Was there any point in the last 1000 years where a colonial power 1) colonized an area, 2) the colony rebelled and secured its independence, and 3) the colonial power returned and annexed the former colony back into its empire?

by icosahedron14912

trampabroad

Depends how loosely you want to define "colonize," "annex," and "empire."

Here are the ones that come to mind:

Russia: Lost (with German help) Poland, Finland, the Baltic States and Ukraine during 1917-20, re-annexed the Baltic States, and part of Poland and Finland(as the USSR) over 1938-45.

(While we're at it, there's also the Crimea, but that passes the 20 year rule)

Germany: Lost a bunch of territory to Poland in 1919, took it back in 1939.

Britain: has so far invaded Iraq three times. The first invasion(in 1920) went about as well as the others.

China: Lost control of Tibet, Xinjiang and Inner Mongolia in 1911; reacquired them between 1947-59.

Reedstilt

You'll likely find the episode of the AskHistorians podcast concerning the Pueblo Revolt interesting.