Howl Empire is a sovereign state located on the island of Howl.
| Howl Empire | |
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 | |
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Official language |
English |
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Recognized minority languages |
Wotsitian |
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Independence |
From the British Empire: circa 1700 |
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Population: |
6, 800, 000 |
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Drives on the |
Left |
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Capital |
Hunderstadt |
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Currency |
Howlish pound |
History[]
Early settlement[]
The island of Howl was first discovered and settled on by Engish explorers around 1695. It was established as an English colony in 1697. However, when the Act of Union between England and Scotland happened in 1707, the Howlish settlers disliked the new empire, and a secessionist movement started. Howl had gained independence from the then new British Empire by 1710.
Invasion of Southern Channel Island[]
In the 1720's, a group of patriotic explorers from the Republic of Wotsit settled on a small island just south of Howl and named it the Southern Channel Island. It was populated by many Wotsitian immigrants until 1732 when the Wotsitians grew too confident of themselves and declared war on Howl in hopes of invading it. The settlers asked their home country of Wotsit for help, but they refused as those settlers were legally no longer citizens of Wotsit they felt they didn't need to help them and they also opposed the war against Howl, forming an alliance with them in the war. Many Wotsitians emigrated back to Wotsit but in 1730 Southern Channel Island introduced a lottery like compulsory military conscription service, and made immigration illegal, giving the death penalty to anyone who tried to escape. Two Channel Islanders were chosen a week to join the army in the war. In 1733, Howl successfully invaded the island, establishing it as an overseas colony, Howl Channel Island.
Union with Wotsit[]
In the 1800's, Wotsit proposed some form of international friendship with Howl. 3 options were picked; a merging into the same sovereign state, Wotsit becoming a self governing territory of Howl, or a regular alliance. Polls were set up in Wotsit and Howl as well as the Howl Channel Island, Howl's then only colony. The idea of Wotsit becoming a Howlish colony beat the alliance idea by only 5 votes. Wotsit was officially established as a Howlish colony in January 1801.
Claiming Industia[]
In 1880, a ship carrying Howlish passengers to Australia sank near Tasmania. The survivors in life boats were shipwrecked on an uninhabited, uncharted island. They began to settle and establish a village on the island, naming it Industia. One citizen sent a message in a bottle alerting Howl of the existence of the island and the situation of the castaways, hoping it'll land on the shore of a Howlish territory. In 1881 British explorers found the message in a bottle, and sent a small army to the island. The army of 10 British regulars demanded that the islanders leave the island and that the British Empire be allowed to invade the territory and establish it as their own colony. The islanders refused to leave, and 5 were shot dead. However, the German and Austro-Hungarian Empires sent an army to the island demanding that the British regulars leave and reveal the location of the letter, threatening war if they failed to do so. The British sent a gunship with a pirate ship flag to the island to shoot down the Austro-Hungarian forces, and refused to take responsibilty for it, claiming the ship was a pirate ship and not part of the Royal Navy, so Britain had no control over its actions. Before the pirate ship could attack the Germans, they gunned it down and demanded the British regulars reveal the location of the letter and leave the island. The Germans sent a telegram to Howl informing them of the situation. Howl sent a small army to the island and threatened the following to the British if they refused to leave the island;
- Howl will no longer recognise the British Empire as a sovereign state, and will recognise it as one large German colony.
- Howl will cease all trade with the British Empire.
- Howl will not allow any British citizens into the borders of any of its colonies.
The British sent a boat the collect the 10 regulars and take them home. However, pirates boarded the ship and killed everyone on board. They stole all weaponry from the ship and boarded back to their own ship, then sinking the British ship. Industia finally became an official Howlish colony in February 1882.
End of the Wotsit Colony[]
In the 1920's, patriotic Wotsitians were inspired by recent events in Northern Ireland and wanted Wotsit to once again become an independent sovereign state. Wotsit's government, with permission from Howl, started a poll to see if the majority of citizens wanted independence or to remain a Howlish colony. After the votes were tied, Wotsit was split in half. The western half where most citizens wanted independence became the Republic of Wotsit, and the eastern half who wanted to remain Howlish became Howlish Eastern Wotsit.
Formation of Howlish Quebec Dock Territory[]
Main articles: Howlish Quebec Dock Territory and Dock Territory Celebration Concerts
In 1982, Howl began an alliance and friendship with Canada. They traded frequently as well as having very open borders to citizens from their countries. For example, a Howlish citizen does not need a passport to emigrate to Canada. In 2011, Howl was the only sovereign state in the world to announce sympathy on live television for the Quebec floods in May, which touched Canada. Canada promised a gift to Howl, but said it'll need a few months of preparation. In July 2011, Canada gave some territory of Quebec to Howl, comprising of a seaside village and harbour to boost trade, and to allow Howlish fishermen to fish in North American waters. Several large scale concerts took place in the days around the declaration of the colony.
Music[]
Metal is the most popular genre of music in all Howlish territories, as well as alternative rock and electro industrial. Death metal, folk metal, industrial metal and alternative metal the most popular metal genres in Howl.
Sport[]
Howl and its overseas territories have had association football teams. Howl FA was formed in 1880, and runs all football divisions in Howl as well as the national football team. Channel Island FA was formed in 1900 to manage the Island League, the only football league in Howl Channel Island. It formed an international side in 1902. The Wotsit FA formed in 1897 and started playing internationals against Howl on a weekly basis from 1898 onwards after forming its own international side. In 1920, half of Wotsit became a sovereign state. A new Eastern Wotsit FA formed in 1921 to create an international team for the new colony, which played its first matches in 1922. In the 1980's, following success of the formations of international teams in Europe, such as the Faroe Islands and Liechtenstein, a group on the island terrritory of Industia set up the FA of Industia in 1987. Two club sides formed the same year. In 1989, two more club sides formed. In 1990 a team from Industia played a friendly against an Australian reserve team, losing the match. In 1991, Industia proposed a one off tournament to OFC that had Industia. The FA's manager at the time said he felt the island's association was too young and small to actually join OFC. OFC accepted and in November 1991 a small tournament, known as the Welcoming Industa Cup, took place with Industia and American Samoa, and reserve teams from Australia and New Zealand. Industia reached the final but lost 7-1 to Australia. In 1992 Industia formed its own cup. A cup for clubs from both Wotsit states and Howl had dated back to 1899. A cup for Channel Island clubs started in 1905. In 2011, with the creation of the Howlish Quebec Dock Territory, a football association formed in the new territory to create a national side to play friendlies with Canada reserve sides and other Howlish colonies was created. It played a friendly against a Canadian reserve side a few weeks after forming, losing 4-1. In 2012 it was decided to create a cup tournament that will take place annually featuring all international teams from the Howlish Empire, as they otherwise rarely see action, except Wotsit and Howl, who have played friendlies every Sunday since 1898.