Colonies
While Arransia has never been a “Great Power”, she has a long seafaring tradition and since the late 16th century Arransian mariners have been found trading wherever they could float a ship throughout the known world. Over the years, this resulted in Arransia acquiring a small string of colonies of varying degrees of economic value to the home country. The most important of these was the now independent country of New Edirn in the Southern Ocean. The other colonies are dealt with on this page.
The Terrapin Islands
The first Arransian colony, and most important apart from New Edirn, was the Terrapin Islands in the Western Ocean, which were seized from the Mayonnaise by Commodore Benjamin Astley in 1669 with a squadron headed by his flagship the Porcupine. Astley is considered a national hero in Arransia, and there have been several naval ships named HMS Astley, but history suggests he was to all intents and purposes a bloodthirsty pirate. The fertile soil of the islands was put to use growing sugar cane and later bananas too. In modern times a third cash crop has become marijuana, which remains officially illegal but is generally tolerated.
In the 17th and 18th centuries, slavery was widely practised in this part of the world, and Arransian ships were active in the trade, although slavery was never permitted in the home country or, except for a few years in the 1670s, in the Terrapin Islands. The result was that the slave traders would promise that the best behaved of their human cargoes would be allowed to become free men and women in the Terrapins. Whether this led to the population being unusually intelligent or unusually docile depends on who you listen to. There was never a substantial settler population from the home country, and by the 1950s most of the sugar plantations and banana groves were locally owned.
There was a strong independence movement in the 1960s, and independence was granted in 1972, although they retained the King of Arransia as their head of state. Princess Fiona is extremely popular in the islands (perhaps because she has occasionally been spotted enjoying a crafty spliff). However, the islands’ economy continued to depend on Arransia buying their sugar and banana crops at favourable prices, and in a sense nothing really changed. Power in the Terrapins alternates between the People’s Democratic Party and the Labour Party, the latter being marginally the more right-wing of the two. Over the years, about 25,000 people from the Terrapins have settled in Arransia, where they have been generally well received and encountered relatively little racial prejudice.
Arransia has been criticised by international trade bodies for maintaining a special trade relationship with the Terrapins, but governments of both parties have consistently pointed out that, if they opened the islands up to free trade, their economy would collapse, and there is no feeling in Arransia that either bananas or sugar are too expensive. Indeed Arransia has the highest per capita consumption of bananas in the developed world, and Terrapin bananas command a price premium in Brunswick, partly because they are felt to have a “mellowing” effect, although there is no evidence of any presence of cannabis compounds in them. Most trade with the Terrapins is carried out through the port of Ince in Marchwood, where there is a statue of Commodore Astley on Customs House Square. While it cannot be said that the Terrapin Islands are wealthy, they are obviously more thriving than some other countries’ former colonies in the region.
The group consists of about thirty islands, of which the main ones are the mountainous Grand Terrapin and P’tit Terrapin, and the low-lying Plat Île. In total twelve islands are inhabited. The total land area is about 350 square miles and the current population about 120,000, of whom 105,000 live on Grand Terrapin. The peak population in the early 1950s was about 140,000. The capital is the confusingly-named Brunswick Harbour, which has some 35,000 people. As one might expect from a former Arransian colony, the capital has an electric tram system and there are 55 miles of narrow-gauge steam railway on Grand Terrapin and 10 on P’tit Terrapin. As much trade is done on a swap basis, virtually every car on the streets of Brunswick Harbour is of Arransian origin, and its is sometimes remarked that the place looks more Arransian than Danby. In the 1990s, Grand Terrapin even acquired seven miles of Expressway between Brunswick Harbour and St Lucy.
Although the weather is often humid and stormy, the islands have become popular with tourists, partly because of their relaxed atmosphere, and in recent years have developed a couple of “all-in” resorts. The seafront area of Brunswick Harbour, dominated by the impressive Fort Margaret, is a particularly lively and picturesque place. The islands are noted for their large population of feral domestic cats, which are believed to be descended from ships’ cats from 17th and 18th century wrecks.
Cricket is the national sport of the Terrapiners, and despite the disparity in population they have occasionally beaten the home country in Test Matches.
Whitsun Island
Between 1780 and 1783 the explorer Captain Randle Scullion (great-great-great-uncle of the 20th century Chancellor Patrick Scullion) in his ship the Porpoise became the first Arransian mariner to circumnavigate the globe. During his voyage he discovered a remote South Sea island which he claimed for Arransia and named Whitsun Island after the day it was discovered. However, it turned out on his return to Arransia that he had made an error with the calendar, as on a previous landfall the ship's company had unwittingly eaten hallucinogenic root crops and had managed to “lose” eleven days. They had only been brought back to reality by the attentions of the ship's cat.
Whitsun Island has a land area of about 75 square miles, and is mountainous and heavily forested. It is notable for its mysterious giant stone statues of wombats that were erected by the native people. It is not known where the inspiration for these came from as the nearest living wombats are over 3,000 miles away. It is surrounded by a coral reef and the lagoon forms an excellent natural harbour.
Arransian rule, although sometimes criticised as overly relaxed, has generally been benign and respectful of local culture, and in 1956 the island was granted a limited measure of self-government. The population is now about 15,000, made up of 80% natives and 20% of Arransian settlers, although there has been much interbreeding and the distinction is very blurred. As one would expect, the island has a 26-mile narrow-gauge steam railway running round the coast and the capital, Tiki-Toki, has a single electric tram route. Despite the fact that there are less than 2,000 cars on the island, Tiki-Toki regularly experiences gridlock at rush hour. The extension of the airport runway in 1989 opened the island up to intercontinental jets, and has led to a growth in tourism, but the island is still relatively unspoiled. An excellent job has been done in conserving the native flora and fauna, but nevertheless the island is one of the most developed and prosperous in the region, partly because Arransia, having few other colonies, channeled a lot of investment into it. There have never been any serious demands for independence as the native people have noticed that less than 25% of government expenditure is funded by local tax revenue.
Although Whitsun Island is on the other side of the world and has no strategic importance, for many years the Arransian Navy have carried out extensive training activities there, and at any time typically three or four warships will be stationed at Tiki-Toki, while since the extension of the runway it has become almost an annual destination for the long-range bomber and transport squadrons. Politicians have sometimes questioned whether this offers value for money, but the Admiralty have always insisted that there are sound operational reasons for the policy, and the balmy climate, relaxed lifestyle and friendly local women are not taken into account at all.
Lower Mumba
Arransia’s third colony was the equatorial country of Lower Mumba, which was acquired in the 1880s during the “colonial scramble” of the time. It must be said that Arransia was left trailing in this scramble, as Lower Mumba is an unpromising place of little economic value.
It has a land area of about 25,000 square miles, with a coastline of 110 miles, and then extending inland along the valley of the meandering, flood-prone, and unnavigable River Mumba. The coastal fringe is mainly swampy, malaria-ridden rain forest, but at the extreme north the landscape turns to arid savannah.
Some copper mines were developed in the north, and in 1928 a railway was completed to link them with the coast at the capital of Port Hutchinson. However, Arransian rule was always carried out with a light touch, and during the Great War virtually collapsed as contact with the home country was severed.
In the 1950s a Communist-led insurgency broke out, which for a time the home country made strenuous efforts to suppress. Extensive bombing was carried out, and the old battleship Great Bear was used for shore bombardment. However, a reluctance to engage ground forces proved the campaign’s undoing, and the last Arransian troops and officials were evacuated in 1958, somewhat to the embarrassment of Patrick Scullion, who was Chancellor at the time. No official peace treaty has ever been signed.
The country is now known the the People’s Republic of Mumbazo, and the capital has been renamed Nokandu. The northern part is, however, in the hands of rebels, and the copper mines are being operated to a limited extent by a Mayonnaise-backed syndicate. The railway is now entirely derelict, the last through train having run in 1953, and the remaining sections in the south having not been used since 1973. Despite this, the population has risen from just over 3 million in 1949 to 6.5 million today, and the country is amongst the ten poorest in the world.
Arransia has consistently said that it would provide reconstruction aid if the government would sign a peace treaty and introduce democratic reforums, but, while this offer is undoubtedly sincere enough, it is unlikely to be called upon.
Fraser Island is a remote island in the Southern Ocean, situated about 300 miles south-east of the southern tip of Orestina. It was discovered and colonised for Arransia by Captain Hugh Barclay, the commander of the frigate Panther, in 1753. The territory covers a total of about 1,500 square miles, most of which is accounted for by the main island, which is the only one that is inhabited. There are about 20 smaller uninhabited islands. The main island is at its furthest extent 55 miles from east to west. The population of about 750 are mainly engaged in sheep farming, although the island also provides a summer base for Arransia’s whaling fleet. In the latter half of the 19th century the island assumed some importance as a coaling station for shipping, but the opening of the Flores Canal in 1923 took most of this traffic away. The only substantial settlement is Port Barclay, which has a population of about 300, and stands on a magnificent natural harbour.
In 1991 Orestina made some veiled threats to annex the island, although the Arransians pointed out that they had held it as a colony since before Orestina gained her independence from Esparta, and this was accepted by the League of Nations. An Arransian naval squadron including the aircraft carrier Queen Margaret was sent to the Southern Ocean as a deterrent, and Arransia despatched four of her B-39 bombers to the Brunswickian possession of Trinity Island, from where they could have attacked the Orestinian mainland. The threats rapidly vanished into thin air, but the Arransians have adopted a policy of rotating battalions of Marines through a training period on the island, meaning that at any one time there is a minimum of about 150 heavily-armed soldiers present. They have also built a runway capable of handling long-range jet aircraft, and a pair of the elderly RB-31 reconnaissance planes (similar to a Canberra) are based there.
In the mid-1990s, a thriller by one of Arransia's most popular authors describing a fictional Orestinian takeover of the island and the way Arransia, not without initial difficulties and setbacks, eventually exacted total and somewhat bloody revenge, became a major best-seller.
Although not a colony as such, Arransia also controls the enclave of St Cuthbert on the north coast of Denhulme. This remains notionally part of Denhulme, but in 1798 a perpetual lease was granted to Arransia in recognition of help given during Denhulme’s campaign for independence from Brunswick. Because of this legal status it is administered as a quasi-independent dominion under the Crown of Arransia rather than part of Arransia proper. The local official title of the King of Arransia is the Thane of St Cuthbert. There is a local legislature called the States.
St Cuthbert has a land area of 152 square miles and a population of 130,000, about half of whom live in the capital, also called St Cuthbert. Denhulme was neutral during the Great War, and Arransian submarines and motor torpedo boats operating out of St Cuthbert under the command of Rear-Admiral Roger Lawson were a constant thorn in the side of the Brunswickians. Brunswick made several attempts to put the port out of action by bombing, but when they ended up attacking nearby parts of Denhulme in error this provoked strong diplomatic protests. Denhulme was sympathetic to Arransia during this war and substantial quantities of supplies were delivered across the border into St Cuthbert, often stretching the rules of neutrality to the limit, to the indignation of Brunswick. However, as the war progressed, it became increasingly difficult to transport these supplies to the home country. St Cuthbert was officially demilitarised under the 1949 Treaty of Ynysforgan between Arransia and Brunswick, although Arransian warships still occasionally make courtesy visits.
St Cuthbert still has extensive ship-repairing facilities, but in recent years has become mainly known as a gambling resort, as it has the most liberal gambling laws in Sabrantia. There is a particular contrast with the very restrictive rules in Denhulme. It is also popular for cross-border shopping trips, as tobacco and especially alcoholic drinks are much cheaper than in Denhulme. This results in it having a somewhat raffish atmosphere and being widely perceived as a stronghold of organised crime. In the 1970s there were a number of disturbances on the border between St Cuthbert and Denhulme, as Denhulmians protested against Arransian fisheries policy during the two countries’ “cod war”. In general, though, Denhulme tolerates St Cuthbert as a kind of safety valve for its citizens.
The railway line from the border to St Cuthbert City is operated by the Denhulme State Railways. The enclave also has an 11-mile stretch of Expressway across its centre, which was opened in 1987.