Fisks islands
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| File:Fiskslocator.png | |
| Country | Sokoku |
|---|---|
| Capital | Carls by |
| Area | TBA km2 km2 |
| Population | TBA |
| Density | TBA km2/km2 |
| Time zone | UTC-10 |
Fisks islands is the colloquial name of the former autonomous region and Vittmarker member state (7575-76XX). As an autonomous region operating from the 7540's to 7575, it was an unrecognised territory under company governance, most often operating in poorly defined naval border regions between nations and colonies. The northern islands are currently de facto governed by Kamura under the special administrative region of Yakoch Aphredech, while the southern islands are governed as the state of Mirei within Sokoku.
History
The Fisks stim from Talpå (present day Vittmark) chose to leave the city state they had co-governed for centuries due to the ongoing Pan-Anarian War in 7523. After multiple attempts to continue operations as a shipping and trading company, the merchant fleet and about 1000 settlers landed on Karolinasö between The Bind and Kamura in 7541. Away from the conflicts of Anaria, they built up shipping facilities, warehouses, a shipyard and manufacturing facilities. They started operating as a freestanding trader in the Shangti Ocean, often undercutting prices of domestic carriers. Operations spread out to nearby Henkesö, where Fisks carved out autonomous zones for their enterprises and the accompanying staff, ignoring any existing local and regional government structures. Many natives worked under poor conditions in Fisks workshops and later as household and office staff.
The establishment of Fisks presence on the southern islands Askers, Carls, Cillas and Villes coincided with the latter days of the Pan-Anarian War. Military control by colonial powers was limited due to the war effort, which created the possibility for Fisks to establish new operations here. Askers was in use for extracting natural gas and agricultural produce, Carls mainly as staple port and off-shore shipyard while Cillas had fruit and tree plantations, all adding export and trading options for the Fisks stim.
During the 7550's, Fisks company based governance and weak colonial administration were operational parallel to each other, with both allowing the other part to continue operating as long as it didn't collide with individual interests. That attitude changed in the 7560's, when Häverist colonisers tried to regain control over Askers and its natural assets. Due to ongoing internal conflicts in Schangtienrand, the ambition of retaking Askers tended to end up low on the list of the colonial priorities. But the continuing and intensifying threat made the Fisks leadership contact the young nation state of Vittmark in 7570.
The assumption was that if Fisks would become a Vittmarker autonomous region, that peacekeeping nations like Halland and Helreich would refrain from occupying Fisks' islands. As a federal kingdom, the government had opened for new membership applications by granting statehood to the Bengtists, Fjällsta and the newly formed state of Sörmark. In 7575 Fisks gained statehood, despite protests from most of the peacekeeping nations in Vittmark.
However, Fisks' membership was not free from conflicts. The main issue was the presence of the Kakuri people on Carlsö, who had mimicked Fisks' application and contacted the federal authorities about autonomy and statehood as well. This led to the foundation of the Eastern Crown Domains on Carlsö, a federal territory protecting the living area of the Kakuri. The Kakuri community became a landless state (the third within Vittmark) in 7578 with a grant to live in the federal domain, effectively withdrawing that territory from Fisks' governance.
When Vittmark invaded West Hagen as part of an effort to get rid of the Häverist styled Aedelish Technate government in Aedeland, Fisks' location near the Häverist colony of Schangtienrand made the member state vulnerable for occupation. In order to prevent this from happening, Fisks and the Kakuri community joined forces with Izto and Hueiwei natives on Shuuen, aiming at disrupting the Häverist colonial military as much as possible. Shuuen was liberated after a long civil war, which led to Fisks starting to invest in the strategically located port town of Berewan, a former Häverist urbanate on the south coast of Askers Strait.
The Pan-Stoldavic conflict with the Häverists turned into a large conflict with the Wolgos of The Bind, who were taking the opportunity to extend their zone of influence while Anarian states were at war with each other. The northern islands became impossible to govern for Vittmark and rather difficult to defend in the border zone between Kamura and The Bind. In order to avoid occupation by The Bind, Vittmark signed an agreement with Kamura about temporarily taking over custody and defence of the northern islands. In return, Fisks gained access to Kamuran markets and ports.
The Kamurans were rather shocked by the state of Henkesö and Karolinasö, so they stepped over the limitations of their mandate and started integrating the islands into Kamura with the intention of not returning them to Fisks or Vittmark after the Wolgos Scourge. Fisks shifted focus to the south, with Berewan as center of operations, while at the same time ridding itself of its colonial past. In 76XX, when Bowersland was liberated and Sokoku founded as federal republic, both the Fisks and Kakuri communities opted for becoming a member state of the new post-colonial state they had helped to create instead. The southern islands were renamed Fisks-Kakuri Cooperation at first, but changed name to Mirei in 7668.
Government
During the years of autonomy and as a member state of Vittmark, the public government of the territory coincided completely with the company leadership of Fisks handelshus. The stim was following post-imperial Mellanhand Orkanan traditions in governing the family, running the business and administrating the territory. During the years of statehood, Fisks had to offer citizenship to the native population instead of just residency, a process that they reluctantly rolled out on the southern islands but hadn't been implemented on the northern ones when Kamura took over governance.
A big breakthrough came in the late 7580's, when the old style leadership under Anton and Arild Fisks was challenged by a new generation headed by Martin and Astrid Fisks. While Anton and Arild maintained a colonial attitude and were in constant conflict with the Kakuri, Astrid and Martin took inspiration from Vittmark as a multi-faceted nation and were looking for the added value native knowledge and ingenuity could provide for the further growth of the Fisks society and business. It was Astrid Fisks who had flown solo to Vittmark to reach out to the federal government in 7570 and had lived there several months before returning with a Vittmarker airship.
After the internal power struggle was won by the factions supporting Astrid and Martin, they started separating business management from public office. That public office then started cooperating with the Kakuri community through a shared body. Stim members and other settlers with roots in Vittmark could vote for this public office board, but none of the native population. Later on, this board was changed into the Nubugaru community as one of the governing bodies of the state of Mirei.
Legacy
The unrecognised status of Fisks as a territory has led to the public image of all symbolism connected to Fisks as a company and island group getting connected to piracy and other illegal activities. The red flag with the black fish bone and even the black flag with the red fish bone that was used during the time when Fisks was a member state of Vittmark, and even the fish bone in general, are still used by anarchists and autonomists declaring their independence from government structures and nation states. Even among juveniles and young adults, putting up a fish bone on your door is still in use for marking a private space.
The Fisks islands' legacy has inspired dozens of fictional novels and movies, with the general motive of people fleeing for a war settling on a tropical island and building a utopia that turns into a dystopia is a reoccurring theme. But even the motion picture reenacting the first Vittmarker airship journey towards Fisks (a journey that ended in mutiny) has contributed a lot to the negative image of the Wolgos and as such provided a breeding ground for anti-Wolgos sentiments fueling the Wolgos Scourge.
After the separation of the stim, public government and the shipping company, all three continued rather successfully on their own. Public government became the Nubugaru community, the shipping company became Fisks Han (the world's largest shipping company) and the Fisks family are still a very influential part in business and political life in Sokoku. As a result, the minority language of Wortsproke, spoken only by less than 100,000 people, has an official status in Sokoku. Many Wortsproke terms used in shipping and logistics are present as loanwords in many languages around the world.