The Novasolum Regional Community was founded in 2005 as a result of efforts led by John Darcy and Koen Nevens, two prominent Anthelians. The Community quickly became one of the most successful intermicronational organisations in the Anglophone Simulationist Community’s history. This would not last. A series of internal conflicts involving some of the partner micronations would eventually lead to the disintegration of the Community: firstly, the diplomatic distrust that formed between Alexandria and Anthelia; secondly, the mistreatment of Natopia by its fellow Novasolum partners; and finally, the standoff between Gotzborg and Paulovia that resulted from Anthelia seeking annexation by the former. It was this standoff that served as the “last straw” for Novasolum, after which the Community effectively ceased to exist as a multilateral partnership.

The Parties – in terms of Novasolum

The Empire of the Alexandrians, known as Madland when founded in 2002, was the centre of democracy in Novasolum, with a thriving elected Parliament. It was also the military power of the Regional Community, and known for being an active “hands-on” player in shaping intermicronational security and diplomacy. The Empire was widely respected throughout the intermicronational community, and considered one of its leaders. With Gotzborg, it represented the vast majority of the citizenry of Novasolum.

The Republic of Anthelia was founded in 2004 by John Darcy, and catapulted onto the intermicronational stage by Koen Nevens, in April 2005, with his famed “Nevens Communiqué,” which revived activity in the micronation and attracted new citizens. Both Darcy and Nevens would establish themselves as highly-respected micronationalists in the Anglophone Simulationist Community, and were the guiding forces behind the creation of the Treaty that ultimately formed the successful Novasolum Regional Community.

The Kingdom of Gotzborg came to the Internet micronational community in March 2004 under the guidance of its founder and king, August Charles II. Under his guidance, the Kingdom quickly became one of the most respected, developed and active micronations in the community, renowned for its diplomatic soundness and fairness. Its highly-successful and strong economy saw it become the centre of the Novasolum Regional Community’s market, and it played a leading role in the leadership of NovaPol, the Community’s policing partnership.

The Kingdom of Paulovia debuted on the Internet in 2005 under the leadership of Prince Paul, having previously been an offline experience, much like Gotzborg. Paulovia emulated the attention to detail that Gotzborg had debuted with and both micronations quickly became friends and allies. While never able to attract more than its original offline population, Paulovia managed to create a successful micronational presence through its active diplomacy, spearheaded by Ambassador James.

First Conflicts in Novasolum

The four aforementioned micronations, together with the Sovereign Empire of Natopia, formed the Novasolum Regional Community (the “Community”). The Novasolum Regional Community, which came into existence in 2005 under the Treaty of Novasolum, was a close-knit group of micronations that strived for the creation of a common economic and political continental partnership (first on the Micras world map, and later on the Giess world map).

The Novasolum Regional Community was, in general, a strong and amicable partnership, resulting from multilateral efforts that initially brought together its members to define the climate and topography of the Micras continent that these partners named “Novasolum” (now “Tapfer”). At times, however, the partners found themselves conflicting on a variety of issues, and while only a few major disagreements would erupt between them, these instances served to seed the path to the partnership’s destruction.

When, in May 2006, the Alexandrian government uncovered a high-level spy operating on behalf of the Kingdom of Lovely (Anthony Montague^[I]), Alexandria instigated war with Lovely and called for the support of its Novasolum partners under the auspices of the Novasolum Treaty. Determining that, under the technical definitions put forth by the Treaty, the Alexandrians were the military aggressors in this conflict, the Anthelians refused to come to the aid of their partner, triggering the first fissure in the amity created by the Regional Community. Ten weeks after the event, in August, Alexandrian Conservative hardliner and prominent statesman Jose Frias tabled a resolution to remove Alexandria from the Treaty, citing Anthelia’s “bias” against his nation during the incident with Lovely, and accused Anthelia of using the Treaty as a tool to “advance its own ambitions and to undermine the national sovereignty of other nations for the advancements [sic] of [Anthelia’s] interests.”^[II] (A view undoubtedly influenced by the Community’s founding being pioneered by two prominent Anthelians – John Darcy and Koen Nevens.) While the resolution ultimately failed, with a tie and two abstentions in the Alexandrian Parliament, the tone of Alexandria-Anthelia affairs for the future had been set by Frias.

The partnership would be further fractured once again that August, with the founding of the Geographical Standards Organisation (the “Organisation”), a rival fictional mapping body to the Micronational Cartography Society (the “Society”). With the founding of the Organisation, the nations of Novasolum left the Society’s Micras map promptly to take up new residence in the Organisation’s Giess map version of the continent of Novasolum. Unfortunately, due to a breakdown in communications, the Alexandrians forgot to inform the Natopians of the move, as well as the secret planning session to create the Organisation in the weeks leading up to the public revelation. The remaining Novasolum partners also had all neglected to ensure that Natopia was informed of the deliberations and move. Consequently, Natopia withdrew from the Treaty in a matter of days following the Organisation’s public start-up. Natopia’s leader, Nathan Shepard, expressed his micronation’s anger with its Novasolum partners, describing their actions, and the founding of the Organisation, simply as “nastiness and betrayal”.^[III]

Now a partnership of four micronations – Alexandria, Anthelia, Gotzborg and Paulovia – the Novasolum Regional Community had been severely damaged by these two events, leading to a breakdown in the amicable relationship between half of the remaining partners. Yet, Gotzborg and Paulovia, with their good relationships with both Alexandria and Anthelia, were able to provide the diplomatic means for the continuation of the Community, even if Alexandria and Anthelia were no longer diplomatically friendly. Within months, however, as Anthelia lay dying from near-zero activity levels from its citizenry, a final blow to the Community would occur, as Paulovia undertook a belligerent stance against Anthelia and Gotzborg when it discovered that Anthelia was contemplating requesting annexation by Gotzborg.

The Question of Anthelia’s Future

Anthelia’s uncertain future became evident following the July 2006 Executive Council elections in which John Darcy and Darius Banting were elected to lead the Republic (with Darcy assuming the presidency). A month after the conclusion of the election, Anthelian media began reporting on the dismal activity of the national government, accusing both Darcy and Banting of failing in their duties to the Republic through the lack of announcing programming and regular activity.^[IV]

By that October, the future of Anthelia was looking even gloomier. Activity levels had plummeted as the lack of active leadership in the national government trickled through the remainder of the population, essentially paralysing the nation. On 4 October, the Speaker of the Anthelian Parliament, Koen Nevens, tabled a resolution that directed the Executive Council to begin negotiations with the Kingdom of Gotzborg with the intent that Anthelia would cede its sovereignty to that nation, which he felt had forged “a common destiny” with the Republic^[V]. Noting that “the activity of the citizens … has been at an all-time low” and that President Darcy had shown a “lack of interest in the future of the micronation”^[VI], Nevens successfully convinced the only remaining active citizen, Banting, to support the resolution. By 6 October, negotiations with the Gotzborg Royal Government were underway, with Nevens representing the Republic’s interests.

In Alexandria, the news of the resolution and negotiations was met with little concern and even support. In Paulovia, the response was the complete opposite as the Paulovian government moved quickly to issue its own ultimatum to Anthelia before any annexation was formalised.

The Paulovian response to Nevens’ resolution was communicated to the Anthelian government on 9 October, by Paulovia’s Ambassador James. In the communiqué, Paulovia’s growing concern with the plan to cede Anthelia to Gotzborg was blatant: any such annexation would “seriously unbalance the political, economic and strategic status quo of the Novasolum continent and continental treaty.”^[VII] Paulovia went on to assert that annexation by Gotzborg would potentially create a situation in which other nations would attempt to seize parts of Anthelian territory, causing insecurity along the borders of neighbouring nations.

For Paulovia, the only acceptable future for Anthelia was under four scenarios, which effectively constituted the Paulovian ultimatum to Anthelia. The options laid out by the Paulovian government included: triumvirate (joint rule by Alexandria, Gotzborg and Paulovia); regency (the monarchs of Alexandria, Gotzborg, and Paulovia alternate through the regency of Anthelia on a rotating schedule); multiple annexations with safeguards (Anthelia would be split into three land parcels, with each parcel being annexed by the three remaining Novasolum nations, while ensuring the protection of Anthelian cultural rights); and, a simplified annexation that was essentially the previous option, minus the protection of Anthelian culture^[VIII]. The Paulovian government favoured the multiple annexations with safeguards approach, and to emphasise its demands, the Paulovian military was hastily mobilised on 10 October, with its 1st Army sent to Port Opulenza marshalling points.

The Paulovian mobilisation had the effect of destroying any prospect of a reasonable discussion of its terms to Anthelia. Executive Councillor Banting, in a discussion with Ambassador James, questioned the Ambassador’s claims (which followed the mobilisation) that Paulovia was a loyal ally. According to Banting, “an army mobilising and the hostile-tone [sic] of [Paulovia’s] diplomatic message … Paulovia has no intent in letting the Anthelian government continue in power unless it chooses one of Paulovia’s four options”.^[IX]

In Gotzborg, the Royal Government had come to the same conclusion as Banting. Within hours of the Paulovian mobilisation, a national security council consisting of King August Charles II, General Liam Sinclair of the Royal Security Police Service and Colonel Sir Hugh O’Neill of the Royal Army was convened and Gotzborg began planning the defence of Anthelia against potential Paulovian aggression (OPERATION SUNSHINE^[X]). The end of the Novasolum Regional Community success story was imminent.

The Gotzborg – Paulovia Incident

The Gotzborg mobilisation moved quickly. On 11 October, both the Royal Security Police Service and the Gotzborg military were placed on heightened alert. In the former, officers were advised that “[intelligence] has been received concerning possible hostile intent of certain foreign interests against Anthelia and potentially [the] Royal Kingdom,”^[XI] though that was the extent of the details given. It would not be until the official launch of OPERATION SUNSHINE later that day that most of Gotzborg’s population, including police and military alike, would learn that the threat was Paulovia.

The Gotzborg mobilisation began with the Army District of Reichlau (VII Corps) being raised to “Alert Status” at 07h43 GTZ on 11 October^[XII], with its commanding officer being assigned in support of OPERATION SUNSHINE. Within twelve hours, all operational vessels of the Royal Navy, under the command of Admiral His Grace Nicholas, the Grand Duke of Markham, were ordered to conduct their “annual” Fall Operational Naval Exercises to further pressure Paulovia into backing down.^[XIII] With no sign of Paulovia backing down from its mobilisation the following day, 12 October, the Gotzborg War Office increased pressure by deploying OPERATION SUNSHINE forces to the Gotzborg-Anthelia border, ready to intercept any Paulovian advance, while the Gotzborg-Paulovia (Oros Protectorate) border to the north was reinforced by the Army District of Pendronia (VI Corps) under Lord Montefeltro (Thomas Maher) through OPERATION SHEILD OF MONTIN. In addition, with the permission of the Anthelian government, elements of Gotzborg’s military were deployed to reinforce the Anthelian capital, Helion, along with elements of the Anthelian military that had been mobilised back on 10 October.^[XIV]

With the bulk of the Gotzborg Navy performing manoeuvres, and two of its major army corps forward-deployed and ready to respond to any further act of Paulovian aggression, the focus of the Gotzborg response turned to the Chamber of Deputies, where O’Neill – now one of the most vocal opponents of Paulovia in Gotzborg – had tabled a bill to condemn the actions of Paulovia. Claiming that Paulovia had “recklessly and provocatively attempted to interfere with the domestic workings and bilateral relations of its Novasolum Treaty partners in the Republic of Anthellia [sic] and the Kingdom of Gotzborg, the Kingdom … can no longer tolerate the expansionist and fundamentally hostile policy of [Paulovia], which places territorial acquisition above the bonds of loyalty and friendship.”^[XV] The Bill called for the Gotzborg Government to “undertake any and all actions … for the security and well being of the realm and … any Novasolum Treaty partner threatened by the actions of Paulovia,” for the Paulovian Crown to be compelled to demobilise its 1st Army, for Paulovia to demilitarise the Oros Protectorate, and for an unreserved apology for its “attempted interference” in Anthelia’s internal process pertaining to its future as a sovereign micronation. With the support of John Cervantes, the Bill was quickly fast-tracked and adopted with five members in favour, and one against. The only opposition to the Bill was from the Minister of State for the Foreign Office, Princess Julia, who noted that despite sharing the anger of the rest of the Gotzborg population over Paulovia’s actions, there was a need to “resist proceeding full speed ahead” in the interest of diplomacy.^[XVI] The Bill received Royal Assent on 15 October.

While the Condemnation of Paulovia Act was going through the legislative process and receiving Royal Assent, on 13 October, Paulovia began to back down diplomatically, with the Paulovian Ambassador to Anthelia, James, noting, “We have no hostile intent towards Anthelia … Enjoy your new [Gotzborg] nationality.”^[XVII] On 14 October, Paulovia’s First Minister, Alfonso Rossi, was reported to have expressed surprise at the “over-reaction of Gotzborg,” which garnered a stiff backlash from Hugh O’Neill in an address to the Gotzborg people, where O’Neill noted that given the Paulovian aggression, next to metaphorically having Ambassador James’ head on a plate – something he doubted the Paulovians would offer – the Condemnation Act was “the next best thing”.^[XVIII] Two days later, on 16 October, the Paulovian Head of State, Prince Paul, on request from the Anthelian government, declared that his micronation “has never sought or planned, now or will in the future, acts of aggression towards the Republic of Anthelia, its legacy territory, government or its people.”^[XIX] With this statement, the Anthelian government requested that Gotzborg begin withdrawing its military forces from Helion and, consequently, OPERATION SUNSHINE began winding down on 20 October, though the demobilisation of Gotzborg’s forces stationed on the border with the Oros Protectorate had begun some days before on 13 October.^[XX]

Even with its de-escalation, Paulovia had suffered a significant diplomatic blow. Its former closest ally, Gotzborg, now had a law condemning Paulovia in effect (one that would not be withdrawn for some time, with the insertion of a sunset clause into the original text of the Act being defeating in a tie in the Chamber of Deputies^[XXI]), and the Gotzborg Paulovia Squadron of the Royal Navy, which had long provided training to their Paulovian counterparts, had been permanently disbanded^[XXII]. Meanwhile, the Empire of the Alexandrians and Zatriarchate of Matbaa had stiffly condemned Paulovia’s actions – Alexandria had mobilised its Army in support of Gotzborg (and supported Anthelia’s decision to join Gotzborg)^[XXIII], with Emperor Edgard II stating solidarity with Gotzborg^[XXIV], while Matbaa’s Zatriarch Maximillideus (Max Edwards) stated his personal condemnation of Paulovia.^[XXV]

Nearly a month-and-a-half after the original incident, on 28 November, still suffering from the negative effects of the incident, Paulovia attempted to make amends with Gotzborg – by fulfilling an earlier wish of Hugh O’Neill, and giving Gotzborg Ambassador James’ metaphorical head on a plate. Paulovia’s First Minister Rossi, expressing his unreserved regret over the circumstances of the incident, admitted that his military’s mobilisation did give the impression of potential military action against Anthelia, and that “unsanctioned statements by our diplomatic staff [Ambassador James] compounded the situation and lead to further misunderstanding.”^[XXVI] Shortly after the statement, James was forced to resign by Prince Paul and was subsequently charged with “unconstitutional behaviour and actions detrimental to national security and international relations as Minister of Defence,” as his mobilisation of the 1st Army allegedly violated Paulovia’s constitutional pacifism.^[XXVII] Yet, even with these reconciliatory measures, Paulovia continued to struggle diplomatically with its Novasolum Treaty allies.

The End, Effectively

Following the standoff between Gotzborg and Paulovia, and the associated diplomatic fallout for Paulovia, Novasolum would never be the same. The once-thriving partnership had been effectively destroyed, made into a mere technicality, with each partner now distrusting its contemporaries. Any semblance of a partnership that had remained after the fallout of the Alexandria-Lovely and Natopia issues was lost.

Anthelia’s annexation by Gotzborg would leave a trilateral partnership. One of those three parties, Paulovia, had its intermicronational reputation sorely tarnished and its position within the Community severely and irreversibly compromised. Effectively, the Community was now a bilateral relationship between Gotzborg and Alexandria. With that reality, these two micronations focused instead on bilateral relations, placing relations with Paulovia well down the priority list, and the Novasolum Regional Community drifted into history.
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Footnotes:

1. Montague, Anthony; Our History; Defence Council Headquarters, Kingdom of Lovely, May 2007. http://ninetyone.org/lovely/dchq/history.htm, accessed April 27, 2009 ↩
2. Novasolum Withdrawal Resolution; The Grand Library of the Imperial Parliament: 4th Imperial Parliament Archives, Empire of the Alexandrians, http://alexandriaforums.com/index.php?showtopic=2261, accessed April 27, 2009. ↩
3. Statement on founding of GSO by MCS administrator Ryan Caruso, and associated discussion, http://www.micras.org/foruma/viewtopic.php?t=426, accessed April 27, 2009. ↩
4. The Anthelian Executive Council elections and their aftermath; Alternative Media Company, http://anthelia.blogspot.com/2006/08/anthelian-executive-council-elections.html, accessed May 30, 2009.  ↩
5. Resolution to integrate the Republic of Anthelia into the Kingdom of Gotzborg; http://darkkitten.net/anthelia/forum/viewtopic.php?t=782, accessed May 30, 2009 (via RIMA Offline Archives). ↩
6. Breaking News: Anthelia Parliament to consider seeking annexation by Gotzborg; the Coprieta Standard, October 4, 2006. ↩
7. Copy of Communications to Mr Nevens; http://darkkitten.net/anthelia/forum/viewtopic.php?t=786, accessed May 30, 2009 (via RIMA Offline Archives). ↩
8. Ibid. ↩
9. Ibid. ↩
10. Royal Army – Operation Sunshine; War Office Orders, Royal Kingdom of Gotzborg, October 11, 2006. ↩
11. Immediate National Security Alert; Royal Security Police Service, Royal Kingdom of Gotzborg, October 11, 2006. ↩
12. Royal Army – Operation Sunshine; War Office Orders, Royal Kingdom of Gotzborg, October 11, 2006. ↩
13. Royal Navy Orders – Royal Fleet; War Office Orders, Royal Kingdom of Gotzborg, October 11, 2006.  ↩
14. Operation Sunshine; Director of Planning, War Office, Royal Kingdom of Gotzborg, October 12, 2006. ↩
15. Condemnation of Paulovia Bill; Chamber of Deputies, Royal Kingdom of Gotzborg, October 12, 2006.  ↩
16. Ibid. ↩
17. Copy of Communications to Mr Nevens; http://darkkitten.net/anthelia/forum/viewtopic.php?t=786, accessed May 30, 2009 (via RIMA Offline Archives). ↩
18. A Call to Boycott Paulovia; Hugh O’Neill, http://p086.ezboard.com/fkingdomofgotzborgfrm2?topicID=726.topic, accessed December 13, 2009 (via RIMA Offline Archives).  ↩
19. Tensions resolved in Novasolum; Alternative Media Company, http://anthelia.blogspot.com/2006/10/tensions-resolved-in-novasolum.html, accessed December 13, 2009 ↩
20. Operation Sunshine; Director of Planning, War Office, Royal Kingdom of Gotzborg, October 13, 2006. ↩
21. Amendment – Condemnation of Paulovia Bill; Chamber of Deputies, Royal Kingdom of Gotzborg, October 19, 2006.  ↩
22. http://p086.ezboard.com/fkingdomofgotzborgfrm27?topicID=189.topic, accessed December 13, 2009 (via RIMA Offline Archives). ↩
23. http://alexandriaforums.com/index.php?showtopic=2444, accessed December 13, 2009.  ↩
24. A Call to Boycott Paulovia; Hugh O’Neill, http://p086.ezboard.com/fkingdomofgotzborgfrm2?topicID=726.topic, accessed December 13, 2009 (via RIMA Offline Archives). ↩
25. Zatriarch condemns Paulovian Expansionism; Dzez Matbaa, Zatriarchate of Matbaa, October 17, 2006. ↩
26. http://p086.ezboard.com/fkingdomofgotzborgfrm14?topicID=233.topic, accessed December 13, 2009 (via RIMA Offline Archives). ↩
27. Paulovia Moves to Mend Relations with Gotzborg; James gets Sacked; Coprieta Standard, November 30, 2006.  ↩