136-731: The Conch Republic ( / ˈ k ɒ ŋ k / ) is a micronation declared as a secession of the city of Key West, Florida , from the United States on April 23, 1982. It has been maintained as a tourism booster for the city. Since then, the term "Conch Republic" has been expanded to refer to "all of the Florida Keys , or, that geographic apportionment of land that falls within the legally defined boundaries of Monroe County, Florida , northward to 'Skeeter's Last Chance Saloon' in Florida City , Dade County, Florida , with Key West as
272-503: A state as: "a person of international law [that] possess the following qualifications: (a) a permanent population ; (b) a defined territory; (c) government; and (d) capacity to enter into relations with the other states." In 2019, a couple seasteading off the coast of Thailand went into hiding after being accused by the Royal Thai Navy of violating Thailand's sovereignty. If found guilty, they could face life in prison or
408-641: A Regular Army , a National Guard and an Organized Reserve (Officers Reserve Corps and Enlisted Reserve Corps) of unrestricted size, which later became the Army Reserve. This organization provided a peacetime pool of trained Reserve officers and enlisted men for use in war. The Organized Reserve included the Officers Reserve Corps, Enlisted Reserve Corps and Reserve Officers' Training Corps (ROTC). The Organized Reserve infantry divisions raised immediately after World War I generally continued
544-762: A flag , coat of arms or seal, motto and anthem , and many micronations also issue coins, banknotes, stamps, passports, passport stamps , orders of merit and bestow honours and titles of nobility , although these are not recognised internationally. Some micronations have made profits by selling these items as souvenirs and memorabilia to tourists and via their national websites, and others have even sold citizenship and titles of nobility. Some micronational coinage and stamps, if professionally made, have become valued as collector's items by numismatists and philatelists (stamp collectors) alike. In addition, both Sealand and Seborga have their own national association football teams. The Sealand national football team
680-441: A sovereign state rather than to achieve international recognition , and their activities are almost always trivial enough to be ignored rather than challenged by the established nations whose territory they claim —referred to as a macronation in micronationalism. Some micronations admit to having no intention of actually becoming internationally recognised as sovereign. Geographically, most micronations are very small, are often
816-574: A tongue-in-cheek venture meant to bolster tourism. In 1986, the Kingdom of North Dumpling was declared by inventor Dean Kamen after a denial from local officials to build his own wind turbine on North Dumpling Island in Long Island Sound , which Kamen privately owns. Kamen wrote his own constitution and created a flag, currency and national anthem for the micronation. In 1992, despite still being recognised as part of New York State in
952-543: A "State in Time", claiming no territory in order to be a "stateless state". Elgaland-Vargaland is a conceptual art project founded in 1992 by Swedish artists Carl Michael von Hausswolff and Leif Elggren . According to them, everyone who dies is automatically granted citizenship. Among Elgaland-Vargaland's territorial claims include graveyards , people's mental states and "the distance between high tide and low tide " of France. They also claim to operate embassies around
1088-567: A French intermicronational organisation, was founded in 2015. The organisation organised its first summit in 2016, hosted by the Principality of Aigues-Mortes . In 2018, the Principality of Islandia was established by two individuals aiming to build a crowdfunded micronation. Successfully purchasing the uninhabited Coffee Caye in the Caribbean Sea off the coast of Belize in 2019, Prime Minister of Belize John Briceño dismissed
1224-563: A conscripted citizen army or were to be contingents of a nearly ready combat force was never resolved in the 1930s, and reforms in training efforts often shifted between one and the other of the two objectives." Service in the Organized Reserve during the interwar period was not as appealing as the Army expected, and suffered because of limited funding that restricted training opportunities. Weekly inactive training drills were unpaid, and
1360-563: A cyclone, and the project was completely abandoned in 1973. In 1967, Paddy Roy Bates squatted on HM Fort Roughs , an offshore platform in the North Sea used during World War II approximately 12 kilometres (7.5 mi) off the coast of the United Kingdom. Bates had intended to broadcast a pirate radio station from the platform, however ultimately never did so. He instead declared the independence of Fort Roughs and declared it
1496-795: A defecting Cuban MiG-23 with his Pitts Special in 1991. Following his death in January 2013, Fred was succeeded by his son, Raymond Cabanas. Some of the action in Joe Haldeman 's 1989 science fiction novel Buying Time (published in UK as The Long Habit of Living ) takes place in the Conch Republic, a lawless place where assassination and other activities are perfectly legal. Science fiction writer Spider Robinson 's Callahan's Crosstime Saloon series—about an Irish bar full of time travellers, aliens and musicians—find themselves relocated to
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#17327729552401632-714: A hobbyist paradigm of micronationalism that arose with the rise of the Internet from the mid-1990s onwards. In 2021, legal academics Harry Hobbs and George Williams , in their Micronations and the Search for Sovereignty , defined micronations as "self-declared nations that perform and mimic acts of sovereignty, and adopt many of the protocols of nations, but lack a foundation in domestic and international law for their existence and are not recognised as nations in domestic or international forums". Online dictionary Collins English Dictionary , published by HarperCollins , gives
1768-430: A non-territorial global government based on the ideals of secularism , progressivism and liberalism . Among the causes Atlantium supports are the right to unrestricted international freedom of movement , the right to abortion , and the right to assisted suicide . In 1981, drawing on a news story about Hemingway's New Atlantis, novelist Hisashi Inoue wrote a 700-page work of magic realism , Kirikirijin , about
1904-569: A post office and commercial establishments. In 1969, the Italian Navy used explosives to destroy the facility, claiming it was a ploy to raise money from tourists while avoiding national taxation . The Republic of Minerva was a libertarian project that succeeded in building a small artificial island on the Minerva Reefs in 1972 by importing sand. It was invaded by troops from Tonga that same year, who annexed it before destroying
2040-408: A quarter of the Army's mobilization base expansion capability. Reserve Component (RC) Soldiers mainly perform part-time duties as opposed to the full-time (active duty) Soldiers, but rotate through mobilizations to full-time duty. When not on active duty, RC Soldiers typically perform training and service one weekend per month, currently referred to as Battle Assembly , and for two continuous weeks at
2176-513: A reduced strength. The eleventh combat division in the Army Reserve, the 104th, was converted to training, for a total of thirteen training divisions, all of which were in the Army Reserve. To reorganize the Army Reserve to the new Reorganization of Army Divisions (ROAD) structures in the early 1960s, the Army Staff decided to retain one Army Reserve division in each of the six Army areas and to eliminate four divisions. Army commanders selected
2312-604: A roadblock and inspection point on US 1 just north of the merger of Monroe County Road 905A/Miami-Dade County Road 905A onto US 1 (the only two roads connecting the Florida Keys with the mainland), in front of the Last Chance Saloon just south of Florida City. Vehicles were stopped and searched for narcotics and illegal immigrants . The Key West City Council complained repeatedly about the inconvenience for travelers to and from Key West, claiming that it hurt
2448-610: A similar definition: "An entity , typically existing only on the internet or within the private property of its members, that lays claim to sovereign status as an independent nation, but which is unrecognized by real nations." Several historical political entities have been retroactively described as micronations in academic and journalistic works, including the Islands of Refreshment (existed 1811–16), Kingdom of Araucanía and Patagonia (since 1860), State of Scott (1861–1986), Republic of Parva Domus Magna Quies (since 1878), and
2584-608: A substantial number of enlisted reservists in the interwar period, at least into the early 1930s, were bandsmen. Because of these restrictions, the ERC maintained an average strength of only about 3,500 men and women, and never more than 6,000 at any time from 1919 to 1941; most divisions reached their full complement of officers but had less than 100 enlisted men. The extent of the U.S. Army's mobilization before its involvement in World War II—“a state neither of war nor of peace"—disrupted
2720-821: A time during the year referred to as Annual Training (AT). Many RC Soldiers are organized into Army Reserve Troop Program Units (TPUs), while others serve in active Army units as Individual Mobilization Augmentees (IMAs), or are in non-drilling control groups of the Individual Ready Reserve (IRR). Soldiers may also serve on active duty in an Active Guard Reserve (AGR) status in support of the United States Army Reserve (USAR) mission or through Active Duty Operational Support (ADOS) and Contingency Operations-Active Duty Operational Support (CO-ADOS) missions. All United States Army soldiers sign an initial eight-year service contract upon entry into
2856-754: A village that secedes from Japan and proclaims its bumpkinish, marginalized dialect its national language, and its subsequent war of independence . This single-handedly inspired a large number of real-world Japanese villages, mostly in the northern regions, to declare independence, generally as a move to raise awareness of their unique culture and crafts for urban Japanese who saw village life as backwards and uncultured. These micronations, known as mini-independent countries ( Japanese : ミニ独立国 , romanized : mini dokuritsu koku ), held intermicronational summits , and some of them formed confederations and intermicronational organisations. The Ginko Federation held an intermicronational Olympic games in 1986. However,
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#17327729552402992-554: A week-long festival of activities involving numerous businesses in Key West including local rum distilleries like Chef Distilled . The organization—a "Sovereign State of Mind", seeking only to bring more "humor, warmth and respect" to a world in sore need of all three according to its late secretary general, Peter Anderson—is a key tourism booster for the area. In 1982, the United States Border Patrol set up
3128-789: Is a reserve force of the United States Army . Together, the Army Reserve and the Army National Guard constitute the Army element of the reserve components of the United States Armed Forces . On 23 April 1908 Congress created the Medical Reserve Corps, the official predecessor of the Army Reserve. After World War I , under the National Defense Act of 1920 , Congress reorganized the U.S. land forces by authorizing
3264-437: The 100th Battalion , 442nd Infantry Regiment. This meant the disestablishment of the three remaining Army Reserve fighting brigades: the 157th Infantry Brigade (Mechanized) (Separate) of Pennsylvania , the 187th Infantry Brigade (Separate) of Massachusetts , and the 205th Infantry Brigade (Separate) (Light) of Minnesota . Many of the Army Reserve training divisions were realigned as institutional training divisions. With
3400-438: The 63d , 70th , and 75th Infantry Divisions replaced the 13th, 21st, and 22d Armored Divisions. Before the dust had settled on the reforms, the Army realized that it had failed to improve unit manning or meet reasonable mobilization requirements. In the fall of 1952 Army leaders thus proposed that the personnel from the thirteen inactivated Army Reserve divisions be assigned to strengthen the remaining twelve divisions. To keep
3536-496: The Atlanta , Georgia based Kingdom of Ruritania based on the fictional country of Ruritania from Anthony Hope's Prisoner of Zenda , the latter of which hosted MicroCon 2017 in Atlanta , Georgia . Micronations function in the same way as sovereign states in that they have their own government, constitution , legislation, and (if a democracy ) hold national elections. Micronations often have national symbols such as
3672-731: The Australian Taxation Office as well as the financial impact caused by the COVID-19 pandemic . In 1976, the Province of Bumbunga was declared by Alec Brackstone in response to the 1975 Australian constitutional crisis . Brackstone, an ardent British monarchist, became alarmed by what he saw as a drift away from the Australian system of constitutional monarchy toward outright republicanism . Thus, to ensure that at least one portion of Australia would remain loyal to
3808-635: The British Crown , Bumbunga was declared. The Sovereign State of Aeterna Lucina was proclaimed in 1978 by German migrant Paul Neuman. Aeterna Lucina came to public attention in 1990 when Neuman faced fraud charges in the New South Wales court system relating to land sale offences; the case was abandoned in 1992. In 1979, the Independent State of Rainbow Creek was declared by Thomas Barnes in protest of alleged incompetence by
3944-742: The Eastern bloc , the Western bloc , and the Third World nations. But there is another universe of nations which exist apart from the familiar countries." The International Micropatrological Society (IMS), an American learned society and research institute , was founded in 1973 and dedicated to the study of micronations, a discipline it named micropatrology . By 1976, it had documents pertaining to 128 micronations and similar political entities. The earliest attested use of micronation in its current meaning appeared on 28 March 1976 in an article by
4080-790: The First Summit of Micronations summit commenced in Helsinki , Finland, coinciding with a performance art festival called Amorph!03. Six micronations were represented. An art exhibition exhibiting various micronational miscellanea, We Could Have Invited Everyone , occurred in 2004 and 2005 at the Reg Vardy Gallery, University of Sunderland , England and Andrew Kreps Gallery, New York City , United States respectively. The items were featured alongside artwork by artists including Yoko Ono and Nina Katchadourian . Both exhibitions coincided with an intermicronational summit. In 2005,
4216-461: The Florida Keys in 1982 after the United States Border Patrol set up a roadblock and inspection point on one of the only two roads connecting the Florida Keys with the mainland. The Key West City Council complained repeatedly about the inconvenience, claiming that it hurt the Keys' tourism industry. Though the roadblock was soon removed, the claim to sovereignty of the Conch Republic has persisted as
Conch Republic - Misplaced Pages Continue
4352-682: The Government of Victoria in regards to the flooding of his and others' properties. He was inspired by Hutt River. The Grand Duchy of Avram was established in Tasmania in the early 1980s by politician John Charlton Rudge , and issues its own banknotes. In recognition of his status, Rudge legally changed his name to John the Duke of Avram. In 1981, the Empire of Atlantium was founded in Sydney as
4488-522: The Grand Duchy of Westarctica and Grand Duchy of Flandrensis . However, due to Antartica's remoteness, no micronation has yet to establish a permanent residence on the continent. On the other hand, at least one micronationalist has physically reached Bir Tawil; in June 2014, Virginian farmer Jeremiah Heaton travelled to the area and proclaimed the Kingdom of North Sudan . Heaton stated that he claimed
4624-863: The International Micropatrological Society . Micronationalism saw several developments thereafter, with several micronations being founded in Australia in the 1970s and Japan in the 1980s. As a result of the emergence of the World Wide Web in the mid-1990s, micronationalism lost much of its traditionally eccentric anti-establishment sentiment in favour of more hobbyist perspectives, and the number of exclusively online or merely simulation-based micronations expanded dramatically. This has allowed several intermicronational organisations to form, as well as allowing for many diplomatic summits to take place between micronations since
4760-543: The Kingdom of Italy when it was formed in 1861, meaning that Seborga had remained sovereign. The Romanov Empire , created by chairman of the Monarchist Party of Russia Anton Bakov , claims to be a re-creation of the Russian Empire that holds Prince Karl Emich of Leiningen as the rightful heir to the imperial throne. United States Army Reserve The United States Army Reserve ( USAR )
4896-809: The Muruwari , in 2013, and the Sovereign Yidindji Government , comprising the Yidindji , in 2014. In both cases, the declarations of independence went wholly unrecognised by the Government of Australia . In 2015, the first convention of the biannual MicroCon was held in Anaheim, California , United States. Hosted by the Republic of Molossia, several presentations were held by micronationalists regarding various topics in micronationalism. The Organisation de la microfrancophonie ,
5032-579: The Principality of Sealand . Bates died in 2012, and Michael Bates has since succeeded him as Prince of Sealand. Operation Atlantis was a project started in 1968 by Werner Stiefel, aiming to establish a new, libertarian nation in international waters via seasteading. The operation launched a ferrocement boat on the Hudson River in December 1971, piloting it to an area near the Bahamas with
5168-812: The Principality of Snake Hill and George Cruickshank of the Empire of Atlantium. PoliNation 2012 was held in London, United Kingdom, and PoliNation 2015 commenced at Umbria , Italy. MicroCon 2015 was held in Anaheim, California and hosted by Molossia; MicroCon 2017 in Tucker, Georgia by the Kingdom of Ruritania ; MicroCon 2019 in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada, by the Kingdom of Slabovia; and MicroCon 2022 in Las Vegas, Nevada by Westarctica, having been delayed due to
5304-844: The Sunda Democratic Empire , sisters Puteri Lamia Roro Wiranata and Puteri Fathia Reza, were detained by Malaysian immigration authorities for attempting to enter from Brunei using diplomatic passports from the Sunda Empire. They claimed to be the princesses of the historical Sunda Kingdom and that their parents were in exile . In early 2008, they were freed by the Sessions Court, but maintained their claim of Sundan citizenship, thus making them ineligible for deportation to Indonesia. The Malaysian authorities subsequently deemed them stateless individuals , and they were interned at an immigration depot under supervision of
5440-639: The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees . In 2010, the documentary film How to Start Your Own Country , directed by Jody Shapiro, was screened as part of the 35th Toronto International Film Festival . The documentary explored various micronations around the world and included an analysis of the concept of statehood, seasteading and citizenship . The film was inspired by Erwin Strauss' eponymous book. Also that same year, an intermicronational summit, PoliNation 2010 ,
5576-513: The death penalty . As of 2020, they relocated to Panama. Some micronations are founded on the basis of historical anomalies. The Principality of Seborga was founded in 1963 by Giorgio Carbone, who claimed to have found documents from the Vatican archives which, according to Carbone, indicated that Seborga had never been a possession of the House of Savoy and was thus not legally included in
Conch Republic - Misplaced Pages Continue
5712-566: The southernmost point buoy mentions the Conch Republic. Through their website, the republic issues passports as souvenirs, but some have evidently bought them in the mistaken belief they are legitimate travel and identity documents. Shortly after the September 11 attacks , FBI investigators thought that hijacker Mohamed Atta had possibly purchased a Conch Republic passport from the website. International vehicle registration code stickers can also be purchased from vendors in Key West, bearing
5848-509: The subreddit forum r/micronations on Reddit had another 8,000. Micronation as a word has no basis in international law. Despite this, several micronations have attempted to justify their claims to sovereignty by citing loopholes in local laws. A commonly attempted tactic used by micronationalists to legitimise their claims is the declarative theory of statehood as defined by the Montevideo Convention , which defines
5984-537: The 1st Conch Artillery, garrisoned in Fort Taylor . The Conch Republic Air Force has more than a dozen appointed aircraft in its fleet. The flagship, a 1942 Waco, was flown by Fred R. Cabanas , a legendary stunt pilot and ambassador for the Conch Republic at air shows worldwide. He flew "Conch Fury" in the 2005 Reno Air Races. Fred was declared General of the Air Force by the mayor of Key West after intercepting
6120-576: The 2000s, including the biennial MicroCon convention. Micronations are aspirant states that claim independence but lack legal recognition by world governments or major international organisations . Micronations are classified separately from states with limited recognition and quasi-states , nor are they considered to be autonomous or self-governing as they lack the legal basis in international law for their existence. While some are secessionist in nature, most micronations are widely regarded as sovereignty projects that instead seek to mimic
6256-516: The 63d, 77th, 81st, 83d, 90th, and 102d Infantry Divisions for retention and reorganized them under ROAD by the end of April 1963. Each division had two tank and six infantry battalions. With the elimination of the 79th , 94th, 96th, and 103d Infantry Divisions, the Army decided to retain their headquarters as a way to preserve spaces for general and field grade officers. It reorganized the units as operational headquarters (subsequently called command headquarters [division]) and directed them to supervise
6392-473: The 75th "Maneuver Area Command" using the resources of the 75th Infantry Division. Two years later the 75th Infantry Division was inactivated along with 87th Infantry Division. Assets of the 87th were used to organize a maneuver area command; thus one unneeded division remained in the troop basis. While the Korean War was still underway, Congress began making significant changes in the structure and role of
6528-645: The AC portion of their enlistment contract choose not to re-enlist on active duty, are automatically transferred to the RC to complete the remainder of their Statutory Obligation (eight-year service total) and may be served in a drilling Troop Program Unit (TPU), Individual Mobilization Augmentee (IMA), or Individual Ready Reserve (IRR) status. Non-commissioned officers of the rank of Staff Sergeant (E-6) and above will reenlist for an indefinite status after they have served for 12 years of service or more. The United States Army Reserve
6664-482: The Army National Guard providing reserve component combat formations and related combat support units, the Army Reserve is configured to provide combat support, combat service support, peacekeeping, nation-building and civil support capability. With roughly twenty percent of the Army's organized units and 5.3 percent of the Army's budget, the Army Reserve provides about half of the Army's combat support and
6800-636: The Army Reserve. These changes transformed the Organized Reserve into the United States Army Reserve, from 9 July 1952. This new organization was divided into a Ready Reserve, Standby Reserve, and Retired Reserve. Army Reserve units were authorized twenty-four inactive duty training days a year and up to seventeen days of active duty (called annual training). In 1959 the Army decided to realign National Guard and Army Reserve divisions under Pentomic structures. Secretary of Defense Neil H. McElroy decided on 10 Army Reserve divisions. By October 1959 ten Army Reserve infantry divisions completed their transition, but at
6936-537: The Army reorganization plans for the ORC. The army commanders urged that all divisions in the Organized Reserve Corps be infantry divisions because they believed that the reserve could not adequately support armored and airborne training. They thought thirteen, rather than twelve, reserve divisions should be maintained to provide a better geographic distribution of the units. The Section V Committee opposed
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#17327729552407072-1049: The COVID-19 pandemic. The first summit hosted by the Microfrancophonie was held in 2016 in Aigues-Mortes , Occitania , and hosted by the Principality of Aigues-Mortes; the second summit took place in 2018 in Vincennes , Paris, and was hosted by Angyalistan; the third summit took place in 2022 in Blaye , Nouvelle-Aquitaine , organised by the Principality of Hélianthis. There are thousands of micronations which exist and operate solely online. Micronationalists convene and engage with one another through several online platforms, especially social media and historically forums (message boards), where micronationalists can share lessons and ideas as well as gain inspiration for establishing their own micronation. MicroWiki ,
7208-476: The Chief of Army Reserve (OCAR)) located at both Fort Belvoir , Virginia and The Pentagon [REDACTED] The Individual Ready Reserve (IRR) consists of individuals who are active reservists but not assigned to a particular Active Reserve Unit. Members of the IRR are encouraged to take advantage of training opportunities and are eligible for promotion provided all requirements are met. The Retired Reserve, by law, consists of soldiers who have retired from
7344-651: The Conch Republic in the 2000 novel Callahan's Key . In 1994, Joe and Meri-Lynn Britz wrote the national anthem for the Conch Republic, "Conch Republic". It was recorded by the Key Lime Pie band and voted on and accepted by the city of Key West City Commissioners. Micronation A micronation is a political entity whose representatives claim that they belong to an independent nation or sovereign state , but which lacks legal recognition by any sovereign state . Micronations are classified separately from de facto states and quasi-states ; they are also not considered to be autonomous or self-governing as they lack
7480-483: The ERC. Each year of participation in ROTC and completion of each CMTC camp earned the participant promotions in the ERC. Some enlisted reservists went on to receive commissions in a few years, thus leaving the ranks of the ERC. The final way one could enter the ERC was if he (or she, in the case of nurses) possessed skills needed by the Army that required no prior military training, such as nursing, railroad occupations, certain communications fields, and music. Interestingly,
7616-448: The Enlisted Reserve Corps was the few avenues through which someone could join. Enlistment in the ERC was restricted to those men "who have had such military or technical training as may be prescribed by regulations of the Secretary of War." One means to join the ERC was through the ROTC or Citizens Military Training Camps (CMTC). If a man had completed at least one year in ROTC, or had completed one 4-week CMTC camp, he could also enlist in
7752-404: The Keys' important tourism industry. Eastern Air Lines , which had a hub at Miami International Airport , saw a window of opportunity when the roadblocks were established; Eastern was at the time the only airline to establish jet service to Key West International Airport , counting on travelers from Key West to Miami preferring to fly rather than to wait for police to search their vehicles. When
7888-420: The New York Times about the IMS. The first use of micronation in a book was in an eponymous dedicated section of the 1978 The People's Almanac#2 by David Wallechinsky and Irving Wallace . In 1979, the first book about micronations, How to Start Your Own Country , was published by Erwin S. Strauss . The IMS contributed considerably to the work. However, the word micronation is notably absent from
8024-773: The Organized Reserve Corps (ORC), prepared in March 1946, outlined 25 divisions: three armored, five airborne, and 17 infantry. These divisions and all other Organized Reserve Corps units were to be maintained in one of three strength categories, labeled Class A, Class B, and Class C. Class A units were divided into two groups, one for combat and one for service, and units were to be at required table of organization strength; Class B units were to have their full complement of officers and enlisted cadre strength; and Class C were to have officers only. The troop basis listed nine divisions as Class A, nine as Class B, and seven as Class C. Major General Ray E. Porter therefore proposed reclassification of all Class A divisions as Class B units. Eventually
8160-399: The Organized Reserve Corps was adequate housing. While many National Guard units owned their own armories, some dating back to the nineteenth century, the Organized Reserve Corps had no facilities for storing equipment and for training. Although the War Department requested funds for needed facilities, Congress moved slowly in response. The Organized Reserve were redesignated 25 March 1948 as
8296-421: The Organized Reserve Corps. Recognizing the importance of the Organized Reserve to the World War II effort, Congress authorized retirement and drill pay for the first time in 1948. During the summer and fall of 1951 the six army commanders in the United States, staff agencies, and the Section V Committee (created after World War I for the reserve components to have a voice in their affairs), evaluated Department of
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#17327729552408432-480: The Organized Reserve. Beginning in mid-1940, large numbers of Reserve officers began to be called to active duty individually and assigned to expanding Regular Army units, and to National Guard units after the mobilization of that component was authorized in August. On 30 June 1940, 2,710 Reserve officers were on active duty, but by 15 May 1941, the number was over 46,000, and by 30 June, 57,309. The need for young, qualified company-grade officers (lieutenants and captains)
8568-401: The Reserve officers originally assigned to...units were available for duty with them. Consequently, the units as activated bore small resemblance to those of peacetime." The order and timetable in which Organized Reserve infantry divisions were ordered to active duty was based upon the number of World War I battle honors earned (if applicable), the location and availability of training sites, and
8704-432: The Retired Reserve, to remain such until they had served a total of 30 years combined active service and Retired Reserve service, at which point they would be fully retired and transferred back to the Regular Army for placement on the Retired List. Congress repealed those archaic provisions (for the Air Force as well). Since 1995, all Regular Army enlisted soldiers who retire remain in the Regular Component, and are placed on
8840-435: The Seasteading Institute , a non-profit organisation formed to facilitate the establishment of these seasteads. The Space Kingdom of Asgardia , founded in October 2016, claims an artificial satellite that orbited the Earth. Named Asgardia-1 , the two-unit CubeSat was successfully launched by Orbital ATK in November 2017 as part of an International Space Station resupply mission. Asgardia-1 reportedly re-entered
8976-458: The U.S. Army Reserve nevertheless encompasses a period of initial entry training (IET). The amount of time begins with approximately nine weeks of Basic Combat Training (BCT), but total IET time varies according to the enlistee's elected Military Occupational Specialty (MOS) which dictates Advanced Individual Training (AIT). All U.S. Army Reserve Soldiers are subject to mobilization throughout the term of their enlistment. Soldiers who, after completing
9112-423: The UN: a review of some micro-states, micro-nations and other ephemeral entities), which details over 600 micronations. In 2000, the Republic of Molossia and the erstwhile Kingdom of TorHavn hosted an Intermicronational Olympic Games online to coincide with the 2000 Summer Olympics . Six micronations competed and were asked to record their performances then report it to a Molossian message board . In 2003,
9248-429: The United States, Kamen was able to leverage his personal relationship with then-president George H. W. Bush to sign an unofficial non-aggression pact . Several conceptual art projects with micronational claims arose in the 1990s, usually as a means to challenge the idea of statehood . In 1991, Neue Slowenische Kunst (NSK), a Slovenian political art collective , declared independence. NSK describes itself as
9384-408: The War Department agreed and made the appropriate changes. Although the dispute over Class A units lasted several months, the War Department proceeded with the reorganization of the Organized Reserve Corps divisions during the summer of 1946. That all divisions were to begin as Class C (officers only) units, progressing to the other categories as men and equipment became available, undoubtedly influenced
9520-432: The War Department authorized the manning of Regular Army units being maintained in an "inactive" status with Organized Reserve officers, eliminating the previously used "Active Affiliate" program for these units. Nearly all "Regular Army Inactive" (RAI) infantry regiments and many other units were "affiliated" with Reserve Officers Training Corps (ROTC) units in their vicinity. The professor of military science and tactics at
9656-418: The ability of the Army to furnish divisional cadres and filler replacements. The 101st Infantry Division was designated a division of the Organized Reserve after World War I and assigned to the state of Wisconsin; unlike the 82nd Airborne Division , the Reserve division was disbanded when the 101st Airborne Division was raised in the Army of the United States on 15 August 1942. A tentative troop basis for
9792-424: The active military service of the United States...for the duration of the present war and for six months after the termination thereof...each of the organizations and units and all of the personnel of the Organized Reserve not already in such service;" because most Reserve officers were already on sctive duty, this amounted to a “public relations” document. Because of the course of the mobilization of 1940–1941, "few of
9928-548: The appropriate Retired List (Regular, Permanent Disability, or Temporary Disability). National Guard soldiers who retire are discharged from their State’s National Guard, and transferred to the Army Reserve in toto and are placed on the Retired Reserve List. As such, they no longer hold the statutory dual-status defined in the National Guard Act of 1934, as members of both their State’s militia and
10064-484: The army commanders received called for twenty-five Organized Reserve Corps divisions, but the divisions activated between September 1946 and November 1947 differed somewhat from the original plans. The First United States Army declined to support an airborne division, and the 98th Infantry Division replaced the 98th Airborne Division. After the change, the Organized Reserve Corps had four airborne, three armored, and eighteen infantry divisions. The Second Army insisted upon
10200-547: The atmosphere in September 2022. The Nation of Celestial Space claims all of outer space , whilst the Empire of Angyalistan lays claim to garbage patches around the world's oceans in protest against their existence. Other claimed micronations may fit more into a cultural category were territorial claims are not as easily defined such as Aynvaul , what appears to be an Irish-American and Irish language revival micronation based in or around Long Island, New York and
10336-537: The average Organized Reserve officer was ordered to active duty for two weeks of paid training only once every three or four years; some officers trained nearly every year, to the detriment of others who had to wait as long as seven years between training opportunities. Turnover in the Officers' Reserve Corps was high, as many men in mandatory ROTC had little interest in military affairs, and allowed their five-year commissions to expire without applying for reappointment. By
10472-506: The beginning of the 1930s, ROTC graduates became the single largest cohort of officers in the Officers' Reserve Corps. The original Regular Army Reserve, established in 1916 but abolished in 1920, had chiefly been manned by the reenlistment of former Regular Army soldiers or National Guardsmen, but the small annual stipend as an incentive for joining was not included in the Enlisted Reserve Corps (ERC). Another problem with
10608-582: The book. A second edition of the work was published in 1984 by Loompanics , followed in 1999 by a third edition published by Paladin Press . According to the Yearbook of International Organizations , the IMS was disestablished in 1988. Australia has a disproportionate number of micronations compared to other countries. The first micronation founded within Australia was the Principality of Hutt River in 1970. It
10744-492: The citation was contested in court the following year, the resultant case, The United States of America v. Peter Anderson , was quickly dropped. On January 13, 2006, Peter Anderson (the defendant in the Dry Tortugas case from 1995 to 1996) purported to annex the abandoned span of Seven Mile Bridge , which had been replaced by a parallel span in 1982. The move was in response to a recent event regarding Cuban refugees . On
10880-447: The city council's complaints went unanswered by the U.S. federal government and attempts to get an injunction against the roadblock failed in court, as a form of protest Mayor Dennis Wardlow and the council declared Key West's independence on April 23, 1982. In the eyes of the council, since the U.S. federal government had set up the equivalent of a border station as if they were a foreign nation, they might as well become one. As many of
11016-549: The city officials. The leaders of the 478th issued an apology the next day, saying they "in no way meant to challenge or impugn the sovereignty of the Conch Republic", and submitted to a surrender ceremony on September 22. During the U.S. federal government shutdown of 1995 and 1996 , as a protest, the republic sent a flotilla of Conch Navy, civilian, and fire department boats to Fort Jefferson , located in Dry Tortugas National Park , to reopen it. The action
11152-536: The creation of a new avenue of tourism for the Keys. On September 20, 1995, it was reported that the 478th Civil Affairs Battalion of the United States Army Reserve was to conduct a training exercise simulating an invasion of a foreign island. They were to land on Key West and conduct affairs as if the islanders were foreign. However, no one from the 478th notified Conch officials of the exercise. Seeing another chance at publicity, Wardlow and
11288-408: The creation of micronations include theoretical experimentation, political protest , artistic expression, personal entertainment and the conduct of criminal activity. The study of micronationalism is known as micropatriology or micropatrology . Although several historical states have been retroactively called micronations, the concept was formulated in the 1970s, with a particular influence from
11424-508: The decision. Also, the War Department wanted to take advantage of the pool of trained reserve officers and enlisted men from World War II. By that time Army Ground Forces had been reorganized as an army group headquarters that commanded six geographic armies. The armies replaced the nine corps areas of the prewar era, and the army commanders were tasked to organize and train both Regular Army and Organized Reserve Corps units. The plan
11560-579: The designation, and the adjutant general replaced it by constituting the 108th Airborne Division , which fell within that component's list of infantry and airborne divisional numbers. Thus the final tally of divisions formed after World War II appears to have been the 19th, 21st, and 22d Armored Divisions; the 80th , 84th, 100th and 108th Airborne Divisions ; and the 76th, 77th, 79th, 81st, 83rd, 85th , 87th, 89th , 90th , 91st, 94th , 95th, 96th, 97th, 98th, 102nd , 103rd, and 104th Infantry Divisions . A major problem in forming divisions and other units in
11696-535: The economic impact of the Japanese asset price bubble in 1991 ended the boom. Many of the villages were forced to merge with larger cities, and the micronations and confederations were generally dissolved. The 1980s saw the establishment of several micronational entities in protest. The Free Republic of Wendland was a protest camp established in Gorleben , West Germany , in 1980 in order to protest against
11832-489: The establishment of a nuclear waste dump at the site. The residents created a border checkpoint and built a temporary village with more than 100 huts, ranging from elaborate round houses to tents. After 33 days, the local police moved in and evicted the camp. Also in 1980, the Independent State of Aramoana was declared by residents of the eponymous settlement during the Save Aramoana Campaign , which
11968-449: The event of mobilization. This communication, in some cases, extended to coordinated annual training opportunities. Despite the commonly held belief that CAPSTONE traces were set in stone, the process of selecting units to mobilize and deploy in 1990 and 1991 in support of Operation Desert Shield and Desert Storm frequently ignored CAPSTONE. In the post- Cold War draw-down, all of the Army Reserve's combat units were disbanded, except
12104-463: The federal reserve component. However, some States have chosen to enact laws that provide for placement of retired or former members of the National Guard, or even Regular components, onto State Militia Retired Lists; such provisions do not affect federal retirement eligibility or benefits, and are solely a matter between that State and the individual. The Army of the United States (AUS) is
12240-463: The film Rose Island , based on the story of engineer Giorgio Rosa and the Republic of Rose Island. In 2021, academics Harry Hobbs and George Williams published Micronations and the Search for Sovereignty , a book exploring various aspects of micronationalism. It was published by Cambridge University Press . A follow-up book on micronations by Hobbs and Williams, entitled How to Rule Your Own Country: The Weird and Wonderful World of Micronations ,
12376-535: The forces behind the 1982 Conch Republic secession mobilized the island for a full-scale war, sending the schooner Western Union out to attack an incoming Coast Guard cutter with water balloons, conch fritters and stale Cuban bread (to which the Coast Guard responded with their fire hoses, quickly ending the battle), and protested to the Department of Defense for arranging this exercise without consulting
12512-497: The initials "KW" and "CR"—the country codes for Kuwait and Costa Rica, respectively. The Conch Republic actively maintains an Army, Navy, and Air Force whose primary duties are to help re-enact the Great Sea Battle of 1982 and the retaking of Fort Jefferson . The Conch Republic Navy comprises no fewer than 10 civilian boats and the schooner Wolf under the command of Admiral Finbar Gittelman . The Army consists of
12648-574: The intent to permanently anchor it as their territory. Upon reaching its destination, however, it sank in a hurricane. After a number of subsequent failed attempts to construct a habitable sea platform and achieve sovereign status, the project was abandoned in 1976. The Republic of Rose Island was an artificial platform originally constructed as a tourist attraction in the Adriatic Sea in 1968. However, Italian architect Giorgio Rosa soon declared it sovereign. The micronation had its own currency,
12784-407: The interwar period. While Army regulations stated that "The ultimate objective in training units of the Organized Reserve in time of peace is to provide partially trained units which may be readily expanded to war strength and completely trained in time of emergency," historian William J. Woolley wrote that, "The question of whether reserve units were to be chiefly concerned with mobilizing and training
12920-682: The island. During its brief existence, Minerva was a media sensation . As of January 1973, the Office of the Geographer of the United States Department of State had a file cabinet for "countries which are only partially real", which included the Kingdom of Humanity , Outer Baldonia, Minerva and the Sovereign Military Order of Malta —not a micronation —among others. Writer Philip J. Hilts added, "We know
13056-562: The land is terra nullius because Croatia states the pockets are Serbian, whilst Serbia makes no claims on the land. However, the Croatian Ministry of Foreign and European Affairs has rejected these claims, stating that the differing border claims between Serbia and Croatia do not involve terra nullius and are not subject to occupation by a third party. The most prominent example is the Free Republic of Liberland , which
13192-471: The largest micronational wiki and encyclopaedia , has thousands of articles on various topics related to micronationalism "with many country pages [on MicroWiki] longer than those of real nations [on Misplaced Pages ]", and a number of micronations exist and conduct diplomacy solely on the wiki, utilising it as an online community . As of October 2023, the largest micronational group on Facebook , Micronations and Alternative Polities , had 3,400 members, and
13328-424: The legal basis in international law for their existence. The activities of micronations are almost always trivial enough to be ignored rather than disputed by the established nations whose territory they claim—referred to in micronationalism as macronations . Several micronations have issued coins, flags , postage stamps, passports , medals and other state-related items, some as a source of revenue. Motivations for
13464-418: The lineage and geographic area distribution of National Army divisions that had served in the war. They were maintained on paper with a maximum of all of their officers and one-third of their enlisted men. Units in other arms of the Army besides infantry were also maintained, such as field artillery , coast artillery , cavalry , engineers , medical , signal , quartermaster , and ordnance . In March 1926,
13600-404: The local citizens were referred to as Conchs , the micronation took the name of the Conch Republic. As part of the protest, Mayor Wardlow was proclaimed prime minister of the republic, which immediately declared war against the United States (symbolically breaking a loaf of stale Cuban bread over the head of a man dressed in a naval uniform), quickly surrendered after one minute (to the man in
13736-538: The micronation's capital and all territories north of Key West being referred to as 'The Northern Territories' " . While the protests that sparked the creation of the Conch Republic (and others since then) have been described by some as "tongue-in-cheek", they were motivated by frustrations over genuine concerns. The original protest event was motivated by a U.S. Border Patrol roadblock and checkpoint that greatly inconvenienced residents and tourists. The Conch Republic celebrates Independence Day every April 23 as part of
13872-466: The micronational community, and several reoccurring summits have taken place. These include the sporadically-held PoliNation, biennial MicroCon; and the Organisation de la microfrancophonie has hosted three intermicronational summits between its member states. PoliNation 2010 was held at Dangar Island, Sydney, Australia and was organised by Judy Lattas of Macquarie University , Princess Paula of
14008-513: The military. Occasionally, the contract specifies that some of the service will be in the Regular Army (also called Active Component (AC)) for two, three, or four-year periods; with the remaining obligation served in the RC. Though typically, soldiers sign contracts specifying that all eight years be served in the RC, with the first six years in drilling status and the last two years in a non-drilling IRR status. Soldiers entering directly into
14144-435: The more contemporary Kingdom of Elleore (since 1944), Republic of Saugeais (since 1947), Principality of Outer Baldonia (1949–1973) and Sultanate of M'Simbati (1959– fl. 1964 ). Several entities that can be considered micronations by contemporary standards were established throughout the 1960s and early 1970s and based on ideals of libertarianism and many of them created via seasteading . New Atlantis
14280-555: The neighbourhood of Užupis in Vilnius , Lithuania declared tongue-in-cheek independence as a republic consisting of laidback artists. In the mid-1990s, the emerging popularity of the World Wide Web made it possible for anyone to create their own virtual state-like entity with relative ease, and many micronations launched their own websites . As a result, micronationalism lost much of its traditionally eccentric anti-establishment sentiment in favour of more hobbyist perspectives, and
14416-557: The number 80 for its airborne unit because the division was to be raised in the prewar 80th Division's area, not that of the 99th. Finally, the 103rd Infantry Division , organized in 1921 in New Mexico, Colorado, and Arizona, was moved to Iowa, Minnesota, South Dakota, and North Dakota in the Fifth United States Army area. The Seventh Army (later replaced by Third Army), allotted the 15th Airborne Division, refused
14552-534: The number of exclusively online or merely simulation-based micronations expanded dramatically. Several intermicronational organisations were also established, with the League of Secessionist States , originally founded in 1980 by the Kingdom of Talossa , and the United Micronations being at the forefront. The French Institute of Micropatrology ( French : l'Institut français de micropatrologie )
14688-475: The outgrowth of a single individual, rely on their sovereign state to some extent, and mimic sovereign states by creating their own government, legislation, proclaiming national symbols , holding national elections and engaging in diplomacy with other micronations. While most micronations claim sovereignty over physical territory, others are based solely around the Internet or do not claim sovereignty at all,
14824-459: The peacetime USAR chain of command was overlaid with a wartime trace. In an expansion of the roundout and affiliation programs begun ten years earlier, CAPSTONE purported to align every Army Reserve unit with the active and reserve component units with which they were anticipated to deploy. Units maintained lines of communication with the units – often hundreds or thousands of miles away in peacetime – who would presumably serve above or below them in
14960-420: The previous January 4, fifteen Cuban refugees reached the bridge, but were returned to Cuba by the U.S. Border Patrol because the U.S. government had declared the bridge a "wet feet" location under the wet feet, dry feet policy . The rationale was that, since two sections of the span had been removed and it was no longer connected to land, it was not part of U.S. territory subject to the "dry feet" rule, and thus
15096-580: The project in 2022, calling them "stupid" and stating "We will never allow anybody to have their own country within this country [Belize] - what a stupid thing. If you stupid enough to pay a lot of money to buy [a] piece of land, good for you." During the COVID-19 pandemic that began in 2020, several micronations imposed their own restrictions, mimicking countries. Some inactive Internet-based micronations also returned to activity as people were commanded to stay home and quarantine. In 2020, Netflix released
15232-623: The reduction of the Organized Reserve Corps from twenty-five to thirteen divisions because it feared unfavorable publicity, particularly with the nation at war. On 20 December the Vice Chief of Staff of the United States Army , General John E. Hull , directed the reorganization and redesignation of airborne and armored divisions as infantry as soon as practicable. In March 1952 the 80th, 84th, 100th, and 108th Airborne Divisions were reorganized and redesignated as infantry divisions, and
15368-469: The refugees could not stay. Anderson, seizing upon the U.S.'s apparent disavowal of the abandoned span, claimed it for the Republic. He expressed hope to use the bridge for affordable, ecologically friendly housing. In response, Russel Schweiss, spokesman for Florida governor Jeb Bush , declared, "With all due respect to the Conch Republic, the bridge belongs to all the people of Florida, and we're not currently in negotiations to sell it." The refugee decision
15504-691: The reserve component of the Army, regardless whether the reserve soldier has qualified for: (1) an active duty “Regular” retirement (20+ years cumulative active duty) with retired generally beginning immediately, (2) for a reserve “non-Regular” retirement (20+ cumulative federally creditable qualifying years) with retired pay generally starting at age 60, or (3) for a disability retirement as a result of an unfitting, line of duty injury or illness with retired pay generally beginning immediately upon retirement. Until 1995, Army Regulations directed that enlisted Regular Army soldiers with 20 to 30 years of active service upon retirement were to be transferred upon retirement to
15640-580: The school or the senior Regular Army officer of the unit's branch assigned to the ROTC program served as the unit commander, and the unit was populated with graduates of the program. By 1 October 1933, command of all RAI units had been turned over to Reserve officers. A number of the affiliations became defunct throughout the 1930s, but RAI units were among the most active in the Reserve. The ultimate use of Organized Reserve units and personnel remained unclear in
15776-455: The signing of treaties , non-aggression pacts and intermicronational conventions, diplomatic missions and declarations of war . Several intermicronational organisations also exist, with some having as many as 80 member states . Most of these organisations generally work to maintain peace, strengthen micronational cooperation and to improve diplomatic relations between member states. Intermicronational summits are also commonplace within
15912-564: The six-part BBC comedy- documentary series How to Start Your Own Country aired on BBC Two , in which comedian Danny Wallace attempts to create his own country in his apartment in Bow, London . The micronation he created was eventually named the Kingdom of Lovely . The following year, the travel guide company Lonely Planet published a light-hearted guide to numerous micronations titled Micronations: The Lonely Planet Guide to Home-Made Nations . In 2007, two self-proclaimed princesses of
16048-516: The territory in order to fulfil a promise to his daughter to make her a princess, however Heaton has appeared to have other motivations, offering several initiatives—such as the implementation of a national currency and the construction of an international airport and capital city —via crowdfunding . Other micronational claims have been made to small pockets on the west bank of the Danube between Serbia and Croatia. Some micronationalists argue that
16184-607: The training of combat and support units located in the former divisional areas and to provide for their administrative support. Some former divisional units assigned to the four divisions were used to organize four brigades, which added flexibility to the force as well as provided four general officer reserve billets. In January and February 1963 the 157th , 187th , 191st , and 205th Infantry Brigades were organized with headquarters in Pennsylvania, Massachusetts, Montana, and Minnesota, respectively. The designation of each brigade
16320-580: The uniform), and applied for one billion dollars in foreign aid . Conch Republic officials were invited to the Summit of the Americas in Miami in 1994, and Conch representatives were officially invited to 1995's Florida Jubilee. The faux secession and the events surrounding it generated great publicity for the Keys' plight—the roadblock and inspection station were removed soon afterward. It also resulted in
16456-438: The units inactivated were the last six combat divisions in the Army Reserve, the 63d, 77th, 81st, 83d, 90th, and 102d Infantry Divisions, and the 79th, 94th, and 96th Command Headquarters (Division). The 103d Command Headquarters (Division) was converted to a support brigade headquarters. A number of U.S. Army Reserve corps headquarters were disestablished on 31 March 1968. They were reorganized as Army Reserve Commands. In 1980,
16592-507: The unneeded fifteen Army Reserve divisions active, they were to be reorganized as training divisions to staff training centers upon mobilization or man maneuver area commands for training troops. The continental army commanders implemented the new Army Reserve troop basis in 1955 piecemeal. They reorganized, without approved tables of organization, the 70th, 76th, 78th, 80th, 84th, 85th, 89th, 91st, 95th, 98th, 100th, and 108th Infantry Divisions as cadre for replacement training centers and organized
16728-468: The world. In 1996, Swedish artist Lars Vilks proclaimed the Royal Republic of Ladonia as a result of a court battle between local authorities over Vilks's illegal construction of two sculptures in the natural reserve of Kullaberg in southern Sweden. Ladonia's claim of independence has since persisted following Vilks's death in 2021, with Carolyn Shelby serving as Queen since 2011. In 1997,
16864-745: Was acute, and by mid-1941, 75 to 90 percent of the officers in Regular Army units and 10 percent in National Guard units were Reserve officers. By December 1941, 80,000 Reserve officers were on active duty. By the end of 1942, 140,000 officers holding Reserve commissions through various paths were on active duty, but by that date, 12,100 who had been previously commissioned "had not received such orders," mainly for reasons like being over-age in grade, found medically disqualified for active service, deferred due to academics or civilian employment, or lack of vacancies. On 6 February 1942, President Franklin D. Roosevelt signed Executive Order 9049, which ordered "into
17000-541: Was composed of 188,703 soldiers as of late 2020. A significant portion of many unit types and specializations exist in the Army Reserve. Some unique enabling units only exist in the Army Reserve. Only in the Army Reserve: [REDACTED] Army Reserve Headquarters - Fort Liberty (formerly United States Army Reserve Command (USARC)) located at Fort Liberty , North Carolina [REDACTED] Army Reserve Staff - National Capital Region (NCR) (formerly Office of
17136-483: Was declared independent by farmer Leonard Casley over a dispute concerning wheat production quotas . In 2017, the Supreme Court of Western Australia ordered that Casley pay $ 2.7 million in unpaid tax, and that his son Arthur Casley pay $ 242,000 in unpaid tax. Casley abdicated in 2017 in favour of his son Graeme . Leonard died in 2019, and Hutt River dissolved the following year amidst continued disputes with
17272-598: Was derived from the lowest numbered infantry brigade associated with the division under the square structure. As with the Regular Army brigades, the number and type of maneuver elements in each Army Reserve brigade varied. In November 1965, a long-standing controversial goal of the Defense Department, a reduction of the reserve troop basis, was achieved. Those reserve units that were judged unnecessary and others that were undermanned and underequipped were deleted and their assets used to field contingency forces. Among
17408-502: Was dubbed a "full-scale invasion" by the Conch Republic. Inspired by efforts of the Smithsonian Institution to keep its museums open by private donations, local residents had raised private money to keep the park running (as a closed park would damage the tourist-dependent local economy), but could find no one to accept the money and reopen the park. When officials attempted to enter the monument, they were cited. When
17544-474: Was founded in 1964 by writer Leicester Hemingway , claiming a bamboo raft that he had constructed with steel, iron piping and rock. Hemingway had it towed 9.7 kilometres (6.0 mi) off the coast of Jamaica and argued that it was technically an island and fully sovereign based on the Guano Islands Act of 1856 . Although Hemingway had plans to expand the raft, it was destroyed within a few years by
17680-455: Was founded in 1996 by Swiss academic Fabrice O'Driscoll to study this phenomenon. Other online micronational services during the 1990s included MicroWorld, a monthly micronational magazine, and alt.politics.micronations, a Usenet newsgroup dedicated to discussions regarding micronationalism. In 2000, O'Driscoll authored Ils ne siègent pas à l'ONU: revue de quelques micro-Etats, micro-nations et autres entités éphémères (They do not sit at
17816-561: Was founded in 2004 and became an associate member of the N.F.-Board , a federation made up of unrecognised states, stateless peoples , regions and micronations that are not allowed to join FIFA , in 2006. The Seborga national football team was founded in 2014 and is run by the Football Federation of the Principality of Seborga. Like countries, micronations engage in intermicronational diplomacy with one another. This includes
17952-488: Was held at Dangar Island in Sydney , Australia. It was organised by Judy Lattas of Macquarie University , Princess Paula of the Principality of Snake Hill and George Cruickshank of the Empire of Atlantium. Between 2013 and 2014, two Aboriginal Australian nations declared independence from Australia as part of the concept of Australian Aboriginal sovereignty —first the Murrawarri Republic , comprising
18088-497: Was later overturned, but only after the refugees had been returned to Cuba. In another protest, beginning in 2008, the northern keys including Key Largo formed a separation of the Conch Republic known as the Independent Northernmost Territories of the Conch Republic. Proponents claim this separation is a result of disagreements over the definition and use of the term "Conch Republic". As of 2022,
18224-488: Was opposed to the proposed construction of an aluminium smelter at Aramoana in New Zealand. This was because the project called for the destruction of the villages of Aramoana and Te Ngaru, and also threatened a local wildlife reserve. The project was ultimately abandoned in the early 1980s, and the micronation of Aramoana peacefully reintegrated into New Zealand. The Conch Republic was founded by local residents of
18360-585: Was proclaimed in April 2015 by Czech right-libertarian politician and activist Vít Jedlička , and claims the largest pocket, Gornja Siga. The land lacks infrastructure and lies on the floodplain of the Danube. Some micronations have attempted to establish themselves in international waters —parts of the sea that cannot be claimed by any sovereign state—by seasteading. This involves the creation of permanent dwellings at sea. Some micronations are associated with
18496-907: Was published in 2022 by the University of New South Wales Press . Also in 2022, illusionist Uri Geller purchased Lamb , an uninhabited island off the coast of Scotland and declared it independent as the Republic of Lamb. Geller offers citizenship, with proceeds going to Save a Child's Heart , an Israeli charity. While most micronations claim land they can administer, often private property, some have made claims to uninhabitable tracts of land. For instance, some micronations have claimed Bir Tawil in Africa and Marie Byrd Land in West Antarctica , lands which are terra nullius —unclaimed by any other sovereign state. Several others have also made claims to other portions of Antarctica . Examples are
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