Imagine the following situation: A region of a country seeks to break away from its national government. Many of the residents are ethnically different than the majority, speak a different language, and see the central government as oppressive. They are oriented culturally and economically to a large country that lies to the north. A group of these residents has formed an army of rebellion, and has attacked and occupied some public spaces. The central government sent an army to oust them and inflicted a major defeat, which resulted in the victims of the battle becoming heroes and martyrs in the eyes of the populace. Volunteers from the large country to the north have come to fight on the side of the rebels, and are regarded as heroes. Eventually, the territory breaks away, declares itself an independent republic and then holds a vote which overwhelmingly favors joining the northern country. This is the story of Texas.