Hey y’all! So this month’s random topic is…Sealand! The principality of Sealand has an area of about 5,940 square feet; not a lot of area for a country! Sealand isn’t recognized by the UN, due to the fact it isn’t really land per se. Sealand was originally a British fortress island called Fort Roughs Tower. It was built during WWII to protect Great Britain from German invaders, but it was built on international waters. Since its very existence was illegal, it was abandoned in the 1950s. People just forgot about it, and it was legally international territory.
In the 1960s, illegal radio broadcaster Roy Bates began using it to broadcast his radio show. BBC controlled the airwaves, so that no one else could broadcast. Sealand was a technicality, since it wasn’t on British soil. Many fought to use the base for their own pirate radio, and there was much fighting. Bates succeeded in claiming it and in and in September of 1967, on his wife’s birthday, he proclaimed it a Sovereign State and made his wife Joan the princess. The British government tried to reclaim it, using helicopters with explosives and a ship, but Bates and his children fired at them and they retreated. When they were brought to court, it was ruled that it was out of British territory and was not under Britain’s laws.
This was not the end of Sealand’s problems. In 1978, when Bates was at a meeting, German and Dutch citizens issued a violent takeover, taking Bate’s son Michael hostage for four days without food or water. When Michael was released, he and Bates launched a counterattack, using a friend’s helicopter. They captured the occupiers as prisoners of war until the countries at fault sent people to negotiate. All this drama for a tiny military base? Yes. Is it still kind of awesome? Absolutely.
Sealand still exists, and is being run by the founders’ children and grandchildren. They produce their own coins, using the currency Sealand Dollar. They also sell titles: for just $30 you can become a Lord or Lady. If you want to be able to brag about your noble status, consider this option. You can also become part of the knighthood, which entails swearing to aid Sealand if they are ever in need of military assistance. Maybe someday the Principality of Sealand will be recognized as a country, but until that day, it is the coolest micronation out there.
~Simia Yoder