Kingdom of Humanity
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The Kingdom of Humanity, surrounded by the Humanity Sea, a micronation, was a kingdom in the Spratly Islands established in 1878 by British captain James George Meads, who proclaimed himself King James I. Offered as a home for the poor and oppressed of Europe, at the time of King James' death in 1888 the kingdom had around 2,000 residents.
King James was succeeded by his son King George I, who negotiated diplomatic ties with larger powers. He was able to secure defensive support from England with the 1893 Treaty of Southwark, in exchange for berthing privileges at the kingdom's ports.
King Franklin I succeeded after King George's death in 1914. During his reign, the kingdom's flag was designed, a university was established, and the population of the kingdom grew to 7,000.
Although peaceable, the kingdom was often threatened by pirates. The valuable islands were later occupied by French troops in 1933, and by Japanese forces in 1939.
With the Japanese invasion, King Franklin was forced to leave to Australia. The remaining soldiers were executed, and Itu Aba became a submarine base. The anniversary of the invasion was later remembered in the public holiday called Martyr's Day.
King Franklin was eventually succeeded by his grandson Morton F. Meads (his son Josiah died of malaria before his coronation). Meads found it necessary to buy back some of the kingdom's territory, which had been sold by an Indian sultan named Songhrati.
In 1963, the Kingdom of Humanity merged with another micronation, the Republic of Morac-Songhrati-Meads.
[edit] Other micronations claimed in the Spratly & Paracel Islands
[edit] Further reading
- Marwyn S. Samuels, Contest for the South China Sea. (1982)
- Samuel Pyeatt Menefee, "Republics of the Reefs":|Nation-Building on the Continental Shelf and in the World's Oceans, California Western International Law Journal, vol. 25, no. 1, Fall, 1994, pp. 83-85.
- A History of the Republic of Morac-Songhrati-Meads
- KoH flag at FOTW.net
