Founding & Early Years
The Empire of Sunilian States declared its independence on the 9th of October, 2011. Sunilia, as was its official name at the time, initially consisted only of the state of Ma Greb, located in the Styria province of Austria. It expanded a few days later to incorporate the territory of Bencia, which seceded from Germany and became the new nation’s capital. Bencia expanded from a size of roughly 10 to about 200 square meters through treaties over the coming months. Thanks to support for the Sunilian cause, further territories declared their independence from Germany, and Sunilia became a federation of numerous states.
The nation’s official long name was therefore changed to “Empire of Sunilian States” in 2014.
The People’s Republic of Seabourg & the Sunilian-Seabourg Double Nation
Between 2014 and 2019, the Empire of Sunilian States went through a period of difficult relations with a region of land referred to as Seabourg. Seabourg had not formally declared itself independent from Germany, however controlled its own affairs, maintained a strict border regime cutting it off for German citizens without a permit for passage (with the exception of residents of the surrounding German township) and repeatedly finding themselves in dispute with German authorities over their independent-minded approach.
The fact that Seabourg governed itself was recognized by the Empire of Sunilian States, which declared Seabourg’s independence on its behalf as the “People’s Republic of Seabourg,” and then promptly moved to offer to assimilate the newly independent nation into the federation that is the Empire of Sunilian States. This advance was, however, ignored by the administration under the Dear Leader Peter in Seeberg, the capital of Seabourg.
The Sunilian government responded by finding a diplomatic solution to the issue. As the declaration of independence of the People’s Republic of Seabourg had been made by the Empire of Sunilian States, the Sunilian government argued that Seabourg owed its independence entirely to Sunilian administration. Therefore, without Sunilia, Seabourg wouldn’t exist as an independent entity. Hence, the Sunilian government concluded, Seabourg was naturally a part of Sunilia for as long as it was independent from Germany. This marked the start of an official Sunilian policy which was named the “Sunilian-Seabourg Double Nation,” in reference to the Austro-Hungarian Empire.
The Sunilian-Seabourg Double Nation operates in a manner of complete autonomy of the two nations from one another, each having full control over their internal and external affairs. The People’s Republic of Seabourg exists as a crown dependency of Sunilia under this regulation, and the only limitation to its absolute autonomy is that it may not revoke its status as an independent state.
Military action
Unconfirmed reports have been made that the Sunilian armed forces created battle plans to annex substantial parts of the People’s Republic of Seabourg by force, should the need arise. These plans were supposedly drafted during the increase of tensions with the recently independent nation and some reports claim that hardliners within the National Party pushed for their implementation well into 2018.
The Sunilian military has confirmed that some training was carried out in the forests of the People’s Republic of Seabourg without Seeberg’s knowledge, however, the Sunilian government has never released an official press statement addressing any rumors regarding military action or plans toward Seabourg. Political analysts presume that the Sunilian government does in fact have a battle plan stored away on a shelf which it would be ready to use in the case of souring relations between the two nations, considering the great strategic value of Seabourg to Sunilia.
The Bir Tawil Dispute and Decolonization
Starting in 2014, the Empire of Sunilian States held a colony in the territory of Bir Tawil, located in the Sahara Desert between Egypt and Sudan. This claim was deemed legitimate by the Sunilian government as no other nation recognized by the Empire of Sunilian States had laid claim on this stretch of land at the time.
In 2015 and increasingly so in 2016, however, it came to the attention of the Imperial Government that there were several organizations – including other micronations – which were trying to agitate against Sunilian authority in the Bir Tawil region. This was initially met with repression by the government of Sunilia. The 2015 Donestic Branch report of the Service of State Security (SOSS) read:
“…The so called “Kingdom of North Sudan”, a separatist movement that has started up in 2014, [claims] the whole of the Sunilian colony “Bir Tawil”. Admittedly, the Sunilian Government has lost the control of the region due to its peace-loving approach to the conflict, however Sunilia is not willing to lose its entire colony to separatist terrorists. This will remain a very important target for Sunilian counter-terrorism and military intelligence. The Sunilian government cannot exclude the possibility for military countermeasures to be taken.”
A number of press releases were made over the following months, and the threat of hostilities between the Empire of Sunilian States and separatists or other micronations laying claim to Bir Tawil poisoned the political atmosphere in Bencia.
In 2017, a fundamental decision was taken by the Central Committee of the National Party of the Empire of Sunilian States to decolonize. As Sunilia respects the right to self-determination of all people, this was the only natural step to be taken. Claims to Bir Tawil were consequently dropped and an escalation of tensions averted.