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Speaker 1: This Day in History Class is a production of I

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Speaker 1: Heart Radio. Hello and welcome to This Day in History Class,

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Speaker 1: a show where we explore the past one day at

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Speaker 1: a time. If you missed yesterday's show, surprise, I'm your

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Speaker 1: new host. My name is Gabe Lusier, and I'm following

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Speaker 1: in Eves and Tracy's footsteps to deliver a micro dose

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Speaker 1: of history to you each and every day. Speaking of which,

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Speaker 1: our story this episode is an odd one and a

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Speaker 1: personal favorite of mine. It's the time when a British

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Speaker 1: family moved into an abandoned naval base and turned it

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Speaker 1: into their very own country. As you might guess, there's

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Speaker 1: a lot to discuss, so let's dive right in. The

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Speaker 1: day was Saturday, September two, nineteen sixty seven, Patti Roy Bates,

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Speaker 1: a former British Army major turned pirate radio broadcaster, declared

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Speaker 1: that the abandoned naval base he had been occupying for

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Speaker 1: the past nine months was now a sovereign micro nation.

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Speaker 1: The Principality of Sea Land, located seven and a half

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Speaker 1: miles off the eastern shore of Britain in the North Sea.

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Speaker 1: Sea Land consists entirely of a World War Two era

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Speaker 1: sea fort It was originally built in nineteen forty two

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Speaker 1: as an anti aircraft platform called the HM Fort Roffs.

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Speaker 1: Utilitarian in design, the structure is made up of a

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Speaker 1: floating pontoon base with two hollow concrete towers joined at

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Speaker 1: the top by a steel deck with a few container

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Speaker 1: like buildings on top. To be frank, it's not much

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Speaker 1: to look at, but at the height of the war

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Speaker 1: the fort was occupied by up to three hundred members

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Speaker 1: of the Royal Navy, who used the forts considerable firepower

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Speaker 1: to defend British shipping lanes against Nazi forces. The station

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Speaker 1: was ultimately abandoned by the military in nineteen fifty six

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Speaker 1: and left to rot, but Patti Roy Bates had other plans.

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Speaker 1: In nineteen sixty five, the former British Army major founded

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Speaker 1: a pirate radio station located off the coast of England

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Speaker 1: on a different derelict naval fort called knock John. When

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Speaker 1: the British government began to crack down on popular but

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Speaker 1: illegal offshore radio stations, Bates decided to move his venture

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Speaker 1: even further into international waters. This move led him to

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Speaker 1: Fort Ruffs, which he seized control of on Christmas Eve

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Speaker 1: nineteen sixty six Nine months later, on his wife Jones's birthday,

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Speaker 1: Bates proclaimed the outpost to be a new sovereign nation

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Speaker 1: all his own. If you're wondering what empowered Bates to

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Speaker 1: create a new country, you're not alone. The geopolitical status

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Speaker 1: of micro nations has been disputed for decades, but most

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Speaker 1: of them claim legitimacy through the Monte Video Convention on

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Speaker 1: the Rights and Duties of States. This nineteen thirty three

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Speaker 1: document outlines four key criteria for attaining statehood, population, government, territory,

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Speaker 1: and relations with other states. According to the international leaders

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Speaker 1: who signed the legislation, including US President f DR any

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Speaker 1: entity that meets those four criteria qualifies as an independent nation.

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Speaker 1: So let's see how Sea Land measures up in terms

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Speaker 1: of population. The rogue state peaked in the early nineteen

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Speaker 1: seventies when around fifty people lived there, including bates extended

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Speaker 1: family and friends, as well as a maintenance crew. Today,

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Speaker 1: the population is considerably smaller, consisting of a two person

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Speaker 1: security team who live their year round and a mall

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Speaker 1: staff in charge of upkeep. The current ruler of Seeland,

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Speaker 1: the founder's son, Prince Michael Bates, visits the micro nation

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Speaker 1: two to three times a year, but he and his

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Speaker 1: family no longer live there on a permanent basis. As

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Speaker 1: far as its government goes, Seeland does have its own constitution,

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Speaker 1: which consists of a preamble and seven articles. It is

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Speaker 1: governed by Prince Michael and the rest of the Bates family,

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Speaker 1: who act as hereditary royal rulers, complete with their own

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Speaker 1: royal titles. As for territory, Seeland boasts just a little

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Speaker 1: over forty three thousand square feet, making it a micro

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Speaker 1: nation in the truest sense of the word. So that's population, government,

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Speaker 1: and territory all accounted for, which just leaves the final

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Speaker 1: criteria for statehood relations with other states to be clear,

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Speaker 1: No country formally recognizes Sea Land as a sovereign nation. However,

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Speaker 1: the Bates family maintains that Sea Land has received de

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Speaker 1: facto recognition. The event they point to as proof occurred

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Speaker 1: one August night in ninety eight, when German and Dutch

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Speaker 1: mercenaries stormed Sea Land using helicopters and jet skis. This

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Speaker 1: attempted coup was thwarted by members of the Bates family,

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Speaker 1: who were able to defend themselves using weapons stashed around

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Speaker 1: the platform. The family held the invading mercenaries as hostages,

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Speaker 1: which prompted a German ambassador and a delegation from London's

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Speaker 1: embassy to visit Sea Land and negotiate for the group's release.

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Speaker 1: For the people of Sea Land, this international intervention constituted

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Speaker 1: official recognition from other states, though the German and British

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Speaker 1: governments do not share that view. Regardless of public opinion,

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Speaker 1: Sea Land has embraced its nationhood ever since the attempted

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Speaker 1: take over. It has an official flag, national anthem, currency,

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Speaker 1: and even a football team. The micro nation's official Latin

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Speaker 1: motto is Emaire libertas, or from the Sea Freedom. If

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Speaker 1: you'd like to visit Sea Land for yourself, you'll first

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Speaker 1: need to get an invitation from Prince Michael or another

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Speaker 1: member of the Sea Land dynasty. And if you can't

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Speaker 1: swing and invite, you can still show your support for

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Speaker 1: the micro nation and help fund its operational costs by

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Speaker 1: visiting its online store and picking up a T shirt,

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Speaker 1: some commemorative stamps, or even your own royal title. For

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Speaker 1: around forty dollars US, you two can become an official Lord, Lady,

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Speaker 1: baron or Baroness of Sea Land. I'm gay, Bluesier and

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Speaker 1: hopefully you now know a little more about history today

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Speaker 1: than you did yesterday. You can learn even more about

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Speaker 1: history by following us on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram at

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Speaker 1: t D I HC podcast, and if you have any

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Speaker 1: comments or suggestions, you can send them my way at

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Speaker 1: this Day at I heart media dot com. Thanks to

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Speaker 1: Chandler Mays for producing the show, and thank you for listening.

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Speaker 1: I'll see you back here again tomorrow for another day

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Speaker 1: in History class. For more podcasts from my Heart Radio,

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