Principality of Freedonia

The Principality of Freedonia was a micronation based on libertarian principles. It was created as a "hypothetical project" by a group of teenagers in the United States in 1992. The project was formalized as a new country project in 1997, which included attempts in 2001 to lease territory in Somaliland. The attempt to lease land was rejected, and a riot ensued in response to the attempt, in which it is purported that one person died.

It was headed by a Texas university student named John Kyle, who uses the title Prince John and the nation started functioning in 2014 by Jlk. Mlk is the new general of FreeDonia I.

The Principality of Freedonia itself was based in Boston, Massachusetts.

INCIDENT OF AWDAL

In 2000, the well-known libertarians Jim Davidson and Michael van Notten, like Awdal Roads Company, traveled to Awdal in Somaliland with the aim of building toll roads. The two were mistakenly associated with Freedonia because of Freedonia's website statements referring to Awdal and Awdal Roads Company. The local authorities reacted strongly to the idea that foreigners were trying to found a new state there and proceeded with their expulsion. There were public events during which a Somali citizen was killed.

COINAGE

While the Freedonia project was active, it minted its own currency. It had a number of 50 Freedonian dollar 1 oz silver coins minted. It offered these coins for sale on the organization's website.

CURRENT STATUS

The Freedonia project's website has not been updated for a number of years and its discussion forum no longer functions, email communication with the self-styled Prince does not work, and the entire project appears to be defunct. E-mail statements from the founder indicate that the project is not being actively pursued as of 2004.

As of 2013, the Freedonia website is no longer available. In 2014 Jlk started a Facebook page about Freedoniajlk.

But, what is Freedonia itself?

When we talk about Freedonia, we are not talking about the Principality of Freedonia itself, Freedonia, is a fictional country. Freedonia is the name given to several fictional countries. Freedonian was probably first used by Americans immediately after the American Revolution in place of the demonym"American".[1] The term Freedonia was later popularized by the 1933 Marx Brothers movie Duck Soup. Over time, however, the word has come to have a more generic meaning. It can be anything from a noun describing a plausible yet fictional country, to an adjective ("Freedonian") used to characterize a place like the Freedonia of Duck Soup. Because the Marx Brothers' Freedonia had so many qualities—autocracy, diminutiveness, and obscurity, to name but a few — a place can be described as "Freedonian" for having any one of these qualities.

REPUBLIC

In December of 1826, a group of Anglo-American settlers and filibusters led by Empresario Haden Edwards in what is now Texas, declared the "Republic of Freedonia" centered in the town of Nacogdoches. This was the first attempt by Anglo settlers in Texas to secede from Mexico and form an independent state. The republic was short-lived however, lasting only from December 21, 1826 – January 23, 1827 when Mexican soldiers and Anglo militia men from Stephen F. Austin's colony put the rebellion down.

It has be speculated by some that the Marx Brothers may have been taken the name for their film Duck Soup from a street near the Nacogdoches opera house where they played a career changing show in 1907. As the Marx Brothers were well-traveled and there numerous towns in the United States named "Freedonia," this remains speculative.

Abahlali baseMjondolo Movement

The Abahlali baseMjondolo Movement began in Durban, South Africa, in early 2005. Although it is overwhelmingly located in and around the large port city of Durban it is, in terms of the numbers of people mobilised, the largest organisation of the militant poor in post-apartheid South Africa. Its originary event was a road blockade organised from the Kennedy Road settlement in protest at the sale, to a local industrialist, of a piece of nearby land long promised by the local municipal councillor to shack dwellers for housing. The movement that began with the road blockade grew quickly and now has tens of thousands of supporters from more than 30 settlements. In the last year and a half the movement has suffered more than a hundred arrests, regular police assault and ongoing death threats and other forms of intimidation from local party goons. It has developed a sustained voice for shack dwellers in subaltern and elite publics and occupied and marched on the offices of local councillors, police stations, municipal offices, newspaper offices and the City Hall in actions that have put thousands of people on the streets. The movement also organised a highly contentious but very successful boycott of the March 2006 local government elections under the slogan ‘No Land, No House, No Vote’. Amongst other victories the Abahlali have democratised the governance of many settlements, stopped evictions in a number of settlements, won acces to schools, stopped the industrial development of the land promised to Kennedy Road, forced numerous government officials, offices and projects to ‘come down to the people’ and mounted vigorous challenges to the uncritical assumption of a right to lead the local struggles of the poor in the name of a privileged access to the 'global' that remains typical of most of the NGO based left. The movement’s key demand is for ‘Land & Housing in the City’ but it has also successfully politicised and fought for an end to forced removals and for access to education and the provision of water, electricity, sanitation, health care and refuse removal as well as bottom up popular democracy. In some settlements the movement has also successfully set up projects like crèches, gardens, sewing collectives, support for people living with and orphaned by AIDS and so on. It has also organised a 16 team football league and quarterly all night multi genre music competitions.

Next referendum in Catalonia, the nation of Aran

Aran (Val d'Aran) is an administrative entity in Catalonia, Spain, consisting of the Aran Valley, 620.47 square kilometres in area, in the Pyrenees mountains, in the northwestern part of the province of Lleida.

This valley constitutes one of only two areas of contiguous Spain (and the only contiguous part of current Catalonia) that are located on the northern side of the Pyrenees.

Aran borders France on the north, the Spanish Autonomous Community of Aragon to the west and the Catalan comarques of Alta Ribagorça to the south and Pallars Sobirà to the east. The capital of the comarca is Vielha. Speakers of languages other than the local Aranese are typically people born outside the valley, or their children.

HISTORY

In 1313, James II of Aragon granted administrative and political autonomy to the Aran Valley, the legal details of which are described in a Latin manuscript called the Querimonia. The devolution of power was a reward for the Aranese pledging allegiance to James II in a dispute with the kingdoms of France and Mallorca over control of the valley.

On 19 October 1944, Spanish Communist Party guerrillas invaded the valley in an attempt to bring about the fall of the Spanish dictatorship. They took control of several villages until October 27, 1944, but were forced to retreat back into France after Franco sent reinforcements to defend Vielha.

Before the construction of the Vielha tunnel, opened in 1948, the Aran valley had no direct communication with the south side of the mountains during winter.

NAME AND LOCAL LANGUAGE

Aranese is the standardized form of the local Gascon variety of the Occitan language. Aranese has been regularly taught at school since 1984. Like several other minority languages in Europe that recently faced decline, Aranese is experiencing a renaissance.

The name Aran comes from Basque haran, meaning valley.

GOVERNMENT AND ECONOMY

Administratively, Aran is a "unique territorial entity" roughly equivalent to a comarca with additional powers, and informally referred to as a comarca. This status was most recently formalised in February 2015. The area is divided into six administrative divisions called terçons (meaning "thirds", as there were formerly three divisions). The current arrangement of the divisions dates from the 15th century. Since 1991, Aran has an autonomous government called the Conselh Generau.

The major political parties are the Unity of Aran - Aranese Nationalist Party (the local chapter of the Socialists' Party of Catalonia), the Aranese Democratic Convergence (the local chapter of the (Democratic Convergence of Catalonia). The Occitan Republican Left party was founded in 2008.

The main economic activity in the valley is tourism; from the ski resorts in the winter and from other tourist activity in the summer. Other primary sectors of the economy include forest products, cattle ranching and agriculture, all of which have become progressively less important since the opening of ski resorts.

ANOTHER REFERENDUM IN CATALONIA

It is possible that most of you have heard about Catalonian independence. But inside Catalonia, there is another territory, which also wants to secede from Catalonia. I am talking about the Valley of Aran. This is a Valley which it is very rich, his economic development is due to the high number of turists that receives each year. Aranese citizens pay a lot of taxes to the Spanish and catalan governments. It is an territory with its own language, the Aranese, which it is not catalan. They have also its own culture and traditions. Its culture is the occitane one, the one from the south of France. In the Valley of Aran, they talk Spanish, catalan and aranese which is the typical language of that place. The valley has also its own government institutions.The majority of the autoctonous population of the place, want to be an independent state from Spain. But a big part of Aranese people want also to secede from an independent Catalonia to continue being part of Spain.

Last friday, the Catalan Parliament declared independence from Spain. A lot of Aranese people are asking for making a referendum in the Valley of Aran, next Monday. We will see what happens.

The Valley of Aran, a possible ally of the Principality of Pontinha

Imagine that the Valley of Aran becomes independent seceding from Catalonia. Imagine Spain recognises Aran as a territory outside of Catalonia, and imagine that a little country like Andorra recognises the Valley of Aran as an independent Nation. The Aranese government can constitute a ‘’de facto’’ independent nation. The Prince Renato II has a strong opportunity to become recognised by the aranese authorities.

Why?

Renato II with aran and pontinha's flags

Well, lets analyze the Valley of Aran. The head of the government has the same popularity sa a common mayor, with the same power more or less. If Aran becomes an independent nation, it will be a country with same chacracteristics as a microstate or a micronation like Seborga. The Principality of Pontinha is a little Principality which has an independentist project which is emerging with force in Portugal. It is also a small Principality. Renato II is the owner of his islet, which is his own country. His power similar to those of the head of a micronation like Seborga. An independent Aran could recognize Pontinha as an independent state. We should remember that Pontinha has been recognized by Seborga, which is a micronations that in the past, it was a microstate.

VIDEOS ABOUT ARAN INDEPENDENCE

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PDBA7e5dTzk

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NvPGPyK5MRQ

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FFMGghQWelY

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HnMA7KdGxn0

The writers of Micronations

Through Internet, you will find a lot of webpages or blogs talking about micronations. But information is not only Internet. Along our history, the writers and the journalist are the ones who wrote most of the important events and they are the ones who leave the mark. A lot of writers are big followers of micronations. Not only libertarian writeres. A lot of people along the last decades have become enthusiasts of some political alternatives that have emerged. And one of them are the micronations. This entities are peculiar forms of government that allow writers to write about a topic which it is not very known around the world. When somebody says that a platform as Roughs Tower is a State, or when someone says that in Madeira we can find an islet which is a Principality, people get surprised. And this is why I want to make a list of a lot of writers and journalist who have talked about micronations and who have writen several books about this topic. This writers are focused on a curious public which is interested in peculiar political subjects.

BOOKS

Nick Middleton

An Atlas of Countries That Don't Exist: A Compendium of Fifty Unrecognized and Largely Unnoticed States

John Ryan, ‎George Dunford, ‎Simon Sellars, they wrote the book: Micronations, in 2006

Mohammad Bahareth, he wrote ''Micronations: For Those Who Are Tired of Existing Incompetent Governments ...''

Kathy Ceceri, she wrote ''MICRONATIONS: Invent Your Own Country and Culture with 25 Projects''

Micronations: Micronation, Principality of Sealand, List of Micronations, Neue Slowenische Kunst, Republic of Rose Island, Freetown, wroten by Source Wikipedia, LLC Books.

Micronations in the United States: Native American Tribes, Puebloan Peoples, Tohono O'Odham, Cree, Arapaho People, Sauk People, Zapotec Peoples, Lucay, wroten by General Books, 2013 

Horus Michael, writer of Your Micronation Passport: Akua-Niihau and Iapana

La reconnaissance des micro-nations wrote by STEPHANE-BERTIN HOFFMANN

John Hartley wrote Digital Futures for Cultural and Media Studies. It is not a book about micronations but he talks about Subnational minorities where he includes micronations.

Rich Horton wrote Fantasy: The Best of the Year 2006, where ha talks about micronations.

Lonely Planet blue list: the best in travel 2007 by Lonely Planet Publications (Firm).

Books like After the Rain of Sam Vaknin, ‎Lidija Rangelovska or Neptune's Brood of Charles Stross, they also talk about micronations.

K. Somerville in his book Radio Propaganda and the Broadcasting of Hatred, he talks about tribes and he compares tribes to micronations.

Godfrey Mwakikagile is an author who wrote Remembering the Sixties: A Look at Africa and he also compares tribes to micronations.

Peter Sheldrake wrote Elephants on Roller Skates

Valerie Wyatt - 2017 wrote How to Build Your Own Country

ENGLISH BOOKS

“Holding The Fort”, written by Prince Michael of Sealand, the true story of his unbelievable adventures over the last 50 years on Sealand.

The book uncovers the truth behind Michael’s kidnap by armed terrorists, his family setting up their own island nation, government sieges, top secret government documents and multiple attempts to bring an end to the Sealand dream. The book includes previously unseen photos from his family’s personal collection.

“The story of Sealand is stranger than fiction, better than Hollywood and more surreal than Dali” – Ben Fogle (Adventurer, author and broadcaster)

“When a story features sawn-off shotguns, dawn helicopter raids, pistol whippings, temperamental generators, shady tax accountants, devious gangsters and at least one flying headbutt to the bridge of the nose, ‘romantic’ probably isn’t the word that springs instantly to mind. Especially when at the heart of that story is an outwardly charmless, forbidding structure way out in the cold and dark of the North Sea.

Yet the story of the Principality of Sealand is a patently romantic one. It’s a classic case of the underdog kicking against authority and winning; a heartwarming narrative of battling the odds that’s grounded in good old- fashioned British eccentricity. It’s a riproaring yarn, a classic Boy’s Own tale related here by the boy himself, Michael of Sealand, with verve, wit and panache. But look beneath the surface, beyond the guns and dastardly plots, and you learn from these pages that Sealand is also a story of family; of loyalty, respect and devotion flowing between generations and filtered through this tiny principality off the Essex coast; channeled through the dreams, hopes and stubborn stand against seemingly impossible odds of the Bates family.

The story of Sealand is like an Ealing comedy crossed with a Bond film and scripted by John Le Carré. It’s a story that has often been swathed in myth and blighted by rumour, but here, at last, is the definitive tale from the man best qualified to tell it. And he tells it very well indeed.” – Charlie Connelly . Charlie is a bestselling writer and award-winning broadcaster.

FRENCH BOOKS

Mulumbati Ngasha wrote Les relations internationales, where he also talk about micronations

Pierre-Alexis Blevin wrote Les micro-États européens: Étude historique, juridique et fiscale. It is a book about microstates, not micronations. But he also talks about microantions and compare them to microstates in a certain way.

Julien Oeuillet, wrote Le business des vanités

SPANISH BOOKS

Gerardo Martín Pascual wrote En el Corazon de Otros Tiempos and he dedicates a chapter called ''El Consulado de Sealand'' where he talks about the Principality of Sealand and about the ambassadors that this Principality had in Spain in the 90's.

Eleonore Kofman, ‎Gillian Youngs - 2008, wrote Globalization, 3rd Edition: Theory and Practice. They talk about the Principality of Sealand.  

Fernández Mallo, Agustín wrote Proyecto Nocilla

GERMAN BOOKS

A user called Quelle Wikipedia wrote Mikronation: Freistadt Christiania, Seborga, Hay-On-Wye, Kugelmugel, Sealand, Republik Freies Wendland, Ladonien, Principality of Hutt River, Rüterber

Atlas Obscura: Entdeckungsreisen zu den verborgenen Wundern der 

Welt wrote by Joshua Foer,Ella Morton and Dylan Thuras

Anna Margaretha Horatschek,Anja Pistor-Hatam wrote Identitäten im Prozess: Region, Nation, Staat, Individuum

Deutsche Bauzeitung: Fachzeitschrift für Architektur und Bautechnik, Volumen 135

MIKRONATIONER

The Trash Isles

A massive mound of plastic in the Pacific Ocean becomes a country with its own passport, flag and "Debris" currency, in this design proposal intended to raise awareness about ocean pollution. The Trash Isles imagines the Great Pacific Garbage Patch – a pile of primarily plastic waste floating in the northern part of the Pacific Ocean – as an official country recognised by the United Nations.

To add gravitas to the proposal, London-based designer Mario Kerkstra has created a passport for the country

 

Advertising creatives Michael Hughes and Dal Evans De Almeida, known as Dal and Mike, launched the proposal to force world leaders to address the scale of the ocean trash, which they say has accumulated to the size of France.

"We knew that, even though the trash patch covers an area the size of a country, it is easy for world leaders to ignore it – the saying 'out of sight out of mind' could not be more applicable than with this issue," Hughes told Dezeen.

"We wanted to come up with a way to ensure world leaders can't ignore it anymore, a way to stick it under their noses, literally," he added.

The design features former US Vice President Al Gore, who is supporting the proposal

Dal and Mike are teaming up with social media news company LADbible and non-profit organisation The Plastic Oceans Foundation on the project.

They submitted an application to the United Nations earlier this year, coinciding with World's Ocean Day, to make the project a reality. They have now also launched an online petition through LADbible to support the application, and hoping to gain one billon signatures.

Stamps inside the passport are prints of floating plastic and fish entangled in rubbish

To add further gravitas to their proposal, Dal and Mike enlisted London-based designer Mario Kerkstra to create a passport, money and stamps for the country, which are all made from recycled materials.

"Working with Mario as a designer, we originated the idea to create everything an official country needs, so with him we designed a passport, money, stamps and a flag," Hughes explained.

"Debris" currency has also been designed, with illustrations by Tony Wilson

Kerkstra worked with illustrator Jürgen Willbarth at Illustration Web to create a blue passport with a bespoke coat of arms. Emblazoned with the slogan The Ocean Needs Us, it features a sea lion and a turtle, holding a shield bearing an image of a whale diving into the ocean.

Kerkstra also designed bank notes for the Trash Isle's Debris currency, which Tony Wilson at Jelly London Kitchen has illustrated with images of the ocean devastated by waste.

The 50 Debris note features a sea lion choked by plastic

One side of the 100 Debris note shows a seagull with its head through a plastic six-pack rings, while the other side presents a while diving into water with plastic bottles and bags floating on top.

The 50 Debris note depicts a sea lion tangled in a web of rubbish, while an octopus swims alongside floating waste on the 20 Debris note.

Blue stmps costing 0.30 Debris are also included in the Trash Isles paraphernalia. They depict birds, fish and other wildlife within a web of rubbish.

An octopus swims alongside floating plastic on the 20 Debris note

Dal and Mike hope that recognising the waste as its own country will encourage other world nations to clean it up, under the policy of The UN's Environmental Charter.

So far the the petition has attracted over 100,000 signatories – who are told that they can call themselves citizens of Trash Isle, known as Trash Islanders.

A set of blue stamps, costing 0.30 Debris, are also imagined to depict images of birds and fish within a web of rubbish.

Former US Vice President Al Gore, actress Judy Dench, Olympic athlete Mo Farah and actor Ross Kemp have already signed up, and LADbible are posting promotional movies of some of these famous citizens.

"We're doing this to raise awareness of the massive issue affecting our planet and engage our audience to do something about it, whilst having a little bit of fun too," said LADbible's Stephen Mai, who is leading the campaign.

Ocean plastic is a huge concern for environmentalists, but has also attracted the interest of designers, who have developed a range of ideas to mitigate the problem and raise awareness.

Among the most well-known is Adidas' longstanding collaboration with Parley for the Oceans. Products in the series include trainers made from recycled plastic and of swimwear made from upcycled fishing nets and debris.

An Australian duo created a floating rubbish bin that filters litter from marinas, while Dutch engineering student Boyan Slat has developed a floating barrier to slowly push floating plastic to shore.

LADBIBLE

LADbible is a social media and entertainment company based in London and Manchester, United Kingdom. The firm describes itself as "redefining entertainment and news for a social generation" with a focus on viral content and social video to "provide news, entertainment and community to a global audience of young people".

The LADbible was founded in 2012 by co-founders Alexander "Solly" Solomou and Arian Kalantari and focused on publishing easily shareable clips, pictures and stories.

LADbible are best known for their viral video creation. In July 2017, LADbible were the most watched video creator across the globe with 2.8 billion video views according to Tubular Labs’ monthly rankings.

LADbible publishes a diverse range of original and user generated content – spanning editorial, video, documentary and live. Since August 2014, LADbible have posted over 6,800 videos and generated in excess of 41.8 billion views on Facebook.

In September 2016, LADbible launched a mental health campaign called "U OK M8?" to raise awareness of male mental health issues. A range of charities supported the campaign including the Campaign Against Living Miserably (CALM), the Movember Foundation, Samaritans and the Mental Health Foundation to "engage their huge youth audience and get men to open up to each other." The campaign featured Olympic gymnast Louis Smith who talked about his own experiences of depression

Also in 2016, LADbible launched 'Climate Change', a campaign focused around the environment. The project was shortlisted in the AOP awards in 2017, for best use of social video.

In May 2017, LADbible partnered with Kasabian and Sony Music to become the official streaming partner for the band's new single. Following the release of Kasabian's sixth studio album 'For Crying Out Loud', a groundbreaking real-time video for new single 'Are You Looking For Action?' was streamed via LADbible's and Kasabian's Facebook pages. Co-directed by Aitor Throup and Sing J Lee, this music video was the first of its kind: filmed live and shot in one continuous take.

In February 2015, in an interview with BBC Radio 5 Live, LADbible's then marketing director says "A quarter of 'lads' reading the site are actually women," and that it "absolutely redefines what lads are". This interview was featured in a BBC News article titled "How did The Lad Bible become so successful" which looked at the reasons why LADbible had become so successful and appealed to such a large audience.

Later in the same year, a news story on The Independent looked deeper into how LADbible had "harnessed social media" to fill the gap in the market left by the closure of the once popular Lads' Mag titles. It revealed that where a traditional newsroom is arranged into desks dedicated to specific interests like health, education or business, staff at LADbible's office specialise in different social media platforms; Facebook, Twitter, Snapchat, Instagram and YouTube.

On 19 April 2017 LADbible featured in Marketing Land as they generated 3.2 billion views to became March's most popular video creator in the world.

PETITION TO CHANGE.ORG

NEW CITIZENSHIPS

Al Gore with his Trash Island nationality

Former vice president of the US, Al Gore, and British Olympic distance runner, Mo Farah, have become honorary citizens of a new ‘country’ called the Trash Isles.

They are working in partnership with the London-based website LADbible and the Plastic Oceans Foundation, who have submitted a petition to the United Nations to recognise the Trash Isles as the 196th country on the planet.

They made the symbolic gesture of becoming honorary citizens because of the travesty of plastic in our oceans. Experts predict that by 2050, the problem will reach such epidemic proportions that there will be more plastic in our oceans than fish. The Pacific Ocean has been polluted by plastic trash the size of France, for example, forming significant land masses in places where it is particularly dense.

Mo Farah, with his Trash Island nationality

The campaigners believe the solution to tackling this problem is for the UN to recognise the Trash Isles as an official country and award it the environmental protections offered to all member states. “Let’s come up with biodegradable materials instead of this junk,” Gore says. “50 billion tons over the last 60, 70 years. It’s completely outrageous. It is absolutely harming the oceans and actually some of it shows up in the fish people eat now. It’s disgusting.”

The Trash Isles launches with everything an official country needs – an official flag, currency called Debris, and passports created from recycled materials. “We are just getting started,” says Stephen Mai, head of marketing at LADbible Group. “There may well be a national anthem, general elections and even a national football team.”

The application has to be read by all members of the UN Council. If the Trash Isles becomes a country and a member of the UN, it will be protected by the UN’s Environmental Charters,. These state that all members shall “co-operate in a spirit of global partnership to conserve, protect and restore the health and integrity of the earth’s ecosystem.”

This means that by becoming a country, other countries are obliged to clean up the Trash Isles.

LADbible's head of marketing, Stephen Mai, says the Trash Isles will have everything a real country needs, from an official flag and currency called 'debris' to passports made of recycled materials, a national anthem, and (of course) a national football team.)

"Come on, fellow Trash Isles countrymen. Let’s put down the plastic, get off our arses and pull together to ensure the world’s first country made of Trash, is its last."

It's an amusing idea and it will be intriguing to see how the UN responds -- although I can't help but wonder how the Environmental Charters could possibly work for the Trash Isles if they've been unsuccessful at controlling pollution at its source.

Republic of Alba

Alba is a town and comune of Piedmont, Italy, in the province of Cuneo. It is considered the capital of the UNESCO Human Heritage hilly area of Langhe, and is famous for its white truffle, peach and wine production. The confectionery group Ferrero is based there.

HISTORY

Alba's origins date from before the Roman civilization, connected probably to the presence of Celtic and Ligurian tribes in the area.

The modern town occupies the site of ancient Alba Pompeia, the name given after being officially recognized as a town by the Roman consul Gnaeus Pompeius Strabo while constructing a road from Aquae Statiellae (Acqui) to Augusta Taurinorum (Turin). Alba was the birthplace of Publius Helvius Pertinax, briefly Roman emperor in 193.

After the fall of the Western Empire, the city was repeatedly sacked by Ostrogoths, Burgundians, Byzantines, Lombards, Franks, Hungarians and Saracens. In the 11th century it became a free commune (or city-state) and was a member of the Lombard League. Montferrat and the Visconti fought over the town; later it became a possession of the Gonzaga. Charles Emmanuel I of Savoyconquered it twice, while later France and Spain battled for its possession. The Treaty of Cherasco (1631) assigned Alba definitively to Savoy.

THEN, THE MICRONATION OF ALBA

The Republic of Alba was a revolutionary municipality proclaimed on 26 April 1796, in Alba, Piedmont, when the town was taken by the French army.

The Republic of Alba was a sister Republic, a satellite State of the First French Republic, of brief existence (from April 26 to 28, 1796). Proclaimed in the municipality of Alba, in Piedmont (today in the province of Cuneo), it was recovered by the Piedmontese two days after its proclamation. Subsequently, on April 19, 1801, the territory of the Republic was annexed by France.

It should not be confused with the Piedmontese Republic or the Subalpine Republic, two sister republics born in the immediately following years in Piedmont. Nor with the republic with the same name that was proclaimed by the partisans in the same locality on October 10, 1944, during the Second World War, and which was dissolved on November 2 of that same year.

After the arrival in Italy of the young General Bonaparte under the command of the Italian army and his victorious Montenotte battles (11-12 of April), Millesimo (April 13-14), and Dego (14- April 15), and those of Ceva and Mondovì (April 21), on April 26, 1796, the French troops arrived at the city of Alba, which they occupied, and where a revolutionary Council was set up led by Patriots Ignazio Bonafous and Giovanni Antonio Ranza.

The sister Republic of Alba was proclaimed, whose purposes were to be the basis for the Italian unification and the dissemination of the ideals of freedom represented by the French Revolution.

Few hours after the proclamation of the republic, Alba imposed strong contributions to the neighbors of neighboring communities, such as Guarene, Corneliano d'Alba and Castagnito, who accepted them, unlike those of Sommariva Perno, Vezza and Canale, who refused to contribute to Republican cause.

The Republic had an extraordinarily short life: on April 28, with the signature of the armistice of Cherasco, in the Salmatoris palace, Vitor Amadeo III of Savoia recovered Alba. According to the treaty, General Signoris entered the city and easily regained control. Ignazio Bonafous, a prisoner, in an attempt to save herself, wrote to the king to exonerate him from the accusations.

However, while Alba recovered, thus maintaining Turin's control, due to the defeat suffered by the king, he had to give the French the fortresses of Tortona, Alessandria, Cuneo and Ceva, allowing the free passage of the Bapoleonic troops by Piedmont to continue the war against Austria.

With the battle of Lodi, on May 10, 1796 and the defeat of Austrian general Jean Pierre de Beaulieu, Napoleon opened the way to the conquest of Milan. Finally, on May 15, by the Paris peace treaty, the county of Nice and the Duchy of Savoy, they went from the Kingdom of Sardinia to France.

Its flag was designed by Jacobin Giovanni Antonio Ranza, who said that the colors blue and red were from France while the orange is the one of the shield tree of the Piedmont. The flag has existed in two versions tricolor, horizontally and vertically, and is still used today in some occasions in the region of Piedmont.

Giovanni Antonio Ranza

Giovanni Antonio Ranza (Vercelli, January 19, 1741 - April 11, 1801) was an Italian presbyter and patriot.

Priest and professor of letters, after the outbreak of the French Revolution, became a supporter of revolutionary principles. He prepared a revolt in Vercelli; but, discovered, he was able to repair first in Switzerland (in Lugano) and later in France. In 1793 he created the Italian Political and Literary Monitor, one of the first French-speaking Italian newspapers. It sustained a Franco-Piedmont alliance against Austria. During the French campaign of 1796 in Piedmont, he organized a republican motion in Alba.

It was active during the "Jacobins" motions of 1796, during which he designed the red, blue and orange Republican tricolor (also called the Tricolor of Alba and today adopted for the gonfalone of the Piedmont Region). After the armistice of Cherasco repaired in Milan, where he directed the newspaper The Friend of the Italian People.

Natal house of Giovanni Ranza

He hoped the Church's return to the simplicity and purity of the gospel in which to reconcile the ideals of Christianity with those of the French Revolution. His conscience was however different from that of the most radical patriots; recalling the ideas of French physicists, he argued that the right of citizenship belonged only to those who were landowners . He also proposed the formation of a federation in Italy, as preparation for a unitary state which also included Canton Ticino, Corsica and Malta.

Recalling federalist ideas already expressed in the eighteenth century by thinkers such as Antonio Genovesi and Gian Francesco Galeani Napione, at the Concourse of Ideas launched in 1796 by the French Government in Milan, "Which of the Free Governments best fits to the happiness of Italy?" Ranza proposed a an idea of ​​an Italian confederation of autonomous republics with foreign, military and commercial foreign policy, to be decided at a General Congress of the Federated Republics, to reunite in Pisa, a city most easily reachable from all over Italy. In 1797 he published a brochure titled Vera idea of ​​Federalism in Milan, in which he perfected his proposal better, suggesting that every republic should send two representatives to the federal assembly.

MEDIA IN THE REPUBLIC OF ALBA

Today the micronation is extint, but the citizens of the village remember its history very well. They usually talk about that day, in which they were an independent country. The village has its won offical gazzette, la Gazzetta d'Alba. They publish daily news about the village, but very often they include articles related to the history of the Republic of Alba. The citizens of the village have a strong sence of nation because of his history.

BOOKS ABOUT THE REPUBLIC OF ALBA

A lot of writers have talked about the History of the Republic of Alba, not only because of the fact of being a country. Also, it is because, this Republic was a main issue during the Napoleonic wars, with the intervention of Giovanni Antonio Ranza.

After analyzing all this information about the past of the Republic of Alba, and thinking about the Sovereignty that this territory had in the past, I present the following questions, What if the Republic of Alba claims the same as the Principality of Seborga? Do they need another ''Giorgio Carbone'' for the Republic of Alba?

Perhaps yes, but in our history, we have also seen another Republic of Aba, the same name but a sovereignty applied in another territory, in this case, also in Italy.

THE OTHER REPUBLIC OF ALBA

The Republic of Alba was a state of brief duration that existed from 10 October to 2 November 1944 in Alba in northern Italy, as a local resistance against Italian fascism during World War II.

Its name reminds the Republic of Alba, Napoleonic sister Republic, Satellite State of the First French Republic, which existed in 1796 in Piedmont.

Sovereign citizen and self-ownership

What is a sovereign citizen?

It is a citizen who is against the law and who does not want to accept to rules stablished by the state in which he lives. The concept of sovereign citizen emerged on the United States of America because of a law, the ''Posse Comitatus Act''.

The Posse Comitatus Act is a United States federal law signed on june 18, 1878 by President Rutherford B.Hayes. The purpose of the act - in concert with the Insurrection Act of 1807 - is to limit the powers of the federal government in using federal military personnel to enforce domestic policies within the United States. It was passed as an amendment to an army appropriation bill following the end of Reconstruction, and was subsequently updated in 1956 and 1981.

Some notable people were identified as sovereign citizens:

- John Joe Gray claims to be a sovereign citizen and was a fugitive from the law. He currently lives on his 50-acre, wooded ranch in Trinidad, Texas. He was involved in the longest-running law enforcement standoff in American history, lasting a few days short of 15 years, before the district attorney dropped the charges.

- Edward Lewis Brown (born 1942) and his wife, Elaine Alice Brown (born c. 1940), residents of the state of New Hampshire, gained national news media attention as tax protesters in early 2007 for refusing to pay the U.S. federal income tax and subsequently refusing to surrender to federal government agents after having been convicted of tax crimes.

The concept of sovereign citizen is very related with the concept of self-ownership. Why this relation?

Well, self-ownership means sovereignty of the individual or individual autonomy. Is the concept of property in one's own person, espressed as the moral or natural right of a person to have bodily integrity and be the exclusive controller of his own body and life.

For anarchist political philosopher L. Susan Brown, "Liberalism and anarchism are two political philosophies that are fundamentally concerned with individual freedom yet differ from one another in very distinct ways.

Tha idea of self-ownership has been very controversial, not only because of legal aspects, also because certain religious groups have discussed this idea in a moral way. For example some libertarian christians says that not all libertarians should believe in self-ownership because this idea attempts to some christian principles.

Nevertheless some libertarian christians think that political and economical ideas should be separated form religious beliefs and self-ownership is compatible with all the religions of the world.

Is it a potential idea?

Yes, it is. In the last decades, a political phenomenon appeared, micronationalism. It is an ideology that some excentric or artistic or interested people are developing with the aim of creating new countries.

Some people wants to create their own country, and this is micronationalism. That is to say, nationalism but in a little scale, because most micronations claim little territories as independent states which they aren't. Some became micronationalists because of their libertarian ideology, others want to create or support micronations because they want to participate in an artistic or fictional project. Others believe in micronationalism because they are excentric and they have the desire of creating their own country, that's to say, to take part of history. Some bussinesman wants to take profit of micronations for evading taxes or for creating an utopical country with the dream of receiving a lot of visitors.

The relation of micronationalism and self-ownership is very big. It is the same. People create their own countries because they want to be the only owners of their territory, withough being part of an state or authority. They want to be self-sovereign and take part of all the aspects of their lives. It is not only a political idea, it is a live philosophy.

PRINCIPALITY OF PONTINHA, THE PORTUGUESE CATALONIA

If someone tells you that there is a little Principality to the coast, the first thing it will appear on your mind is Monaco or perhaps Seborga. But, today we are going to talk about another principality, the Principality of Pontinha.

Where is that?

A portuguese citizen bought an islet which is a fort, located in the Port of Funchal, in the coast of the Madeira island. This citizen was ana artist, his name is Renato Barros, but when he bought this famous fort in the coast of Madeira, he self-ploclaimed Prince Renato II of Pontinha delcaring the independence of his fort, the Fort of Sao José. He is an excentric, but he has all the necessary requirements exigible for creating a state. The fort was a private property of the King of Portugal, but he sold it. Prince Renato says if a King solds a part of its territory, he is selling also the sovereignty. And this is why Pontinha is an independent state. But Renato II is a special Prince, he created a country from cero. He created state structures. He redacted a consitution and some petitions for claiming independence from Portugal. Renato lives in his fort, so his principality reaches the principles that the Montevideo Convention requires to an independent state: a government, a population, a territory and the capacity of stablishing diplomatic relations with other states.

Prince Renato II

Renato II appointed a Prime Minister for his country, Joby Weeks. Joby is a very famous person in Internet because of his knowledge about cryptocurrencies, in specific, about bitcoin. When Renato II appointed this Prime Minister for his country, the portuguese and international media become to explain the peculiarities of this little principality. From that moment, the Principality of Pontinha began to have thousands of followers through social media and social networks.

Renato II also offered political assylum for a portuguese politician, who was a candidate for portuguese election. In that moment, Pontinha became very famous in Portugal. Some said that a supposed independence of this islet will damage the image of Madeira's claims for independence.

Is he the most famous libertarian portuguese?

I think so. Portugal had not a big libertarian tradition and Renato II is a very famous person in Portugal because of his claims of Pontinha's independence. He is a libertarian because he appointed to Joby Weeks as a Prime Minister, a libertarian american, also very popular in Internet. Renato II is more than a Prince, he deffeated the Portuguese state claiming independence from his own islet. He is the only one in Portugal which defeated to the state in seceding a part of Portuguese territory with this popularity and success.

TWO PRINCIPALITIES, TWO DREAMS

These last month, everybody is talking about Catalonia. For those who don't know about it, Catalonia is a Spanish Region, it is a Principality located in the North-East of Spain. Some catalans are asking for independence of Catalonia. I won't enter in this discussion. The fact is that the media is always talking about Catalonia but it is not talking about Sealand, about Pontinha, about Seborga...

Media is not talking about micronations like the Principality of Pontinha.

So, Portugal has also its own ''Catalonia''. In Portugal there is a Principality which also wants to secede, it is called the Principality of Pontinha. We can say that Renato II of Pontinha is the portuguese ''Carles Puigdemont, President of Catalonia''. 

Prince Renato II of Pontinha (left) and the President of Catalonia (right)

But, why Media is not talking about the Principality of Pontinha?

We should understand that Catalonia has seven and a half million inhabitants and it represents an important part of spanish GDP. Catalonia is located in a strategic position, it is near the Mediterranean, it borders on France and Andorra. It is one of the most visited regions in Europe for turists. This is not the case of Pontinha, which is a very little Principality on the coast of Madeira. Pontinha receives also a lot of visits but not milions of visits. It has thousands of followers in Internet, but not milions. But the people of Pontinha are asking the same as the catalans. So, I arrive to the conclution that media will always support those projects which can affedct their own interest. Pontinha'n citizens are asking for independence. The polls says, that almost 100% of Pontinha's inhabitants have the desire of being an independent state. It is unfair that international media hide those projects which are not ''politically correct'' or those projects that simply are not accepted by the ''principles of XXI Century''. Medias are not talking about Pontinha because they consider irrelevant, but on the other side, they consider the Catalan issue as very important and interesting.

Catalans and Pontinhans are asking for the same. The Sealanders, the Seborgans and some more micronations are claiming the same, but the media doesn't treat them by the same way.

Document made by
Renato II

Besides, the catalan government should represent all the catalans (those who want independence and those who not). In Catalonia a lot of families are not agree with independende. On the other hand, Prince Renato II of Pontinha is representing all the Pontinhans and in Pontinh's Principality, 100% of the population is claiming for independence. Pontinha is a private islet, so if its head of State, the Prince Renato II makes something that damage its country, he will suffer the consequences, not the people, while if the Catalan government makes a bad desision, seven and a half citizens will suffer the consequences. Renato II is the owner, he can makes whatever he wants he is the one who will decide the future of his fort, the one of the San José.

The King of Portugal sold the territory to the Blandy family, and then this family sold the islet to Renato Barros, the now Prince Renato II.

Renato II alleges that if a sovereign sells a territory, he sells the property and the sovereignty of that territory. And this is the real reason why Pontinha has the right of becoming an independent state. Catalonia has not this right, the region has multiple owners and the president is just a bureaucrat.

Renato II can apply the principles of self-determination and the libertarian principles of self- ownership. He can decide to be the sovereign of his own property. 

RELATIONS WITH PORTUGAL

If Catalonia has bad relations with the Spanish state, Pontinha also has bad relations with the Portuguese state. The only difference is that the Islet that Renato II owns is his private country while Catalonia is not a private property owned by just one person.

The mass media don't see this or perhaps ''they don't see this''. The truth is that we live in the XXI Century and libertarians points of view are conquering the Internet and are spreading each time faster.

There are some powerful organizations that want to defeat governments, the Seasteading Institute, which is an organization that wants to build floating cities in International Waters with the aim of creating autonomous goverments. The objective of this kind of organizations is to scape from strong government regulations and of course, avoid taxes. In the XXI Century, it has no sense to pay te amount of taxes that we pay. Our governments should not need all this money, we have the enough technology to develop enterprises and industries that allow everyone to have a work ant to save money each month.

Seasteading Institute is supported by very well-known economists and businessmen, like Patri Friedman or Peter Thiel. In Spain, Instituto Elcano is a libertarian institute that support little governments. Jesús Huerta de Soto is a brilliant spanish economics professor, he is a libertarian very well-known in Spain for his explanations of economy and for his desires in supporting little countries. So Libertarianism lives a good moment and is still growing and growing, because people are fed up of governments. Renato II of Pontinha appointed a libertarian american as its Prime Minister. He is Joby Weeks, an entrepreneur who works in bitcoin businesses. Renato II also says that Google recognizes his territory as an independent state. This is good news for him, to know that technology developers, economists and logical people are with him.

Renato II of Pontinha is a peace man, who wants to dialogue with the government of Portugal, he tries to stablish diplomatic relations with the Portuguese Republic. He is making a lot of effort. But Portugal says no to its claiming situation. Renato II is annoyed with this situation.

Petitions made by Renato II and translated to catalan (left) and spanish (right) languages

Renato says he is suffering a lot of tensions by the Portuguese State. He tries to get independence of his nation and he wants to reach a treaty with Portugal that allows him to make a referendum of self-determination. Portuguese authorities are refusing his proposals. Renato II ensures that the EU will accept his right of self-determination and he ensures they want to help Pontinha, but on the other hand Portugal is closing any help to Pontinha.

In this article I won't enter in politic and juridic issues, but I will just give my opinion about those medias who hide the desires of Pontinha of becoming an independent state.

Pontinha has at least, the same right of appearing in the international medias, as Catalonia does. The same for Sealand, the same for Tavolara and Seborga, and many other countries which have the same desire.

VERBUM VOLAT, SCRIPTUM MANET