Achaean Territory of Antarctica

The Achaean Territory of Antarctica
Motto Fortune favors the bold
Anthem "Battle Hymn of the Achaean Civil Defense Force"
Capital city	Achilles (Byrd Station)
Official language(s)	English
Official religion(s)	Protestant, Greek Polytheism
Demonym	Achaean
Government	Dictatorship
- Head of State	Consul-General Travis McHenry
Legislature	None
Established	02 November 2001
Area claimed	3 million km2
Population	< 15 Census never conducted
Currency	Never established
National animal	Penguin

The Achaean Territory of Antarctica was the original name of Westarctica when it was founded on 2 November 2001 by Travis McHenry, who proclaimed himself Consul-General of the Achaean Territory prior to filing his legal claim to the territory.

The Achaean Territory was a new country project that evolved into a Micronation named Westarctica in June 2004.

Early History

"The New Land Claim"

Travis McHenry on the deck of the USS Kearsarge

In August 2001, while serving in the U.S. Navy as an Intelligence Specialist onboard the USS Kearsarge (LHD-3), Travis McHenry spent a significant amount of time researching the countries of the world in the classified version of the C.I.A. World Factbook. In the course of his research, he discovered that the region of Antarctica between 90°W and 150°W was unclaimed by any nation. This area, commonly known as Marie Byrd Land, was explored by the United States starting in the 1920s, but was never formally claimed.

Travis obtained a National Geographic atlas of the world and flipped to the large map of Antarctica on the back page. He carefully studied the map and determined that it had no political affiliation at all. He also noted the existence of the Whitmore Mountains, as his childhood best friend had the last name "Whitmoyer." Travis spent the rest of the month of August researching the complicated political situation surrounding Antarctica and read the entire text of the Antarctic Treaty multiple times, looking for loopholes that could potentially be exploited.

Finally, Travis determined that although Article 4 of the Antarctic Treaty prohibits any nation from making new claims on the Antarctic continent, it would not prevent an individual from doing so. He called his prospective claim "The New Land Claim," and slowly began to further develop the concepts and ideals of the territory.

First concepts

At the time he discovered the unique political situation of Marie Byrd Land, Travis had been reading The Iliad and decided to give his claimed territory a culture that honored the ancient Greeks.

It was from the pages of The Iliad that he chose the name "Achaea." He also decided to declare the seasonally-used Byrd Station the capital of his new country and re-christened the station Achilles, after the legendary Greek warrior and hero of the Trojan War.

Rather than proclaim himself King or Emperor of the territory, Travis selected a title that reflected his status as a representative of Achaea to the world at large. He declared himself Consul-General. This title also served as a homage to Napoleon Bonaparte, who had served as First Consul of France prior to becoming an Emperor.

Coronation as Consul-General

Marmaris Castle in Turkey

Main article: Coronation of the Consul-General

From the initial creation of the territory and its government, Travis knew he wanted to follow Napoleon's example by breaking his claimed land into pieces and giving those pieces to friends and family members who would rule over the region as hereditary nobles. However, in order for him to serve as undisputed leader of the government, he would also have to serve as head of the nobility.

Therefore, he solved the problem by crowning himself as a noble, yet forgoing the actual title of nobility until a later date.

His coronation as Consul-General took place on 12 September 2001 at Marmaris Castle in Marmaris, Turkey. Following the coronation ceremony, Travis began to refer to himself as "His Eminence, the Consul-General of Achaea."

Staking his claim

It wasn't until 30 October 2001 that Travis wrote what would effectively be a deceleration of independence for the Achaean Territory of Antarctica.