Thread by @willscharf

The United Nations says that there are 193 countries in the world.

The United Nations is WRONG.

Because off the coast of England is a totally real country you've probably never heard of called the Principality of Sealand.

Are you ready for a crazy THREAD?

HERE WE GO!

1/26

In the 1960's, pirate radio was apparently huge in England. The BBC had the exclusive broadcast license, so folks would broadcast unlicensed radio from boats offshore.

One of these men was Paddy Roy Bates, a World War II veteran who was repeatedly fined by the government.

2/26

Bates broadcasted from old naval defense platforms off the coast from 1965 through 1967. Notably, he was the first to run a true 24 hour/day pirate station.

But then the Marine Broadcasting Offenses Act came into effect and the government tried to shut down the pirates.

3/26

Paddy Roy Bates's response was nothing short of brilliant.

He had been broadcasting from HM Fort Roughs, a WWII installation that lay slightly more than 6 nautical miles from the coast.

It was technically international waters.

So Bates declared independence.

4/26

Bates declared HM Fort Roughs to be an independent country called the Principality of Sealand and declared himself to be sovereign Prince Roy of Sealand, and his son Michael Crown Prince.

This all would have just been fanciful and meaningless if not for what happened next.

5/26

This is Ronan O'Rahilly in 1967. He's a fascinating guy.

A trained method actor, he ended up being the manager of James Bond actor George Lazenby among others.

Before that, he was a pirate radio guy–his Radio Caroline was one of the giants in that era.

He wanted Sealand.

6/26

O'Rahilly had actually controlled Fort Roughs before Bates, and when he found out what Bates had done, he and some buddies tried to storm Sealand.

Crown Prince Michael and another guy fought them off with gasoline bombs and gunfire.

And then the Royal Navy showed up.

7/26

A couple of times, Royal Naval vessels got close to Sealand, and Crown Prince Michael, who I think was only 15, took potshots at them with an air rifle or a .22 rimfire pistol.

This was a really bad idea for a bunch of reasons, and in 1968 he and his dad were indicted.

8/26

Bates and Michael were charged with violations of the Firearms Act, including possessing a firearm with intent to endanger life.

But then SWEET JUSTICE intervened.

In a widely publicized decision, a court in Chelmsford rejected the indictment for lack of jurisdiction!

9/26

Basically, the court affirmed that Sealand was outside of Britain's territorial waters, and that therefore the UK's admiralty jurisdiction did not extend to cover the charged offenses on Sealand. Sealand was officially not part of the UK!

Bates was vindicated!

10/26

A detente set in between Britain and Sealand.

For the next two decades, Bates continued to go about being an independent nation.

He issued stamps, made coins, and planned any number of other money making schemes that never came to fruition.

And then the Germans came.

11/26

A legal quirk and Sealand's ambiguous status meant that it was potentially the world's greatest tax haven.

Germany and the UK had a tax treaty. Germany considered Sealand part of the UK, but the UK didn't.

Therefore, in theory, income by Germans in Sealand was untaxable.

12/26

This tax plot fell through, but the Germans stuck around.

A self-proclaimed professor named Alexander Achenbach, who had been working with the Bateses, lured them off the platform, and then mercenaries led by Achenbach's lawyer seized Sealand in a heliborne assault.

13/26

They held Crown Prince Michael as a hostage for a couple days then released him.

In response Paddy Roy, Crown Prince Michael, and a couple other guys they apparently rustled up in a pub in Southend got in a rickety helicopter and launched a heliborne assault of their own!

14/26

It was over before it began. Crown Prince Michael fired one warning blast from his sawed-off shotgun and the Germans promptly surrendered like Frenchmen.

Bates released the mercenaries, but held the lawyer, the suitably named Gernot Putz, who had a Sealand passport.

15/26

Bates debated executing Putz for treason, but instead made him "wash the loos and make coffee" for them all while he figured things out.

Diplomacy happened:

The German government demanded that the British government get Putz released.

The British refused, hilariously.

16/26

Citing Sealand's sovereignty and its own lack of jurisdiction, the British told the Germans to pound sand and figure out the situation for themselves.

So the Germans sent the legal attaché from their London embassy out to Sealand to try to negotiate Putz's release.

17/26

Couple quick points:

First, the British clearly didn't intervene just to piss off and embarrass the Germans. Old prejudices and all that.

Second, by treating with Sealand sovereign to sovereign, Germany may have accidentally completed Sealand's claim to actual statehood.

18/26

Traditionally, to be considered an independent country, there are four requirements:

1) Territory. You need to have land not within the recognized jurisdiction of another country. Well, Sealand had that.

2) Population. You need people. Sealand had at least a few.

19/26

3) Government. You need to have a system of governing. Bates had set up a constitutional monarchy, with a constitution, etcb.

4) Recognition. A capacity to conduct international relations. Basically, you need to be recognized as being of equal status by other countries.

20/26

These four criteria of statehood, as set out in the Montevideo Convention of 1933, are well-recognized and generally accepted.

Bates had his territory, his population, and his government.

Did Germany give him the recognition that he needed?

I very much want to think so.

21/26

Sealand kept on trucking after it nearly went to war with Germany.

Bates kept selling passports, coins, stamps, and lordships.

(I gave a Sealand Lordship to a professor at Harvard Law when I graduated).

They tried some more radio stuff, and also offshore server hosting.

22/26

In 1990, there was another dust-up with the Royal Navy where shots were fired, and the Bateses tell a never-ending string of tales about attempted takeovers of their island fastness that they have warded off with gunshots, diplomacy, and their special brand of indignation.

23/26

In 2006, Sealand almost burned down when a fire started in the equipment deployed on the platform by a company called HavenCo.

Crown Prince Michael was able to rebuild though.

Achenbach, by the way, still has a Sealand government in exile in Germany. Which is hilarious.

24/26

Paddy Roy Bates sadly passed in 2012.

"I might die young or I might die old, but I will never die of boredom," he once said.

His son, formerly Crown Prince Michael, rules in his place, and wrote a fun book about it all.

He hasn't shot at the Royal Navy for years.

25/26

If you want updates on Sealand, follow: @sealandgov and @sealandprince, the official accounts of Sealand and Prince Michael!

And if you enjoyed this thread and want to see more, follow me @willscharf and RT the tweet below!

"E Mare Libertas!"

“From the Sea, Freedom!"

26/26

https://twitter.com/willscharf/status/1557013359492579331