Howlina - Day 7 - Recent History

This is supposed to be the history of the last hundred years, but I have ideas for earlier than that and not for more recent stuff.  I think I need to lay the ground work for the society and let the recent history grow from that.

The anchor I want to use is independence on 5 November 1826.

I also know that these people were living in the Sudete Mountains in Poland when they were kicked out.  They their Book and had been living in Poland as part of the Catholic Church until the time of St. Augustine.  They were appalled by his stance on sexuality and felt they had to break away.  That's probably the best place to start.

425 - Broke away from the Church.  They did like the structure of priests, bishops, cardinals and pope so they maintained it in their own community.  They even gave all political power to their church leaders.  In their case though, the clergy was required to be married.  The local priests had to be voted into being pastors by their congregations.  Bishops came from the community of pastors and had to be voted in by the College of Cardinals.  The community of bishops voted their members to the College of Cardinals and the College voted for their pope.  They cited Christ's advice that wherever two or more are gathered in his name God is present.  No one person can make these sorts of decisions as well as a group gathered in prayer.

1505 - When Poland developed their Golden Liberty, the people moved away from a Theocracy to a more secular government.  Their church maintained it's structure and many clergy maintained positions of power, but the requirement to be a member of the clergy was removed.  Artisans and bankers began to move into positions of power.  There was no restriction on banking for their church so they became quite wealthy.

1650 - During the Khmelnytsky Uprising, with it's religious upheaval, the church was seen as a threat.  There was probably a natural disaster combined with a military action that precipitated this, but I don't have time to look it up now.  The people were driven out.  They found themselves moving to the Netherlands just as the Puritans did, but they too clashed and decided to move out.  At that time the island was known and owned by certain Dutch holdings who wanted it settled.  They suggested the people move there.

1660 - Arrival at Howland Howlina.

1665 - End of the migration of the people to Howland Howlina.  Cities were established on the South Coast and in the Delta.  The island was mostly abandoned because it was too far west for most of the Dutch trade route.  Basically they were left to wither on the vine and fend for themselves.

1673 - Howland Howlina was captured by England in the Third Anglo-Dutch war.  The English presumed this would be a blow to the Dutch at little cost to themselves.  In fact it was a welcome reopening of trade with Europe and the Americas for Howland Howlina.  They welcomed the English as trade partners, but kept their distance.  They had one overriding stipulation before they willing became a British colony, anyone emigrating to Howland Howlina had to either convert or be subject to immigration restrictions.

1765 - Howland Howlina was completely uninvolved in the Seven Years War, so in 1765 when England levied taxes there to help pay they was outraged even more than in America.  Howland Howlina was not involved in the fight at all and felt they should no shoulder any of the burden.  Being predominantly pacifist, they did not have a revolution like the US.  They simply boycotted British goods entirely.  They turned all their trade over to the US, fearing being a lap dog to any European power.  They knew the US would value trade above any political control, and the US was in no position put pressure on them anyway.

1813 - Howland Howlina expelled any and all British officials.  They declared their independence from England on 4 January 1814 and sided with the US in the War of 1812.  Both the US and England mostly ignored this.

1823 - They invited the US Navy to include them in the Monroe Doctrine and provide protection.  England, seeing little value and much cost let them go.

1826 - Treaty of New York signed 5 November officially granting Howland Howlina independence.  The US had been invited to broker the deal and the British ambassador in New York signed.

I've gone way past 15 minutes so I'll just say that they shadowed most of the technological advances by less than 5 years through the 19th and 20th centuries.   I'll also cover their involvements in world events briefly.

WWI - Maintained neutrality throughout.

WWII - in 1939 they declared war against Germany for invading Poland.  They refused port to any German, Italian or Japanese ships, but otherwise played little part.  They sent no one overseas.  They provided port facilities to the Allies and acted as spotters for German Uboats and commerce raiders.  They were the recipients of refugees especially from Poland and Czechoslovakia early on in the war (the occupation of the Sudetenland).

Korean War - Voted for support of South Korea in the UN, but not in a position to provide any support.

Cold War - Maintained close ties with the US until Castro's rise.  They felt that the US was unfounded in their punishment of Cuba.  Although they have not fought the US and still maintain close ties to them, they freely trade with Cuba and are a strong supporter of Cuban interests.  They have also been strong supporters of Poland and the Solidarity movement.  When the Iron Curtain fell they provided many skilled workers and teachers to help Poland rebuild.

Falklands War - The British had not consulted with them nor given them warning of the attack.  They had ignored Howland Howlina and discounted any support they could give.  Although friendly with Britain, Howland Howlina was insulted by this and did not offer port facilities or combat air support.  They only provided sea rescue and emergency landing facilities. 

Papal Visit 1985 - Pope John Paul II visited Howland Howlina and there was brief hope of some kind of reconciliation between the religion of the people and the Roman Catholic Church.  In the end it only solidified the feeling that they never could be brought to see eye to eye.  After the visit there began an explicit effort to point out the faults of the RC church and to actively work against several of the positions of the church which had been quietly disdained before.  The people of Howland Howlina have become outspoken champions world wide for Women's Rights, married priests, women priests, responsible abortions, family planning, the acceptance of careful, protected pre-marital sex.  Some of the traditions of the Book had fallen into disuse and were now brought back into vogue.

Gulf War - Voted for it in the UN, but had no means of supporting the efforts.  There was very hot debate over how they could leverage the war for fuel supplies.  It caused a regime change in the government twice, first to a Pro-Oil contingent who proved completely ineffective in putting any pressure on anyone for fuel.  Disgraced, they fell to the Pro-Alternate Fuel faction, who changed their name from the Green Energy Party to the Earth Party.  The debate and fight solidified that party from the many factions that had previously vied with each other.  They now stand for environmental issues, alternate fuels/energy sources, eco-technological compatibility, and human rights.

9/11 - Sent rescue workers to New York and Washington DC.  Tightened their own borders and expelled anyone with even the most remote ties to the terrorists, Afghanistan, Iraq and Iran.  In the years to follow they also either expelled or refused entry to basically all Muslims.  After about a year of near persecution, the effort has been changing slowly to one of making Howland Howlina simply not attractive to Muslims, and then to invisibility.  The current thinking is that they don't want any terrorists to even know they exist.  Though there were some close calls in 2002 and 3, the effort has largely been successful.  Currently there are no Muslims living in Howland Howlina.

Iraqi Freedom and Enduring Freedom - With the One World Party (considered the party of international relations, diplomacy international banking, multinational industry, espionage and anti-isolationism) in power they voted for these measures in the UN but could provide little support.  They do participate in Doctors Without Borders and have a strong news media presence in both theaters.

Boxing Day Tsunami 2004 - Although not affected they provide a large amount of air-sea rescue and monetary support.

Election of Pope Benedict XVI 2005 - Many Howlanders Howlers made an international spectacle of themselves during the proceedings.  They traveled to Rome and protested very obviously.  They not only alienated themselves to the world in general, they forced the new Pope to officially denounce their religion and lock out any ecumenical talk for the entirety of at least one more papal reign.