Principality of Outer Baldonia
Encyclopedia
The Principality of Outer Baldonia is a now defunct micronation
Micronation
Micronations, sometimes also referred to as model countries and new country projects, are entities that claim to be independent nations or states but which are not recognized by world governments or major international organizations...

 whose territorial pretensions comprised the roughly 4 acres (16,187.4 m²) of Outer Bald Tusket Island
Tusket Islands
The Tusket Islands are a number of islands located in the Atlantic Ocean, south of Yarmouth, Nova Scotia.The islands stretch along the coast from Pinkney's Point to Wedgeport and include:* Allen Island* Pease Island* Spectacle Island* Ellenwood Island...

 8 nautical miles (15 km) off the southern tip of the Canadian
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...

 province of Nova Scotia
Nova Scotia
Nova Scotia is one of Canada's three Maritime provinces and is the most populous province in Atlantic Canada. The name of the province is Latin for "New Scotland," but "Nova Scotia" is the recognized, English-language name of the province. The provincial capital is Halifax. Nova Scotia is the...

.

Origins

Founded in 1948 by Russell Arundel, who was an American business man and lobbyist for Pepsi Cola Company (today: PepsiCo
PepsiCo
PepsiCo Inc. is an American multinational corporation headquartered in Purchase, New York, United States, with interests in the manufacturing, marketing and distribution of grain-based snack foods, beverages, and other products. PepsiCo was formed in 1965 with the merger of the Pepsi-Cola Company...

), and entitled the "Prince of Princes" of Outer Baldonia, the Principality is often classed as a 'whimsy state'. Endowed with a charter, flag, and organized military, it was one of the more developed, and highly populated of the various historical micronations. Coinage and passports were also issued.

Apparently, Arundel stumbled upon the island while fishing recreationally for tuna
Tuna
Tuna is a salt water fish from the family Scombridae, mostly in the genus Thunnus. Tuna are fast swimmers, and some species are capable of speeds of . Unlike most fish, which have white flesh, the muscle tissue of tuna ranges from pink to dark red. The red coloration derives from myoglobin, an...

. While there are reports that the island was used as a base for fishing (possibly seasonally), and was also used as a sheep pasture, Arundel negotiated its purchase for $750, and constructed a stone edifice for himself and his friends to use as a fishing lodge during the sport fishing season. Legend has it that it was, in fact, while Arundel and his friends were engaged in an episode of rum drinking, that they conceived, wrote, approved and published the Declaration of Independence of Outer Baldonia. Reflecting the primacy of sport fishers such as Arundel in its leadership, the trappings of the state seem to have teemed with aquatic life. The currency, for example, was called the Tunar.

Geography and demographics

The island is situated to the south of Nova Scotia and a few kilometers off the coast of Yarmouth
Yarmouth, Nova Scotia
Yarmouth is a town and fishing port located on the Gulf of Maine in rural southwestern Nova Scotia, Canada. It is the shire town of Yarmouth County. The town is located in the heart of the world's largest lobster fishing grounds and has Canada's highest lobster catch.- History :The townsite may...

, belongs to the group known as the Tusket Islands, and is relatively flat and treeless. While it is said to have had until the 1960s a local population of Acadian
Acadian
The Acadians are the descendants of the 17th-century French colonists who settled in Acadia . Acadia was a colony of New France...

 fishermen and at least one shepherd, it may be assumed that their habitations were temporary, rather than permanent. It is likely that the fishermen had a few shanties, now rotted away, where they would stop from time to time, or stay for a matter of convenience. The shepherd's use of the island is attested to by a term of the 1973 sale, which promised the extension of grazing rights until the death of the shepherd, which, it seems, was not likely to be much longer.
The only structure of human origin on the island at this date in 2006 is the 30 by 20 feet (6 m) stone building that was built by Russell Arundel, and served as the capitol of Outer Baldonia. This building is in some disrepair, but the initial 'A' is still visible above the mantle.
The vegetation of the island is predominantly Aster, with Queen Anne's lace
Queen Anne's lace
Queen Anne's lace may refer to the following plants:* Ammi majus* Daucus carota* Anthriscus sylvestris...

, tall grasses and Vetch as well. The fauna is primarily avian and arthropodic in nature.

Political pretensions

The exact governmental structure of Outer Baldonia is now difficult to discern. All citizens of the Principality who caught a Bluefin Tuna and paid a $50 fee were accorded the rank of Prince. The ranks of the peerage were limited to 100. It is unclear whether there were any citizens of the state who did not belong to this class. The known figures of government are as follows:

Head of State: Prince of Princes Russell Arundel

Chancellor: Elson Boudreau

Ambassador Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary: Ron Wallace

While never legally recognized by any government other than that of Nova Scotia, Outer Baldonia managed to acquire a certain amount of prestige on the international stage.
Simply by listing his law office's phone number as that of the Consulate of Outer Baldonia in the telephone registry of Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, "the District", or simply D.C., is the capital of the United States. On July 16, 1790, the United States Congress approved the creation of a permanent national capital as permitted by the U.S. Constitution....

, Prince Russell received many invitations to gatherings which he attended in his diplomatic garb, which some say was decorated largely with sardine cans and bottle caps. Outer Baldonia was even invited to apply for membership to the then nascent United Nations
United Nations
The United Nations is an international organization whose stated aims are facilitating cooperation in international law, international security, economic development, social progress, human rights, and achievement of world peace...

. The publication of the Charter of Outer Baldonia brought giggles from some quarters, but stern denunciations from the parodically humourless Soviet Union
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....

. This precipitated a series of events leading to the downfall of the political pretensions of Outer Baldonia.

Charter and Communist critiques thereof

The text of the Charter of Outer Baldonia is preserved today in the Yarmouth County
Yarmouth County, Nova Scotia
For the ship built in Yarmouth County, see County of YarmouthYarmouth County is a rural county in the Canadian province of Nova Scotia. It has both traditional Anglo-Scottish and Acadian French culture as well as significant inland wilderness areas, including over 365 lakes and several major rivers...

 Museum, but we must rely on what few details have been repeated by those familiar with its contents. The general drift may be surmised by the following extract from the Declaration of Independence:

That fishermen are a race alone. That fishermen are endowed with the following inalienable rights: The right to lie and be believed. The right of freedom from question, nagging, shaving, interruption, women, taxes, politics, war, monologues, care and inhibitions. The right to applause, vanity, flattery, praise and self-inflation. The right to swear, lie, drink, gamble and silence. The right to be noisy, boisterous, quiet, pensive, expensive and hilarious. The right to choose company and the right to be alone. The right to sleep all day and stay up all night.

The Charter was surprisingly broad ranging, setting out tax policy, codes of conduct for its citizens, a military hierarchy, as well as trade and industrial policy.
For example, taxes, 'double-talk', and inhibitions were proscribed, while drinking, swearing, and exaggerations of the size of fish were enjoined. Women were banned entirely from the island, but not apparently, from citizenship. Arundel's secretary is known to have been granted the title of Princess. The activity of fishing seems to have been at least implicitly enshrined as a constitutionally mandated activity as well as the production and exportation of empty rum and beer bottles.
Naturally, the charter was generally received in the spirit in which it was intended, but not universally. A communist writer in the Soviet Union published an attack upon the content of the Charter, which she claimed dehumanised and decivilized the citizenry, and upon the person of the Prince of Princes, whom she denounced as a 'savage' Western Imperialist.
This attack upon the reputation and way of life of Outer Baldonia could not be tolerated, and Prince Russell's response led to the most famous episode in the history of the micronation.

Military history

The state's constitutional characteristics seem to have been largely military. Its 70 person population were all titularly, or actually involved in the defense of the island through military means. The Military itself seems to have been limited to a navy of indeterminate size: its personnel was constituted by 69 Admirals of the Fleet, but it is unclear how many ships were at their disposal. Reasonable estimates range between 20 and 100 vessels of varying size, from dories
Dory
The dory is a small, shallow-draft boat, about long. It is a lightweight and versatile boat with high sides, a flat bottom and sharp bows. They are easy to build because of their simple lines. For centuries, dories have been used as traditional fishing boats, both in coastal waters and in the...

 to larger vessels, used primarily for commercial, sport or sustenance fishing.

The bellicose nature of the state was manifested in the most celebrated event in the history of the Principality: its confrontation with the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR)
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....

. It seems that while there were no previous diplomatic relations between the two entities, nor any direct interaction, the fighting spirit of the Outer Baldonians was roused by the appearance of a slanderous critique of Outer Baldonia's charter, as described above, in the USSR state publication Literaturnaya Gazeta
Literaturnaya Gazeta
Literaturnaya Gazeta is a weekly cultural and political newspaper published in Russia and Soviet Union.- Overview :...

. When the Soviet Government declined an invitation to visit and observe the wholesomeness of the micronation's way of life with an eye to retracting its insults, a declaration of war was issued on March 9, 1953. The Baldonian navy put to sea upon a war footing, one that, one may assume, involved a remarkable amount of fishing. Ron Wallace, Ambassador Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary of Outer Baldonia, secured the alliance of the nearby Armdale Yacht Club, which committed its own fleet to the defense of the island Principality. The response from the USSR was, by all accounts, highly satisfactory to Outer Baldonian popular sentiment. Not daring to challenge the Baldonian Navy on the high seas, the USSR merely issued a series of condemnations through their various press outlets.

Alas, the press coverage that resulted involved investigative reporting, which could only have the result of the exposure of the Principality as a humorous half-truth. Accusations of fraud were splashed across the pages of the world's newspapers, the invitations to diplomatic soirées dried up, and Outer Baldonia ceased to exist in the eyes of the world.

Later history of the territory

In 1973, Outer Bald Tusket Island was sold by Russell Arundel for the price of one Canadian dollar to the Nova Scotia Bird Society, who are the current owners. The island has been designated the Earle E. Arundel Breeding Bird Sanctuary. It is open to the public, but may have a tern
Tern
Terns are seabirds in the family Sternidae, previously considered a subfamily of the gull family Laridae . They form a lineage with the gulls and skimmers which in turn is related to skuas and auks...

rookery, and should not be visited during breeding season. Hunting is permitted in season.

Sources

The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.  The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.
 
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