Turtle Island dispute

Turtle Island dispute
	; A photo of Turtle Island taken during the Second Turtle Island Expedition conducted by Northwood-Oregon.
Date	4 December 2022 - 8 December 2022 (4 Days)
Location	Turtle Island
Result	Turtle Island Détente Agreement Ratified; Meritia revokes all claims to Turtle Island; Meritia and Northwood-Oregon enter period of peace and friendly diplomacy; Ohio Bloc Dissolves;
Belligerents
Meritia Diplomatic support:; Fontasia (Until 6 December); Scynja (Until 6 December); Roscamistan (Until 6 December); Shahawkia (Until 5 December); Skahynia (Until 6 December)	Northwood-Oregon; Paloma Diplomatic support:; Cristoria; Sawdustistan; Slavtria
Units involved
Meritian Armed Forces	Northwood-Oregonian Armed Forces; Paloman People's Army

The Turtle Island dispute, also known as the Turtle Island Troubles by Meritian allies, was a territorial dispute initiated by the Empire of Meritia after, in spite of a claim by the Kingdom of Northwood-Oregon predating it by over two years^[a], Meritia claimed Turtle Island through a territorial proclamation presented and signed by Joseph Montgomery, the Emperor of Meritia.^[3] This was accompanied by a condemnation and denunciation of Northwood-Oregon by Meritia.

Meritia's claims were primarily backed by members states and observer states of the Ohio Bloc, which claimed to have the goal of uniting "Ohioan provinces under Ohioan rule". Despite this goal, Meritia ceded Ohioan provinces to micronations not located in Ohio nor ran by Ohioan leaders, those micronations being the Kingdom of Scynja which is located in Florida and the Kingdom of Fontasia which is located in the region of New England. During the height of the dispute, Meritia's claims were only recognized by one micronation headquartered in Ohio, that being the Shahawk Nation (now the Empire of Shahawkia).

After failing to garner support from other Ohio micronations, and the withdrawal of the Shahawk Nation from the Ohio Bloc, Meritia would alter it's foreign policy to stop recognizing the existence of Northwood-Oregon, along with other nations that didn't meet their standards of legitimacy. This led to Meritia fallaciously claiming that the dispute was over on 6 December 2022, just two days after it had initiated it.

The actual end to the dispute came on December 8th, 2022, after Diplomatic Officials from both Meritia and Northwood-Oregon at least agreed to a peaceful compromise on the matter, with Meritia revoking all claim of Turtle Island and seeking claims elsewhere, and the two nations entering a period of peace and friendly diplomacy between each other.

Background

Northwood-Oregonian claim

Turtle Island, an uninhabited island that straddles the Ohio-Michigan maritime border on Lake Erie in the United States was claimed by the Kingdom of Northwood-Oregon in 2020. Despite this, the Free Socialist State of Paloma claimed the island, which followed in Northwood-Oregon and Paloma agreeing to a land swap, ceding Paloma the Woodtick Peninsula in exchange for Northwoodian annexation over all of Turtle Island. The Northwoodians sent two expeditions to the island using a naval vessel in the Northwood-Oregonian Armed Forces.

Two years later, in early December 2022 the Empire of Meritia discovered the small island and immediately was interested in annexing it, however it did not realize the Northwood-Oregonian claim. On 3 December 2022, the Empire of Meritia condemned the Northwood-Oregonian claim to the island and ignored it as an illegitimate claim, in part due to the Meritian beliefs that Northwood-Oregon was wrongfully claiming the title that it was the most advanced micronation in the Ohio Sector.

Meritia's territorial proclamation

Document

On 4 December 2022, at exactly 6:00 PM EST, the Empire of Meritia would formally annex the island as the Protectorate of Turtle Island, announcing in its annexation declaration that any other micronational claims to the island would not be recognized and may prompt military force to be exercised by the Meritian military.

Reactions

Following the announcement, close Meritian allies, the Kingdom of Fontasia, Kingdom of Scynja, Kingdom of Skahynia, Republic of Roscamistan and the Shahawk Nation appeased and supported the move, stating that Meritia had every right to claim and annex the territory as the Northwood-Oregonians never set foot on the island, prompting the claim to be illegitimate.

Ensuing responses and actions

Initial reaction

Minutes after the annexation, the Northwood-Oregonian government was extremely confused by the annexation, and sarcastically claimed it was terrified of some "Microwiki edits." However the government of Northwood-Oregon and Meritia attempted negotiations, in which Meritia was persistent in keeping its terms listed in their Territorial Proclamation on Turtle Island viable, or agreements would not happen. The attempted negotiations failed, leading to the Meritian government to begin ramping up propaganda against Northwood-Oregon. It was at this time that the Meritian government asserted that a declaration of war could be plausible, as the Northwood-Oregonians denied Meritian terms in place of their own.

Meritia seeks further support

The second day of the dispute began, and the Meritian and Northwood-Oregonian governments had yet to decide on a concisive resolution. Meritia garnered more support from allies. In the evening of that day, the Kingdom of Fontasia raised its military forces to high-alert and established a militia for its Ohio territory that borders Meritia. The people of Fontasia favored war against Northwood-Oregon if Meritia entered a conflict, as the Empire of Meritia went to war against Zeprana during the Dilu War, and the Kingdom of Fontasia needed a way to repay Meritia for its efforts. Throughout the crisis, many Meritian allies drew comparisons of the Turtle Island dispute to the Dilu Island dispute and Dilu War which occurred in early 2022.

Meritia claims an end to the dispute

On 6 December 2022, the dispute “ended” when the Empire of Meritia, entering a new micronational legitimacy policy did not recognise the existence of the Kingdom of Northwood-Oregon as a micronation entirely, claiming the island for themselves undisputedly.

All diplomatic support withdrew their involvement following this announcement, claiming an end to the dispute.

References

Footnotes

↑ The initial claim on Turtle Island by Northwood-Oregon was claimed during the Three Day Expansion on 11 October 2020, which was not properly documented. However, the claim was reaffirmed by the Sovereign Land Revisiting Bill on 13 August 2021.^[2]

Citations

↑ Parliamentary Bill 22-H2-18 Accessed 6 December 2022.
↑ Sovereign Land Revisiting Bill Accessed 6 December 2022.
↑ DOCUMENT NO. 031 Accessed 6 December 2022.

[3] The initial claim on Turtle Island by Northwood-Oregon was claimed during the Three Day Expansion on 11 October 2020, which was not properly documented. However, the claim was reaffirmed by the Sovereign Land Revisiting Bill on 13 August 2021.^[2]

[1] Parliamentary Bill 22-H2-18 Accessed 6 December 2022.

[2] Sovereign Land Revisiting Bill Accessed 6 December 2022.

[4] DOCUMENT NO. 031 Accessed 6 December 2022.

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