History of the MicroWiki community
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The history of the MicroWiki community encompasses the entire history of the MicroWiki community, from MicroWiki's foundation on 27 May 2005 to the present day. It is generally divided into ten eras.
MicroWiki, a micronational wiki and encyclopaedia, was founded by Fabian Schneider on 27 May 2005 who left the wiki that same day due to prior commitments, leaving it dormant until the arrival of the September influx. Talk page diplomacy arose in January 2006, giving birth to the MicroWiki sector, and regular influxes of new micronationalists regularly followed throughout the first half of 2006. Perry and later Jeffrey II, Prince of Satirocity were the most influential during this period. 2007, dominated by soft power Cesidio Tallini, saw lower levels of overall activity, leading MicroWiki historian Zabëlle "Zed" Skye to dub it the "MicroWiki dark ages". An influx of micronationalists joined MicroWiki in October 2008. The Countries United in National Trade and Hontui Islands in Peace—both of the Hontui Sector—clashed for power in the community before being superseded by the non-Hontui Grand Unified Micronational (GUM) founded on 5 January 2009.
The Great Micronational Antarctic War on 29 January preluded the conflict-filled Black March. Meanwhile, the GUM continued to grow in influence and by August, both the GUM and Robert Lethler of the Democratic People's Republic of Erusia held an hegemony over the MicroWiki sector, with the GUM effectively being seen as the community itself during September and October. By January 2010, the GUM's hegemony was challenged by the Organisation of Active Micronations (OAM) under Gordon Freeman. In early 2010, the use of talk pages on the wiki began to decline at the expense of the OAM forums and newly-established micronational Skype chatrooms. Second Black March, particularly the Austenasian Civil War, discredited the notion of micronational warfare, and the Great Ideological Conflict era commencing in May 2010 polarised much of the community.
The revelation that Lethler was in actuality a fictional persona because of the Lethler Experiment on 30 July shocked the community and resulted in a near-fatal blow to the GUM as the OAM now dominated. The first Microballs were drawn on 30 August, and the first OAM Influence Survey was released on 16 October. The migration from Wikia during November to a website hosted by Petya d'Égtavie resulted in the dissolution of the Slinky Empyre on 17 January 2011 and eventual domination by Aldrich Lucas of the Students' Isocratic Oligarchy of Yabloko by February. The MicroWiki forums were created on 22 December 2010. Meanwhile, the OAM ran into several controversies, scandals and criticisms since March 2011. The first micronational summit in the sector, the 2011 Intermicronational Summit, occurred in London on 24 August.
Yablokogate on 6 September resulted in a heavy blow to Lucas and Yabloko's reputation. The OAM dissolved on 29 December as the newly re-established GUM flourished under the leadership of the Troika. PoliNation 2012 commenced in London on 14 July 2012 between 32 micronationalists and the GUM held an online 24 Hour Quorum between 41 micronationalists on 14 August. However, the 2012-13 GUM leadership scandal ultimately lead to a heavy blow to the reputation of the GUM. Activity in the sector greatly declined during 2013 and 2014, although the 2013 Intermicronational Summit commenced in Paris between 15–20 July 2013. On 13 May 2014, the wiki was bought from d'Égtavie by Jonathan I, Emperor of the Empire of Austenasia. The promulgation of the pro-LGBT Denton Protocol on 27 July resulted in an open breach between the left- and right-wings of the community.
On 14 June 2015, the GUM abolished its functions as an intermicronational organisation following a decline in activity, transitioning instead into a formal chatroom between individuals. By late 2015, most members of the community had settled in one of two camps: the younger, more left-wing community based on the MicroWiki forums and the older, more right-wing community on Skype and Facebook groups. The Intermicronational economics boom of 2016 occurred between 10 March and late 2016. The GUM—which had reverted back to an organisation on 4 June 2016—united much of the community under a second 24 Hour Quorum between the 6–7 May 2017 which saw 33 participants.
The creation of MicroWiki@Discord on 17 September 2018, inspired by the B3's MicroClub of 27 May, revived the MicroWiki community as the GUM and other micronations moved to Discord. The 2019 GUM Birmingham Summit in Birmingham, England on 28 June 2019 was the first summit hosted by the GUM. Adam I, Emperor of the Empire of Adammia, received praise for his term as Chair of the GUM between 31 December 2018–30 June 2019 and was named the Micronationalist of the Year for 2019 in December. By mid-2019, MicroWiki@Discord gained a reputation for unprofessional and became dominated by younger community members and various memes and in-jokes, reaching a catalyst with the MicroWiki@Discord Administrative Protests of 2020 in February 2020.
The COVID-19 pandemic commencing in March and April saw overall activity greatly increase as lockdowns gave micronationalists more free time. The Cupertino Alliance challenged the hegemony of the GUM between May 2020 and early 2021. The death of Nicholas Randouler on 3 June 2020 resulted in an outpouring of grief in the community. By October 2020, MicroWiki@Discord had been largely abandoned by seasoned micronationalists in favour of alternative servers, while the election of Jack Dean of the Commonwealth of Essexia as Chair of the GUM on 1 January 2021 over Adam I was seen by many as an example of the growing influence of newer community members over the older generation. By mid- to late 2021, general activity in the MicroWiki sector began to decline as a result of the lifting of COVID-19 restrictions.
After MicroWiki@Discord was destroyed on 30 January 2022 by Abrams Wiucki-Dunswed in protest over the unbanning of a controversial user, the administration created a new MicroWiki server focused solely on the wiki and banned any "bad actors" from both the server and MicroWiki. Administrator Andrew, playing a key role in this initiative, became extremely influential. As the dispersal of community venues increased, so did the number of sub-sectors within the MicroWiki sector as micronations began focusing on their own internal development.
Overview
The MicroWiki sector is a sector (a community within the wider intermicronational community) of micronationalists, rarely called MicroWikians, and micronations based around the MicroWiki wiki website or its official Discord server, MicroWiki Community. The term also includes micronationalists who participate in the micronations and intermicronational organisations of the MicroWiki sector while not necessarily directly editing MicroWiki itself or participating in the MicroWiki Community Discord server. The MicroWiki sector is perhaps one of the largest micronational media sectors; as of August 2024, MicroWiki had over 550 active users, while the Discord server had 1,200 members. However, it must be noted that both the wiki and MicroWiki Community Discord server are also utilised by micronationalists outside of the MicroWiki sector.
Foundation Era (27 May 2005–28 January 2009)
Background
- See also: First edit on MicroWiki
MicroWiki was founded on 27 May 2005 by German national Fabian Schneider—going by Max Schneider in the United States—who wanted to be able to conveniently record information relating to his own micronation, the Sovereign Principality of Seraya, and related micronations. The foundation of the wiki came as a result of the Maryland micronations boom at Schneider's foreign exchange school Chopticon High School, located within the unincorporated community of Morganza, St. Mary's County, Maryland, which was sparked by Seraya's success. However, after making only seven edits, Schneider permanently departed from the wiki that same day. He was still "trying to sell others on the idea" when "life happened" and prevented him from focusing on the wiki.
After laying dormant, MicroWiki became active in September when the September influx arrived—four micronationalists who coincidentally discovered the wiki around the same time. One of these micronationalists, Perry, founder and then-Chancellor of the United Republic of Arlberg, became the most active editor of the wiki, and proclaimed himself the new de facto manager of MicroWiki on 19 October after having noted the absence of an existing administration. At least five micronationalists joined MicroWiki in January 2006, the same month that talk page diplomacy arose; in other words, this can be considered to have been the birth of the MicroWiki sector.
Early community
Regular influxes of new micronationalists followed; at least six joined MicroWiki in February 2006; five in March; ten in April; and between ten and fifteen in May. The most active of these users was Jeffrey II, Prince of Satirocity, who registered an account on 30 April and began making hundreds of edits on a daily basis, reaching 100 on 1 May. MicroWiki reached 100 articles on 9 May. After Arlberg abruptly dissolved on 12 May, with Perry subsequently departing from MicroWiki, Hodgson—aged only ten[a]—promptly succeeded him as the de facto manager of the website. Hodgson also achieved ubiquity within the community, particularly through his diplomatic efforts as the monarch of Satirocity, the United Chatham Park Micronations established on 27 April, and a high level of activity and dedication to micronationalism.
June and July continued to see regular arrivals in the MicroWiki community as overall diplomatic relations between members of the community became more homogeneous and strengthened between already existing allies—Satirocity, the Royal Amokolian Republic, Beardmonkeya, the Republic of Bolsvandia and the Nonoparthian Federal Empire. During June, a minor dispute commenced between members of the MicroWiki community and members of the geofiction website Shireroth.org, exacerbated by Hodgson's distaste for the latter website. The communities on either website had small disputes over the content of each other's wikis, claiming material to have been plagiarised by the other side.
On 18 August, Schneider made a brief return to the wiki and was surprised to see that a sector had formed around it. He wrote his now well-known Word from the Founder and appointed Hodgson as an administrator on wiki that same day. Schneider's decision essentially cemented Hodgson's status as the new owner of MicroWiki, albeit informally. However, despite his promotion, Hodgson had started to become less active since late July, and he eventually departed from MicroWiki all together after circa 20 October. In his absence, Cesidio Tallini became a soft power in the community, through his various projects and initiatives relating to the Fifth World Council that predated the wiki.
2007 is what micropatriologist and MicroWiki historian Zabëlle Skye dubs the "MicroWiki dark age", as the community had lower levels of overall activity. The year was dominated by Tallini and his eccentric projects; on 19 January 2008, he founded what he called the world's first "supermicronation"—the United Micronations Multi-Oceanic Archipelago. Bolsvandia and the geofictional Nonopartia and Republic of Lucastan remained prominent throughout the so-called MicroWiki dark ages.
October 2008 influx
Several micronationalists who would become highly influential in late 2008 and 2009 joined MicroWiki in October 2008, including Kalvin Koolidge on 25 September; Robert Lethler on 4 October; Jacob Valentine (née Tierney) on 15 October; and Joe Foxon on 17 October. The physical Hontui Sector, founded in October by Foxon and consisting of Stigistan, Danburnia and Tozland among others, grew exceptional influence over the MicroWiki community, with Foxon establishing the Countries United in National Trade (an intentional vulgar backronym for the British profanity CUNT) on 18 October. Danburnia and Jonnyland both became member states of the CUNT on 28 November following the conclusion of a war between Stigistan and Danburnia, and Valentine's non-Hontui Sector micronation Scientopia rejoined the organisation on 29 November; Koolidge's Republic of Petorio also joined that same day.
However, Tozland was ejected from the organisation on 28 November after President Harry Meek reportedly posted "offensive comments on the Stigistan and Danburnia Wikia pages." This led to Daniel Blackburn, President of Danburnia, vandalising the MicroWiki article for Stigistan in protest on 29 November. The following day, both Danburnia and Jonnyland withdrew from the CUNT in protest and created a rival breakaway organisation with Tozland called the Hontui Islands in Peace (HIP). However, through diplomatic talks, both organisations peacefully coexisted by mid-December.
On 5 January 2009, Tierney founded the Grand Unified Micronational (GUM) as the Grand United Micronation[b] in order to unite the CUNT and HIP. He initially invited all member states of both organisations to become members, as well as Lethler's Democratic People's Republic of Erusia, the Kingdom of Camuria, the Ohio Empire and Federal Republic of St.Charlie, with Foxon announcing later that day that member states of the CUNT would decide as a whole whether or not the CUNT itself wished to join the GUM as an organisation. By 7 January, all micronations except Erusia[c] had accepted membership into the GUM; the CUNT fully integrated into the GUM on 17 January, with the HIP becoming dormant by March. Between 10–14 January, growing tensions between members of the Hontui Sector reached the GUM, with discussions regarding the conflict between Stigistan and Kirbland and growing diplomatic tensions between Danburnia and Tozland.
Conflict Era (29 January–2 August 2009)
On 29 January 2009, the Great Micronational Antarctic War broke out between the Grand Duchy of Flandrensis and the Grand Duchy of Westarctica over overlapping territorial claims. Grand Duke of Flandrensis Nicholas I requested political aid from the GUM, which later agreed to support Flandrensis. The conflict subsequently grew to encompass the majority of the MicroWiki community, all siding with Flandrensis. On 18 February, the GUM published a dossier exposing Camuria as an imaginary country fabricated by its leader, Ian Forrest. Nevertheless, due to a web of military alliances Ian had built up for Camuria within the community, he remained a prominent and influential figure, later taking a leading role in the events of Black March.
Commending on 7 March with the declaration of the Somplenese-Molossian War, an abnormally high number of micronational wars broke out during March, leading to a huge deterioration in bilateral ties between numerous micronations culminating in a period of intense diplomatic tension that was retroactively dubbed Black March. Black March ended on 23 March with the conclusion of the Meissner-Antifan War between the Empire of New Europe and Scientopia, but diplomatic tensions remained high. During this period, the reputation of the Empire of Somple was completely tarnished, whilst the GUM continued to grow in influence as St. Charlie, Scientopia, Erusia and New Europe became the "micronational superpowers" of the community.
The GUM withdrew its support for Flandrensis on 27 May, a few days before the conclusion of the conflict. Two subsequent conflicts—the New Euro-Erusian War between 7–28 July (which began as a result of the Eurogate controversy) and the Rhodesian War between 29 July–2 August—were ended by efforts from the GUM, further cementing its influence and the influence of Lethler who was a primary mediator in the conflicts. He previously served as the second Chair of the GUM between 13 April–13 July. Furthermore, by mid-2009, The St.Charlian Observer had become a highly reputable newspaper within the community, closely followed in reputation by the Flandrensis Times.
Lethler Era (3 August 2009–29 July 2010)
By August 2009, both the GUM and Lethler held an hegemony over the MicroWiki sector, with the GUM effectively being seen as the community itself during September and October following the collapse of the United Micronations—the last remaining competitor to the GUM—in September. The most ubiquitous and influential micronations were all member states of the GUM and, despite bitter relations between Erusia and St. Charlie due to the journalistic scandal Observergate—which began on 17 September and concluded around 31 October—no major conflicts arose and overall relations remained stable. Between October and December, many older micronations fell into inactivity while several newer micronations joined the MicroWiki community; Petorio saw several citizens resign from offices or depart starting in early July; New Scientopia—the successor state to Scientopia—became inactive in September (eventually dissolving on 20 December) and the Kingdom of Finismund dissolved on 1 December, resulting in the Scramble for Finismund.
On 30 October, newer arrival Most Glorious People's Republic of A1 founded the Organisation of Active Micronations (OAM) under Gordon Freeman—also known as Philip Fish—during the GUM's hegemony. However, with older micronations becoming less active and newer micronations choosing instead to become member states of the OAM as opposed to the GUM, the OAM destabilised the status quo and ended the GUM's hegemony over the community by January 2010. Member states of the OAM, particularly the Republic of Egtavia, Nemkhav Federation, Slinky Parliamentary Monarchy and the Kingdom of Wyvern, slowly grew in influence in the MicroWiki sector over member states of the GUM. In early 2010, the use of talk pages on the wiki began to decline at the expense of the OAM forums—an Internet forum—and, to a lesser extent, the newly-established micronational Skype chatrooms such as the Micropolitan Club and Lounge. Many micronations also became members of both the GUM and OAM during this period.
Second Black March and the Great Ideological Conflict era
On 7 March 2010, a second series of conflicts broke out within a quick succession of one another—Second Black March. The Austenasian Civil War between 7 March–24 May polarised the community, with many micronations backing different sides of the conflict, whilst neither the GUM nor OAM proved capable of preventing the Flaradonian-Solvoian War between 9–12 March nor Great Patriotic War between 23 March–20 April. On 2 April, the last foreign supporters of the Carolinians withdraw from the Austenasian Civil War, thus ending Second Black March. Heavy criticism of the civil war, particularly from the highly influential St.Charlian Observer, greatly discredited the notion of micronational warfare, with all subsequent wars in the community today still being seen as largely unprofessional and immature.
On 8 April, a joint GUM-OAM dossier revealed that the prominent Mark Dresner of the Socialist Union of Nemkhavia and Pristinia was in fact a sockpuppet account deceiving the community, resulting in him being permanently banned from the wiki and ousted from the community. On 27 May, the Great Ideological Conflict broke out between the left- (primarily led by Erusia and the State of Sandus) and right- (led by Bradley of Dullahan and the Intermicronational Conservative Alliance) wings of the community, resulting in the Great Ideological Conflict era, a period of political tension and separation. The GUM struggled to deal with thus conflict as its influence rapidly declined in June at the expense of the OAM. However, the ideological separation resulted in the June 29th incident wherein Petya d'Égtavie unexpectedly resigned as Secretary-General of the OAM, resulting in four left-wing micronations leaving the OAM in protest—including Sandus and Erusia.
Post-Lethler Era (30 July 2010–5 September 2011)
On 30 July 2010, it was discovered that Lethler was in actuality a fictional persona, and that his nation Erusia was entirely fabricated with all of its citizens personas controlled by Lethler himself; Lethler called this the Lethler Experiment. Widely regarded as one of the most elaborate micronational conspiracies ever, Lethler claimed that Erusia was fabricated as part of an experiment of a political simulation to guide the development of the MicroWiki community in a more serious and professional direction. Much to the disapproval of the MicroWiki sector, this revelation shocked the community and led to mass condemnation with Erusia subsequently departing from the micronational community after having its reputation disgraced. This, alongside the inactivity of former GUM power New Europe, resulted in a near-fatal blow to the GUM's influence and activity.
In August, the OAM forums became the principal means of communication alongside the Skype chatrooms, seeing the definitive end of talk page diplomacy. on 30 August, the first Microball comics were drawn and shared on Skype chatrooms such as Yellow Bear Micronational and the Micropolitan Lounge. On 20 September, the GUM was abandoned after then de facto Chair James von Puchow illegally announced the dissolution of the organisation, with the OAM subsequently becoming the sole intermicronational organisation in the community. The first OAM Influence Survey was released on 16 October with 13 people voting in total, naming St.Charlie the most influential micronation; St.Charlie was closely followed by A1, Egtavia, Slinky and the Community of Landashir.
Migration from Wikia and subsequent events
On 17 October, Wikia—the wiki hosting service that hosted MicroWiki—implemented unpopular changes to its website. After several attempts at finding a new hosting service, the domain MicroWiki.co.cc was temporarily registered by d'Égtavie on behalf of her MicroWiki Internet Committee on 14 November, later becoming MicroWiki.org.uk. The majority of the community moved away from Wikia in a "Mass Exodus" and onto the new domain managed by d'Égtavie. However, on 17 November, Kyng Fyrst of Slinky was appointed as an administrator on the Wikia website with the intent of riving it as a separate community from MicroWiki.org.uk. This lead to intense unpopularity and, together with electoral disputes in his micronation, resulted in the dissolution of Slinky on 17 January 2011. The Slinky War between 22–27 January 2011 was the last major war between respected members of the community. On 22 December 2010, the MicroWiki administration launched the MicroWiki forums, which began to direct users away from the OAM forums.
In February 2011, Aldrich Lucas of the Students' Isocratic Oligarchy of Yabloko, a highly active administrator and prolific editor, became extremely influential over MicroWiki. The first episode of Micro High, created by Daniel Anderson of the Federal Commonwealth of Sirocco, was released on 19 April and received critical acclaim. Furthermore, the highly anticipated 2011 Intermicronational Summit took place in London on 24 August between 11 micronationalists, the first micronational summit to take place between members of the MicroWiki community.
Decline of the OAM
On 21 December 2010, Freeman resigned as Vice Secretary-General of the OAM and took a sabbatical from the MicroWiki sector after Sebastian Linden addressed Freeman by his real name during an argument on the OAM forums. Freeman denounced this as a breach of privacy and began a campaign to ostracise him from the community by having his account banned from MicroWiki. The administration took the side of Freeman in the Linden Affair and banned Linden from the wiki on 26 February 2011. However, this consequently resulted in supporters of Linden attempting to create a loose "anti-admin movement", calling for the wiki's administration to be held accountable. During March, the OAM lost its monolithic presence over the community because of the MicroWiki forums as well as a growing dislike of Freeman. Criticism of the OAM's purpose and scope increased in intensity between March and June; many claimed that the OAM had achieved little and was maintained simply as a means for Freeman to maintain influence in the community. Freeman was re-elected as General-Secretary in May.
The criticism of the OAM, along with what was perceived by many as instances of religious bigotry from Freeman, resulted in a closely-failed—by a single vote—motion of no confidence against Freeman on 13 June. On 14 June, twelve member states left the OAM in protest over his refusal to resign, and in mid- to late June two short-lived, unsuccessful breakaway organisations were formed—the Organization of United Micronations and Inter-Micronational Union. On 20 July, Linden was unbanned from the wiki following vocal opposition whilst the influence of the OAM continued to decline, with its levels of activity rapidly dropping. Dissatisfied with the OAM, the Troika, consisting of three former members of the GUM, restored the GUM to activity on 14 August but decided to initially keep this a secret from the wider community.
Inter-Summit Era (6 September 2011–13 July 2012)
Yablokogate broke out on 6 September 2011 following the publication of a dossier by Lethler—who briefly returned to MicroWiki to publish the document—in which he demanded the immediate removal of Lucas from the MicroWiki staff and the ostracising of Yabloko from the community. Lethler claimed to have uncovered a conspiracy of Lucas possessing an ulterior motive to manipulate the entire MicroWiki sector. The document became intensely debated on the MicroWiki forums and caused widespread bewilderment and concern amongst the community, with growing levels of mistrust and accusations amongst supporters of Lucas and Lethler of secrecy, bickering and manipulation. TASPAC became heavily involved in the controversy by defending Yabloko. Meanwhile, the re-foundation of the GUM became public knowledge through the controversy.
As calm was eventually restored in mid-November, TASPAC gained a reputation for secrecy and was regarded as conspiring by most of the community. This, along with the continuing decline of the OAM, helped to lead to an increasing level of membership and influence within the GUM. On 29 December, after several months of declining activity and influence, the OAM formally dissolved as the GUM flourished, amending its constitution and restoring its levels of activity and membership to the same levels as during the Lethler Era. On 20 February 2012, Lucas was voted out as a MicroWiki administrator. Lucas, outraged by this, vandalised the MicroWiki forums which subsequently led to his account being deleted from the wiki after having made a total of 28,632 edits—a record which would not be beaten until 30 May 2020 by Zabëlle "Zed" Skye. Lucas formally departed from the community that same day.
In mid-April 2012, a new community lead by Harry Fitzpatrick formed on the old Wikia website to rival MicroWiki that later claimed to be the "true MicroWiki", causing a feud between the wiki on MicroWiki.org.uk and the community which had moved to the original Wikia website. Though it initially consisted of few members, the Wikia community—called MicroWikia by the MicroWiki community—would soon develop its own culture and receive micronationalists who first discovered the website on Wikia instead of MicroWiki.
Settled Era (14 July 2012–26 July 2014)
Early Settled period and Wyvernian Controversy
Two massive diplomatic events occurred in mid-2012. PoliNation 2012 commenced in London on 14 July 2012 between 32 micronationalists, with several micronationalists unaffiliated with the MicroWiki sector also in attendance. As of 2023, this summit still remains the largest gathering of micronationalists from the MicroWiki sector ever held. On 14 August, the GUM held a 24 Hour Quorum which saw 41 micronationalists attend. During the quorum, £80.95 ($128 USD) was raised for various charities, particularly the British Red Cross. However, tensions began rising during September and October as frequent comments perceived as xenophobic or discriminatory were made by Quentin I and Bradley of Dullahan, both leaders of Wyvern. This resulted in frequent arguments between opposing sides on Skype.
On 16 December, Sandus and Juclandia, both full member states of the GUM, demoted themselves to observership status in protest after Bradley was appointed Vice-Chair of the newly elected Chairman, Yaroslav Mar. On 30 December, both micronations were expelled from the organisation following a motion proposed by Mar, which he passed before all delegates had a chance to vote, resulting in the 2012-13 GUM leadership scandal. Accusations of corruption and underhand motives resulted in Mar and Bradley both resigning on 19 January 2013, leading to a heavy blow to the reputation of the GUM.
Growing inactivity and tensions
Following the leadership scandal, arguments within the community begin to die down. During the first half of 2013, activity on MicroWiki also greatly decreased at the expense of informal communication over Facebook groups and Skype chatrooms. Nevertheless, the 2013 Intermicronational Summit took place in Paris between 15–20 July between seven micronationalists, also making it the longest micronational summit ever held. However, worry grew over the lack of general diplomatic relations taking place within community and the presence of individuals deemed disruptive and unprofessional on Skype and Facebook. Valentine's fourth term as Chair of the GUM ended on 13 September, thus ending the influence of the Troika with not one of them holding one of the three principal leadership positions in the GUM since its re-establishment.
In October, concerns began to be raised regarding the upkeep of MicroWiki amidst financial shortfalls as the declining site visits meant that running advertisements on the wiki were no longer profitable. On 7 November, after initial uncertainty about the future of the community, MicroWiki held a fundraiser that raised $83.25 (£51.97) and transferred to micronation.org. However, the domain move consequently deleted most of the original server data, including all page revision histories and all registered user accounts. In early 2014, tensions began to rise once again between the left- and right-wing micronationalists of the community. On 13 May 2014, the wiki was bought from d'Égtavie by Jonathan I, Emperor of the Empire of Austenasia. Diplomatic activity remained at generally low levels throughout 2014, but the small, informal summit Midsummer Micronational Meeting 2014 took place in London on 21 June, seeing five attendees.
Polarised Era (27 July 2014–7 May 2017)
The promulgation of the Denton Protocol concerning LGBT rights on 27 July 2014 by Sandus and the Kingdom of Zealandia resulted in large backlash from right-wing members of the community and an open breach between the left- and right-wings, with the left-wing losing its previous moral hegemony over the community. The following months saw the conversion of several members of the community to Christianity, as well as the abandoning of socialism by many of its former adherents; a previous stereotype of MicroWiki being populated mainly by "communist atheists" became impossible to apply. In February 2015, two in-side jokes arose on Skype—Smoking Lethler and Yaro-heads. MicroWiki celebrated its tenth anniversary on 27 May.
On 14 June, after a long period of declining activity, the GUM abolished its functions as an intermicronational organisation, transitioning instead into a formal chatroom between individuals. Another informal summit, the Midsummer Micronational Meeting 2015, was held in London on 18 July and had five attendees. As tensions between the left- and right-wings of the community continued to grow, being partially exacerbated by socially conservative public statements by citizens of the Empire of Pavlov and the Federal Republic of Lostisland, most members of the community settled in one of two camps by mid- to late 2015: one based on the MicroWiki forums comprised of younger, more left-wing members of the community and the other based on the community's Skype and Facebook groups comprised of older, more right-wing members. Relations would worsen on 3 October following backlash after some older members of the community pulled a practical joke on a new user.
The Intermicronational economics boom of 2016—a period of intense development in micronational economics and intermicronational economics in the MicroWiki sector—occurred between 10 March and late 2016 with the creation of the Micronational dollar by Anthony R. Clark. On 4 June, the GUM was reformed as an intermicronational organisation in an attempt to restore diplomatic contact between the older and newer generations of the community. On 21 October, MicroWiki switched to its current domain, micronations.wiki, after complications with the domain host.
Starting in February 2017, some older members of the community became less active due to non-micronational demands, such as pursuing careers and education. Meanwhile, tensions between the left- and right-wings of the community finally began to die down in early 2017, although the MicroWiki forums saw a large amount of disruption from two users in particular whose arguments often became a prominent issue for many. Both were essentially ostracised from the community later into the year. The GUM united much of the community with the successful holding of a second 24 Hour Quorum between the 6–7 May, which saw 33 micronationalists participate and raise £105 (USD$140) for various charities.
Stagnant Era (8 May 2017–16 September 2018)
Following the 24 Hour Quorum in May 2017, diplomatic division between the older and newer members of the community began to die down. After a relatively quiet several months, August saw the start of two intertwined controversies: the proclamation of the New Community—formed to be a separate or parallel MicroWiki community—and a diplomatic dispute between Austenasia and the Grand Republic of Delvera, though both issues died down by 5 September.
In the following months, activity in the GUM, on the MicroWiki forums and in associated Skype chatrooms dropped to an all-time low. Concerns were voiced publicly about the future of the GUM as community members discussed ways to restore activity. In early 2018, all activity on the MicroWiki forums had effectively died, and the Abeldane Empire, previously the largest community micronation, struggled to maintain its government amidst limited participation.
However, early to mid-2018 also saw the arrival of several initially quiet micronationalists, retroactively dubbed the 2018 Intake. On 27 May, the server MicroClub was founded on Discord by Nicholas Randouler of Posaf, Ashley Jaax of Iustus, and Nicolás Millán of Millania—collectively known as the B3 (big three). Within a month, MiroClub became one of the largest micronational Discord servers, and it was more active than most of the Skype chatrooms. The Wrythe Convention condemning sockpuppeting and false claims within micronationalism was unveiled on 15 September, receiving 38 signatories by the end of the year.
MicroWiki@Discord Era (17 September 2018–29 January 2022)
Early Discord
On 17 September 2018, in an initiative led by Clark on behalf of the MicroWiki administration, the Discord server MicroWiki@Discord was created. Widely advertised on the inactive Skype chatrooms, the server immediately skyrocketed in popularity, quickly overtaking MicroClub to become the principal Discord server of the MicroWiki community and subsequently reviving activity. On 31 October, MicroWikia formally renounced its claim as the "true MicroWiki" after being persuaded by Jonathan I, with the community officially changing its name to MicroNations Fandom and ending the six-year long dispute. The GUM transferred to Discord in November, which helped revitalise activity within the organisation; Abelden was too revived by Discord, once again becoming a community micronation. By the start of 2019, all chatrooms on Skype had become either obsolete or fully integrated into their own Discord servers. The GUM held a third 24 Hour Quorum between 4-5 January 2019 to celebrate its tenth anniversary. The event raised money for UNICEF and had 36 participants.
Statistic-Dime, founded in January, introduced Micronationalist of the Month, Micronationalist of the Year and various positively-received surveys throughout 2019 and 2020. The first summit to be held between micronationalists of the Czech MicroWiki sector, Podskalský Congress, commenced in Prague on 23 March 2019 with eight attendees. The 2019 GUM Birmingham Summit, the first summit hosted and organised by the GUM, commenced in Birmingham, England on 28 June and had 12 attendees. It saw the signing of the Edgbaston Convention. That same day, Elizabeth Lewis resigned from her controversial role as an administrator on MicroWiki@Discord. This occurred during a period when a gap was forming between micronationalists who arrived during the Discord Era and older micronationalists who joined before it, with the latter bemoaning an atmosphere of unprofessionalism as the Discord server became dominated by various memes and in-jokes like merge, @New Eiffel Government and cornposting.
Adam I, Emperor of the Empire of Adammia's term as Chairman between 31 December 2018–30 June 2019 received praise, with many regarding it as one of the greatest in the GUM's history. His work in the GUM saw him selected as DIME Magazine's Micronationalist of the Year for 2019 in December.
High Discord
The non-MicroWiki sector MicroCon 2019, held between 19–21 July 2019, became the largest micronational summit in history with 113 attendees; also in attendance were several members from the MicroWiki sector. Several micronationalists expressed sympathy and regret in response to the dissolution of the Aarianian Union of North America on 25 September. By late 2019, the older members of the community preferred to use alternative servers to MicroWiki@Discord, with some seeing the Discord server for the GUM as a safe haven from MicroWiki@Discord's unprofessionalism; in addition, the GUM reached a record 35 member states and regained its reputation of being prestigious. The 2020 MOF Games hosted by the Micronational Olympic Federation between 14 February–10 March 2020 was the largest e-sports event in MicroWiki community history, with 19 micronations participating.
The MicroWiki@Discord Administrative Protests of 2020 against the server administration occurred on 16 February and saw the involvement of nearly 30 users, though none of its goals were achieved. The outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic saw overall activity in the MicroWiki community heavily increase as COVID-19 lockdowns were imposed between March–April, and several prominent former micronationalists—such as James Stewart and Henry Clémens—temporarily came out of retirement as a result. On 9 April, the Morrisgate scandal (also known as Danosgate) caused large disruption in the community as Daniel Morris was accused of making inappropriate comments regarding a minor. While his ousting was supported by many, the handling of the situation from the MicroWiki@Discord administration and the GUM received backlash. By May, the Cupertino Alliance (CA) had become the largest intermicronational organisation amongst the newer generation of micronationalists amidst a growing anti-GUM sentiment, especially under the chairmanship of Jayden Lycon.
The GUM hosted a fourth 24 Hour Quorum between 1–2 May that raised £266 (USD$349) for COVID-19 relief via the British Red Cross. The quorum had 64 participants in total due to allowing non-members to participate as guests. On 23 May, a failed coup d'état in the Commonwealth of Misberia asserted the micronation's influence in the community as several micronationalists came to its aid. The community was hit with an outpouring of grief after the death of Nicholas Randouler on 3 June, with declarations of days of national mourning, places named after him, memorial services and posthumous awards; he was later named Statistic-Dime's Micronationalist of the Year for 2020 in December. Criticisms of toxicity and unprofessionalism on MicroWiki@Discord harshened between June–July, after a number of alternative servers were set up, with Micropolitan@Discord becoming the most viable alternative. On 10 July, Abelden took a massive hit as a result of the Concordiagate scandal.
Splintering and Late Discord
Between September–October 2020, multiple senior administrators resigned from MicroWiki@Discord as other users continued to move to alternative servers and private social clubs, and on 1 November, an unsuccessful attempt was made by the administration to turn MicroWiki@Discord into a web portal and news aggregator, thus effectively dissolving its functions as a Discord server intended for discussion. However, backlash from users quickly led to this change being reverted in early December. At the end of the year, MicroWiki saw record page views, with its individual worldwide readership in 2020 reaching 1.8 million. The election of Jack Dean of the Commonwealth of Essexia as Chair of the GUM on 1 January 2021 over candidate Adam I was seen by many as an example of the growing influence of newer community members over the older generation.
In February, the CA, now without Lycon as Chair, hit a minor slump of inactivity amidst internal conflict, before briefly returning to a high level of activity in May. On 21 March, the GUM adopted a new, modernised charter as an amendment to the previous 2016 Charter, receiving 100 percent support among the 41 members who voted. The inactivity of Abelden early into the year briefly resulted in the Commonwealth of New Virginia taking over as the principal community micronation—albeit much smaller. However, an attempted coup d'etat between 29 July–2 August led to the micronation's rapid decline. Meanwhile, the CA faced internal conflict in November between a relatively disjointed alliance split between supporting former Chair Varuna Sriraya and supporting those who put forward the motion of no confidence against him. By mid- to late 2021, general activity in the MicroWiki sector began to decline as a result of the lifting of COVID-19 restrictions.
Modern Era (since 30 January 2022)
After a controversial user was unbanned from MicroWiki on 30 January 2022, a petition calling for his re-banning and the resignation of the administrator who unbanned him reached over one hundred signatures. In support of the petition, Abrams Wiucki-Dunswed, king of the Kingdom of Ikonia, banned thousands of users from MicroWiki@Discord after discovering a backdoor vulnerability via one of the server's Discord bots. This led to the administration creating a new MicroWiki server focusing solely on the wiki that same day, as well as banning "bad actors" from the server and MicroWiki to reduce harassment between community members. Administrator Andrew, playing a key role in this initiative, became extremely influential. On 14 February, Karl "Luxor" Friedrich became the co-owner of MicroWiki alongside Jonathan I. By late February, the controversy of the previous month began to die down as many figures involved made peace, agreed to disagree, or simply ceased interacting due to the dispersal of community venues. As such, the number of sub-sectors within the MicroWiki community and individual influence of micronationalists within their own sectors increased dramatically, and micronations began focusing on their own internal development.
See also
Explanatory notes
- ↑ Hodgson turned ten on 19 May.
- ↑ The Grand United Micronation was renamed to the Grand Unified Micronational on 24 January 2009 by Alexander Reinhardt.
- ↑ Erusia joined the GUM on 23 January.