1937, right? So Tom Harrison was the co-founder of Mass Observation. He was one of those people involved in this special operation. And Mass Observation, if you don't know about it, they would go up to people in the street

and they would just ask them their opinions on the big issues of the day and they would ask people to write diaries and you'd hand the diaries in. So it was a way of, really in-depth way of finding on what British people actually thought. Interesting. Just say the... Recording the feelings and the voices. Yeah, the cold, hard statistics, say, of a census.

Yeah. They were recording people's feelings and emotions. Fascinating. Civilian government... Well, when you go back through history, that's often the most interesting stuff as well, isn't it? Oh. Whenever you have a bit of text and someone, let's say, medieval Britain talking about their experience or whatever, something, it happens to be written up somewhere. It's always fascinating.

Everyone, if it's long enough ago, everyone's diary entries, fascinating. Yeah, yeah. So, mass observation, there must be a good book on mass observation, because when I was doing my MA, I read a lot of mass observation stuff and it's all fascinating. Now, civilian government returned in July 46. At this point, the British returned once more to the question of Brunei's functional independence.

So Malcolm MacDonald, the British envoy, who was the son of the former Labour Prime Minister Ramsey MacDonald, convinced his colleagues in London that Brunei should remain separate from the rest of British administered Borneo, and so approved. Now, the 20th century experience of Brunei tells us a lot about imperialism

and the transformation in attitudes that followed the discovery of oil and gas. Because without that, Britain wouldn't have been very interested. But equally, Brunei might not have survived as an independent country. So the contrast can be seen in the capital city, Bandar Seri Begawan, where tradition has been preserved in the old part of the city, Campangaya, the Venice of Brunei, where houses and schools and religious centres stand on stilts above the Brunei River. But in the newer one,

built largely after 1906 under British direction and with significant patterns of inward migration from abroad, notably China, everything's built on land. So the one recalled rural life and the other recalled or signified urban settlement. So you've got the twin prospects then of a small country emerging from the shadows of empire. So it's only a small place,

a few than half a million people live there. But a really, really interesting place with an amazing history. Amazing. Absolutely completely. So, yeah, as you say, what a mixture of people coming in and being involved in such a small place as well. Amazing. I'd just had a quick look at how they discovered the oil. And apparently two men smelled it one day, like a petrol station. If they monetised that, they've got the most expensive noses, the richest noses in the world.

I reckon that conversation went like this. Wait a second, I wouldn't like that. Give it two seconds. Put the cigarette away. You're right, El, that's a billion-dollar nose. It's the billion-dollar nose. What a film. They smelled it in 1926, and in 1927, they found gas seepages in the area.

So they were like, they smelled it, and then they were like, oh, there is. Two things impressed me with that. They've got a billion-dollar nose, and they can smell oil. And secondly, they've got the wherewithal and the initiative to do something about it. Yeah. Because for years, I'd be walking past going, that definitely smells like oil to me. Is that, I'm sure it's oil?

How long have you lived here? 25 years now. I'm convinced that oil. Before selling your patch of land for 200 quid. Yeah, yeah, yeah. And going, yeah, it can't be oil, can't actually be oil. You don't really get oil in the ground, do you? Do you want a mad theory?

Yeah, hit me. My mad theory is, I reckon when they smelled the oil in 1926, there weren't that many people who knew what oil smelled like in Brunei. Interesting point. The locals would have been walking around going, What is that? Stink. I don't know how to describe it. And then two blokes turned up and then, that smells like oil.

Yeah. It smells like money. Yeah. Fascinating. What a place. Three amazing places, really. Vatican City, And Dora and Brunei. One day I will visit them all.

Waleser when he played one of them in the football. And you won, though, didn't you? And we did win, yeah. And that's the main thing. We went both games. You left Andorra with a bragging rights. Thank you once again for that episode suggestion. from Nigel Pierce, a top tier subscriber,

one of the great benefits of becoming a patron, all-timer, you get to suggest episodes and once a month, we will do one. Thank you for listening, guys. We will be back very soon with yet more historical fun. Bye-bye. Goodbye. Oh, Whatter Time is now on Patreon.

You can get main feed episodes before everyone else, add free, plus access to our full archive of bonus content, two bonus episodes every month, early access to live show tickets, and access to the Oh, time group chat plus if you become an oh what a time all-timer myself tom and ellis will riff on your name to postulate where else in history you might have popped up for all your options you can go to patreon.com forward slash oh what a time