They don't realize Taiwan because China sits on the UN Security Council, and has veto power so therefore making it nearly impossible for them to recognize Taiwan. Because China would never allow it, seeing as they claim domain over Taiwan. Open your history books and research this subjects folks. As the answers are out in the open for us to see.
While of course I cannot pretend to speak on behalf of his majesty, as a landholding baron of Sealand I must say that I found this video to be quite excellent in its presentation of the great realm and its history. Splendid work.
@@quantidel A square meter or a few on a rusty former defense platform in the North Sea, duh. People buy that stuff for fun or out of principle not for any "real" value.
I'm a Lord of The Principality of Sealand as well. Fun to be part of something exciting! Thank you, Simon, for doing justice in your Micronation Exploration for the Principality of Sealand!
The British do come in for a lot of criticism for a variety of reasons but you cannot help but be impressed with the ingenuity and sometimes downright sheer bonkersness from some of them! Long may it continue adding it's light to this sometimes rather dim and dismal world!
I think if it ever got enough money to afford a massive upgrade, it would be valuable enough (and doing something important/dangerous/bad enough) for someone to try conquering again. Or if Britain decided to put its considerable diplomatic muscle into shutting it down, they could probably find some way to do it. And, yeah, I love the idea of them too.
@@theprogram863 Yeah, there's a definite chance that if Prince Michael had enough money coming in to significantly expand around the platform, the British government might decide that Sealand is no longer small enough to ignore. Which is unfortunate; it'd be really cool if Sealand expanded into something bigger. Like putting up a couple of wind turbines in the surrounding seabed to provide a permanent power source for that server farm concept.
@@Stratonetic I'm not going to come out and say that, but you'll definitely have to plan carefully. Their existence depends on them being minor, harmless eccentrics.
When I was active duty, I remember being baffled by the sight of a merchant vessel chartered out of Sealand pulling into the Charleston Harbor. That was how I learned about the existence of this micro-state
As a landholder Baron of our wonderful principality I was pleased to watch this well researched history and am proud to support a nation built on rogue radio pirates ignoring rules imposed on them which spiraled into the bastion that still stands to this day. E MARE LIBERTAS! LONG STAND SEALAND! LONG LIVE PRINCE MICHAEL!
I went out on a boat trip to visit the other sea forts out there last week (shivering sands and red sands sea forts and knock john) awesome structures quite eerie sitting so far out in the sea.Great video as ever.
@@KraftyKreator lol,it was a organized boat trip and that fort is to far round the coast.7 hrs on a little boat is long enough,wouldn't fancy a shot across the bow anyway
@@KraftyKreator Changes to international law mean that the forts are no longer in international waters. Sealand's sovereignty (assuming it has any) is grandfathered in because it was in international waters at the time of Prince Roy's conquest. If someone tried to occupy another fort, they wouldn't be able to make a claim.
I enjoyed hearing the history of Sealand. Thank you for doing the research for this video! I am proud to be a longtime Countess of the Principality. There are more of us than people may think!
Simon, you should do a video on Timika, a small sub-kingdom in Indonesia. I can see to it that you get a Knighthood for it. My adopted mother is the Sovereign.
@@stonewolf7850 I call it Heaven on Earth. Mother's grandmother, Queen Natasya I, was said to be a direct-descendant from the Legendary 4 Kings of Raja Ampat,
I can make sealand out from my house, can see it clearly with a telescope, also the original Martello tower needs a video, I can get you photos of the ones along Essex coast I'm in Clacton. Also Jaywick the most deprived town in Britain could also do with a video, the houses were originally built at an average cost of £250, and I know people that have fallen through walls by leaning on them. The council's plan to revive town is to build a covered market that no one will visit and will be better described as a car boot sale, and to build over priced houses on a flood plan, which the entire town sits on.
This story might sound absurd, what with squatting in an abandoned fortification, conducting legally gray activities, enduring whacky power struggles, and selling titles to anybody with a little money. It certainly grates against our modern concepts of republican or popular-national sovereignty as embraced by even the nominal monarchies of the West. But let an amateur historian point out that this is basically how pre-modern Europe politics worked. Many a tenth-century lord would have recognized their own path to power in Sealand's history, even if their 20th great grandchildren are loathe to admit it now. So, yes, my purchased barony is entirely legitimate, and long live the prince!
The history of Sealand is fascinating, and I hope it continues to thrive for years to come. I got a Sealand Lordship so I could call my friends peasants with some legitimacy d:
If I'd lived in the UK in the 1960s, I totally would've gone out to board Sunk Head Fort (the other Maunsell fort built outside British territorial waters) and claim it before the Royal Engineers demolished it in 1967.
If I would do that I would chose to become a protectorate of Sealand. Actually Zealand should be given command over all remaining Maunsell forts, with only the waters around Roughs Tower as territorial water. The Maunsell Forts are a great opportunity to beat housing problems in Europe.
The most remarkable thing about Seeland, is how long you actually can exist in the gray areas of international law and popular support, a bit like a physical Bitcoin. If they ever started doing more serious things than pirate radio, like nuclear development or terrorist backing, more than likely, the British government would have a lot less tolerance.
I've heard of Sealand and it got me to wondering why more people didn't do what they did but with the free oil platforms that have been offered by many companies.
I learned of Sealand about 8 years ago. The first thing I did was to get my Lordship through the country. I achieved a dream of becoming a Lord Byran. Thank you Prince Michael! This is a good documentary. Enjoyed it very much.
I’d be interested to know about future plans for the Principality. From an engineery / geeky perspective, the concrete the towers are built from must be in desperate need of repair given the time they’ve been there. There’s no mention in the video about passed renovation which must be a concern.
I was wondering when you where going to cover this, a bunch of my friends were involved with havenco.. I'm kind of surprised you didn't mention the havenco part
The most striking thing for me about this is that the guys behind it seem quite...sensible. You always expect stuff like this to be pulled by some bonkers conspiracy theorist like that Achenbach guy, not people who think Assange went too far and aren't happy about hosting dodgy stuff on servers. It's quite refreshing.
Prince Michael seems harmless enough but the guy that tried to take it by force wanted to be the head of a state so he could do crooked things worse than the mostly legal things the prince and his family refuse to do on principles
Yeah, but if Sealand was conquered by someone genuinely nefarious, then Britain could send a few helicopters and shut the whole thing down. They would deny Sealand was ever sovereign and simply call it a maritime police action. If you recognize Sealand's sovereignty, you would consider it an invasion and war of conquest, but nations do that to each other all the time. China has openly declared its intention to do so in Taiwan. Also, I don't think a bad guy would attract the affection of the public like the current royal family. So long as Prince Michael plays nice and doesn't make trouble for his imperial neighbor, I think he will continue to benefit from a combination of internet snarkiness, the british love of romantic eccentrics, and Whitehall's love of leaving things more or less as they are.
As a literary note: “Vril” was a term coined by tedious Victorian-era writer E. Bulwer-Lytton (of “It was a dark and stormy night” fame) in the early sci-fi novel, “Vril: The Coming Race”. Aliens live underground and Vril is their energy. And now, back to the video.
One thing which wasn't mentioned in this video was the fact that when British territorial waters were extended from 3NM to 12NM, putting Sealand inside British territorial waters, the government of Britain claimed that it is British territory and not its own state. Of course, one could argue that it was a state before the territorial limit was changed, but all other nations will likely concede to the British government that the tower is British territory.
when I saw the platform in the thumbnail I was like wtf are they doing all day, probably bateing. and then the name of the prince, Bates !!!! what are the chances !!! hahah 🤣🤣
Imagine being the guy from Radio Caroline left hanging without his mates below, probably looking up to the people bombing him and calling up, "I would like to apologize!"
Self-determination is a political principle, not a legal requirement. So it isn't exactly real. Not everyone agrees on what self-determination is, and not everyone agrees that it's a good thing. For example, the Versailles treaty embraced the idea of ethnic self-determination, but this resulted in a chaos of micronations that helped lead to world war 2, as well as remaining a source of some very nasty ethnic conflicts which persist to this day. The last war in Ukraine was fueled in part by Russian-backed micronations trying to secede from Ukraine (but ruled from Moscow); this happened in the Republic of Georgia as well. Often against the will of most of the local residents.
I could see them adding onto Sealand like the other platforms but I think a single building simply wouldn't do; imagine a whole city on stilts in the middle of the ocean centuries from now. Maybe they could start by building a stadium for that football team?
Some of those Martello towers still exist today in Kingston, Ontario, Canada there was a network of them along the St Lawrence River to protect against any invasion from the US.
The first 1,000 people to use the link will get a 1 month free trial of Skillshare: skl.sh/geographics05221
I thought it was gonna say i get a 1 month free trip to sealand
sorry Simon, such claims are illegal under EU consumer protection law...
Seeing as the UN has refused to recognise Taiwan as a country since the 1970s, not recognising this as a micronation is nothing really
Why would they recognize two Chinas?
@@slin2903 they do recognise 2 congos so why not?
They don't realize Taiwan because China sits on the UN Security Council, and has veto power so therefore making it nearly impossible for them to recognize Taiwan. Because China would never allow it, seeing as they claim domain over Taiwan. Open your history books and research this subjects folks. As the answers are out in the open for us to see.
@@SmileFile_exe Because one of the Chinas says no, and it is a permanent member of the UN Security Council.
@@berniethekiwidragon4382 sorry just like the UN i do not recognise some countries and the country you refer to is not recognised by myself.
While of course I cannot pretend to speak on behalf of his majesty, as a landholding baron of Sealand I must say that I found this video to be quite excellent in its presentation of the great realm and its history. Splendid work.
As a Lord and fellow landowner I agree, it's great to share the amazing history of our great nation.
what land? lol
@@quantidel A square meter or a few on a rusty former defense platform in the North Sea, duh.
People buy that stuff for fun or out of principle not for any "real" value.
@@quantidel The seabed is still land, commoner 😜
@@kaltaron1284 that land has as much value as any Bored Ape NFT! 😜
I've long been fascinated by the story of Sealand... Surely it deserves a movie at least.
I'm pretty sure there is already one but I don't remeber the name of it tho sadly.
@@shi117 There was a film called Passport to Pimlico about a fictionql micronation in the UK, but I don't know of one about Sealand...
A perfect example of English eccentricity. Totally bonkers but ultimately quite wonderful.
As a lord of sealand, I give this video my full support
I had a teacher in middle school who was given some kind of title by this principality and had a photograph on the wall.
You can buy those.
Yeah I imagine it’s like how you can become a Scottish “lord” on the internet for a small fee.
I’m a lord of this nation it’s like 150$
Was the picture of a penguin?
I'm a Lord of The Principality of Sealand as well. Fun to be part of something exciting! Thank you, Simon, for doing justice in your Micronation Exploration for the Principality of Sealand!
As a knight of Sealand (had far too much to drink one night), I approve of this video!
Not the worst mistake you can make while being drunk.
Ah! A fellow knight in the wild!
I would absolutely do this.. no booze required...
As a Baron I can call you to fight for us lol. E MARE LIBERTAS!
as a lord i agree wish i could go for a cuppa
Ngl, the story of Sealand sounds like it could be the plot for a Wes Anderson film 😂
I'm a knight of Sealand. Best Christmas present I ever got
The British do come in for a lot of criticism for a variety of reasons but you cannot help but be impressed with the ingenuity and sometimes downright sheer bonkersness from some of them!
Long may it continue adding it's light to this sometimes rather dim and dismal world!
Nothing like a bloke in a shed to change the world, or at least make it more interesting.
Hosting Julien Assange on an off-shore plattform in international waters sounds like an excellent way to win a free visit by a CIA commando.
aw, only one? 😩
@@oscaranderson5719 Why would they need more than one?
@@kaltaron1284 I mean, yeah, lol, but it still hurts
More like a drone missile
I can imagine the guy starting to shoot at the CIA helicopter.
Always was fascinated by this place and imaged that eventually it would get a massive modern structure.
I think if it ever got enough money to afford a massive upgrade, it would be valuable enough (and doing something important/dangerous/bad enough) for someone to try conquering again. Or if Britain decided to put its considerable diplomatic muscle into shutting it down, they could probably find some way to do it. And, yeah, I love the idea of them too.
@@theprogram863 Yeah, there's a definite chance that if Prince Michael had enough money coming in to significantly expand around the platform, the British government might decide that Sealand is no longer small enough to ignore.
Which is unfortunate; it'd be really cool if Sealand expanded into something bigger. Like putting up a couple of wind turbines in the surrounding seabed to provide a permanent power source for that server farm concept.
@@theprogram863
You're telling me my dreams of a floating football stadium are both impractical and an impediment to their sovereignty?
@@Stratonetic I'm not going to come out and say that, but you'll definitely have to plan carefully. Their existence depends on them being minor, harmless eccentrics.
I'm a knight of Sealand!
Good video, everyone. Well done. Talk about wanting to be your own country. More power to them. All hail Sealand.
1:00 - Chapter 1 - Sea sentinels
3:25 - Chapter 2 - Battle of pirate radios
6:55 - Mid roll ads
8:15 - Chapter 3 - From the sea, freedom
10:55 - Chapter 4 - Coup on the high seas !
13:35 - Chapter 5 - Bonkers intensifies
16:25 - Chapter 6 - So...is it actually a state
18:25 - Chapter 7 - Going to sealand for a cuppa
- Chapter 8 -
- Chapter 9 -
- Chapter 10 -
If Simon wanted this he would put it in the comments if you like his videos watch the damn ads if he makes no money we get no more videos.
The real hero of Sealand.
The video is is like 20 min. You really need time stamps?
people being butthurt over timestamps is cute.
I have a few friends that play for the Sealand Seahawks, Sealands American football team, full of ballers too 🏈
So much history to learn, your channel is awesome.
It would be cool if there was a massive, under-water, city under the visible structure.
You must play Bioshock.
Or one over it like on Kamino in StarWars?
When I was active duty, I remember being baffled by the sight of a merchant vessel chartered out of Sealand pulling into the Charleston Harbor. That was how I learned about the existence of this micro-state
As a landholder Baron of our wonderful principality I was pleased to watch this well researched history and am proud to support a nation built on rogue radio pirates ignoring rules imposed on them which spiraled into the bastion that still stands to this day. E MARE LIBERTAS! LONG STAND SEALAND! LONG LIVE PRINCE MICHAEL!
I am a Lord of the Principality of Sealand. Got it for the novelty years ago
I went out on a boat trip to visit the other sea forts out there last week (shivering sands and red sands sea forts and knock john) awesome structures quite eerie sitting so far out in the sea.Great video as ever.
Why not Sealand too? You could have just "knocked" and given an "ahoy matey" or whatever the equivalent to hailing a landmass. " I come in peace"?
@@KraftyKreator lol,it was a organized boat trip and that fort is to far round the coast.7 hrs on a little boat is long enough,wouldn't fancy a shot across the bow anyway
@@Hadesdetecting Hopefully they would understand a white flag or something but admittedly getting attacked is a possibility.
@@KraftyKreator Changes to international law mean that the forts are no longer in international waters. Sealand's sovereignty (assuming it has any) is grandfathered in because it was in international waters at the time of Prince Roy's conquest. If someone tried to occupy another fort, they wouldn't be able to make a claim.
sincronicity. was literally thinking about this the other day
//:meta.subject0512B22- the Matrix knows your position.
@@Microbex this deserves waaaaay more likes
I learned of this place years and years ago. And ever since have wanted nothing else but my own country.
Love micronations. Crazy individuals thumbing their nose at the world.
Love the idea of this . Long may it continue
I enjoyed hearing the history of Sealand. Thank you for doing the research for this video! I am proud to be a longtime Countess of the Principality. There are more of us than people may think!
Oh. Thats so nice. I just love it when there is a commercial inside of a commercial... It's so commercial, ya know?
I've been waiting for this video for so long!
This is so neat to hear about these cool little micronations on your channel! I've never heard of these weird little things wow!!
Simon, you should do a video on Timika, a small sub-kingdom in Indonesia. I can see to it that you get a Knighthood for it.
My adopted mother is the Sovereign.
I just looked it up,and it is really interesting, I second the idea of a video. Can I have a title too? Jk, mostly.
That's cool as hell
Your mom being the Sovereign of the Mimika regency of Timika, is a quite a flex. It looks to be a beautiful place. 😍
@@stonewolf7850 I call it Heaven on Earth. Mother's grandmother, Queen Natasya I, was said to be a direct-descendant from the Legendary 4 Kings of Raja Ampat,
@@tylerrebik7700 if Simon doesn't make a video I think you should. Honestly it sounds interesting.
I can make sealand out from my house, can see it clearly with a telescope, also the original Martello tower needs a video, I can get you photos of the ones along Essex coast I'm in Clacton. Also Jaywick the most deprived town in Britain could also do with a video, the houses were originally built at an average cost of £250, and I know people that have fallen through walls by leaning on them. The council's plan to revive town is to build a covered market that no one will visit and will be better described as a car boot sale, and to build over priced houses on a flood plan, which the entire town sits on.
I’ve been waiting for this video
This story might sound absurd, what with squatting in an abandoned fortification, conducting legally gray activities, enduring whacky power struggles, and selling titles to anybody with a little money. It certainly grates against our modern concepts of republican or popular-national sovereignty as embraced by even the nominal monarchies of the West.
But let an amateur historian point out that this is basically how pre-modern Europe politics worked. Many a tenth-century lord would have recognized their own path to power in Sealand's history, even if their 20th great grandchildren are loathe to admit it now.
So, yes, my purchased barony is entirely legitimate, and long live the prince!
Good video 👍
The history of Sealand is fascinating, and I hope it continues to thrive for years to come.
I got a Sealand Lordship so I could call my friends peasants with some legitimacy d:
You just got added to my list of role models. Thanks... my liege XD
When Michael was a boy his bank statements always read Dear Master Bates…
Awesome opening on a piece of naval history.
I've been a Baron there since 2018!
Love this one.
Bloody incredible. Grown men playing. Deviously of course.
Amazing!
If I'd lived in the UK in the 1960s, I totally would've gone out to board Sunk Head Fort (the other Maunsell fort built outside British territorial waters) and claim it before the Royal Engineers demolished it in 1967.
If I would do that I would chose to become a protectorate of Sealand. Actually Zealand should be given command over all remaining Maunsell forts, with only the waters around Roughs Tower as territorial water. The Maunsell Forts are a great opportunity to beat housing problems in Europe.
"FRON THE SEA, FREEDOM!!!" Glory to Prince Michael. And Hail the Principality of Sealand, the world's first successful sea-stead!!!
This is neat!! Im kinda rooting for them
Very interesting.
great vid
The most remarkable thing about Seeland, is how long you actually can exist in the gray areas of international law and popular support, a bit like a physical Bitcoin.
If they ever started doing more serious things than pirate radio, like nuclear development or terrorist backing, more than likely, the British government would have a lot less tolerance.
I've heard of Sealand and it got me to wondering why more people didn't do what they did but with the free oil platforms that have been offered by many companies.
Great!
I'm surprised no one's either made a comedy movie or written a thriller novel based on this place.
"You got yer loisenze fer that music m8"
Pirate Radio is a great movie. Worth a watch if u havent seen it.
Slightly disappointed that there’s no Killer Whales involved
Killer whales aren't whales 🙃
Roy is my hero.
Because if this video, i am now a lord of sealand. As is my brother. Lolol
I learned of Sealand about 8 years ago. The first thing I did was to get my Lordship through the country. I achieved a dream of becoming a Lord Byran. Thank you Prince Michael! This is a good documentary. Enjoyed it very much.
It does all seem very silly really, but kudos to them for keeping it going... :P
They definitely have some guns on there
"heck yeah! we all need Sealand Identity Cards!!"
I’d be interested to know about future plans for the Principality. From an engineery / geeky perspective, the concrete the towers are built from must be in desperate need of repair given the time they’ve been there. There’s no mention in the video about passed renovation which must be a concern.
Interesting.
Hope I visit that place one day. If I get sn invitation, that is.
Was always going to happen eventually, but an ad interrupted by an ad!!
@10:03 those workers were doing what now?
I'd be adding more platforms to increase the size and stability. Best place to survive a zombie apocalypse!
This gives another meaning to radio piracy
All ideas to begin a new country come from a night at the pub.
I was wondering when you where going to cover this, a bunch of my friends were involved with havenco..
I'm kind of surprised you didn't mention the havenco part
The most striking thing for me about this is that the guys behind it seem quite...sensible. You always expect stuff like this to be pulled by some bonkers conspiracy theorist like that Achenbach guy, not people who think Assange went too far and aren't happy about hosting dodgy stuff on servers. It's quite refreshing.
I knew about Sealand but now I actually have a desire to go there. Something more interesting than Mallorca I reckon.
A commercial interrupted your commercial.
Don't use paisley with your cockles, it tastes horrible. Parsley is much nicer x
Prince Michael seems harmless enough but the guy that tried to take it by force wanted to be the head of a state so he could do crooked things worse than the mostly legal things the prince and his family refuse to do on principles
Things such as? Don't talk out of your arse
Yeah, but if Sealand was conquered by someone genuinely nefarious, then Britain could send a few helicopters and shut the whole thing down. They would deny Sealand was ever sovereign and simply call it a maritime police action. If you recognize Sealand's sovereignty, you would consider it an invasion and war of conquest, but nations do that to each other all the time. China has openly declared its intention to do so in Taiwan.
Also, I don't think a bad guy would attract the affection of the public like the current royal family. So long as Prince Michael plays nice and doesn't make trouble for his imperial neighbor, I think he will continue to benefit from a combination of internet snarkiness, the british love of romantic eccentrics, and Whitehall's love of leaving things more or less as they are.
As a literary note: “Vril” was a term coined by tedious Victorian-era writer E. Bulwer-Lytton (of “It was a dark and stormy night” fame) in the early sci-fi novel, “Vril: The Coming Race”. Aliens live underground and Vril is their energy. And now, back to the video.
One thing which wasn't mentioned in this video was the fact that when British territorial waters were extended from 3NM to 12NM, putting Sealand inside British territorial waters, the government of Britain claimed that it is British territory and not its own state. Of course, one could argue that it was a state before the territorial limit was changed, but all other nations will likely concede to the British government that the tower is British territory.
a 'Whistle-Out' to Whistler!
I seem to recall "Vril Energy" as a mid-last century crackpot thing.
Where do they get their power from?
when I saw the platform in the thumbnail I was like wtf are they doing all day, probably bateing. and then the name of the prince, Bates !!!! what are the chances !!! hahah 🤣🤣
Loved it! Blessings to Prince Michael and his family.
Imagine being the guy from Radio Caroline left hanging without his mates below, probably looking up to the people bombing him and calling up, "I would like to apologize!"
I have been obsessed with Sealand since I learned about it over a decade ago in high school from an excellent teacher. Thanks for doing a video on it!
The boat that rocked is also known as pirate radio
As a brit i recognise Sealand as an independent country
Arnaldo, I hope you’re well my friend!
Generally doing OK, thanks! What’s up?
Corned Beef, Rice Pudding, Scotch. A proper UK diet.
Reminds me the story of Republic of Rose Island.
26 people live there. Yet the entire comment section lives there 🤔
Reminds me of the Republic of Dave from "Fallout 3."
if self determination is real, it's a nation and shouldn 't need permission from the world.
Self-determination is a political principle, not a legal requirement. So it isn't exactly real. Not everyone agrees on what self-determination is, and not everyone agrees that it's a good thing.
For example, the Versailles treaty embraced the idea of ethnic self-determination, but this resulted in a chaos of micronations that helped lead to world war 2, as well as remaining a source of some very nasty ethnic conflicts which persist to this day. The last war in Ukraine was fueled in part by Russian-backed micronations trying to secede from Ukraine (but ruled from Moscow); this happened in the Republic of Georgia as well. Often against the will of most of the local residents.
I could see them adding onto Sealand like the other platforms but I think a single building simply wouldn't do; imagine a whole city on stilts in the middle of the ocean centuries from now.
Maybe they could start by building a stadium for that football team?
What is the expected lifespan of the platform / nation?
Heh I just posted a comment recommending doing this one yesterday.
I love me some microstate.
Mmmm cockles with chillies and paisley
Hey!
Now do the Principality of Zeon
Some of those Martello towers still exist today in Kingston, Ontario, Canada there was a network of them along the St Lawrence River to protect against any invasion from the US.