Concetti Chiave
- The Principality of Sealand is the world's smallest micronation, originally a WWII military base named HM Fort Roughs, located 18 meters above sea level.
- Roy Bates, a former British army major, declared Sealand's independence from the UK in the 1960s by taking over the fort, proclaiming himself Prince.
- In 1968, a court ruled that the UK had no jurisdiction over Sealand, following an incident where Bates fired warning shots at British workmen.
- In 1978, an attempted coup led by Alexander Achenbach, who declared himself Prime Minister, resulted in a hostage situation, resolved diplomatically with Germany.
- Future plans for Sealand include expanding the fortress, and potentially building a harbor, housing, hotels, and a casino on an artificial island.
The Principality of Sealand
The Principality of Sealand is the smallest micronation in the world, in fact its size is only 550 square meters and it is 18 meters above the sea level. This nation has no land, because is a former military base, originally named “HM Fort Roughs”.
Fort Roughs was built during the Second World War in order to help defend London and the river Thames against German air raids. This military base was abandoned after the war, but during the 1960s Roy Bates, a former British army major, decided to occupy this artificial island.
Roy Bates knew that the fort was in international waters, so he got the indipendence from the United Kingdom, and he create the principality of Sealand.
That decision caught the attention of the British government, that wanted to end this embarassing state of affairs, so decided to send some workmen to Sealand, but when they went near Sealand, Roy fired warning shots, and fot that and the illegal possession of firearms was put on trial, but the court ruled that the Britain had no jurisdiction over Sealand; that appened in 1968.
So after that Roy Bates finally constituted officialy the principality of Sealand, but the indipendence could’n come without a price, in fact in August 1978 Alexander Achenbach that had a Sealand passport delcared himself “prime minister” and he attacked the country with the help of Dutch and German mercenaries and took Bates’ son hostage. Yet a military man, named Major Bates, attacked Sealand and captured Achenbach and he accused him of treason. The Austrian, German and Dutch goverments appealed to the British government to liberate Achenbach, but the British government cited the 1968 court ruling.
At this point the German government sent diplomats to Sealand to negotiate Achenbach release, and at the end Bates released the man but he wanted in return the recognition of his principality of Sealand, and that appened.
Nowadays there are some plans to extend the fortess and to build a harbour and possibly and artificial island with housing, hotels and a casino.
Domande da interrogazione
- Qual è la storia dietro la creazione del Principato di Sealand?
- Come ha reagito il governo britannico alla dichiarazione di indipendenza di Sealand?
- Quali eventi significativi hanno coinvolto Sealand nel 1978?
Il Principato di Sealand è stato creato da Roy Bates, un ex maggiore dell'esercito britannico, che ha occupato la base militare abbandonata "HM Fort Roughs" negli anni '60, dichiarandola indipendente dal Regno Unito e proclamandosi Principe.
Il governo britannico ha cercato di porre fine alla situazione inviando operai a Sealand, ma dopo che Roy Bates ha sparato colpi di avvertimento, un tribunale ha stabilito che il Regno Unito non aveva giurisdizione su Sealand.
Nel 1978, Alexander Achenbach, con un passaporto di Sealand, si è dichiarato "primo ministro" e ha attaccato il paese con mercenari olandesi e tedeschi, prendendo in ostaggio il figlio di Bates. Bates ha poi catturato Achenbach, accusandolo di tradimento, e ha negoziato il suo rilascio con il governo tedesco.
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