Sealand and the Quest for International Recognition

Sealand sat and crossed his arms and pouted. Not being as a real Nation was not fair, not fair at all. He had his case for existing memorised, and could even quote the old laws on international waters. There was no way he could be wrong.

It just seemed that no one wanted to acknowledge he was right.

Even his friend Latvia called him "Peter", not Sealand, and Saint Lucia, his best friend in the Commonwealth, didn't seem to call him by either name. This was not going to do at all. And so, bored out of his mind and not allowed to speak, Sealand pulled out some paper from England's stack, flipped it over, and began scribbling down things on the back.

Sealand's Great List of Ways to Become a Country!

The list was woefully empty. He'd already tried "Get other Nations to acknowledge me!" multiple times, and the strategy was failing magnificently. Not even his best friend or his mama and papa called him a Nation. So he'd just have to find out other ways of becoming a Nation. Tearing off a piece of paper he scribbled his question, folded it up, and had it passed down to the table to the intended recipient, Saint Lucia.

She read and re-read the question at least three times and Sealand shifted uneasily. She had to be less obvious or that jerk on his right would catch her. However, she ducked her head and began writing back an answer. It took a lot longer than expected. However, she folded the note again and had it passed along the table to the waiting receiver. Her handwriting was smaller and tidier than Sealand's, and he struggled to read the light, curvy print under the table.

"England gave me more and more political freedoms starting in the nineteenth century, and I joined federations with my neighbours in the Caribbean. Eventually he gave me complete control of all my internal affairs, and on February 22, 1979 he gave me complete control of my external affairs and defence responsibilities as well. Now will you remember my birthday?"

Making a mental note to write down Saint Lucia's birthday on his calendar when he got home, Sealand wrote down his first option on his great list of ways to become a country.

-Just wait until that jerk gives it to me.

However, Sealand was pretty sure he didn't want to have to wait for that jerk to just acknowledge him. He'd been waiting since after the second world war! He hardly wanted to wait more.

How about India? Everyone had made a huge fuss when she left the jerk. Of course, India still scared him a little, but he wasn't going to let that make him back down. He tore off another piece of his paper and wrote a note to India. Once again he had it passed down to her, and when India received it she looked straight at Sealand and raised one expressive eyebrow. He tried to raise one of his own prominent eyebrows, but could not master the movement. However, she turned to the paper again and began writing. It took her even longer than Saint Lucia to write down her answer. So long, in fact, he was surprised when Cyprus handed him the note. It was completely covered by writing on all sides, and it was tiny. Sealand tried to read it, but the tiny print seemed to be covering the complete history of India's independence movement. Only the last line was even moderately helpful.

Why am I even bothering? To answer the question in a way you'll understand, I had a lot of violent and non-violent movements that no one can agree about how they affected me, and even after my independence there was plenty of violence. I've since become a republic.

After considering it for a few moments, Sealand wrote down his second option on his list.

-Have violent and non-violent revolutions and get independence that way.

However, Sealand's navy was hardly strong enough to fight back the might of the United Kingdom. It was always an option, but it didn't seem like one that would work for him. Scanning the room, Sealand miraculously noticed Canada, and realised this was exactly the person to ask. Canada hadn't rebelled to get his independence either, right? The guy must've been awful sneaky in order to get his independence without so much as a fight and get away with so much land.

Canada's returning answer was in large, even print that wasn't in cursive. It was also mercifully short in comparison to India's.

I got my independence from England three times, each time getting more autonomy. The British North America Acts in 1867 gave me my Confederation, that's when my birthday is, the Statute of Westminster in 1931 meant I was equal to England when it came to legislation, with a few exceptions, and the Canada Act in 1982 completely severed my ties to England. It was a long wait, but worth it.

And Sealand, two things. One, there were a lot of reasons I became a Confederation, a lot of which involved trade and the threat of war with America, so don't get your hopes up. And two, I did have a violent rebellion, which failed.

Okay, so Canada's answer was a lot like Saint Lucia's, but with an even longer wait. But the last bit was interesting. Confusingly, Canada got into a tight spot and ended up getting his independence from it. Sealand wasn't sure how it worked, and decided it was because the jerk was a complete fool, letting colonies leave because they were danger.

-Get into trouble so that jerk will let me go.

At which point said jerk ended the meeting and Nations began standing and leaving. Nauru trotted up to Sealand and wheezed a little. "If someone as little as me can be independent," he said breathlessly, "you can, too."

"Thanks!" Sealand said brightly. Then he paused. "How did you know about that?"

"I, er, read the note you gave Saint Lucia," he admitted sheepishly.

"Okay, you, time to go," Australia said, heaving Nauru under his arm with a loud noise of exertion.

"Bye, Sealand!" Nauru shouted back, waving frantically. Sealand waved back and smiled.

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A/N: Sort of a sequel to Family Reunion, I guess? Don't be fooled, Sealand's not the only one passing notes during the meeting. Little do you know, Australia and Fiji are flirting under the table between their attempts to prove they're the stronger one. (I have no idea if that is accurate or not, but I insist that they have one night stands sometimes.)

Oh, and at the risk of sounding self-promoting, I have a poll on my user now where you can demand I write more, and of what. Inlcuding finally getting up a chapter of True North and Maple Leaves.

Thank you for reading~