Zachariah
Banned
The Republic of Rose Island (Esperanto: Respubliko de la Insulo de la Rozoj) was a micronation on a man-made platform in the Adriatic Sea, 11 kilometres (6.8 mi) off the coast of the province of Rimini, Italy. In 1967, Italian engineer Giorgio Rosa funded the construction of a 400-square-metre (4,300 sq ft) platform supported by nine pylons, and furnished it with a number of commercial establishments, including a restaurant, bar, nightclub, souvenir shop and a post office. Some reports also mention the presence of a radio station, but this remains unconfirmed.
The platform declared independence in May 1968, adopting Esparanto as its national language, under the Esperanto name "Insulo de la Rozoj", with Rosa as self-declared President. Soon afterwards, Rose Island issued a number of stamps, including a stamp showing the approximate location of Rose Island in the Adriatic Sea. The purported currency of the republic was the "Mill" and this appeared on the early stamp issues, although no coins or banknotes are known to have been produced. This denomination was translated into Esperanto as "Miloj" on later stamp issues.
However, Rosa's actions were viewed by the Italian government as a ploy to raise money from tourists while avoiding national taxation. Whether or not this was the real reason behind Rosa's micronation, the Italian government's response was swift: a group of paramilitary and law enforcement officers landed on the "Isola delle Rose" on the 25th June and assumed control. The platform's Council of Government is said to have sent a telegram, presumably to the Italian government, to protest the "violation of its sovereignty and the injury inflicted on local tourism by the military occupation", but this was ignored. And on 13 February 1969, the Italian Navy used explosives to blow the short-lived micronation off the face of the earth, an act later portrayed on postage stamps issued by Rosa's self-declared Government in exile.
So then, your challenge is to come up with plausible scenarios which have the Republic of Rose Island survive to the present day, with a POD no later than the date of its declaration of independence in June 1968. Here are the difficulty bands:
Bronze level- Merely have the Republic of Rose Island survive to the present day in the same manner as the Principality of Sealand.
Silver level- Make the Republic of Rose Island successful to the extent where it has a permanent resident population and economy larger than those of Vatican City by the present day.
Gold level- Have the Republic of Rose Island gain acknowledgement as its own independent nation, with full UN representation, by the present day.
Up for it?
The platform declared independence in May 1968, adopting Esparanto as its national language, under the Esperanto name "Insulo de la Rozoj", with Rosa as self-declared President. Soon afterwards, Rose Island issued a number of stamps, including a stamp showing the approximate location of Rose Island in the Adriatic Sea. The purported currency of the republic was the "Mill" and this appeared on the early stamp issues, although no coins or banknotes are known to have been produced. This denomination was translated into Esperanto as "Miloj" on later stamp issues.
However, Rosa's actions were viewed by the Italian government as a ploy to raise money from tourists while avoiding national taxation. Whether or not this was the real reason behind Rosa's micronation, the Italian government's response was swift: a group of paramilitary and law enforcement officers landed on the "Isola delle Rose" on the 25th June and assumed control. The platform's Council of Government is said to have sent a telegram, presumably to the Italian government, to protest the "violation of its sovereignty and the injury inflicted on local tourism by the military occupation", but this was ignored. And on 13 February 1969, the Italian Navy used explosives to blow the short-lived micronation off the face of the earth, an act later portrayed on postage stamps issued by Rosa's self-declared Government in exile.
So then, your challenge is to come up with plausible scenarios which have the Republic of Rose Island survive to the present day, with a POD no later than the date of its declaration of independence in June 1968. Here are the difficulty bands:
Bronze level- Merely have the Republic of Rose Island survive to the present day in the same manner as the Principality of Sealand.
Silver level- Make the Republic of Rose Island successful to the extent where it has a permanent resident population and economy larger than those of Vatican City by the present day.
Gold level- Have the Republic of Rose Island gain acknowledgement as its own independent nation, with full UN representation, by the present day.
Up for it?
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