Difference between revisions of "Grand Duke Niels of Flandrensis"

From Encyclopedia Westarctica
Jump to navigation Jump to search
(Created page with "'''Niels of Flandrensis''' (aka '''Niels de Saint Gilliens''') is the founder and the head of state of the Grand Duchy of Flandrensis. He is one of the co-founders of the...")
 
(redirected to page reflecting new regnal name)
 
(9 intermediate revisions by 2 users not shown)
Line 1: Line 1:
'''Niels of Flandrensis''' (aka '''Niels de Saint Gilliens''') is the founder and the head of state of the [[Grand Duchy of Flandrensis]]. He is one of the co-founders of the [[Antarctic Micronational Union]] and was elected as its first Secretary-General on 15 January 2010. Well-known for his disapproval toward micronational conflicts and the foundation of the "Union Against Micronational War" he was awarded with three micronational peace-awards.
#REDIRECT [[Grand Duke Nicholas of Flandrensis]]
 
After transforming his micronation, Flandrensis, from a temporary hobby into a serious project, he has been interviewed by and mentioned in several international newspapers about Flandrensis or micronationalism in general.
 
==Creating a new nation==
Niels interest for micronationalism started when he discovered information about the Beauluna, Sealand and Molossia. Those days Niels was a student History and Religion, with a great interest in the medieval county of Flanders. On September 4th, 2008 he official founded the Grand Duchy of Flandrensis, primarily inspired on the ‘Pagus Flandrensis’ (oldest Latin name of Flanders) and the Flemish history. Starting as a virtual micronation, he carefully searched unclaimed territory. On November 22nd, 2008 he transformed Flandrensis into an Antarctic micronation. The Antarctic Treaty prevented any new claims on Antarctica by countries. To get around this, he claimed the land as an individual and then founded a country, the Grand Duchy of Flandrensis, upon it.
 
==Micronational influence==
===Contributions to micronationalism===
Niels is considered an expert of [[Antarctica|Antarctic]] micronationalism and an innovator in Belgian micronationalism. As one of the three founding fathers of the first Antarctic micronational organization; GAMA (''Grupo Del Acuerdo Micronational Antartico'') and being its first Secretary-General, he reorganized the organization into the [[Antarctic Micronational Union]]. During his reign as Secretary-General, the concept of Antarctic micronationalism and the AMU has been heavily criticized, but he defended the concept and his believe in Antarctic micronationalism.
 
Micronationalism isn’t well-known in Belgium, except some Dutch-speaking micronations from the Micras Sector. Unfortunately, most of them consider Flandrensis as secessionists and they want nothing to do with Flandrensis. In December 2010 he made an attempt to establish informal relations between all Dutch-speaking micronations by publishing an open letter, but there was no response from the Micras Sector. Although, he developed Flandrensis into the biggest territorial micronation in Belgium. Meanwhile, he helped with the foundation of three other Dutch-speaking micronations: the Principality of Arkel, Kingdom of Albion (disbanded in 2012) and the Principality of Campinia. Between 2010 and 2016 they cooperate together inside the Flandrensisian Commonwealth with Niels as the Secretary-General of the Commonwealth.
 
After the participation of Flandrensis in PoliNation 2012 (2nd International Conference on Micronations on July 14th, 2012 at London) the Belgian newspapers Het Belang van Limburg and Gazet van Antwerpen published an interview about Flandrensis as part of a reportage on European micronations. During the next years he had been interviewed by several Belgian and French newspapers, radio and television. Niels is highly involved in the international community of micronations and he’s a frequent guest at meetings and international conferences of micronations.
 
===Micronational conflicts===
Niels is great opponent of micronational wars and could be described as a micronational pacifist. Although, early 2009 he was involved in the Siple War with the Grand Duchy of Westarctica. Later he confessed he regret his decision to support Finismund in the conflict, a result of a lack of micronational experience. The dispute ended on September 24th, 2010 with the signature of the ‘West-Antarctic Treaty’ between the AMU and Westarctica, a result of negotiations between Niels and Travis McHenry. Learning from his mistakes Niels changed the Flandrensisian policy toward micronational conflicts, resulting in a permanent neutrality of the country. Considering that all wars are a failure of diplomacy, he founded the Union Against Micronational War on July 10th, 2009. For his attitude toward micronational conflicts he was awarded with five micronational peace-awards. In 2014 the French newspaper “Le Journal du Dimanche” called him the “Woodrow Wilson of micronationalism”.
 
[[Category:People]]
[[Category:Micronationalists]]

Latest revision as of 15:00, 19 August 2020

Redirect to:

Retrieved from "https://www.westarctica.wiki/index.php?title=Grand_Duke_Niels_of_Flandrensis&oldid=8887"