History of Gotzborg
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The Kingdom of Gotzborg was proclaimed in 1670 of a union between the Archduchy of Reichlau, the Grand Duchies of Kerinberg, Salm, Markham, Alhemia, Lonenberg and the Duchy of Montin. The Archduke, as the senior noble of the Union of Seven Nations was proclaimed King of Gotzborg in Dundam. In commemoration of the new Kingdom, the capital of the Archduchy was changed from Dundam to Reichstadt.
Early History
The union of the seven nations arose from the predations and incursions by the larger nations surrounding them. In the 100 years prior to 1670, the seven nations had suffered through over thirty-two different conflicts. Tired of being a battleground, the leaders of the seven nations met in Dundam in 1657 to form what became known as the Union of Seven Nations. While the efforts were admirable, the pride and conflicting agendas of each of the Duchies limited the union to a trade cooperative instead of a unified military and diplomatic effort.
1664-1770 Wars & The Seven Nations
In 1664, the Seven Nations became once again the battleground in a war between 3 of their surrounding nations. In the ensuing 30 years of war, battles raged back and forth, with the larger nations provisioning their armies with resources and manpower against the wishes of the Duchies. The ongoing depletion of the resources of the duchies began to provide for dissent within the nobility and population. Grand Dukes and other nobles allied themselves at one point or another with the larger nations and in turn were deposed, replaced or switched allegiances numerous times, some doing so to try and establish a higher status level within the seven nations, others still to try and force the great powers out, and others still only for a desire to conquer and gain a little more land.
By 1700 the ongoing wars which had plagued the seven nations slowly died out. It was with a welcome sigh that peace slowly regained its foothold and nobles and citizens alike solidified the desire to not again be the playground of the great powers. The Heads of State of the Union met again in Dundam in 1703 where it was decided that the seven nations would not again be the chessboard on which the great powers played. The result was the Dundam Agreement which outlined a unified military and domestic agenda. War and its deprivations is soon forgotten with any lasting peace and like the original union, personal agendas and power plays once again began to crack the union from the inside as well as drawing the interests and intentions of the great powers again. It looked like the events of the late 1600s were coming again.
War began in earnest between the four great nations and again the lands of the seven nations became their focal point. Alhemia and Montin soon degraded into complete revolt and disarray, the causes lost to history but most likely due to subversion and general discontent with the inability of the Dukes to keep them from war. Grand Duke Lucas IV of Salm was the first of the seven to begin actively fighting against the aggression of the great nations. The Grand Ducal Army won small engagements but this lasted only until the attention of the great nations began to focus upon Salm, defeat soon became the word of the day. As the Salmese army collapsed, Lonenberg and Markham joined their besieged brethren and quickly the tides were turned again. This however only served to attract the attention of the other great powers who didn't want to see their playground overrrun by upstart little nations. Lucas sent a request to Archduke Charles to honor the Dundam Agreement and fight together. Charles committed Reichlau and was soon followed by Kerinberg. The first order of business was putting down the rebellion in Alhemia and Montin. While both revolting nations were not able to provide a coherent field army their regiments joined with the Reichlau Army to fight the great powers.
By 1706 the Seven Nations were all fielding a seasoned field force against the great powers but were slowly suffering from the attrition and slow grinding down that they could not afford. It was in the fields outside of the City of Juin in Markham that the Union Army of the Seven Nations was finally brought together and faced the Grand Imperial Army. Both armies suffered horrendous losses, but the Union Army of the Seven was successful in finally driving the Grand Army off on day 3. June 15, 1705 was a day bathed in blood and won by the courage and perseverance of men who all realized that something common had been formed beyondt he borders of their small nations. A nation of power and strength existed above all else.
While the battle was won, the war spent another year dying out as the great powers realized they had lost their chessboard. The old balance had changed, and it was not in their favour. July 24, 1706 at Lonenberg Palace in the Grand Duchy of Lonenberg, Archduke Charles of Reichlau was crowned King Charles I of Gotzborg.
The Seven Nations (The Original Seven)
Archduchy of Reichlau Grand Duchy of Kerinberg Grand Duchy of Salm Grand Duchy of Alhemia Grand Duchy of Markham Grand Duchy of Lonenberg Duchy of Montin
Whilst the seven nations retained certain controls and autonomy, time lessened the control and today, Gotzborg is a modern democratic nation ruled by a strong monarchy with a long history and tradition of leadership and direction through the good times and bad.
Of the original seven nations which first composed the Kingdom, over time, through wars, revolts other lands have come into the Kingdom as listed below:
Archduchy of Aremberg Grand Duchy of Lucerne Duchy of Altamore Duchy of Abrantes
And finally, the following peerages have been created and added over the years:
Archduchy of Courland Duchy of Montefeltro Duchy of Stathearn
Later History
As with most micronations, Gotzborg was borne of imagination. The Kingdom first developed into its initial form on paper in 1989 between the King, his brother and two close friends. As the participants grew, so to did the Kingdom, its history, its conflicts, its successes and its failures. The most tangible success of the Kingdom was the fact that it had developed between 1989 and 1995 with a good amount of history and interaction behind it. This helped really gel the entire effort into something that was more than just a paper nation or game. Between the King and those friends who had participated in it over the years, a stronger bond of friendship had developed, a common history and a shared identity. It was this realization that had made everyone so close and caused the King to better appreciate the importance of those relationships which bring us together to help each other, support each other and direct each other towards creativity and community.
In 1996 with the King having finished High School and attending University, it became most difficult to continue. While the friends remained, the focus changed. Ladies, alcohol and all the other important parts of 'higher education' precluded any ability to continue.
Having made such an impression on him though, the King often thought about how rewarding and exciting it was to share the creation of community and nation with others who in their own way would bring ideas, feelings and emotions to help continue Gotzborg. Alas however, while the King made many attempts to look for ways to get things up and running, the moment never seemed to be opportune and the avenues to proceed to do such a thing were few if any.
Micronationalism
It was not until the quaint hobby known as 'micronationalism' became known to the King, who had stumbled upon it whilst scowering the internet. Micronationalism seemed to be the perfect avenue, albeit backwater in its very nature. The King has participated in other micronations since early 2003 and it was not until the early part of 2004 that transcribing everything necessary from the old paper copies to the internet began in earnest.
It was not until late March, 2004 that the bulk of the main work on the webpage had been completed. The Kingdom has already begun to initiate relationships with other micronational entities and recognizes the vital struggle which all micronations go through, the attraction of new people.
Gotzborg celebrated its first anniversary online in March 2005.
EzBoard Attack
On 31 May 2005, disaster struck the micronation due to the hacker attack on the Ezboard network system, leaving all of Gotzborg's national forums erased. Despite the best efforts of [Ezboard Inc. http://www.ezboard.com] personnel to restore all lost information to the affected servers, Gotzborg was one of several micronations to not have its historical records recorded. The attack caused the lost of all historical information on the forums for the first fifteen months of Gotzborg's online period.