History of Adammia
The history of the Empire of Adammia begins in prehistoric Great Britain when humans first arrived around 25,000 years ago. Since then its land has been ruled by a number of nations, most notably the United Kingdom. Adammia itself first came into existence on 13 April 2013. An absolute monarchy at first, it became a constitutional monarchy later that year, expanding rapidly from its original 5 metre square territory to over 20 acres by 2014. By the end of 2014, Adammia had established itself as one of the most influential nations in the MicroWiki community, with its Emperor serving as the Chair of the Grand Unified Micronational. Adammia then entered decline until 2017, and faced inactivity in its old heartlands in Yorkshire; however, by this point, the Emperor had moved to Birmingham for his university studies and was there able to find many new citizens, kickstarting a new era of expansion.
Pre-Adammia
See also: History of Yorkshire, History of Birmingham
During the neolithic period the land now claimed by the Empire was ruled by various tribes and later by Celtic tribes in the Iron Age. Great Britain was first invaded by the Roman Empire in AD 43, though the modern-day Adammic holdings in the middle of Britain would have only been conquered by the campaigns of Didius Gallus from 52 - 57. Roman rule lasted until 410 AD when they abandoned Britain, leaving the island to numerous invading Anglo-Saxon tribes. By 911 these had gathered into the Kingdom of England, which throughout the Middle Ages was ruled by the Normans after 1066 and the Plantagenets. During the Renaissance it was ruled by the Tudors. In 1603 England entered personal union with Scotland. Following a civil war and a subsequent restoration of the monarchy in the 17th Century, England and Scotland merged to form the Kingdom of Great Britain, which later became the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland in 1801. Following the Industrial Revolution in the 19th Century and after surviving two World Wars in the 20th, the UK controlled all current Adammic land until 2013.
First Era
The First Era is defined as the period when Adammia had its central government operating from the Yorkshire-based provinces of Tytannia and Primoria. It began with the foundation of Adammia on 13 April 2013 and ended with the transition of central government to newer Birmingham-based provinces on 28 October 2017. It lasted for 4 years, 6 months and 15 days, or a total of 1659 days. The seats of power during this time were White Gold Palace in Tytannia and the Emperor's "Command Desk" at the Imperial Household in Primoria.
Foundation Period
The concept of the Empire of Adammia was created on 12 April 2013, when Adam Belcher discovered the hobby of micronationalism whilst carrying out research for a GCSE History project on Wikipedia. He promptly viewed the entirety of Danny Wallace's How to Start Your Own Country. Having shared his thoughts for the future empire with several online friends, he launched an invasion of his grandparent's back garden in an attempt to secure territory the next day, but failed, as he did not have the materials on hand to produce a flag. On the evening of the 13th, Adam officially founded the empire by claiming his bedroom as his own. With some difficulty, a paper flag and a border post were produced. The next six days would see a period of de-facto absolute rule. Adammia accepted its first honorary citizen the next day, Sir Alex Helliker, a personal friend of Adam. On 15 April, Adam began drafting the original Supreme Directive, which served as a constitution aimed towards an absolute monarchy. Also on that day, an official national blog was created for news and information about Adammia.
During the Foundation Period, Adammia was tiny, at just 5 square metres and a couple of citizens, and was extremely undeveloped. The Empire had virtually no diplomatic influence, no military and no economic resources. The focus during this time was on creating the most basic functions of the state - the constitutional relationship between the Monarch and the people, the first state symbols such as the flag, and a basic online presence, consisting of a MicroWiki page, a Wordpress blog, a YouTube channel and an official email address.
The Supreme Directive was ratified by Sir Alex of Poole on 19 April, making both the Empire of Adammia and the reign of Emperor Adam I official under law for the first time. On the same day, the Empire opened communication with another micronation - the Principality of Monovia. This was the Empire's first step into intermicronational politics.
Expansionist Period
During the Expansionist Period, the Empire would grow rapidly, claiming what would be its core provinces for many years to come, and the population went from 2 to 12. The creation of the military, the treasury and a basic governance hierarchy gave some semblence of structure. Adammia also began to take its first steps onto the diplomatic stage by joining the Grand Unified Micronational.
On 21 April, a deal was made between the Emperor and his brother, Daniel. It had become apparent that Daniel had decided to form his own micronation and wanted to claim the grandparent's garden like the Emperor did. They reached a compromise where Daniel joined the Empire and the territory became a province of Adammia under his rule. Later that day, the Empire claimed the garden and bordering conservatory, learning from their past mistakes by bringing the materials necessary for the flag this time. Daniel was made governor of this new province, known as Tytannia, in addition to becoming Crown Prince. Along with this, Emperor Adam signed Decree I, forming the Military of Adammia.
On 24 April, the Emperor signed a Treaty of Annexation with Emperor Mother Jayne, giving the Empire the territory that her house was built on. This formed the new province of Maternia, ruled by Prince Jake. On the 26th, the Treasury was created with Decree II. 27 April saw the signing of another Treaty of Annexation, between the Emperor and Emperor Father Kevin, which merged the entire original household with the Imperial Province. Then, on the 28th, the final Treaty of Annexation was signed, formally integrating Tytannia into the Empire, along with a new province bordering it, known as Sapientia, which contained the rest of the Emperor's grandparent's property. On this day, the Emperor contacted a second nation, the Empire of Austenasia.
On 2 May, the Emperor enacted the First Amendment to the Supreme Directive, which made any future amendments require a public referendum to pass, the first time democracy was ever referenced in law in the Empire's history. This followed on the 4th with Decree III, which established the state symbols, including the National Anthem. On the 5th, during a visit to Tytannia, the Adammic Army fought the Skirmish of Tytannia with a rogue citizen who damaged military property, their first combat experience. 6 May saw the creation of Decree IV which determined the status of provinces and colonies.
On 12 May 2013, Adammia became a provisional member of the Grand Unified Micronational (later upgraded to Full Membership on 9 June following the relegation to provisional status of Tatsumiya). This event led to contact with a wide range of micronationalists from around the world. After this, the nation entered a quiet period with little change. On 2 June, The Emperor made a speech in Tytannia where plans for an "Adammic Parliament" were announced.
10 June 2013 saw an agreement between the Emperor and the Grand Master of the Ordo Vladius, a secretive Internet-based organisation. In exchange for the members of the Ordo acting as Adammic ambassadors abroad, they were granted full citizenship, resulting in a large increase in population in Adammia. This became official with Decree V, signed on the same day, which also created the Order of Adammia, an organisation into which the Emperor can induct knights who have shown great service to the Empire.
On 21 June, the Emperor introduced Decree VI. This established the official state media, tranforming the blog into an "online newspaper" called the Adammic Express, and renaming the YouTube channel to Adammic Online Television. The Emperor announced that a new Supreme Directive had been written in a press conference on the 23rd, with a public referendum regarding whether it shall be enacted being scheduled for the 30th.
Reform & Consolidation Period
The Reform and Consolidation Period began when the Empire transitioned from an absolute monarchy to a constitutional monarchy. Although the Emperor retained extensive powers, and was still by far the most powerful figure in the nation, he was now kept in check by the Ruling Council. Throughout the following months, various Imperial Decrees and Acts of Council were enacted which consolidated imperial authority, and began the long process of professionalising government processes, something which is on-going to this day. Adammia grew much more slowly than it did during the Expansionist Period, but it did gain its first colony, Creatuxia, and its diplomatic influence was also growing rapidly; this period saw Emperor Adam I being elected as Vice-Chair of the GUM. The creation of the Contributions Scheme gave the government a steady stream of income, which greatly improved the Empire's ability to persue a range of projects over the following years. By the end of this period, the Empire had 23 citizens.
When the referendum on 30 June was held, the new Supreme Directive was unanimously proclaimed. This introduced the Ruling Council and the Grand Court, amongst other things. The Ruling Council held its first official meeting a week later on 6 July.
On the 8th, Adammia signed its first diplomatic Treaty of Mutual Recognition with the Regional Dominion of Burnham (now Mercia), which was not only the first micronation to officially be recognised by Adammia, but also the first micronation to officially recognise Adammia.
With the start of the school summer holidays in the UK in late July, activity in Adammia began to increase once more. The local elections began to be held for the first time, and the Council historically passed its first Act, the Internal Procedures Act 2013 on 21 July. Also on the 21st, Decree VIII created a cultural project to produce citizen ID cards for full and honourary citizens, which involved a census. By early August, a framework for political parties had been created and the first of these, the Liberal Imperialist Secular Technocratic Party or LIST Party being founded shortly afterwards; The first Local Elections were completed, giving the Ruling Council its first full set of Ministers; the state also acquired its first state-owned enterprise at this time.
On 8 August 2013, The empire expanded for the first time in several months with the acquisition of the Creatuxia Colony, the first territory claimed outside of West Yorkshire, after the signing of a Treaty of Annexation with Sir Damian Parker, the owner of the property in Congleton, Cheshire, who became the High Lord Overseer of this colony. Emperor Adam led a series of reforms to the military and territory organisation, preparing for an invasion of a nearby green space which never actually happened. Adammic citizens took part in a number of expeditions in this period, such as to the Peak District, the Yorkshire Air Museum, and the Insomnia Gaming Festival 49, at which the Emperor met High Lord Overseer Damian in real life for the first time along with another Adammic citizen, and he issued them both with the first batch of citizen ID cards.
On 25 August, the first National Election was held, which saw Emperor Mother Jayne Belcher elected the first Prime Minister of Adammia. On 1 September, the Government Ministries Act 2013 was passed by Council, creating a number of departments in the National Government along with the Office of State. In the same Council meeting that passed Act 4 and just after it, the Ministers of the government departments began to be filled, with Sir Reginald Hall being appointed Deputy Prime Minister, and the Emperor appointing himself Lord Chancellor of the Office of State. However, it took until the 29th for all the government slots to be filled.
Imperial Decree XIII was signed into law on 7 September, which granted diplomatic recognition to a large number of micronations and macronations. The next legislation created by the Council, the Contributions Act 2013, established a scheme of voluntary contributions from the adult citizens of the Empire to the Treasury, giving the Empire much more potential for public spending.
In October, the armed forces grew for the first time in several months, the Place-Names Act 2013 was passed, and the government's IT capabilities began to grow with an official Google Drive system. Adam I presented his second speech to the nation on 19 October.
Throughout late October and November 2013, a series of reforms took place regarding the legislation the state had created since its foundation in April. All the Imperial Decrees so far were subjected to revision, resulting in Decree XVI which brought in many changes, such as changing the official sport to Auto Racing. The second stage of these reforms was the First Amendment to the Supreme Directive. This made several changes to the way the Ruling Council worked. It was passed by a public referendum on 16 November. Later that month on 24 November, the Council merged Tytannia and Sapientia into one large Tytannia province.
December saw continued activity in the Empire as the Emperor, now the Prime Minister's Director of Communications, chaired the first Cabinet meeting with the Ministers of the National Government on the 8th. In this meeting an outreach program was launched, which saw the purchasing of a .org.uk web domain, the first time public funds were spent. It also led to public applications for honourary citizenship being opened. On 22 December, the legislative reforms were completed with the Legislative Amendments Act 2013, which made several internal changes to the Ruling Council as well as renaming the Adammic Imperial Province to Primoria.
Military Period
The Military Period is so named because there was a heavy focus on the Adammic Military during this time. Recruitment was carried out at the Emperor's school, and the total number enlisted rose from 5 to 13. The Empire used these troops to expand the Empire's territorial holdings, claiming acres of new land. The period was dominated by the Astley Meadow Insurgency, caused by backlash to Adammia's claim over Astley Meadow. The Empire succeeded in defending the claim from the insurgent. During this time, government development and economic development were both still on-going. The first Foundation Day was also an early sign of cultural development. However, population growth now slowed down significantly; by the end of the period, the population stood at 27.
The first expansion of the period happened on 29 December 2013 when a Treaty of Annexation created Watertopia. On 4 January 2014, the territory of the Empire almost doubled as Myway was annexed. The Empire's influence at the Emperor's school began to rise with talks of more fellow students enlisting as armed forces members. With its increased numbers, the military occupied and claimed more new land for the Empire - two parks, now known as the Jagstonian Plains and Astley Meadow, became the Empire's first Territorial Claims and caused the Empire's claimed land to swell to over 20 acres. This did not come without opposition, however: A hostile British citizen, who attended school with the Emperor and much of the military, sparked the Skirmish of Astley Meadow on 23 January 2014. This caused the military to remain mobilised for the duration of its members' final term at high school - in the following months, there would be occasional confrontations, such as reports that the British insurgent was trying to recruit Adammic honourary citizens to start a rebellion, and later an Air Force "drone strike" (a piece of paper) being thrown at the insurgent, authorised by the Emperor himself. The conflict, now known as the Astley Meadow Insurgency, finally ended on 23 May 2014 when everyone involved left school, meaning that Astley Meadow was no longer in danger.
Meanwhile, the Empire's politics were still moving along. A referendum to change the National Anthem in Feburary 2014 was inconclusive, however, a Ruling Council meeting on the 9th saw several Acts being passed, creating the Adammic Imperial Space Agency, the Ministry of Infrastructure, and the Empire's capital, Imperial City. This was also the day of what is sometimes referred to as the Flappy Bird Crisis, where the popular mobile game, outlawed in the Empire, was found to be being played by numerous high-ranking Adammic politicians. This prompted the creation of the Adammic Police Force.
On 19 Feburary 2014, Emperor Adam I celebrated his 16th birthday, when a 21-gun salute was fired and he published a Birthday Honours List, increasing the size of the Order of Adammia massively.
On 3 March 2014, a product was imported from another micronation for the first time - Emmanouil Tsompanoglou of the Ashukov Federation produced a new Coat of Arms for the Empire, which was promptly adopted by Decree XXII. The same Decree also made Sydney Saindon the Emperor's Princess Consort, a testament to the closeness of the two individuals despite their lack of a serious romantic relationship. Shortly afterwards on 9 March, further organisation of the National Government saw the executive divided into agencies and government-owned companies, which included a new company, Imperial Mail, the Empire's postal service. At the same time, the Adammic Motor Racing Association was founded.
From 9 March onwards, preparations began for the Empire's first Foundation Day anniversary on the weekend of 12/13 April. This was the first large scale micronational effort by Adammic politicians besides the Emperor. It led to Imperial Mail issuing its first ever stamps so that the Ministry of Defence could invite members of the Military to the party on the 12th. Citizens from all the provinces were involved, preparing food and so forth. The actual event on 12 April was the largest gathering of Adammic citizens to date, with an estimated 18 people present in Imperial City's White Gold Palace. Following the buffet, AISA, along with the gathered citizens, travelled to the nearby Jagstonian Plains to carry out its planned Andromeda 1 mission, which aimed to launch a model rocket - however, the rocket did not launch and the mission failed.
From May 2014 onwards, the focus within the government began to shift away from politics and more towards the economy. The Economy Act 2014 was passed on 3 May, allowing private companies to exist. The first of these were the Capital Wine Company and Top Hat Software. In June, another AISA rocket launch attempt failed, and three new logos were imported from Ashukovo. Due to it having been virtually abandoned by Adammic citizens, Astley Meadow was ceded back to the UK on 14 July 2014.
Early Colonial Period (The Golden Age)
During the Early Colonial Period, Adammia was heavily influenced by its first major colony, Borealia, with their Mohawk culture. This was particularly true in terms of military doctrine - Sir Will McCracken, a veteran of many Den World wars, served as the Emperor's military advisor. This period is also known as a "golden age" due to Adammia's many achievements during this time - its influence in the GUM peaked, it successfully launched a model rocket, and it unveiled its first national monument. It is generally considered that the Early Colonial Period marked the zenith of Adammia's First Era prestige. The population reached 32 by the end of the period.
The loss of Astley Meadow was soon made up for with the acquisition of Borealia on 22 July 2014, a new territory in Devon which comprised the remnants of the once-active Den World sector. Borealia became a key part of the Empire, leading the way with the construction of a forge capable of melting aluminium in August, and later copper in November (though this was set back when the forge exploded in September, which is possibly the largest industrial disaster in micronational history).
Following Local Elections in July, the Adammic National Election 2014 took place in August and it saw Emperor Mother Jayne re-elected as Prime Minister. This was followed by the first State Opening of Council on the 17th, which saw a minor reshuffle with HG Julie Foster (the Emperor Mother's opponent in the National Election) replacing HG Sir Reginald Hall as Deputy PM. On 13 September, Emperor Adam I became the first ever Adammic Chair of the Grand Unified Micronational.
By this point a sizable fund had built up in the Treasury and talk turned to what it would be spent on. Spending plans were approved by the Ruling Council for a RC quadcopter for the Adammic Air Force, and a monument commemorating all of Adammia's citizens. This monument was completed in October and was named the Populus Imperium. Another key focus in October was the space program, and these efforts paid off when AISA successfully launched Andromeda 3 on 26 October 2014 in a flight lasting 7.1 seconds. On 30 October, an Imperial Decree was issued relocating the colony of Creatuxia to its governor's new, much larger residence, which caused the Empire's surface area to swell to 145,701 m². The same Decree also made Borealia into a colony, signifying that the monarchy trusted the Borealians to be stable enough to enjoy a high degree of autonomy.
The large military which had come with the Astley Meadow Insurgency was halved in size in November as a result of the loss of contact with many of the old units. Meanwhile, the Council passed legislation to make itself more formal, meaning that parliamentary procedure would be implemented starting from December. The Cabinet, like in 2013, met in early December, where the Emperor proposed a wide range of plans which were intended to come into play in 2015, though few of them ultimately did. Shortly afterwards, Adammia became embroiled in a short diplomatic stand-off with the "Mohawkian Empire", a successor to a very old Den World state which had recently re-emerged, which became known as the Mohawk Diplomatic Crisis. During the Emperor's Christmas Broadcast 2014, Adam I read an additional message written by the Prime Minister, which constitutes her first direct address to the nation.
The Empire of Nova Atlantis merged with Adammia on 11 January 2015, becoming the Empire's first North American territory, Adammic Columbia, led by its governor John Smith. At the same time, Gabe Newell replaced Jebediah Kerman as the Empire's patron saint and Madam Sydney Saindon's title of Princess Consort was revoked. Meanwhile, the Adammic Express began printing monthly physical copies in addition to its original online blog.
Following extensive planning drawn up by the Emperor and General Sir Will McCracken, who became the official military advisor to the monarch on 28 January, the Emperor began working on two simultaneous projects - reforming the military and introducing a minimum wage. The latter resulted in the Employment and Wage Act 2015 passed on 25 January, but was ultimately a failure as the Minister of Finance disagreed with the concept, resulting in an amendment removing the minimum wage in March. 25 January also saw Lord David Hall being recruited to the new Imperial Guard unit and becoming the Sergeant-at-Arms of the Ruling Council. Meanwhile, Emperor Adam's college classmate Dan Pettinger was recruited into the Adammic Air Force, replacing Commodore Sir Tom Bennett as head of the 1st Imperial Air Group (formerly the 1st Paper Air Group), on 21 January. This was followed by Pettinger's residence becoming the Territory of Dearneland, now home to the official headquarters of the AAF, on 14 February. The Defence Act 2015 was passed on 7 February, initiating the planned military reforms, but the second phase - producing a Military General Manual - is yet to be completed. On 22 February, the Capital Wine Company announced that it would soon begin producing beer in addition to wine and promptly renamed itself to Capital Brewery Ltd.
Adammic foreign affairs were dominated in March by the terminal decline of the GUM. Although the Emperor won the March chairmanship election, a second election had to be held as turnout in the first had been too low. This led to a consensus amongst GUM member states that activity in the organisation had become too low, and the Emperor followed the recommendations of the Austenasian delegates and led, as Chair, an effort to transform the GUM from a formal organisation into a loose association of micronationalists using the GUM Lounge.
In Borealia, scouts stumbled across a settlement in the woods half a kilometre north-east of the colony on 7 March. Following a run-in with the hostile occupants of the settlement, construction began on a bunker to defend the colony. Adammia celebrated Foundation Day on 11 April with a slightly smaller party in White Gold Palace than the previous year.
Late Colonial Period
During the Late Colonial Period, the colonies had even more influence in Adammia through the Colonial Council. The Mohawkian influence of Sir Will McCracken was joined with Lord Sir John Smith of the newer colony of Adammic Columbia. It is at this point that Adammia's decline can be considered to have begun, mainly due to the fact that the collapse of the GUM had left the Empire with a mere shadow of its former diplomatic influence. However, this was made up for by a booming economy, further political development, and Adammia's first ever tourist visit. It was during this period that the population peaked at 36; this number would not be surpassed until a year and a half later.
The Empire suffered the loss of Creatuxia on 19 April due to inactivity, though Adammic Columbia was upgraded to a colony at the same time. Attention soon turned to public finance as the reserves of the Imperial Treasury reached £70 in May. A budget was approved by the Ruling Council on 16 May which prioritised AISA, aiming to get the space agency up and running again with a new rocket after the first rocket was damaged during the Andromeda 3 flight. Money was also spent on adhesive sticker paper in order to produce Imperial Mail stamps. The Imperial Archive and the Imperial Statistics Office were both established on 21 June, followed by the Colonial Council on 11 July. The concept of the Colonial Council was created by the Emperor after Lord Sir John Smith expressed his wish that the colonies were better able to influence national legislation in May.
Local Elections were called by the Emperor on 5 July, marking the beginning of the 2015 election season. The Emperor was keen to promote the role of political parties in the Empire on the basis that the competition between parties would encourage other Adammic leaders besides the Emperor to contribute more of their own ideas. Discussions between the Emperor and Sir Christopher Hall led to suggestions that a right-wing party could be formed, but this was soon forgotten about - instead Emperor Mother Jayne founded the Moderate Party and Sir Reginald Hall founded the Labour Party, both on 18 July. Although no seats changed hands in local elections held on 25 July, manifestos published by the Liberal and Moderate parties encouraged previously independent members of Council to join parties, with independents eventually making up less than half the Council. Before the National Election was held, the Office of the Emperor proposed an amendment to the Supreme Directive under which (amongst other things) all Council members would be able to run for the office of Prime Minister instead of just Councilors. A referendum was held on 2 August and the Second Amendment was promptly enacted. In the National Election held on 16 August, Emperor Mother Jayne was re-elected to a third term as Prime Minister, though her first as a Moderate instead of an independent, beating Labour candidate Sir Paul McKenna. Meanwhile, Sir Matthew Foster was introduced to the Council as Duke of Watertopia, replacing Madam Julie Foster as Duchess (though she still retained a seat as Councilor).
In the final few months of the year, the Emperor began working on implementing the Liberal Party manifesto with three Acts of Council: the Citizenship Act 2015 which was passed by Council on 3 October, the Imperial Government Act 2015 on 7 November 2015, and the Political Parties Act 2015 on 5 December. The Imperial Government Act was the most notable of these, establishing the Cabinet Office and the position of Cabinet Secretary, splitting the executive into the Cabinet and the Imperial Civil Service, and enforcing mandatory monthly Cabinet meetings. October also saw Adammia's first ever tourist visit on the 18th, a historic milestone, when travel writer Jonny Blair was given a tour of Tytannia province by the Emperor. AISA also attempted to launch its Andromeda 4 flight on this day, but this mission ended up being unsuccessful.
The Adammic government began putting in motion Moderate Party plans for a Christmas Eve party, but this had to be rescheduled, with an unscheduled Cabinet meeting authorised by Deputy Prime Minister Madam Julie Foster for the first time moving the event to New Year's Eve. The same meeting saw the Emperor rushing through measures to buy a tent for the Adammic Army, which was frowned upon by the Moderate Party but ultimately went ahead.
In January 2016, following a surge of interest in Adammia in Crown Prince Daniel's year at the local British school, El Grandens and Kappania both joined the Empire. Vandal attacks by another local student against the Empire's MicroWiki articles led to the leaders of these new territories forming the Adammic National Party. Initially focusing on policies to counteract the vandal, the ANP soon switched to Trump-like "populist" policies which had very limited success in the wider empire. Lord Sir John Smith also founded a Conservative Party, but it would have very little effect. In February, the Ruling Council passed the Diplomacy and Terrorism Act, which had been forwarded from the Colonial Council. This was followed by the National Holidays Act, which established Democracy Day as an official national holiday, amongst others.
Decline & Tension Period
The Decline and Tension Period was defined by the passing of a prominent citizen and the secession of two of the Empire's major colonies. The void on the Colonial Council was filled by the alt-right ANP, which became increasingly antagonistic with the Emperor, leading to political upheaval. The Emperor moved away from the Yorkshire provinces to study in Birmingham, which caused creeping inactivity to set in. During this time, the economy began to enter recession, and the population had dropped to 29 by the end of the period. Despite the return of the GUM, Adammia did not assert itself much in the revitalised organisation.
In early March 2016, Madam Winifred Hall became seriously ill, and by the end of March had been diagnosed with terminal cancer. Hall passed away on 11 April 2016, causing much grief for the House of Hall and causing government activity to grind to a halt and the economy to enter recession as most micronational affairs were suspended. Following her funeral on 27 April, Sir David Hall was appointed her successor as Minister of the Environment.
Activity in Adammia slowly began to resume with the passing of legislation such as the Elections and Diplomacy Act in May and Imperial Decree XL in June, in which the Office of the Emperor established control over heraldry in Adammia, a new avenue for cultural development. The Grand Unified Micronational had also returned as a fully-fledged intermicronational organisation, and Adammia soon signed up, ratifiying the new Charter in early June. Meanwhile, the colony of Borealia was faced with the prospect of its leader, Sir Will McCracken, leaving for university in September, leaving the future of the colony extremely uncertain; a similar situation was unfolding in the provinces as the Emperor himself prepared to move to university. In the Borealian Futures document put before the Colonial Council in February, the Borealian Cabinet proposed a referendum on Borealian independence. In July, the Emperor visited Borealia for the first and last time, when it became apparent that support for remaining in the Empire was very thin. On 1 August, Borealia voted for independence by 8 votes to 3, and soon transformed into the Mohawk Empire, creating a military alliance with Adammia. Adammic Columbia followed Borealia out of the Empire 10 days later after Lord Sir John Smith defected to Wyvern's Holy Roman Empire, leaving Adammia's colonial ambitions crippled.
In July, as had become traditional, local elections were held, in which no seats changed hands, except for Myway, which held its local election late, in August, and saw Labour candidate Eleanor Hall defeating the Liberal incumbent Madam Debbie Shaw. Far more interesting was the National Election on 13 August, which was essentially a rematch of the previous year's election between Moderate Emperor Mother Jayne and Labour Sir Paul McKenna. However, this time McKenna won by a single vote, becoming the Empire's second Prime Minister. In September, the Ruling Council passed the Esports Act 2016, changing the national sport from motor racing to esports. A reform of public finances in October saw an official budget being passed which deliberately aimed to run a budget deficit in the 2016-17 financial year, in order to reduce the reserves of over £100 which sat unspent in the Treasury.
As a result of Borealia and Adammic Columbia leaving the Empire, the Emperor compensated by promoting the territories of El Grandens, Kappania and Dearneland in colony status. After the Emperor moved to the University of Birmingham in September, he established the Colony of Alluria in October. Then, in November, the now-Colonel McCracken founded a new colony, Midgard, and Smith, having felt let-down by the Holy Roman Empire, returned to Adammia along with Adammic Columbia. Smith was made the Emperor's Director of Communications as a gesture of gratitude for his return. At this point, there were 7 seats on the Colonial Council. Two of these were held by the ANP, and McCracken's Imperial Party also supported them and later merged with them in December. This put the ANP in a strong position and they were able to send several motions to the Ruling Council; first, in August, was a bill to call a referendum on changing the national anthem to Sir Cavan Garfield's single, Succ, which, after some confusion, the Ruling Council rejected.
The ANP and the Emperor's Liberal Party became increasingly antagonistic towards each other in the latter part of 2016. This came to a head in November, when the Emperor issued an Imperial Decree revoking diplomatic recognition of the United States following the election of Donald Trump as US President, prompting fury from the ANP and other elements of Adammia's emerging, mostly colonial, right-wing. This triggered the first ever election for the Emperor's Ruling Council seat, the Delegate of the Colonies. Held on the 24th, the election saw the Emperor holding his seat by 4 votes to 3, with the combined ANP-Imperial vote putting pressure on his position. In the end, Prime Minister McKenna decided that revoking recognition of the USA was disrespectful to the American electorate and, for the first time in Adammic history, tabled a motion to overturn an Imperial Decree, which the Ruling Council successfully passed, restoring recognition of the USA.
Towards the end of the year, a more peaceful tone was struck, with the Emperor attending the largely ANP cultural event known as JoelonianCon on 23 December. Meanwhile, a Third Amendment to the Supreme Directive had been proposed which reformed the basics of the judicial system, in anticipation of more detailed legislation from the Liberal Party in 2017. A referendum was held on the amendment on New Year's Eve, and it passed by 11 votes to 5, with most of the opposition coming from the ANP.
Inactivity Period
Once 2017 started, Adammia entered a period of deep inactivity lasting almost half a year, and the Colonial Council was dissolved. A few events did still happen during this time, however. In the background, the Emperor was beginning to sow the seeds for the Empire's revival, recruiting new citizens and re-activating old military units. However, the inactivity meant that the economy had effectively crashed, and diplomatic influence was still at a low point. By the end of the period, the Empire's population had recovered a little, and stood at 30.
There was still some government development going on, and the Ruling Council passed the Internal Amendments Act 2017 on 18 February, followed by the Counties and Municipalities Act 2017 on 8 April. In March, the Office of the Emperor acknowledged the state of inactivity, enacting measures so that the Empire could focus on its internal development, foregoing its foreign and colonial affairs. This led to the dissolution of the Colonial Council, Burghlia being ceded back to the UK, and Adammia being downgraded to an observer of the GUM.
By now, Alluria had grown to include several of the Emperor's flatmates; one of these, Madam Anna Darke, was appointed Governor of the colony on 17 March. The 2nd Infantry Division was re-formed, with Panconi, now a general, as its commanding officer. It was followed on 7 June by the new 2nd Imperial Air Group, led by Commodore Sir Joe Daniels, and a re-formed Special Operations.
Transition Period
In the latter half of 2017, the hegemony of the House of Hall over Adammic politics ended, and they were superseded by the Liberal Drinks Mafia, a group of members of the University of Birmingham Liberal Democrats. This process, which culminated in the end of the First Era, began in June with the arrival of Ems Simpson in the Empire. Shortly afterwards, the Emperor decided to move Adammia's central government from the old Yorkshire provinces to newer ones based in Birmingham; the Transition Period was dominated by this transition, hence its name. The government was focused on preparing for the transition throughout this period, meaning that other areas such as the economy and diplomacy were largely neglected. The rate of citizen recruitment began to pick up in anticipation of the handover, and the population stood at 34 when the First Era ended.
The influence of the former colonies was ended for good when Adammic Columbia left the Empire for a second time on 20 June 2017. It was replaced by the territory of Pererria in Poole, home to the first ever naval unit, the 1st Imperial Fleet, commanded by Admiral Ems Simpson. Simpson also replaced Smith as the Emperor's Director of Communications.
By July, Adammia was beginning to return to full activity. The Ruling Council passed the Diplomacy Act 2017 on the 7th, and the Adammic Express, which had long since ceased publishing regularly, was rebooted on the 14th. However, as election season began, it became clear that Adammic politics was still in a state of lethargy. Prince Jake had now turned 12, and as such was eligible to run for Prime Minister; as a result, the Emperor decided to modernise the Liberal Party, giving it a proper constitution and a proper platform for his brother to run on. However, due to delays of several weeks, the conference to approve the new constitution only took place on 15 July, the same day as local elections. Prince Jake had now been elected as the Liberal leader, but the other parties were much slower to confirm their prime-ministerial candidates. Furthermore, several provinces were delayed in holding their local elections. This is believed to have frustrated the Emperor and to have been a major reason behind his decision to move the central government to Birmingham.
The 2016-17 Budget hadn't been forgotten, and it was used to buy a new fabric flag from Lostislandic company MicroFlag, delivered to the Empire by the end of July. Leftover funds were also used to buy a new camera tripod for AOB, by means of an Emergency Appropriation. Meanwhile, the Emperor was beginning to pay some attention to the economy again, setting up a private investment fund, Adammic Investment Ltd., which marks the beginning of the Adammic financial sector.
The August National Election turned out to be Adammia's first ever three-way election, with Emperor Mother Jayne and Sir Paul McKenna standing for the Moderates and for Labour respectively once again. The Adammic Express hyped-up this election perhaps more than any other, carrying out a great deal of analysis. The election was won by Prince Jake, who became the first ever Liberal Prime Minister.
However, Prince Jake's term of office would prove to be very short. At the State Opening of Council a week after the election, the Emperor officially announced the transition programme, originally aiming for the new government to be in place in the new year. A few weeks later, this aim was brought forward to the end of October.
Meanwhile, there was still time for at least some elements of the Liberal manifesto to be implemented. At the State Opening meeting, the Government Ministries Act 2017 was passed. This merged two smaller departments into the Ministry of Citizenship and Information, and four smaller departments into the Ministry of National Development. The reduced size of the Cabinet meant it was no longer necessary to form a "grand coalition" of all the parties. Instead, a Labour-Liberal coalition was set up, with the Moderates as the first ever proper opposition party, making Emperor Mother Jayne the first officially-recognised Leader of the Opposition.
On 6 September, Alluria was moved from its original location in Edgbaston to two new locations in Selly Oak; South Alluria would be home to the Emperor and Sir Alex Helliker, who was now his housemate, whilst North Adammia would be home to many of the other original residents of Alluria. Talks also began with Ems Simpson's housemates about adding their house to the Empire. With potentially three provinces in the Birmingham area, the Emperor decided that the stage was set to announce the handover date: 28 October 2017.
Over the final few weeks of the First Era, the government struggled to prepare for the transition; roadblocks were encountered in registering several of the new citizens. On 27 October, the Emperor held a crunch meeting with his legal advisor Helliker, quickly drafting the necessary legislation, and Paternia was admitted to the Empire. On the 28th, the Emperor travelled back to Imperial City, where the Ruling Council gathered there for the last time. As voters across the Empire voted to approve the Fourth Amendment to the Supreme Directive, the Empire of Adammia Act 2017 was passed, officially ending the First Era, and the old Ruling Council was dissolved.
Second Era
The Second Era is the current era of Adammic history, during which the seat of Adammic power is in the province of Serkatia, in Birmingham. It began on 28 October 2017.
Rebirth Period
During the Rebirth Period, the focus was on getting the basic functions of government up and running in the new Birmingham provinces. There was also renewed activity on the foreign affairs front, and the population grew significantly to 43.
The immediate effect of the Empire of Adammia Act 2017 was that almost all members of the Ruling Council lost their seats, making them ineligible to serve in the Cabinet. Prompted by the Emperor, Prince Jake formed a provisional Cabinet, intended to serve until new elections could be completed. Sir Alex Helliker became Deputy Prime Minister, and Prince Jake was now effectively Prime Minister in name only, since he had no influence over the new provinces. With the Fourth Amendment passed, the Emperor was able to call early elections the next day.
The new Ruling Council was, for all intents and purposes, a blank canvas. A few names were already confirmed as members - the Emperor, Helliker, Simpson, Panconi - but the rest of the seats would have to be filled. The Emperor began talking to potential politicians to encourage them to run in the upcoming elections, but this proved difficult; there proved to be less interest in Alluria and Paternia than originally anticipated. This forced the Emperor to change his approach, instead recruiting new politicians from the UoB Liberal Democrats society.
On 9 November, Admiral Simpson got the ball rolling with the electoral race by founding the Nuclear So-and-so Party; the next day, Helliker replaced the Emperor Mother as the leader of the Moderate Party. Local elections were held for the provinces on 12 November, followed by elections for the miscellaneous seats on the 16th and 26th. When the new Council was completed, the results were surprising: Labour had completely disappeared, and there was once again a substantial independent presence on the Council. The Liberals were the largest party, and they elected General Panconi as their new leader on 13 November following the resignation of Prince Jake. The stage was now set for the National Election, a three-way race between Helliker, Simpson and Panconi. The election was noted for being more active than anything seen previously in Adammia, with the party manifestos and candidate interviews being much more detailed, and some candidates using social media as part of their campaigns. Helliker narrowly won, and became Adammia's fourth Prime Minister.
Helliker chose to form a coalition with the Liberals, making Panconi the Deputy Prime Minister and Simpson the Leader of the Opposition. The State Opening of Council took place on 5 December in the new province of Serkatia (previously South Alluria), at which a simple Budget was passed. It was agreed that Adammia would apply to become a full member of the GUM once again; it was re-admitted on 17 December. Meanwhile, inspired by Adammia, Ned Hilton - another member of the UoB Lib Dem society - decided to start his own micronation, Wazakhstan. Adammia soon established friendly relations with its new neighbour, giving rise to the so-called Birmingham Sector.
Populist Period
Late University Period
Third Era
Pandemic Period
Second Inactivity Period
Modern Period
Timeline
First Era
| Period | Start date | End date | Key figures |
|---|---|---|---|
| Foundation | 13 April 2013 | 19 April 2013 |
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| Expansionist | 19 April 2013 | 30 June 2013 |
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| Reform & Consolidation | 30 June 2013 | 22 December 2013 | |
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| Military | 22 December 2013 | 22 July 2014 | |
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| Early Colonial / Golden Age | 22 July 2014 | 19 April 2015 | |
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| Late Colonial | 19 April 2015 | 6 March 2016 |
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| Decline & Tension | 6 March 2016 | 1 January 2017 |
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| Inactivity | 1 January 2017 | 20 June 2017 | |
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| Transition | 20 June 2017 | 28 October 2017 |
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Second Era
| Period | Start date | End date | Key figures |
|---|---|---|---|
| Rebirth | 28 October 2017 | 28 September 2018 | |
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| Populist | 28 September 2018 | 24 September 2019 | |
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| Late University | 24 September 2019 | 15 March 2020 | |
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| Early Pandemic | 15 March 2020 | 5 September 2020 | |
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Third Era
| Period | Start date | End date | Key figures |
|---|---|---|---|
| Late Pandemic | 5 September 2020 | 31 July 2021 | |
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| Post-pandemic | 31 July 2021 | 3 November 2022 | |
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| Modern | 3 November 2022 | present | |
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