But Finland was spared Soviet occupation and now enjoys top billing, jointly with Denmark, as the least corrupt country on earth, in an index compiled by Transparency International, a pressure group.
The parks and gardens inside St . Petersburg though spared German occupation, also suffered in the siege — none more so than the Botanical Garden on Apothecary's Island (not far from the Peter and Paul Fortress on the Petrograd side).
When he did intervene in politics, his actions were usually disastrous; thus, if he had been less obstinate in rejecting terms offered by Alaric before 410, Rome might have been spared the Gothic occupation.
In the nineteen-eighties, the Soviet occupation largely spared the Hazara homeland, but they mounted an insurgency nonetheless, singing revolutionary songs whose villains were Pashtuns rather than Soviets.
Japan has also started to improve Vietnam's naval capabilities, training Vietnamese sailors in maritime surveillance, for instance.As in Vietnam and Myanmar, memories in the Philippines still linger over Japan's brutal wartime occupation (Thailand was spared, allying itself with Japan).
Spared the traumas of foreign occupation or endless wars fought on home territory (25 of the 27 EU member states, all but the UK and Sweden, were occupied by foreign armies and/or domestic dictators in the 20th century), England's political liberties prospered, even if its economic and intellectual development often lagged behind continental neighbours.
It was spared the presence of carpetbaggers who might have tried to manipulate occupation policy to serve their private interests.
Adding insult to injury, this particular bank was one of the few institutions to be spared from the looting that swept Baghdad after the American military began its occupation in April 2003.
So far the elderly appear to have been spared; it is unclear why.To date, there is no observable link between nvCJD and occupation.
