E Mare Libertas: or, Sealand Ascendant

[spanishspy]

Preface: This timeline was originally posted on alternatehistory.com between the dates of November 6th and December 7th, 2015.

E MARE LIBERTAS
OR, SEALAND ASCENDANT
By SpanishSpy

Excerpt from the Times of London, March 2014

BATES, SEIGER SPAR OVER CRIMEA

SEALAND/MOSCOW - Prince Michael Bates of Sealand and Johannes Seiger, Prime Minister of the Moscow-based Sealand Government in Exile, have entered a verbal sparring match over the Russian annexation of the Crimean peninsula.

In a press conference with Prime Minister Cameron in London, Bates called for the international community to continue to recognize the Ukrainian claim to the peninsula, and denounced Putin's "warmongering and landgrabbing." Bates went on to state that the Russians were acting in the same spirit as Adolf Hitler, whom Bates' father fought against as a member of the British Army. "Sealand will always stand for the freedom of peoples throughout the world, from any dictator or oligarch."

Bates and Cameron went on to stress the necessity of honoring the Budapest Memorandum, signed in the titular city in 1994.

After Bates' comments, Seiger, the leader of the government-in-exile, stressed the need to respect the "will of the people of Crimea" in regards to the annexation. "Crimea was appended to Ukraine through no desire of their own," said Seiger, speaking at a press conference in Red Square in Moscow. "Now they have returned to their rightful motherland."

Seiger has long been considered a Putinist puppet, having been a supporter of the Russian leader since his accession. Before then, the government in exile of Sealand, first under Alexander Achenbach, then Seiger, has led a decidedly anti-Western foreign policy, having fled to East Germany upon the invitation of Erich Honecker after the failed coup of 1978. Upon the dissolution of the Soviet Union and the Fall of the Eastern Bloc, the government hopped around the world, after finally setting up shop in Moscow in the Yeltsin years.

Bates denounced Seiger's comments as "apologetic," while Seiger countered by announcing that Bates was a "pretender" and a "charlatan who takes orders from Washington." Social media accounts of both governments have been up in arms in denouncing one another, with supporters of both starting massive arguments.



Excerpt from The Principality of Sealand: a New History by Sulwyn Humphries, published in Fort Roughs, Sealand, 2015

The failure of the coup of 1978 brought about a West German diplomat from their embassy in London to Sealand to negotiate for the release of Alexander Achenbach and his co-conspirators. Several weeks of talks resulted in their release to West Germany. From this, Prince Paddy Roy Bates maintained that this constituted recognition of the Principality among the international stage.

Believing this, Bates went to London to discuss terms of recognition with Ambassador to Britain Hans Helmut Ruethe. From there, with the understanding that the issue needed to be discussed with higher authorities, Bates took a plane to Bonn, the seat of the West German government, to meet with Chancellor Helmut Schmidt and Foreign Minister Hans-Dietrich Genscher to discuss further diplomatic recognition.

At first they were incredulous; why should a large Western European democracy recognize a small country off the coast of one of its major allies? At first, Schmidt and Genscher were not impressed. However, Bates made the case that a diplomat being sent to their state as if it were sovereign; after a few days of negotiations, the two leaders were persuaded that Bates was a head of state. From there, Bates attended a state dinner in Bonn with Schmidt as the host, with the flags of both nations flying.

This, however, was found deeply worrisome by Alexander Achenbach, the former Prime Minister of Sealand, now living in West Germany, and the leader of the Sealand government in exile. He issued a stern condemnation of the West German government, and from there he declared that his government would be leaving the country; to where, however, was uncertain.

During this drama, a new part entered the stage: General Secretary Erich Honecker of the Socialist Unity Party of the German Democratic Republic extended an offer to Achenbach to leave the world of Western capitalism and come over to the Eastern Bloc. Honecker praised Achenbach for maintaining "popular sovereignty" in Sealand, whereas the Bates government was first and foremost a monarchy. "Achenbach stands for real liberty, while Bates stands for monarchy and aristocracy."

Achenbach and his government took up Honecker's offer, and travelled to the border between Bavaria and Saxony, where they were retrieved by the East German army. From there, they set up shop in East Berlin.



Excerpt from the Times of London, July 2014

SEIGER MEETS WITH ABBAS, DENOUNCES PROTECTIVE EDGE

RAMALLAH - Johannes Seiger, the Prime Minister of the Government in Exile of the Principality of Sealand, met with Mahmoud Abbas, the President of the Palestinian Authority, in the latter's capital city of Ramallah to condemn the Israeli invasion of the Gaza Strip.

"This is a war that Israel started and that Palestine will suffer for," said Seiger in a joint press conference with Abbas. "This regime in Jerusalem is one that will bring pain and suffering to all the world. It is appalling that the West support such terror, such murder!"

Seiger affirmed that, in his opinion, Israel had a right to exist, but that its actions in the Gaza Strip showed that "now, more than ever, we need an independent and internationally recognized Palestine." From there, the two leaders had a state dinner together, where Abbas affirmed the Palestinian Authority's recognition of Seiger's government as the "rightful government of Sealand."

Notably, the government in exile has been far more outspokenly anti-Israel than Russia has; generally Seiger's government follows the Moscow line on most issues. Putin has called for peace in the area; he personally called Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to stop attacks that were killing civilians. Russia has however refrained from openly supporting Palestine in the matter of the conflict, unlike the United States' unabashed support of Israel.

Seiger has been the only member of the Community of Democracy and Rights of Nations that has spoken about the Operation; Abkhazia, South Ossetia, Nagorno-Karabakh, and Transnistria have said nothing.

Also notably, Foreign Minister of Sealand Tonwen Barry has said nothing on the issue, as has Prince Michael Bates.



Excerpt from The Principality of Sealand: a New History by Sulwyn Humphries, published in Fort Roughs, Sealand, 2015

For the next seven years the Principality was unable to gain any significant diplomatic recognition beyond that of Germany; overtures to the United Kingdom were rejected out of hand. One of the main reasons that world governments refused to acknowledge the existence of the new nation was its lack of population and territory; Sealand was fundamentally still a handful of people on a wartime anti-air platform.

The year 1984, however, was when the tide began to turn for little Sealand. The government of British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher had ordered the closure of various mines throughout the country on the basis that they were economically unfeasible to continue running. The National Union of Miners (NUM), the main labour union led by Arthur Scargill, had called a massive national strike. The strike became violent, with striking workers attacking strike breakers. Scargill's support of Communist regimes in Eastern Europe made the popularity of the strike deteriorate among the public and increasingly the workers; by 1985 the NUM voted to return to work, thoroughly defeated in the public's eyes. In Kent and in Yorkshire, in Scotland and in the Midlands, in County Durham and in South Wales miners returned to work dejectedly, and disillusionment with both the government and the NUM were widespread.

Prince Paddy Roy Bates, on his little platform, saw the widespread discontent as potential for a new start; these were people who could be persuaded to emigrate. Bates promised work and good pay in case they were to come build his new small country, and as such returned to the United Kingdom to visit the areas where the strikes were the worst. His speaking tour attracted media attention and much derision from the government.

However, many were receptive to his promises. In 1985, several hundred miners and other disaffected workers sold their homes and most of their belongings and pooled their resources with that of Bates and the government of Sealand. Investing in construction materials, Sealand began the construction of other platforms that were linked via platform to the main platform, Fort Roughs; its nature as the original platform, as well as the meeting place of the Sealand government, is why the platform is listed as the capital of the Principality on international lists.

The fisheries that became the bases of the Sealand economy began during this time, as did the small publishing houses and craftworks that have made the Principality well known. The first new platform, Fort Cortonwood, was established in late 1985, and had both of those industries. Quickly, a parliament of Sealand was established in a room on Fort Roughs. By the end of 1985, the Principality had some four hundred residents and three forts.



Excerpt from the Times of London, August 2014

BATES ANNOUNCES CONTRIBUTION TO ANTI-ISIS FORCE

FORT ROUGHS, SEALAND - Michael Bates, the crown prince of Sealand, has announced on behalf of the Sealand parliament that the small principality will be contributing forces to combat the threat of the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) that is rampaging throughout the Middle East.

In a speech to the press on the national capital of Fort Roughs, Bates, flanked by Prime Minister Edward Bradford, said that the Sealand Armed Forces would be contributing three planes, ten helicopters and four hundred soldiers to the war effort. "The Islamic State is a threat to all humanity," said Bates, "and Sealand will stand with other nations in the world in the fight for freedom from such barbarism."

The Sealand Army is based on a string of forts on the eastern edge of the Principality, with the main commanding base being Fort Scargill. The Sealand Army trains with the British Army on the British mainland and in overseas territories. The Sealand Air Force, composed of the three planes and ten helicopters, is based on Fort Betteshanger, adjacent to the only airstrip in the Principality; the helicopters can land on several platforms, Fort Roughs included. The Sealand Air Force is equipped with vehicles acquired from German companies; the Army uses weapons of British manufacture. The Sealand Navy consists of a small fleet of patrol boats and will not be participating in the intervention.

There have been minor protests in Sealand, with a small cadre of young citizens occupied the Parliament Complex on Fort Roughs. However, the population has generally been supportive of the intervention; the majority of criticism has come from abroad. Russian President Vladimir Putin has condemned the intervention, as has Syrian President Bashar al-Assad. Perhaps more relevant is the criticism from the government in exile's Prime Minister Johannes Seiger, who denounced the intervention as "criminal."

This is not the first time Sealand has deployed forces to aid international coalitions; the Principality did so for the first time during the Yugoslav wars, then Afghanistan, then most controversially Iraq.



Excerpt from The Principality of Sealand: a New History by Sulwyn Humphries, published in Fort Roughs, Sealand, 2015

In the German Democratic Republic, Honecker and Achenbach were able to establish a rapport; the two governments were aligned in that regard, although mostly out of convenience. Achenbach, in a lavish ceremony in East Berlin, had demonstrated commitment to the "Marxist-Leninist cause," and denounced American and other Western foreign policy. In exchange, Honecker's government would support Achenbach's claim as the legitimate government of Sealand.

From there, Honecker urged the other leaders of the Eastern bloc to recognize Achenbach's claim; the first to do the same was Poland's Henryk Jablonski in 1976. Within the year the entirety of the Eastern Bloc had recognized Achenbach as the legitimate government of Sealand; by extension, they had in effect recognized the existence of a Sealander state, if only with a government in exile.

In the West, this spurred recognition of Bates' government. With the Communist announcements of recognition (including several in the Soviet-leaning third world), the governments of Western nations saw the possibility of a propaganda coup lest the Soviets gain the advantage. After West German, Canada recognized Bates' government, followed by the three governments of the Low Countries. From there, in a reversal of the Vietnam-era conception of Communism's spread, the nations of Europe and later the United States voted to extend their recognition to Bates' government through the late seventies to the mid eighties; the explosion of the country's population gave even more legitimacy to him.

The United States President, Ronald Reagan, hailed Sealand as a "bastion of liberty" in Europe, "standing firm against the Evil Empire." This was considered an affront to British sovereignty by Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher, who already had issues with the Americans regarding their activity in the Falklands War. It would take until the election of Labour Prime Minister Tony Blair in 1997 for the state to achieve British recognition.



Excerpt from the Sealand Gazette, 2005

NEW CENSUS DATA RELEASED

FORT ROUGHS - The Principality's Ministry of Commerce's Census Department has released its new Demographic and Economic Report to Prince Paddy Roy and Prime Minister Lauren Rhodes.

The report has assembled social and economic data for the purpose of governmental services to the various groups of the Sealander population, and Parliament is expected to act upon it.

Notably, 15% of individuals currently living in the Principality were born in the principality, almost double of the previous rate in 2000. The immigrants that have moved to our country in years since 1985 have swelled our population, and the birthrate has climbed substantially. The majority of inhabitants of the country are of European descent, mostly British (of those, English, then Welsh, then Scottish), followed by those from the former Yugoslavia, then others, mostly Africans (of those, Somalis, Rwandans, and Nigerians dominate). The non-Britons come mostly from refugee areas.

Economically, the majority of the population of the Principality works in either crafts or in fishing; the latter provides the majority of the Principality's native food source. Secondary industries include construction and power generation via hydroelectric methods, as well as a select few who go on excursions to the North Sea for petroleum. Other sectors include the Principality government and the Principality military, which is currently deployed in Afghanistan and in Iraq.

Income levels reveal a distribution of income not unlike the rest of the developed nations, with poor, middle-class, and rich residents. Employment rates are currently at some ninety percent of the population.

Most individuals own their own homes, which are on a variety of different forts. Fort Cargill, Fort Grimethorpe, and Fort Orgreave. are the most populous. Fort Roughs comes in seventh in terms of population.



Excerpt from The Principality of Sealand: a New History by Sulwyn Humphries, published in Fort Roughs, Sealand, 2015

The decline of the Eastern Bloc and the fall of Communism in Eastern Europe was deeply distressing to the Sealand Government Exile, still based in East Berlin in 1989. The gaffe by Gunter Schabowski, a spokesman for the German Democratic Republic's government, that opened the Berlin Wall in November of 1989, sent the message to Prime Minister Achenbach and the rest of his government that they had better leave the country, and quickly.

Sealand, being an internationally recognized state by the majority of the nations of the world, would not be welcome in a unified Germany that was friendly to the West. Indeed, after the fall of the Wall the government exile moved from East Berlin to Dresden to anticipate a hasty evacuation from Germany and potentially escape elsewhere. Poland and the other newly democratized states would not accept them, for they would gravitate right towards Washington and, more importantly to Achenbach, London.

For a while, the government in exile went gallivanting around Europe, taking up residence in Switzerland, Liechtenstein, Austria, and Turkey for brief periods of time between 1989 and 1994. However, the government in exile would find a home for the latter half of the decade with the election of Alexander Lukashenko to the Presidency of Belarus. Anti-American and authoritarian in his own right, not unlike the former Communist regimes, the Government in Exile asked Lukashenko to establish itself in Minsk, its capital. Lukashenko agreed.

The Government in Exile kept a low profile, only making short statements regarding crises such as the Yugoslav Wars and the Rwandan Genocide. Lukashenko did not want added attention given to the fledgling Belarusian regime, and Achenbach allowed him this luxury.

Achenbach would move the government to its current home in Moscow, capital of the Russian Federation, when Vladimir Putin was elected President of the country in 2000. With the rise of Russia as a new economic power, Achenbach saw a valuable ally, and moved the government to Moscow. Establishing relations with Putin, the government in exile would cement its status as being staunchly anti-Western.



Excerpt from the Sealand Gazette, 2015

SEIGER PETITIONS PUTIN TO JOIN EURASIAN ECONOMIC UNION

MOSCOW - Johannes Seiger, the Prime Minister of the Sealand Government in Exile, has made a request of Russian Vladimir Putin, and the rest of his government, to allow the government in exile to join the Eurasian Economic Union, the organization that came into effect on New Year's that allows the economic unification of Russia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Belarus, and Armenia.

Seiger said that "Sealand will benefit immensely from Russian and other trade brought in by the agreement. However, many suspect that Seiger has ulterior motives, as participation in the EEU is currently entwined with membership in the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO). From there, it is believed that Seiger is trying to muster the forces of Russia and its allies to retake the Principality from Prince Michael.

If Seiger were to succeed in joining, says Government-in-Exile expert James Dunbar, the move would mostly be symbolic. "Seiger's government has no defensive or economic assets that would benefit Russia's geopolitical situation," said Dunbar. "The Russians haven't allowed the rest of the Community for Democracy and Rights of Nations in, and I doubt they'll let Seiger's government in."

Prime Minister of the legitimate government of the Principality Edward Bradford has commented that Seiger's plan is "ridiculous," going on to elaborate that Seiger does not control the actual Principality. "We control the country from Fort Roughs," he said, "and Seiger lives in Moscow."

President Putin has said that he will "consider" Seiger's proposal, but has made no comments reflecting an inclination to let Seiger in.

Excerpt from The Principality of Sealand: a New History by Sulwyn Humphries, published in Fort Roughs, Sealand, 2015

With the dissolution of the Eastern Bloc and the Soviet Union itself disintegrating not long afterwards, the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) was put under pressure to begin the incorporation of the newly liberated nations of Eastern Europe into its folds. It took years for this; the first new incorporations were in 1999, when Hungary, the Czech Republic, Poland, and Sealand joined the fray.

Sealand, looking to exploit the situation, applied for NATO membership in 1992. This was considered by the various aligned governments, but was blocked in no uncertain terms by the government of the United Kingdom. Britain had seen the international recognition of Sealand as an embarrassment to its territorial integrity, especially given its population of disillusioned miners leftover from the strikes. The Thatcher government had adamantly refused to recognize the microstate, as had her successor John Major.

However, as the decade went by and British popular discontent with the Conservatives increased, Prince Paddy had the idea of contacting the National Executive Committee of the Labour Party, the opposition to the Conservatives, and discussed with the Party Leader Tony Blair the possibility of recognition under a Labour government. After some persuasion, based mostly on moral grounds, when the election of 1997 rolled around the Committee had voted to include diplomatic recognition of Sealand as part of their platform. The Trade Unions, especially the National Union of Miners, voted in favor of recognition of the Sealanders, for it was their former countrymen that had established that country as a real one.

The election of 1997 was a Labour Party sweep, condemning the Conservatives to opposition status for years to come. When Blair entered 10 Downing Street as Prime Minister, he encouraged the government to extend diplomatic recognition to Sealand. With this, Bates could finally enter the United Kingdom as a head of state and not a disillusioned national.



Excerpt from the Sealand Gazette, 2015

BARRY HAD ROLE IN US-CUBA THAW

HAVANA - Foreign Minister Tonwen Barry has recently been revealed as a key negotiator in the restoration of relations between the United States and Cuba.

In conjunction with Pope Francis and the Government of Canada, Barry assumed a key role at the meetings, where she helped negotiate various economic and political settlements. She was instrumental in seeing the reopening of each nations' respective embassies in Washington and Havana, respectively.

Barry was dispatched by Crown Prince Michael and Prime Minister Edward Bradford. "We have no reason to let one of the last vestiges of the Cold War continue," said Barry in a speech to Parliament shortly after the announcement of resumed relations. "We need to support the cause of peace. Peace cannot ensue with no relations as such."

Barry went on to criticize the American embargo on Cuba, saying that it was "counterproductive" and "outdated." Similar sentiments have come from Prime Minister Bradford and Prince Michael himself.

President Obama thanked Sealand for its role in ending this crisis, saying that "the people of the United States and of Cuba are indebted to the role played by the Principality of Sealand." Similar statements have come from Cuban president Raul Castro, who also echoed Barry's statements about the embargo.



Excerpt from The Principality of Sealand: a New History by Sulwyn Humphries, published in Fort Roughs, Sealand, 2015

The refusal of the United Kingdom to recognize Sealand had delayed its accession to the European Union; it had applied to join in 1995, but the Conservative government in London staunchly objected. It took until 2004 for the European Union to allow the country in as part of an enlargement that principally consisted of states in Eastern Europe, many part of the former Warsaw Pact and Yugoslavia.

The smallest member of the A11 group of member nations that joined that year, Sealand was eager to integrate itself with the European continent in general. Unlike the United Kingdom and Ireland, Sealand was more than happy to adhere to the Schengen Agreement, and opened its borders post-haste to the other parts of Europe; no longer dependent on Britain for transportation, the Sealand government established a ferry line between Fort Swansea and Lille in France, with more lines established between the Sealandic ports of Fort Easington, Fort Matthews, and Fort Scargill and the French ports of Le Havre and Caen, as well as the Belgian port of Ostend and the Dutch ports of Amsterdam and Rotterdam, among others.

Sealand's governments tended to vote in favor of European integration; the country voted in favor of the Treaty of Lisbon and in favor of other various agreements. In 2005, the country formally joined the Eurozone, eschewing the former Sealandic Pound, tied to the British point out of necessity more than anything else. Now, the country was united monetarily with France, Germany, and other European economies.

Sealand's fortunes soared with EU membership; accession to the Union had facilitated investment in the country by EU businesses. The nation tripled in size, with new forts, such as Fort Brussels, Fort Maastricht, Fort Rome, and Fort Strasbourg named in honor of the newfound cooperation. New immigrants from the European countries flowed in, enriching the culture of the country. European integration seemed like it would promise a bright future.



Excerpt from The Principality of Sealand: a New History by Sulwyn Humphries, published in Fort Roughs, Sealand, 2015

The influx of British miners to Sealand in the 1980s brought along a rather unexpected social movement, something that was for the time revolutionary. During the miners' strikes, the members of the LGBT community in Great Britain had organized organization such as Lesbians and Gays Support the Miners to support the effort against the mine closures.

With the exodus of the miners to the fledgling principality, the LGBT groups of the United Kingdom debated on whether to stay or to go. Many of them left with the miners, and established their own communities on the Principality. In their honor, Fort Ashton and Fort Jackson, named for the founders of the movement, were established, with other forts named for other British LGBT activists coming shortly thereafter. The government of Sealand had no issue with the arrivals; Prince Paddy first and foremost desired citizens, and loyal citizens they would be.

The LGBT community on Sealand prospered, with the first Pride Parade held in 1989, after enough of the country was constructed. The government of the country generally had no opinion on the Parades; it was seen as simply freedom of speech and assembly, something that the government of Sealand guaranteed. However, there was no legal recognition of same-sex rights until much later.

It was in 1999 when society had progressed to the point that LGBT couples were deemed such that they should be granted rights of straight couples. Many members of the Parliament of Sealand were friendly to the community, or even LGBT themselves, and so voted in favor a bill proposed by Emily Cartman to legalize same-sex marriage. Sealand was therefore the first country in the world to recognize that right.

With that legalization, LGBT couples throughout the world flocked to Sealand to marry; the population grew by a good few hundred, then a thousand, then two thousand by 2004. Even as the Netherlands and other countries legalized such unions, Sealand would retain that exalted distinction.


Excerpt from The Principality of Sealand: a New History by Sulwyn Humphries, published in Fort Roughs, Sealand, 2015

The September 11th, 2001 attacks on the United States left the nations of the West reeling in horror; soon, the United States and its allies would be launching their invasion of Afghanistan. Sealand, a member of NATO, was more than willing to help this invasion. Prime Minister Bertrand Thorpe promised "all necessary and possible aid" to the United States in both reconstruction and the war effort.

Thorpe originally hailed from Nottinghamshire, an area of the strikes in the 1980s which had resisted a good deal of the NUM's orders. Thorpe agreed with the motives of the Strike but had become increasingly critical of Scargill; nevertheless he emigrated to Sealand after the strike failed. There, he was one of the founding members of the Sealandic Labour Party, which quickly became one of the country's dominant parties. He was elected in 1998 as the leader of the Labour Party, and hence became Prime Minister.

Thorpe's moderate roots led him to embrace a system of political philosophy not unlike that of the Blairite New Labour popular in the United Kingdom in the late 1990s, formed as a reaction to so many years of Conservative dominance in the country. Emphasizing center-left politics rather than the radical socialist roots of both the Labour Party and the National Union of Mineworkers, Both British and Sealandic Labour saw the need for intervention in Afghanistan. "Threats to civil liberty are waiting in every corner of the world," said Thorpe at a press conference in Fort Scargill, as the first planes to Afghanistan would bring the initial Sealandic forces to support Operation Enduring Freedom.

[...]

In 2003, Prime Minister Thorpe supported the governments of the United States and the United Kingdom in their invasion of Iraq with the expressed intention of toppling Saddam Hussein; Minister of Defense Eric Beasley spoke to the United Nations during the fateful testimony of Colin Powell. When the United States and its allies invaded, Sealand troops and aircraft were at their side.



Excerpt from the Sealand Gazette, 2015

SEVERAL FORTS DESTROYED IN ISIS BOMBING

FORT ROUGHS - Prime Minister of the Principality Edward Bradford has vowed "revenge" against the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) for undertaking a massive bombing that destroyed the Forts of Derby, Aberdeen, Cornwall, Dartford, Durham, and Pontypool.

The bomb was detonated at roughly nine PM Greenwich Mean Time on mostly residential and commercial Forts, destroying the above and damaging several others. The current death toll is somewhere around two hundred, with at least three hundred injured. "This is the worst attack in Sealand history," said Bradford, "dwarfing Achenbach's coup in scale. Never have we been exposed to such brutality."

Reclamation teams scrambled from the naval base at Fort Ipswich, the main naval base of the Principality, and helicopter support came from Fort Scargill, the foremost air base. Immediately, medical support came from Britain, France, and the Netherlands. France, who only recently suffered a horrific attack in Paris that killed over a hundred, has since offered the most aid. "We will help any other country that has suffered from such barbarity" said French President Francois Hollande in a speech in Paris.

Reclamation has begun immediately, with reconstruction teams coming in to stabilize the surrounding forts. "If all is well," said Hannah Dwyer, the director of the reclamation efforts from the Ministry of the Interior, "the forts should be rebuilt by the end of next year." Work brigades, made up of both regulars and concerned locals, banded together to support reconstruction.

The remaining wounded have been brought to Prince Paddy Roy Bates Hospital in Fort Grimethorpe, which quickly was filled to its capacity. Airlifts have brought the injured to hospitals in the United Kingdom, Belgium, France, and the Channel Islands to relieve Prince Paddy's.

Prime Minister Bradford assured the Sealandic Parliament that "revenge will come," and that he is stepping up cooperation with the United States in the fight against terrorism. Perhaps most controversial was an emergency conscription bill that passed the House of Commons, which would draft "any able-bodied man and woman who is not engaged in an essential activity to the propagation of the Sealandic state."

Bradford defended this proposal from opposition critics; he said the following on the issue:

"Sealand needs every single person it can to fight against this menace. We were a society of obedience to the state and submission to the common good. We will not allow that to be destroyed."