Warring Islands Special Autonomous Region

The Warring Islands Special Autonomous Region became the name of the administration of the District of the Warring Islands following its transfer from the sovereignty of Hurmu to that of the Benacian Union subsequent to the signing of the Treaty of Chryse. "Transference Day" was accordingly set for 1.I.1710.

History

Pre-transfer

22,492 of a population of 127,263 subjects in the Warring Islands District applied for resettlement on Samholdsøya under the so-called "Mondo Plan". The promises of the Benacian Union to respect local autonomy, on a model similar to the successful transfer of Cimmeria and Raikoth, combined with the retention of a Hurmudan presence on the islands at the Villa Hurmu, had done much to prevent what might otherwise have been a precipitous flight.

Commission for the Integration of the Warring Islands

Shortly after the signing of the Treaty of Chryse the High Presidium of the Benacian Union instructed the College of Civil Legates for Foreign Relations to commence work on establishing a Commission for the Integration of the Warring Islands into the Benacian Union. The Commission would be charged to complete its work by the eve of Transference Day (T-Day) on 01.I.1710 AN. The remit of the commission, reporting to the Commissioner for Foreign Affairs, Ayesha al-Osman, would be defined by not only the Treaty of Chryse but also by the precedent established under previous integration commissions organised by Elluenuueq for the annexations of Normark and the Northern Tellia.

The Commission's purview was to oversee the administrative, diplomatic, military, and political aspects of the transfer of sovereignty. The Commission received the mandate to hold the necessary negotiations for the transfer, including for the emigration of those who wished to depart the isles, the administering of the Union Covenant to the remaining population, the implementation of an autonomous administration, and the introduction of an appropriate garrison into the islands.

Office	Office Holder	Party
President of the Commission	Fredrik Michael Tarjeisson	N&H
Commissioner of Political Integration	Isabella Merrick	N&H
Commissioner of Security Integration	Ulrich Varens	N&H
Commissioner of Industrial & Economic Integration	Fenna Bakker	N&H
High Representative of Hurmu	Davaadembereliin Mönkhbayar	Edasi
High Representative of the Warring Islands	Đorđe Babić	UAT
High Representative of the Raspur Pact	Phakchay Chaupin	n/a (Keltia Command)

The Benacian delegates arrived at Port Esther from Merensk via the Hurmu Gate Network on 23.X.1709 AN. Upon arrival they were greeted by Wolstan Darley of the Maritime Support Group, Hunbald Weller of Hunbald & Son and the Nova English Salvage Company, Waldemar Pentermacht representing the burgesses of Hemptonwic, and Hans Danielsen the former Commissioner of the Peace for East Barrow Island and current resident-representative of the Honourable Company and Köping Tea Company in the islands. After a brief tour of Port Esther, the delegation departed for Elm Station aboard the NESC transport MV Taylor Bay. Whilst aboard, the delegation toured several locations related to the Taylor Bay War, the War of the Casks, and the Warring Islands Conflict.

Under Benacian rule

In addition to those numbered amongst the 22,492 who had departed for Hurmu, 17,354 subjects were arrested by the incoming garrison based upon registers drawn up by the integration committee and local agents during the months preceding the transfer of sovereignty. Those arrested were to be interned on Barrow Island on charges that they were fugitive rebels who had fled the former-Amokolia during the Second Elwynnese Civil War. A magister from the Worshipful Guild of the Sacred Carnifices was duly appointed to head a special Cull Commission to review their cases. Those cleared of complicity in the treacherous rebellion against the Raspur Pact would be transferred to the administration of the special autonomous region in order to serve as bondsmen, whilst those convicted of treason would be returned to Benacia to commence a life term of penal servitude.

Accordingly, as of 7.I.1710 AN the population of the Warring Islands was recorded as being broken down into the following categories:

• Serene subject in the service of the BUDF: 1
• Illustrious subjects in the service of the BUDF: 188
• Illustrious subject serving as resident for the Keltian Directorate of the Honourable Company: 1
• Illustrious subjects serving the Honourable Company in other capacities: 3
• Admirable subjects in the service of the BUDF: 624
• Admirable subjects in the service of the Honourable Company: 3
• Honourable subjects in the service of the BUDF: 2,964
• Honourable subjects in the service of the Honourable Company: 5
• Meritorious subjects in the service of the BUDF: 18,720
• Meritorious subjects in the service of the Honourable Company: 28
• Meritorious subjects with local liberty: 50,994
• Subjects without merit and as yet without liberty (children): 36,423
• Protected Persons: 17,354
• Total population: 127,308

The formal reading of the Union Covenant would take place at the main settlement of each island on 13.XIII.1710 AN. Until that time the former citizens would enjoy their present status as meritorious subjects with local liberty in the period of grace leading up to that date. Any subject appointed or elected to office before that date would of course be obliged to sign the covenant.

The Warring Islands Special Autonomous Region Basic Law Drafting Committee was constituted at Hemptonwic on 18.I.1710 AN, receiving its authority from the Commission for the Integration of the Warring Islands. Each island was required to elect a representative to sit on the committee whilst the commission in turn appointed four representative members from the local business community.

On 20.I.1710 AN the members of the Commission for the Integration of the Warring Islands transferred their executive and plenipotentiary powers to Salbnan-bi-Mari Adelbrand Mogæsz, as the most senior Benacian official to be left present on the island after their departure. With the transfer of their mandate complete the members of the commission departed from Port Esther via the gate bound for Merensk.

On 20.VIII.1712 AN the islands were opened up to settlement by the surviving subjects of former Nova England along with any other persons who had been displaced, temporally or spatially, by the rise of Ostland.

The power of the Sea-Reavers in the Warring Islands was broken by the schism in the ranks that arose from the failure of the Western Expedition of 1730 AN – 1731 AN. Those who did not elect to join the Maritime Forces of the Benacian Union, or accept a pension for their enforced retirement, were obliged to flee the isles and join the Confederacy of the Dispossessed.

The Hempton Bay Humanist Institute was established in the second month of 1732 AN in the town of Hempton Bay on Great Warring Island. It was the first Humanist Institute to be founded in the Warring Islands following their integration into the Union-State in 1710 AN.

Governance

Administratively the Warring Islands Special Autonomous Region consists of three islands, Antonia Island, Barrow Island and Great Warring Island, as well as the surrounding territorial waters as defined under the Convention on the Laws of the Seas.

Upon transfer to the sovereignty of the Benacian Union, the island was administered as an autonomous territory under the body of customary law inherited from Nova England and the local bylaws enacted during the period of Hurmudan administration. The inhabitants of the islands would be obliged to accept the Union Covenant if they wished to remain resident but would otherwise be permitted to maintain a system of self-governance.

The Convention of Hemptonwic, formulated by the Warring Islands Special Autonomous Region Basic Law Drafting Committee and promulgated by the Commandant of the Islands, directed that Warring Islands Special Autonomous Region would be constituted as a parliamentary democracy which has the Szodan of Benacia as Head of State; a sovereign Assembly, which is supreme to all other government institutions, consisting of the Sovereign, the Chamber of Subjects and the Chamber of the Burgesses; an executive drawn from and accountable to the Assembly; and an independent judiciary.

The Assembly could be suppressed, at the discretion of the Sovereign, if it fell into heresy, sedition, or treason; but in all other regards it shall be permitted to govern itself according to its own interests and wishes. Secession is under all circumstances prohibited, and all subjects must adhere to the terms of the Union Covenant. Otherwise the subjects resident on Warring Islands Special Autonomous Region enjoyed liberties not normally accorded to their fellow subjects on the mainland of the Union-State.

In spite of the Convention, and the undertakings made to Hurmu, the Warring Islands were considered to be subject to the Unified Governorates of Benacia, a realm of the Benacian Union, and accordingly the government would fall within the purview of the Commissioner for the Overseas Territories, the Frainan Uihmanzis Gustav Karl. Whilst under military rule the convention was permitted to operate, quietly shielded by the extra-constitutional status of the BUDF, however this arrangement came to an end with the appointment of a new governor, Maria Elisabeth Tryst on 19.III.1721 AN.

Executive

The administration of the Warring Islands Special Autonomous Region comprised of the Governor directly appointed by the Szodan of Benacia, a Lieutenant Governor appointed by the Chamber of the Burgesses as the deputy of the Governor, a Council of Assistants nominated from the Chamber of Subjects who would serve as the civil executive, and a General Court of Admirable and Illustrious Subjects resident in the islands.

Governor

Governors of the Warring Islands Special Autonomous Region

Name	Title	Tenure
Fredrik Michael Tarjeisson	President of the Commission for the Integration of the Warring Islands	1.I.1710 AN – 20.I.1710 AN
Adelbrand Mogæsz	Commandant of the Islands	20.I.1710 AN – 18.III.1721 AN
Maria Elisabeth Tryst	Governess of the Islands	19.III.1721 AN –

General Court

The General Court comprised of all meritorious subjects resident in the islands who held substantive rank in the admirable and illustrious or higher grades of the Benacian Union. As this General Court would be unwieldy to convoke in all but exceptional circumstances, eight commissioners are appointed each year by the means of a lottery.

Legislature

Chamber of Burgesses

Each of the three islands, Antonia Island, Barrow Island, and Great Warring Island constituted a bailiwick of the Warring Islands Special Autonomous Region and thus was placed under the obligation to form a municipal corporation for the administration of the same. Each corporation accordingly was dutybound to appoint two delegates to the Chamber of Burgesses, which served as the upper chamber of the assembly, tasked with the duty of revising prior to adoption such bills as the Chamber of Subjects might present for enactment by the Governor.

Garrison

BUDF Contingent

Commencing from 1.I.1710 AN

• Warring Islands Garrison
  • 14th Inshore Division, Coastguard
    • 76 Command & Control Regiment
    • 6 Port and Maritime Regiment
    • 15 Port and Maritime Regiment
    • 40 Port and Maritime Regiment
    • 15 Commissariat Regiment
    • 34 Commissariat Regiment
    • 102 Inspectorate Regiment
    • 106 Inspectorate Regiment
  • 87 Air Support Regiment, 17th Air Division
  • 6 Maritime Air Support Regiment, 7th Air Division
  • 15 Air Defence Observation Regiment, Aerospace Forces
  • 3rd Cohort, 43 Motorised Infantry Regiment
  • 2nd Squadron, 3 Signalregemente
  • 5th Squadron, 37 Ingenjörregemente
  • 9th Squadron, 4 Trängregemente

Garrison strength (8.I.1710 AN)

Rank	Number
General Officers	10
Staff Officers	80
Regimental Officers	98
Squadron Officers	624
Non-Commissioned Officers	2,964
Other Ranks	18,720
TOTAL	22,496

Local Contracted & Paramilitary Forces

• Humanist Vanguard, N&H youth paramilitary group
• Warring Islands Volunteer Defence Force (ex-HPC)

Demographics

Year	Meritorious Subjects	Subjects Without Merit		Total
		Juveniles	Protected Persons
1710	69,751	6,328	17,354	93,433
1711	70,727	6,417	17,587	94,731
1712	71,717	6,507	17,823	96,047
1713	72,721	6,598	18,062	97,381
1714	73,739	6,691	18,304	98,734
1715	74,771	6,785	18,549	100,105
1716	75,818	6,880	18,798	101,496
1717	76,879	6,977	19,050	102,906
1718	77,955	7,075	19,305	104,335
1719	79,046	7,174	19,563	105,783
1720	80,153	7,275	19,825	107,253
1721	81,275	7,378	20,090	108,743
1722	82,413	7,482	20,359	110,254
1723	83,566	7,587	20,632	111,785
1724	84,736	7,694	20,908	113,338
1725	85,922	7,803	21,188	114,913
1726	87,125	7,913	21,472	116,510
1727	88,345	8,025	21,760	118,130
1728	89,582	8,139	22,052	119,773
1729	90,836	8,254	22,348	121,438
1730	92,108	8,371	22,648	123,127
1731	93,397	8,490	22,953	124,840

Education

By virtue of being located far beyond the continental confines of Benacia, education in the Warring Islands, falls outside the scope of that which is strictly monitored by the Guild of Academicians from Chryse. Nonetheless, there is the expectation that the local authorities will remain somewhat in conformity to the general practice of education and indoctrination in the Benacian Union.

Education in the Warring Islands is overseen by the Church of the Holy Lance, the dominant religious institution in the archipelago. From ages seven to twelve, attendance at church schools is mandatory for all children, both boys and girls.

The church schools are administered at the parish level, with each parish overseeing one or more schools, with larger parishes in major towns running multiple schools to serve the population.

The curricula and teaching standards are set by the central Church leadership. However, each parish has some flexibility in terms of school schedules, extracurricular activities, and concentration areas based on the needs of their local communities. For the duration of their primary education, all pupils at the church schools are subject to the absolute and total discipline of the parish hide priest, who may command his wards in any manner that he deems appropriate.

The core curriculum focuses on religious instruction covering the teachings of the Holy Lance, sacred texts, traditions and rituals. Students spend approximately half their time on religious studies.

The remaining portions cover basic literacy and numeracy skills in the common tongue. Depending on the parish, some schools may offer additional subjects like history, astronomy, herbology, music or art - but these are not universally available.

Church school is a shared experience for island children. All students, regardless of social status or wealth, attend the same parish schools from ages seven to twelve. However, gender roles are reinforced, with certain classes like embroidery for girls and carpentry for boys.

In addition to academic studies, students take part in church services, choirs, reenactments of holy events, and community service activities organized by the parish. Discipline is strictly enforced based on church doctrine.

The government of the special autonomous region is obliged to maintain nine gymnasia for the education of juvenile subjects up to the age of fifteen. The average size of a gymnasia class is nine hundred and eighty six.

The gymnasia curricula focuses on vocational training, civil obedience, and further indoctrination into the core ideological principles of the Union-State and the Humanist movement that holds sway in the islands.

Promising subjects, upon the occasion of their fifteenth birthday, will be selected for induction into the Hempton Bay Humanist Institute for further education and indoctrination, whilst the remainder will be put up for auction for selection as apprentices for the either the garrison of the Benacian Union Defence Force in the islands or to the local guilds and corporations.

This practice of indenturing juveniles ensures they remain productive members of society after completing their state-mandated education at age fifteen. Those not inducted into meritorious service essentially enter into contractual servitude as bondsmen for a term of years until they can qualify for becoming meritorious subjects.