Map of the Fortnight 272: Stuck in the Middle of You

[CourageousLife]

Stuck in the Middle of You

The Challenge
Make a map of an independent nation that is entirely surrounded by another country.

The Restrictions
There are no restrictions on when your PoD or map may be set. Fantasy, sci-fi, and future maps are allowed, but blatantly implausible (ASB) maps are not.

If you're not sure whether your idea meets the criteria of this challenge, please feel free to PM me or comment in the main thread.

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The entry period for this round shall end when the voting thread is posted on Monday the 3rd of April.

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THIS THREAD IS FOR ENTRIES ONLY.

Any discussion must take place in the main thread. If you post anything other than a map entry (or a description accompanying a map entry) in this thread then you will be asked to delete the post. If you refuse to delete the post, post something that is clearly disruptive or malicious, or post spam then you may be disqualified from entering in this round of MotF and you may be reported to the board's moderators.
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[Reagent]

Map style heavily inspired by reddit user u/Alagremm

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The “Government of the Republic of Poland in exile” – known more commonly as Maczków after it’s de facto headquarters – is not only one of the longest-lasting governments-in-exile, but also one of the few to govern territory outside of its claimed territory. The government-in-exile claims to be the legitimate government of Poland, which is currently ruled by the Polish United Workers Party as a Communist one-party state. In addition, the government-in-exile also administers a tiny enclave inside of Germany, where the government-in-exile’s current headquarters of Maczków is located. While not formally claimed as sovereign territory by the government-in-exile, the Maczków de facto operates as one of the European microstates – and is home to a Polish population of around 25,000.

At the moment of Nazi Germany’s defeat in the Second World War, hundreds of thousands of Poles, were interned in what would become the British occupation zone of Germany. Many were forced laborers, but an appreciable contingent were members of the Polish Home Army that had been captured in the aftermath of the failed Warsaw Uprising and sent to prisoner camps. To house these displaced persons, the British occupation authorities evicted Germans civilians from a number towns, notably the city of Haren, and Polish families moved into the now vacated homes. The town of Haren was initially renamed Lwów, as many Poles who moved there were from East Galicia, but under diplomatic pressure from the Soviet Union (which annexed the city into the Ukrainian SSR) it was renamed Maczków in honor of General Stanisław Maczek.

The Polish Government-in-exile did not intend to occupy Maczków and its environs for long. However, after Communists in control of Poland (with the backing of the USSR) promulgated a new citizenship decree stripping citizenship from those who refused repatriation, many Poles (who did not wish to return to their homeland at the moment for fear of reprisals by the new Communist regime) found themselves stateless), some number emigrated to the British Commonwealth Countries or the United States, but a significant portion of Poles decided to reside in Maczków. The smaller Polish enclaves in the British occupation zone were gradually abandoned over the course of 1946-1948, but the city of Maczków, the largest Polish enclave and home to much of the surviving anti-Communist Polish intelligentsia, remained administered by the Polish government-in-exile.

As the Allies talked about combining their occupation zones into a pro-Western German state (which would become the Federal Republic of Germany, or “West Germany” in 1949), the issue of Maczków’s long-term status came to a head. Ultimately, the Poles were allowed to keep control of the city due to the lobbying of the United States. Many credit this to the intervention of the Polish diaspora in America, who were quite numerous in the crucial swing state of Illinois ahead of the 1948 Presidential election.

Maczków initially shared a border with the Netherlands after the controversial “Emsland Annexation” in 1947, but transformed into an enclave of West Germany after the Netherlands returned most of Emsland to West Germany in 1956. While not formally a member, Maczków is de facto treated as part of the European Economic Community and uses the Deutsche Mark as its currency. Economically, Maczków has invested in tourism and some light manufacturing, and is further supported by donations from the Polish diaspora in the west. While today Poland still remains under the rule of a one-party Marxist state propped up by the Soviet Union, the Polish government-in-exile still claims to be the legitimate government of the territory and plans to return to power when circumstances allow.

 

[Libaton]

 

[Kruglyasheo]

In August 1991, The State Committee on the State of Emergency, also known as the GKChP, attempted to overthrow the President of the Soviet Union, Mikhail Gorbachev. The coup failed, but the leaders of the GKChP managed to escape to the Mari El Republic, located in central Russia. Mari El was a small and relatively insignificant region, yet it was home to the 14th Missile Division, which had at least 60 nuclear warheads.

Having gained control of the nuclear weapons, the GKChP declared the independence of Mari El, proclaiming a socialist republic based on Marxist-Leninist principles. They hoped that their example would inspire other Soviet republics to follow suit, creating a new socialist federation. To avoid a catastrophic nuclear conflict, Russia agreed to the demands of the State Emergency Committee, and Mari El became an independent socialist state in 1992. However, the survival of the new state depended heavily on the help of the blackmailed world community, it lacked the resources to sustain itself and suffered from corruption and economic inefficiency.

The Mari El regime managed to survive for a half a dozen years, however, it never attracted any significant support from other former Soviet republics, which were more interested in their own independence and economic reforms. Meanwhile, Yeltsin's government developed a new generation of nuclear weapons, which made the Mari El arsenal obsolete. Yeltsin also used diplomatic pressure and covert operations to weaken the Mari El regime, and it finally surrendered in 1997.​

 

[Prince di Corsica]

I apologize for a late and somewhat under-developed entry, but these last weeks have turned to hell but I still wanted to share my work for this contest

The Fort-State: from Smallest Colony to Smallest Country

Don't really have the time to do a full write-up, sorry, but the basic idea is Fort of S. John of Ajudá surviving somehow and becoming an independent State. I was thinking of it being used as sort of a tax/data haven that for some reason African dictators appreciate keeping around, making it last longer.

It would absolutely be the tiniest sovereign state out there, being around 100x80 meters, so roughly 8000 sq meters in size, making the Vatican's 440.000 sq meters look mighty in comparison. It would also be able to house around 5 people, most likely, and obviously having to import absolutely everything, especially if they're running on being a data center. There's solar panels on the buildings, but that would barely be a dent on the energy expenses.

The flag looks... Bad, but that's kind of the point. I can't really see a State like this having a decent flag. Anyway, some may notice it has elements from the Alamo flag, which I thought was well-suited, with the canons and shield being displayed as they are in the Fort. I thought that looked fun. And of course, "molon labe!" is just "come and take it" in the original Greek.​