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D

Dagestan, Republic of- Following the dissolution of the Terek-Dagestan Republic, Dagestan organized a new government in March of 1918. Violent fighting between White and Red factions ended with a Soviet victory in May, 1921.

Dambrugana- Dambrugana was a Maroon quilombo in northeast Brazil. The settlement flourished during the 1670s.

Danzig, Free City of- After the First World War, both Germany and Poland claimed this port city. The League of Nations made it a self-governing city-state. It was annexed to Germany in 1939, and the German population was expelled in 1945.

Darfur- Darfur was an independent sultanate of the Fur tribe until its conquest by Egypt in 1874. In 1899, Sultan Ali Dinar rebelled. Faced by English and French troops, he swore allegiance to Turkey in 1914. British troops killed Ali Dinar In 1916.

Darién Colony- see New Caledonia.

Darul Islam- see Indonesia, Islamic State of.

Dauria- see Buryatia.

Dega-Cham High Plateaus- The Dega-Cham Plateaus are located in central Vietnam. They are occupied by several highland tribes (known collectively as the Montagnards), the Cham, who controlled a powerful kingdom in the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries, and ethnic Cambodians. In January of 1964, a military coup overthrew the government of South Vietnam. The following month, the highland peoples rebelled under the leadership of FULRO, the United Struggle Front for the Oppressed Peoples. Negotiations with the central government failed, despite U.S. intervention. In May of 1966, the Austriens, as the highlanders had begun calling themselves, agreed to autonomy within South Vietnam. The area was the first section of South Vietnam overrun after the American withdrawal in 1975. The following year, the Communist government revoked its guarantees of autonomy.

Denakils- see Afar Republic.

Deseret- In 1849, the Mormon inhabitants of Salt Lake City proposed the state of Deseret to Congress. Its borders not only included Utah but stretched from eastern California to Texas, and from Mexico to southern Wyoming and Idaho. Predictably, Congress refused. As part of the Compromise of 1850, Congress admitted the Mormon state as the Utah Territory. President Fillmore allowed Brigham Young to remain as governor, but appointed outsiders to several key administrative posts.

Over the next several years, relations between Utah and Washington soured, as federal and territorial officials clashed over Indian policy, court cases, and land surveying. In 1855, an Army surveying group left Utah fearing for their lives, and the office of a federal judge was ransacked in December, 1856. These actions led President Buchanan to decide on a military expedition in May of 1857. A new non-Mormon governor accompanied the 2,500 troops.

The troops arrived at the border of Utah in early September. Brigham Young met the federal officials and informed them that the troops would receive no supplies from the Mormons, and that they were not allowed to enter the Great Salt Valley. Young then declared martial law, and mobilized a militia to fortify the approaches to Salt Lake City. The Army troops struggled to reach the burnt remains of Fort Bridger, where they spent the winter. Mormon raids and severe weather deprived them of 150 tons of food and half of their animals. In early 1858, nearly 4,000 reinforcements set out for Utah. As the Army troops resumed their march on Salt Lake City, presidential envoys rushed between the column and the Mormon leaders, trying to arrange a peace. In early June, the Mormons accepted a presidential pardon and allowed the troops into the Great Salt Valley. After the expedient removal of polygamy from Mormon theology, Utah was admitted to the Union.

Dhofar- Dhofar is the southern province of Oman. It has long been ignored by the central government, and is one of the poorest areas in the Arabian Peninsula. In 1963, a small group of rebels attacked a government outpost. The rebellion gained momentum and quickly became radicalized, gaining support from China and the Soviet Union. After the Sultan was overthrown and his son assumed control, the Omanis (with the heavy assistance of British advisors) established a defensive line and began to push the Dhofaris back. At the same time, the new Sultan regained support by improving roads and government services in the area. In December of 1975, the Sultan declared the insurrection over.

Dinkas- see Southern Sudan, Republic of

Ditmarschen- also Ditmarsh, Nordalbingia. The Ditmarschen area, now part of Holstein, first appears in history as a district organized by Charlemagne during his German campaigns. During the wars of succession following Charlemagne's death, the region organized its own affairs, and much like Seborga or Monaco, no one ever came back to reassert imperial control. Ditmarschen serves as one of the most famous examples (along with the Westerwold, which in 1316 finally acknowledged rule by the Bishop of Münster) of peasant self-government during the Middle Ages. Like a few other lucky enclaves, the Ditmarschen had no feudal lord, and the inhabitants governed themselves through an elected council. It was not until 1559 that the Ditmarschen succumbed to the embrace of the Holy Roman Empire.

Djukas- see Auca Republic.

Dniestr Moldavian Republic- see Trans-Dniestr Republic.

Don-Caucasus Union- see Don Voisko.

Don, Republic of the- In May 1917, the Cossacks of the Don region declared themselves autonomous, electing the Tsarist general Alexei Kaledin as Ataman, the head of government. Following the army mutiny of July under General Kornilov, the Russian government demanded the arrest of Kaledin. The Don government refused. On November 20, 1917, the Don Republic declared itself formally independent of Soviet Russia. The Republic was desperately short of funds, though, and returning Cossack soldiers refused to fight for Kaledin. The government was also paralyzed by failure to cooperate with the Russian peasants of the Don, who made up about half of the population. An abortive Don Soviet Republic was declared by striking coal miners at Rostov on November 29, but lasted only two weeks. The Red Army soon launched a retaliatory attack. As the Bolsheviks advanced, Kaledin committed suicide. The last Don units retreated from the province on February 18, 1918.

Don Soviet Republic- After the collapse of the Republic of the Don, the Soviets became the dominant power in the area. However, civil war and the German advance made communication difficult. In order to govern the area more effectively, and to stymie the Germans, the Don Soviet Republic declared its independence on March 23, 1918. As requisitions and executions began, the people of the Don came to despise their Bolshevik rulers. The Cossacks revolted in April, and organized the Provisional Government of the Don. On May 1, the Germans entered the Don province from the west. In their wake followed new Cossack and White attacks, and the Germans took Rostov on May 6. The Provisional Government hastily declared itself in control of the Don Voisko.

Don Voisko- The Don Voisko (or Host) took control of the Don region after the collapse of the Don Soviet Republic. The Voisko government was dominated by conservative Cossack elements. In May of 1918, the Don legislature (the Krug) chose General P.N. Krasnov as the nation's leader. With assistance from Denikin's Volunteer Army, Krasnov liberated ten thousand square miles of the Don by September. Krasnov turned to Germany for support, receiving supplies, logistic support, and Kaiser Wilhelm's approval for the "Don-Caucasus Union," a pipe dream that would have annexed most of the surrounding provinces to the Voisko. Krasnov's ambitions were checked mainly by the equally ridiculous claims of the Ukrainian Hetmanate.

On September 28, the Krug adopted a constitution; the constitution contained the declaration of the Voisko's independence. The collapse of Imperial Germany and the arrival of Allied troops in the East soon put the lie to this declaration. The British demanded, and got, the incorporation of Don forces in the Russian Volunteer Army. A fresh Red Army offensive in January of 1919 pushed aside the newly demoralized Don troops. In early March, the Whites and Cossacks were defending a perimeter only a hundred kilometers from Rostov. The Communist victory was fleeting, and Denikin reconquered the Don when the Red Army shifted its attention to the Siberian front. The White forces were bled throughout the next year, and a peasant uprising finally ended Denikin's hopes of retaining the Don. The last White forces withdrew in February of 1920.

Druzes-

El Duda- see Marquetalia.

E

 

East Cambodia, Autonomous Zone of- In 1993, UN forces entered Cambodia to help enforce the shaky truce between that nation's warring factions. One faction was led by Prince Norodom Sihanouk, whose party won the elections of 1994. The ruing party, under Prime Minister Hun Sen, refused to concede, asking the United Nations to investigate rumors of voter fraud. Prince Sihanouk's youngest son, Prince Norodom Chakrapong, attempted to rally nationalist support by leading Cambodia's eastern provinces into secession to protest UN intervention. Prince Sihanouk, who had been rushed into power by the panicked legislature, denounced the move. Stripped of any meaningful support, Prince Chakrapong fled to Vietnam after barely two weeks in power.  

Eastern Mongolia- also Solon Republic. Amid the growth of Japanese influence in Manchuria, north China collapsed into chaos during the 1920s. In December of 1928, the Solon League, a group of Mongolian clans, announced their secession from China. The Chinese Republic soon reasserted their authority. During the Second World War, Eastern Mongolia was occupied by the Soviets. They withdrew in November of 1945, ceding control to the Chinese Communists. The Mongols declared their independence again, fighting off both Communist and Nationalist invasions. The Chinese Communists succeeded in taking the region in May of 1947.

Eastern Syria- see Syria, Kingdom of.

Eastern Turkestan- see East Turkestan, Islamic Republic of.

East Florida- Inspired by the settler republics of Natchez and West Florida, a group of Anglo-Americans attempted to declare East Florida's independence in 1812. The so-called "Patriot Rebellion" succeeded in capturing several plantations along the St. Johns River, but collapsed when President Madison refused to support the revolutionaries.

East Texas- In 1930, the Great Depression was in full swing. The American oil industry was especially hard hit, as prices fell below the cost of production. The situation reached crisis proportions when oil prospectors in eastern Texas discovered huge reserves and began pouring oil onto the already glutted market. The established producers panicked, and appealed to the state government. The Texas Railroad Commission, which had been given jurisdiction over oil production in an obscure bureaucratic shuffle decades earlier, was unable to directly place limits on output. A loophole was found, and the Texas legislature declared that overproduction would deplete the wells, therefore requiring a cap on production. The new independent companies ignored this directive, and soon East Texas was producing enough oil to meet half of domestic demand. As prices continued to fall, the Texan economy came close to total collapse. Rumors surfaced that desperate groups planned to dynamite the wells. As tension came to a head, Governor Ross Sterling instituted a desperate solution. He declared martial law, announcing that East Texas was in a state of "open rebellion". National Guard troops seized the oilfields, and the Railroad Commission quotas were enforced by special Texas Ranger detachments. Illegal overproduction continued despite martial law, although East Texan producers were careful to maintain a thin veneer of respect for Austin.  

East Timor, Democratic Republic of- A former Portuguese colony in southern Indonesia, East Timor declared its independence following a coup in Portugal in 1975. Less than a week later, Indonesia crushed the Timorese armed forces and annexed the territory. The second declaration of independence in 1999 followed a referendum and led to a final scorched-earth frenzy by evacuating Indonesian troops that left hundreds dead. Australian peacekeepers currently maintain the nation’s security.

East Turkestan, Islamic Republic of- Two entities, both located in Chinese Turkestan or Xinjiang, used the name of East Turkestan during the twentieth century. The first was declared in September of 1932, although its de facto existence was not secured until over a year later. In May of 1933, Uighur nationalists based in the city of Khotan organized the Khotan Islamic Government. The leaders of this movement (called the Khotan Amirs) were opposed to both the increasingly Soviet-controlled Kuomintang governor and the Chinese-speaking Muslim Tungan government. An uneasy truce between the Tungans and the Turkic Muslims of Khotan was shattered by the massacre of several hundred Tungans by Turkic soldiers. Fighting broke out, and Khotan soon controlled the southern third of Xinjiang. In October, the Islamic Republic was declared. Islamic law was made the basis of government, and Khotan began to press its advantage against the provincial government. Alarmed at the erosion of the puppet governor's power against Khotan and the Tungans, the Soviet Union dispatched 7,000 men in January of 1934. Squeezed by the Soviets and the Tungans, Khotan rapidly succumbed. On February 6, the Islamic Republic's official capital at Kashgar fell. The confusion was magnified when the President of East Turkestan fled to the USSR for protection and signed a treaty dissolving the republic. Although scattered resistance continued against Tungan, Soviet, and Chinese forces, the destruction of the last Turkic stronghold in April of 1934 marked the end of the Islamic Republic.

The second East Turkestan Republic was declared on November 12, 1944, and within a few weeks had driven all Kuomintang forces from the northwestern districts of Xinjiang. The ETR was highly nationalistic, and declared itself unwilling to consider autonomy within China. After a personal appeal by Chiang Kai-Shek, negotiations were opened in late 1945. After a lengthy and difficult process, a compromise was reached which allowed the formation of an ETR-Kuomintang coalition government for Sinkiang in mid-1946. This government was not allowed influence within ETR-held areas, however.

The coalition collapsed in 1947, after the departure of a popular governor and military heavy-handedness. Soviet attempts at mediation failed, and tensions in Sinkiang rose amid increasing Kuomintang corruption and economic chaos. In August of 1949, the new Communist government of China invited delegates from the ETR to negotiations at Beijing. The ETR sent Ahmet Jan, Abbas, Delilhan, and Izhak Han, four of its greatest and most charismatic leaders, aboard a Soviet plane from Alma Ata. Several months later, the Soviet government announced that the plane carrying the ETR leaders had "crashed." On October 12, 1949, the People's Liberation Army entered Xinjiang, and soon consolidated control over the ETR.

Edo- see Benin.

Ekaterinodar- see Kuban Voisko.

Eleuthera- An island in the eastern Bahamas, Eleuthera was the only colony chartered by Cromwell's English Commonwealth. The Puritan colony was founded in 1647 by William Sayle. The Puritans prospered when Bermuda expelled its Republicans to Eleuthera, as Massachusetts sent aid to the Bermudan refugees. After the Stuart restoration, the Puritans trickled back to Bermuda or to the mainland, and the Lord Protector's charter was revoked. The remaining Puritans settled all of Eleuthera, and founded the city of New Providence, named after the Puritan colony on Providence Island. New Providence is now the capital of the Bahamas.

EnenKio Atoll- In 1898, the United States annexed Wake Island, in the Marshall Islands of the western Pacific. After the Marshalls became a U.S. Trust Territory, the traditional chiefs of the area agitated for recognition that Wake Island was a part of the Marianas chain, and pressed their historical claims to the atoll, called EnenKio locally. The U.S. government has consistently rejected these claims. The protests took a sharper turn after the U.S. Congress in 1993 acknowledged the illegality a hundred years earlier of the establishment by Americans of the Republic of Hawai'i. According to Enenkio's website, King Murjel Hermios, who is paramount chief of an archipelago in the northern Marshalls, declared Wake Island's independence in 1987, an act recognized by neither the US nor the Marshall Islands. In return for his services as Minister Plenopotentiary in the United States, Hermios granted American businessman Robert Moore land on Taongi Atoll in the northern Marshalls. Moore leased the atoll to Mark Pedley, who has declared the atoll the "Dominion of Melchizedek". Pedley (now known as Dr. Tzemach Ben David Korem), a convicted confidence artist, lays claim as well to parts of Antarctica and the City of Jerusalem. In all fairness, the US has been slow in recognizing other new nations, and Korem claims that his earlier convictions were "politically motivated." However, all evidence points to EnenKio and Melchizedek being what the State Department claims them to be; "figments of imagination".

Espiritu Santo- also Republic of Vemarana. In 1980, Vanautu gained its independence from an Anglo-French condominium. Jimmy Stephens, a native of Espiritu Santo in northern Vanuatu, was head of the New Hebrides Autonomy Movement (MANH). MANH had previously declared the independence of Espiritu Santo as part of the NaGriamel Federation in December of 1975. Shortly afterwards, Stephens became involved with the Phoenix Foundation, a group of American businessmen organized by Michael Oliver. Oliver was the driving force behind Minerva and Abaco, earlier attempts at nation-building. Following MANH losses in Vanautu's post-independence elections, Espiritu Santo seceded as the Republic of Vemarana, which the Phoenix Foundation hoped to shape into a haven for unfettered capitalism. The Vanautuan government appealed to Papua New Guinea, which quickly crushed MANH with a battalion of crack troops. The Phoenix Foundation also encouraged the revolt on Tanna in the south of Vanuatu, although there is no evidence of contact between Oliver and the Tanna separatists.

Estonia, Embassy of- see Embassy of Lithuania.

Euzkadi- also Euskadi. The Basques have long prized their independence and uniqueness; the rough terrain of northeastern Spain where the majority of Basques live has only encouraged their self-reliant isolationism. Independent in the Middle Ages as the Kingdom of Navarre, the Basques have been only briefly independent in the 20th century. An abortive declaration of independence in 1931 was quickly suppressed by the Spanish government. The beginning of the Spanish Civil War in 1936, and the rapid advance in the north of Franco’s Nationalist troops, alarmed the Basques. On October 7, representatives of the Basque towns met in the town square of Guernica under an oak tree and declared the independence of the Basque Republic of Euzkadi. In the spring, the Nationalists abandoned their ineffective blockade and advanced; they needed the iron ore and factories of the Basque region to pay for Nazi weapons and advisors. By the end of May, the Basques had been crushed; they had no effective retaliation against German artillery and carpet-bombing. After the death of Franco and the return of parliamentary democracy in the 1980s, the Basques were granted autonomy, although the terrorist ETA continues to demand the region’s independence.

Ezo, Republic of- In 1867, the Empire of Japan was reeling under an economic onslaught by the Western powers. Reformists came to see an opening to the West as Japan’s only chance for true independence. Accordingly, the reformists overthrew the Tokugawa Shogunate in the name of the Emperor, an event known as the Meiji Restoration. Enomoto Takeaki was admiral of the Tokugawa navy, but refused to meet fellow Japanese in battle. He retreated to Hokkaido, then called Ezo, to wait out the storm. As stragglers made their way north over the next two years, it became apparent that the Shogunate was finished. Enomoto declared himself President of the Republic of Ezo in January of 1869. An Imperial fleet was sent to Ezo in May. Rather than subject Japan to civil war, Enomoto destroyed his arms and surrendered. After a prison term, Enomoto lived out his days as a high official in the Meiji government.

F

 

Falashas- The Falashas are an Ethiopian tribe which professes Judaism. They suffered intense persecution under the Christian rulers of Ethiopia from the 14th to 17th century. At that time, they were defeated by the majority Christians, and dispersed across the country. They remain isolated to the present day, although immigration to Israel has increased since the end of the Ethiopian Civil War.

Faeroe Islands, Republic of the- Inspired by Iceland's declaration of independence in 1944, the North Sea archipelago of the Faeroe Islands seceded from Denmark in September of 1946. Denmark immediately stepped in and dissolved the parliament of the Faeroes. Talks resulted in the Faeroes rejoining Denmark as an autonomous state in 1948.

Far East, Ukrainian Republic of the- see Green Ukraine.

Far Eastern Republic- also Chita Republic. The Far Eastern Republic was founded at Blagovechensk in eastern Siberia on April 6, 1920, soon after the execution of the White ruler Kolchak. The FER (which soon moved its center to the city of Chita) was headed by A.M. Krasnoshchekov, a devoted Communist. Krasnoshchekov maintained his independence to gain time in the East as a buffer state. He had difficulty asserting control over Siberia against Japan, which was supporting White raiders and engaging Communist troops in direct combat. In June of 1922, Japan announced that it was withdrawing its troops from Siberia. Soon after the last Japanese transport left in late October, Vladivostok fell to the Red Army. The Far Eastern Republic's tenuous independence was ended by mutual agreement with Moscow in November of 1922.

Federal League- During the Argentine Wars of Independence, Uruguay came under the control of José Artigas, a progressive leader who redistributed land and abolished slavery. Artigas allied himself with the Federalists against Buenos Aires after declaring independence in 1815. Artigas appealed to the Federalist provinces to ally with Uruguay that year. They agreed, forming a Federal League which cut off Buenos Aires from the northern provinces. Buenos Aires organized an invasion in 1816, but Artigas crushed it. He refrained from attacking Buenos Aires only in return for lavish tribute. Alarmed by Artigas' success, the Portuguese launched an invasion of Uruguay from Brazil. By 1820, Artigas had been forced south across the River Plate. Exhausted by the League's appropriations, the western provinces repudiated Artigas, who died in exile in Paraguay.

Federation of Arab Republics- In March of 1972, referenda in Egypt, Libya, and Syria approved the formation of a federation between those three countries. None of the governments took effective action, and the federation was declared moribund.

Qadhafi has tried many times to unite Libya with other Arab states: his other attempts were in 1969 with Egypt, Sudan, and Syria; later in 1972 with Egypt; in 1974 with Tunisia; in 1980 with Syria; in 1981 with Chad; in 1984 with Morocco, and in 1990 with Sudan. None of the proposed unions have progressed beyond the planning stages.

Fergana, Provisional Government of- During 1919, the Muslims of Central Asia rallied against the advancing Soviet Army under the banner of the Basmachi movement. Fergana, the region of the earlier short-lived Turkestan government, was declared independent in the autumn of 1919. The Red Army made gains against the Basmachi throughout 1920, who were gradually reduced to guerrilla warfare. Enver Pasha, the leader of the Basmachi and former ruler of Turkey, was defeated by the Communists at Kafrun on June 15, 1922. This marked the end of significant Basmachi opposition, although several bands continued to operate out of Afghanistan.

Fernandina- see Florida Republic.

Fiume, Free City of- also Rijeka. After the First World War, both Yugoslavia and Italy laid claim to this port city. A day after Yugoslavia declared its independence, Fiume seceded as an independent nation. It was seized in August of 1919 by Italian nationalists under the leadership of Gabriele D'Annunzio. After the Treaty of Rapallo declared Fiume a Free City in 1920, D'Annunzio declared war against Italy for failing to annex the city. Despite public support for D'Annunzio, the Italian government sent troops to expel him from Fiume shortly thereafter, and the city was turned over to the League of Nations. The Fascists annexed Fiume by agreement with Yugoslavia in January of 1924. After the Second World War, Fiume was ceded to Yugoslavia and renamed Rijeka.

Flanders, Republic of- The Flemish homeland of Flanders seceded from Belgium in November of 1917 under German protection. When the Germans surrendered in 1918, the Flemish government collapsed and its leaders were hung for treason.

Floating Republic-

Florida Republic- In the midst of Simon Bolivar's campaign against the Spanish crown, the isolated province of East Florida became a tempting prize for American businessmen and filibusters. In 1817, Sir Gregory MacGregor put together a group of Southern investors and assembled a force of Georgia veterans. He easily seized the port of Fernandina, declaring it the capital of the Florida Republic. The Anglo-American population there failed to rally to his support, and MacGregor retreated with unseemly haste. Unfortunately, the vacuum of power made Fernandina attractive to the French pirate Louis Aury, recently expelled from Galveston by Jean Lafitte, who took the town over with a crew of Haitian freedmen and declared it part of the newly declared Republic of Mexico. The Florida Republic soon became a haven for pirates and slave traders. Outraged by the port's lawlessness (), the United States sent a flotilla to expel Aury and secure Spanish control of the province. The following year, Andrew Jackson led troops into East Florida to expel the Spanish and secure U.S. control of the province.

Fort Caroline- see Charlesfort.

France Antarctique- During the 1550s, Huguenot settlers landed at Guanabara Bay in southern Brazil. They cleared land for a settlement, which they named Antarctic France, and eked out a living trading and fishing. Portuguese authorities tried to dislodge the French several times, finally succeeding in 1567. They founded the settlement of Rio de Janeiro on the site to discourage other interlopers.

Franklin- also Frankland. In the 1780s, Appalachian settlers had become tired of interference and taxation by remote state governments. Led by Arthur Campbell, a land speculator who had moved west, the settlers began agitating for an independent state. Their opportunity came in 1784 when North Carolina ceded its western claims to Congress. Campbell's followers declared their land in western North Carolina, along with some neighboring settlements in Kentucky, the new state of Franklin. They scheduled a constitutional convention for December. Before the convention could meet, however, a new legislature was elected in Raleigh that repudiated the cession and organized Franklin into the four counties the area now constitutes. Shaken, the Franklin delegates convened, but cautiously adopted North Carolina's consitution.

In the spring of 1785, Franklin's legislature convened. Dominated by speculators, the legislature quickly validated land grants made by North Carolina. Franklin's Governor Sevier, who had strong connections not only with speculators but also with North Carolina's Governor Richard Caswell, blocked a drive by Campbell's faction to adopt a new democratic constitution. Sevier's term ended in chaos, as rival gangs burned the houses of Sevier and several settler leaders. Franklin was reabsorbed into North Carolina. Arthur Campbell moved to Kentucky, but his drive for secession there was pre-empted when the Virginia legislature granted independence, provided Virginia speculators retained title to their lands.

Fredonia, Republic of- When Mexico opened Texas to settlement by American citizens, land speculators rushed in to make their fortunes. One of these carpetbaggers, Haden Edwards, infuriated many settlers in 1825 by producing a contract he had extracted from the Mexican government. It required Texas settlers to prove their ownership of their land or pay Edwards rent. The outraged settlers naturally complained, and the Mexican government revoked Edwards' contract and expelled him. In December of 1826, his brother Benjamin Edwards led a group of thirty men into Texas. They seized control of the town of Nacogdoches, and declared eastern Texas the Republic of Fredonia. The nascent government allied with Cherokees who had taken refuge in Texas under Dr. John Hunter; the resultant agreement basically divided Texas into Anglo-American and Cherokee halves. Edwards quickly realized that the American settlers had no intention of backing him. The Fredonians melted away at the first rumor of Mexican troops. Outraged at this lack of backbone, the Cherokees shot Hunter for involving them in the mess.

Free State of Jones- see Jones, Free State of.

Free State of Van Zandt- see Van Zandt, Free State of.

Fremont, Artists' Republic of- The Fremont neighborhood of Seattle has gained a reputation over the last couple of decades as a refuge for bohemians, artists, and free spirits. At the Fremont Fair in 1994, a group of demonstrators upset over the borders of the area set aside by the Seattle government as an urban village asked the crowd for a voice plebiscite on secession, which was carried overwhelmingly by the independence seekers. The Metropolitan King County Council responded by passing a resolution recognizing the new Republic of Fremont, declaring it the center of the Universe, and supporting its bid for recognition by the UN. Since the only action of the new government has been to organize kickass shindigs at Burning Man and encourage public art, it seems likely that the MKCC can breathe easy over their new neighbor's intentions.

Friuli Orientale- see Ossola.

Fujian- see Fukien.

Fukien- The Chinese province of Fukien declared its independence in July of 1913 during the Second Chinese Revolution. President Yuan Shih-k'ai's troops and their southern allies restored control in August.

Footnote: Deseret The Mormons had originally hoped to settle on Vancouver Island, but the Hudson's Bay Company scuttled these plans. They wanted to avoid interference with their fur and pelt monopoly. Just imagine, though, if the Mormons had owned a port… Back.

Footnote: Enenkio Sad, really. An e-mail correspondence of mine with Enenkio's 'Foreign Minister' was quoted on the Enenkio WWW page under the title, "US Disinformation About Enenkio". I would dearly have liked to be a source of US disinformation. Back.

Footnote: Florida Republic And by Aury's undercutting of slave auction prices; understandable, since he was anxious to move his stolen merchandise. Back.

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