PRINCIPALITY OF FREEDONIA: A “new country” project based in Houston, Texas; founded in March of 1992 by the 13 year-old John Alexander Kyle and a group of his friends. Governmentally, they've gone through a few permutations. By a 1992 resolution, they were “a sort of oligarchy.” That system was changed to a presidential republic in 1996, and to a constitutional monarchy in 1997. As of April 1998, their name was modified to reflect their metamorphosis from a “Republic” to a “Principality”. Originally, Freedonia was the result of lengthy contemplation about “the concept of someone taking the house they lived in and declaring it independent of the United States.” Mr. Kyle and his friends then proceeded to consummate this plan of action by whimsically asserting the thorough liberation of their parents' homes. In its humble beginnings, these ruminations were largely for their own entertainment. Freedonia was only a “small hypothetical project until 1997”, when the possibilities of the Internet entered the picture. But as the project grew in seriousness (and Mr. Kyle graduated high school and progressed to Babson College), their goal was to create a new nation that was ideologically based on libertarian principles.
FRIESLAND: Magna Frisia, the farthest extent of the ancient Frisian region, once consisted of a long narrow strip of land along the North Sea littoral, from the Swin (Belgium) in the south (another source gives the western boundary as the Schelde/Scheldt River, at the border of the Netherlands and Belgium), to the Weser (Germany) in the north. The modern remnants of this “Great-Friesland”, which existed for part of the Middle Ages, are small and scattered. The “heartland” of the Frisians is now the province of Fryslân, which is located in the northern part of the Netherlands, where there is fertile land near the coast, with sandy heath and marshland in the interior. Friesland is drained by numerous canals and small rivers, and has many picturesque lakes. The province also includes four of the West Frisian Islands off the northwest and north coasts of the mainland. Friesland distinguishes itself from the other eleven Dutch provinces by having its own language, which differs considerably from Dutch and is still spoken by a sizable part of the population. The Frisians are linguistically a quite heterogeneous group, and there are three major dialects: West-Frisian is spoken in Fryslân;, while East-Frisian and North-Frisian are spoken in geographic areas located in Germany. Throughout the centuries, the self-sufficient, freeborn Frisians have managed to maintain a distinct identity and an incredible measure of independence.
FRIULI HOMELAND (LA PATRIE DAL FRIÛL): This historically complex region, which extends from the eastern Alps to the Adriatic, is now mostly divided between the present-day Autonomous Region of Friuli-Venezia Giulia (in northeastern Italy) and Slovenia. It was once referred to as the tract of land “dal Timâf a la Livence” — the expanse stretching from the Timavo river in the east (as the Reka, it begins at the foot of Mount Sneznik, in Slovenia) to the Livenza river in the west (in the Veneto region of Italy); another source gives the eastern limit as being the Isonzo (as the Soča, it begins over the Slovene border). It is certainly the region of Italy which has suffered the most from the vagaries of history throughout the centuries, right up to modern times. Occupied by the Romans (2nd century B.C.), Friuli derives its name from Forum Iulii (the market of Julius, modern Cividale del Friuli). In fact, the entire borderland was then known as the Julian region (Julian March). After the collapse of the Roman Empire and the subsequent barbarian invasions, the former outpost was separated into a coastal section (dominated by the Byzantines) and an inland zone (taken by different Germanic tribes). In the 6th century, the area became a Lombard duchy; it then became a frontier of the Frankish kingdom in 774, after Charlemagne subdued the Langobardi (“longbeards”). By this time, the historical paths of the western and eastern areas had already begun to diverge. The region, prior to A.D. 1000, was cleaved into the counties of Gorizia (east) and Friuli (west). Eventually, much of its land came under the authority of German royalty, and was distributed among families pertaining to the gentry. In 1077, Henry IV (who was engaged in trying to save his kingdom) granted sovereignty (religious and temporal powers) over the western part of Friuli to the Patriarch of Aquileia (Sigeardo). In addition to being the area's chief spiritual leader, he became the prince of his own territory. At the time, only the church was capable of promoting the rebirth of the Friuli region. The patriarchal state was even extended eastwards to include the Istrian Peninsula (now mostly in western Croatia) as well as the seacoast, and Slavic peoples settled in Friuli during this period. The Patrie dal Friûl remained an independent ecclesiastical state until the end of the Middle Ages. Afterwards, the region underwent a centuries-long period of domination by two distinct political and administrative powers: the Republic of Venice and the Habsburg Empire. This double presence caused a marked diversification of the Friuli-Venezia Giulia region into a “Venetian Friuli” (fondly regarded as the “Fatherland of Friuli”, situated in what are now the provinces of Pordenone and Udine) and an “Austrian Friuli” (the present-day province of Gorizia and Trieste, both of which became independent during the XII century by organizing themselves into free municipalities/city-states). The bifurcation of Friuli-Venezia Giulia into two distinct regions had profound social, political and cultural ramifications. “Venetian Friuli”, in particular, kept its predominantly agricultural identity and enjoyed a period of political and social stability. The rest of the region, however, changed significantly. For example, when Trieste was declared a Free Port, the city turned into an important nerve center for the flourishing commercial trade which was generated by the expansionist policy of the Hapsburgs in the 18th and 19th centuries. Trieste was transformed by its extraordinary economic prosperity into their most valuable harbor. Furthermore, its dramatic growth attracted a stream of immigration from other parts of the Austrian Empire and from the Mediterranean area; the resulting mixture of peoples, races and cultures has been a major influence on the attitudes and character of the people in Friuli-Venezia Giulia. The hybridized name of this versatile landscape is itself very suggestive of all its countless regional differences.
Mr. Kyle (Prince John I) summed up his vision of Freedonia thusly: “As a nation founded on libertarianism, our views can be summed up by the following statement, that all citizens should be free to do as they wish, so long as no ones person or property comes to physical harm…I would like to reiterate that freedom for us is wide-reaching, from social freedoms, to financial freedoms. We also believe in a very limited government. I feel that government is the least efficient and effective way to solve almost any problem. A government should only exist for a few specific purposes. A government should ensure the freedom of its citizens, maintain order, provide for the national defense, and perhaps maintain local infrastructure like roads. A government with only these objectives needs very little tax revenue. There is strong reason to believe that taxation in Freedonia could easily be about 1/10 that currently paid by US citizens and corporations. In Freedonia, there might well be no tax on Marijuana whatsoever…Also, again keep in mind, that you are free to do anything until someone or someone's property comes to physical harm.” Later, he adds that “The policy to live in Freedonia will be a completely open policy. Everyone will be free to live there as long as they agree to abide by the laws, which of course should not be many. I am not sure if only citizens will be able to live there, but I tend to lean more towards the affirmative on that issue. There will be no official language and no official religion. English will probably be the dominant language of the government, but no official language will be declared. Also, while everyone will have complete freedom to pursue whatever religion they wish, no religious beliefs or rules will be imposed on anyone.”
In his search to purchase actual territory, Mr. Kyle considered several viable options (such as Pitcairn Island, or an artificial/floating island in international waters — constructed from large polyethylene platforms; he even investigated the possibility of a “freedom ship” that would sail in oceans/seas outside of any national jurisdiction). His pursuit led to one remote location in particular, where things would end in tragedy: the Awdal province in Somaliland, which in turn was formed when 5 out of 18 administrative regions seceded from Somalia in 1991 (hence reverting back to the former British Somaliland configuration). Awdal has even tried to claim liberty as a separate Republic, but this has never been granted. They are clearly beholden, amid endless internecine disputes, to the clans who locally hold and share power. A libertarian outfit, called the Awdal Roads Company, had pre-established a vested interest in this volatile place — an environment where the chance of conflict is always present, especially when an outsider or two are involved. At their now-defunct Web-site (http://www.awdal.com/), the company unabashedly touted that “There is a potential for high return enterprise investment in the Sultanate of Awdal, a sovereign territory within the self-proclaimed Republic of Somaliland. There is an active market driven economy in Somaliland and Awdal, and the community leaders encourage foreign enterprise investment.” In 1999, Mr. Kyle became involved (only informally and non-contractually) with Jim Davidson and Michael van Notten, the two founders of the ARC partnership. In an e-mail discussion that took place in late October of 1999 between himself (then 20 years old) and an individual named “Ryan”, Mr. Kyle recounts how this — the most interesting chapter in Freedonia’s history — all began.
“While attending the International Space Development Conference in Houston this past May, I met a man named Jim Davidson. Mr. Davidson is a fellow libertarian and has been involved in many libertarian efforts. When I told him about Freedonia and what we were trying to do, he told me about a friend of his named Michael Van Notten. Mr. Van Notten is a former Dutch diplomat and currently living in Awdal. He is married into the Sultan of Awdal's family. Michael has been trying to bring foreign investment and development to the area for some time. Mr. Davidson told Mr. Van Notten about Freedonia, and through subsequent discussions we learned Sultan Ibrahim was willing to go along with what we proposed because the existence of Freedonia would bring significant economic benefit to his country. In August Mr. Van Notten flew from Africa to Houston, where I met with him and discussed things further. The Sultan was also supposed to come but was not able to do so.” Mr. Kyle’s outlook comes across as quite level-headed and down-to-earth. “It is very hard to say when Freedonia might have sovereign territory and if we will be able to make it happen. The sultan is willing to grant us the land, but not right away. He will not do so until a certain amount of infrastructure, namely the seaport, is built. I can not blame him, for until we show a definite ability to get things done it is not in his best interest to give the land and his control away. The next step is to form an expedition to the area and meet with Sultan Ibrahim. There we can engage in talks and get some sort of signed agreement. Hopefully we will also be able to bring an engineer so that we can know what is necessary to make the seaport and rail-line a reality, and get some estimate as to the costs. Once that is done, we will then write a business plan and try to raise capital from investors. Raising capital from traditional investors may not be easy, however raising capital from libertarians should not be so difficult. Libertarians are itching to get something done, the libertarian party has not fared well in the US, and the creation of a new nation is ideal for them. In fact, Mr. Davidson was involved with another country project a few years ago named ‘Oceania’, which sought to construct an artificial island in international waters for the home of a new nation. Oceania was able to raise $500,000 for a conference on the subject in New York City. However, due to mismanagement the conference was never held and subsequently the Oceania project died out. However, the lesson to be learned from this is that raising money should not be all that difficult. After all, they were able to raise half a million dollars for a CONFERENCE, with no guarantees. If we come forth with a signed agreement with Sultan Ibrahim it should be able to raise money. Also, the Seaport and rail projects could easily fall between 1-2 million dollars. Of course additional costs will also be incurred, additional buildings will have to be constructed and mercenaries, probably from India, will have to be hired for security. However, I see no reason the whole business could not be pulled off for 3-4 million dollars. Labor in the area is extremely cheap as the median income per year for most people is extremely low.” Apart from these lofty plans, there wasn’t much going on in Freedonia. “Right now we are just trying to pursue this possible opportunity in NE Africa. Our consulate people are standing by, but right now there isn't much for them to do. The same goes for our Prime Minister and Secretary of Defense. Our next major goal will be to raise money for the expedition to Awdal and hopefully there will be significant opportunity for involvement for everyone then.”
Unfortunately, events that took place a little over a year later “have complicated our situation in Awdal.” In December of 2000, Jim Davidson and Michael van Notten traveled to Awdal. Their trip “ended up involving Freedonia in a negative way. Some violence resulted, and many things in Awdal have been called into question.” In one of the pages (http://www.freedonia.org/sovereignty2.html) at Freedonia’s Web-site, Prince John attempted to detail what occurred. While the two gentlemen “went solely on Awdal Roads Co. business and not on the behalf of Freedonia, it was our hope that Mr. Davidson could give us an overview of the current environment in Awdal, including attitudes towards foreign investment. On December 23rd, Mr. Davidson and Mr. Van Notten arrived in Borama, the capital of Awdal. Once there, they sought to secure transportation in order to travel throughout Awdal. In Borama, they met a man by the name of Haj Nur who happened to be in charge of the local operations of the Red Crescent Society, an Islamic organization similar to the Red Cross. Haj Nur insisted that Mr. Davidson and Mr. Van Notten meet with the Somaliland Vice President.” The 2 gentlemen, however, had mixed feeling about such a meeting, especially since “Awdal's relationship to Somaliland is in debate. According to the Somaliland government, Awdal is a province of Somaliland. According to the people of Awdal, however, they alone have a say about their affairs. As far back as 1995 they sent a letter to the UN declaring independence. From what we know, Somaliland does collect some taxes in Awdal by force, although these are pocketed in Hargeisa, the seat of Somaliland government. According to our sources, Awdal receives no government services from Somaliland.” Based on the premise that Awdal was indeed independent, Mr. Davidson and Mr. van Notten were therefore “reluctant to travel to Hargeisa and meet with the Vice President. However, Haj Nur made promises that when they returned, they could use the Red Crescent vehicle to travel throughout Awdal. Given the proposition, they decided to meet with the Somaliland Vice President on December 24th. The meeting was cordial, and Mr. Davidson informed the Vice President about the various projects Awdal Roads company wants to undertake. One of these projects is the development of the port at Bol'Ado, a small town on the coast of Awdal. The Vice President commented several times that it would be much better to develop the port at Berbera, a coastal town of Somaliland.” Despite his friendliness, the Vice President appeared to have an ulterior motive: “The Somaliland government currently receives no taxes from the port at Bol'Ado, due to local resistance. If the port at Bol'Ado is rehabilitated, then business at Berbera will decrease greatly, thereby cutting off a source of income for members of the Somaliland government.” The following day, “Mr. Davidson returned to Borama, while Mr. Van Notten stayed in Hargeisa. When Mr. Davidson arrived, he then went to Haj Nur to secure the Red Crescent vehicle and be on his way. However, Haj Nur would not provide the transportation, despite his earlier promise. It seems that Haj Nur's purpose in sending Mr. Davidson and Mr. Van Notten to meet with the Vice President was to ascertain if Awdal Roads' projects pass with Hargeisa, and if not, to kill the project.” Finally, on December 29th, Sultan Ibrahim Jama Samatar and other elders finally met with Mr. Davidson in Borama. “They had been wondering where he was, and were very pleased to see him. They were surprised that he had gone to Hargeisa, as they reaffirmed that Somaliland has no authority over Awdal affairs. Mr. Davidson, Sultan Ibrahim, and others then made their way to the coastal town of Lughaya. The people there were very welcoming and happy to hear of Awdal Roads Co. and foreign investment. They then made their way up the coast, stopping in Bol'Ado and the town of Zeila. All over Awdal the people seemed to be pleased at the prospect of foreign investment and development.”
At this point, however, things take a turn for the worse. On “approximately the 2nd or 3rd of January, a fax was sent from a Somali man living in Toronto, Canada. The fax claimed to contain two pages of material from the Freedonian website. The information in the fax claimed that Awdal Roads Co. was a part of Freedonia (absolutely false), and that Awdal Roads Co. is part of a conspiracy by foreigners to steal Awdal's land and oppress the people (ridiculously false). The fax also falsely implicated Sultan Ibrahim, claiming he had already reached an agreement with Freedonia to give away the entire Awdal Coast. What apparently happened is that the person in Toronto had taken information from our website and rewrote much of the material, and added in new material he wrote himself. He then faxed these pages to Hargeisa. This fax was then used by the Somaliland government to try and anger and frighten people in Awdal. Word spread, and Freedonia became a topic of much discussion and confusion throughout Awdal. Mr. Davidson rightfully asserted that Awdal Roads Co. is not associated with Freedonia in any way. Sultan Ibrahim also rightfully denied that he had reached any sort of agreement with us. In essence, Freedonia was being used as an excuse to close down the Awdal Roads project and protect the corrupt interests of the Somaliland government.”
On the 7th of January, “Mr. Davidson and Mr. Van Notten received a message stating they should meet with the Somaliland Foreign Minister. They traveled to Hargeisa for the meeting, and the Foreign Minister proceeded to declare that their visas were not valid and they were in Somaliland illegally. Luckily, Sultan Ibrahim and the elders had been traveling about 1/2 hour behind them, and showed up at the meeting. There was then a heated exchange; with the elders affirming that Somaliland has no authority in Awdal. They eventually got the Foreign Minister to agree to this, and thinking it was resolved, they departed. Mr. Davidson and Mr. Van Notten then wanted to leave for the airport, but the Foreign Minister declared that they must meet with the Vice President again. They went to this meeting, where the Vice President brought up the contents of an Awdal Roads information packet he received at their last meeting. He disagreed with much of the information it contained, and especially called attention to two pages in the packet. These pages were from the afore mentioned fax. These pages had been inserted into the Awdal Roads packet after the fact, and the Vice President now claimed they were there all along. He proceeded to interrogate Mr. Davidson on these two pages involving Freedonia.” During their argument, tensions grew very high and tempers flared. “In short, Mr. Davidson accused him of lying, and in the end the Vice President threatened to execute him if he ever returns to Awdal or Somaliland. The Vice President told Mr. Davidson and Van Notten that they must leave the country immediately. They made it to the airport, where their passports were stamped ‘Deported’ as they left. Upon hearing of this, the people of Awdal were outraged. They were upset that potential foreign investors were threatened and forced to leave. A short time later, the Vice President was passing through Borama on his way back to Hargeisa. The local people were so angry that they formed into crowds and heckled, while some stoned the Vice President's motorcade. The motorcade stopped, and members of the Somaliland army shot into the crowd. Many people were seriously injured, and the number of dead ranges from 1-4, depending on the source. The Vice President's motorcade continued on, but met a roadblock in the next town. The Vice President then had to be rescued by a helicopter from the Somaliland Airforce. Later, we are told, Somaliland sent military vehicles into Awdal and captured six people supposedly related to the incident.”
Conscience-stricken and crestfallen, Mr. Kyle concedes that the rueful “situation arose due in part to the fact that detailed information about Awdal was available to the general public on the Freedonian Website. In the future, details of our search to purchase territory will be kept more confidential, and will not be made available to the public. The Principality of Freedonia will be undertaking some actions regarding these events, although for security reasons I can not divulge information at this time.”
Amazingly, Jim Davidson himself wrote a version of these disastrous events: his Notes from the Field, once found at the Web-site of the ARC, provided a day-by-day account of the ill-fated trip he and Mr. van Notten made to the region. They arrived in East Africa on December 16th. After spending 6 days in Djibouti, they proceeded to Borama. On December 24-25, “Michael and I were asked to go to Hargeisa by the head of the Aden Younis sub-clan of the Makahil clan of the Samaron tribe.” Is this the person Mr. Kyle refers to as Haj Nur? “Given Michael's family relationship to this man, we agreed, on the basis that we would be given access to a Toyota Landcruiser for our trip into the field.” I should elaborate on the nature of Mr. van Notten’s familial standing in Awdal. In 1991, he had settled among the Somalis in the Horn of Africa (shortly after they returned to their traditional form of government) and married Flory Barnabas Warsame (a.k.a. Nim'a Ahmed), a cousin of the chief of the Samaron Clan in Awdal. In recognition of his marriage with Flory, Somalis even from neighboring clans (such as the Isaaq) would call him seddi (“brother-in-law”). His wife would come to occupy a key position in the ARC. The pair was also among the founders of the Awdal Development Agency located in Borama and the Eastern Harawe Development Agency in Jigjiga, Ethiopia. “The trip to Hargeisa went well, and we made a briefing to the Vice President and to the Minister of Commerce, Industry, and Ports. Michael then stayed on in Hargeisa to meet the Finance Minister and to have other discussions.” On December 29th, Mr. Davidson mentions: “It is noteworthy that the original deal for the vehicle was not upheld, even after I specifically insisted on the arrangement.” He then proceeds to Lukhaya (Mr. Kyle referred to it as Lughaya), where he is given “the opportunity to address the elders of the community after dinner.” During the meeting, there was “discussion of whether the group I represented was an NGO. Much venom was directed at NGOs which had come to Lukhaya and Zeila, leaving empty health clinics and building fish freezers without doors. It was said by one elder, Sultan Mahmoud, that the people put up with these non-governmental organizations or international charities only out of ignorance. I suggested that these groups were exploiting the ignorance and poverty of the Samaron, for the benefit of middle-class bureau-rats who mostly stayed in Europe and North America directing projects or justifying their budgets. That went over very well. Then I explained our purpose in coming to the coast and exploring the treacherous passage through Dobo. I pointed out that the Samaron needed a good port, which neither Djibouti nor Berbera was providing. I explained our willingness to build one port, and perhaps more. Then I pointed out the problems with both Lukhaya and Zeila with regard to shifting sands and the difficulty of getting ships close to shore. Finally, I described our understanding of Bull'ado [Mr. Kyle referred to it as Bol'Ado], and why it would make a good low-cost port to begin with. On a more general note, I explained that we were there to do business. We were not there to ask for anyone's obedience or submission. Nor were we offering charity. Instead, we were expecting to do business together in a fashion that would result in long term success. I pointed out that the investors would be having their money stay in the country for at least a few years before profits would bring the money out, and that their best interest was served by profitable long term relationships. I suggested that we unite strength with strength, and build our future on a solid foundation. These ideas were very well received.” On December 31st, Mr. Davidson proceeds to Bull'ado and makes a “careful survey” of the place. Then, the adventurous expedition continued onwards to Zeila, where they spent the night.
The report makes no mention of Sultan Ibrahim Jama Samatar, who figures prominently in Mr. Kyle’s version. The only man possessing that special title is Sultan Mahmoud, who had “been very instrumental in our negotiations at Lukhaya (it was his goat that was slaughtered for our feast)”. On January 1st, Mr. Davidson was ready to return to Borama. Sultan Mahmoud “gave me one of the most impressive blessings in Somali, ‘Nolo, nolo.’ Long life. A most welcome development. A less welcome development was the appearance of a fax in Borama. This fax seems to have been sent by Nur Hersi Bahal, a very angry person we had met in Toronto during the Summer. Bahal made the claim that we were working for a group called Freedonia, a claim that was entirely false. In fact, neither Michael nor I have ever worked for Freedonia. However, Bahal's fax made this claim, and suggested that one of the elders we had been talking to had given away a large stretch of coast to ‘foreigners.’ That was another false claim.” As we will shortly see, the malicious misinformation contained in that falsehood-ridden fax ended up frightening the powers-that-be. Convinced that the ARC had been intending to take advantage of them or steal from their folk, they seemingly jumped to the conclusion that there was treachery afoot. In an atmosphere easily corrupted by mistrust and deception, things quickly went sour. Even the slightest hint of duplicity could have wrecked the ARC's business proposals, and what was already a delicate situation to begin with became even more complicated and dangerous.
Between January 3-5, “Michael finally joined me from Hargeisa, where he has been working on a program to provide free port expertise to the port of Berbera. We met with the elders in Borama several times. Our presentations were very well received. We spent many hours explaining our intention to build a port and a good road from the port to Borama. We also discussed our interest in education, in high speed communications and in other infrastructure to lay a solid foundation for a strong economy. Among our other meetings, we met the Governor of Awdal and gave him and a group of intellectuals he called together a detailed briefing…On the whole, the business seems to be exactly the sort of opportunity we have described in our business plan. At the same time, we will have to scrap the financials. The market will bear much higher tolls, and much more of the road is simple blade work and soil stabilization than I had thought. So, our revenues for the road should be higher and our costs lower. Better still, we now have a firm handle on the costs for Somali Freeport Services to build a large port and operate it at Bull'ado.” By January 7th, they are back in Hargeisa. “For various reasons, Michael and I went with the Hargeisa-supported governor of ‘Awdal Region’ to visit the ‘Foreign Minister.’ In fact, the man we met was not the same Foreign Minister depicted in a photo in the local English-language newspaper, but another person entirely. This man is the Assistant Minister, but was introduced to us by the governor as ‘the Foreign Minister.’ Ah, well, it's such a little thing. We spent some time in this guy's office with the governor. He was courteous, provided coffee, and seemed solicitous about our business interests. He did raise a question about our visas having expired (though mine still looks like it expires on the 8th based on my examination of the handwriting) on the 6th, to which we responded that we had remained in country owing to his request for a meeting. Then the meeting returned to the subject of our visit, and we reported that Michael was happy to help develop the free port project at Berbera through his contacts with the free port association. About this time, a group of ten elders of the Samaron came into the room where we were visiting with the governor and minister. There was considerable discussion about whether decisions about business projects in Awdal would be decided in Awdal by the people there, or in Hargeisa by the ministries. The conclusion I reached, corroborated by several translators, was that the outcome of the meeting was a clear message, received by the assistant minister that the people in Awdal would choose for themselves what business would be done there.”
Mr. Davidson was pleased with that result. “However, Michael and I were asked by the assistant minister and the governor to accompany them to a meeting with the Vice President, a man named Dia Rheal. We had met him earlier on our first visit to Hargeisa. This time he seemed more arrogant and less hospitable. Obviously, he was trying to impress upon us that he could be a nuisance to our project. The funny thing that happened when we left the Vice President’s office was that he told us that we must leave the country. We answered that we were on our way to the airport and would leave in a few hours anyway. We took our scheduled flight to Djibouti, made our scheduled connection to Yemen, and waited in Sana'a for over four hours for our departure to Paris. Then we took a hotel room near Roissy and left on the first train to Amsterdam. Based on our conversations with members of the Samaron community in Awdal and elsewhere, we think the Vice President is about to be ousted, perhaps along with President Egal. Neither of these men are doing much to encourage investment in the country. The pace of economic development, or lack thereof, was a major concern to the petitioners who recently requested Egal resign. Subsequent conversations with leaders of the Samaron community assure us that our project is welcome in Awdal and will be very successful. So, while we left Hargeisa, with great pleasure, we have only begun our operations in Awdal.”
Once back in Amsterdam, Mr. van Notten “decided to make a phone call” on the evening of January 11th. “He came back to report that fighting had taken place in Borama, and that eight men were dead. We were shocked, but Michael assured us that when the number is that high the story has been exaggerated, and that it would later turn out to be one or two dead. Even so, the news was not good. The story, as it developed later, proved Michael correct. In fact, six were injured and the initial report was that one died. Later the number of dead increased to two, though whether the initial reports were mistaken or one of the injured died of his wounds is unknown. The fighting apparently broke out when the Vice President visited Borama. At least some individuals reported the conflict between the Vice President and the crowd in Borama as being over the expulsion from Somaliland of Michael van Notten. Michael is affiliated with the Aden Younis clan; the Vice President is affiliated with the Gibril Younis clan. There is a clear violation of clan traditions to have anyone outside the Aden Younis clan order the exile of one of its members. Whether that was the substance of the dispute is unclear. In any event, the shouted words lead to thrown rocks, and that lead to gunfire. The Vice President's guards opened fire on the crowd, at least ostensibly to protect the motorcade and the Vice President. Whether the shootings were justified is unclear. It is clear that the killings were done by the Vice President's guards shooting into the crowd. The Vice President then fled Borama for Hargeisa. He got as far as Goreo Awl, where his vehicle was stopped by a roadblock set up by the people there. He was then able to get a helicopter from Hargeisa to return him to his shabby palace in the capital. A few days later, the Vice President returned to Borama with more vehicles. We're told he had ten vehicles and at least two of these were ‘technicals’ mounting .50 caliber machine guns or one-pound anti-aircraft guns. We were told he arrested six men and had them imprisoned. His secret police tactics from his days with the Siad Barre regime were no doubt called to the minds of many of his victims in the current encounters.” The government that “he represents continues to have difficulties. We learned of a document signed by 200 politicians and intellectuals calling for the president of Somaliland to resign, and read about it in the newspapers while we were in Borama. Other documents indicate all of Somaliland's clans are unhappy with the Republic that they created in 1993. At that time they decided to experiment for a few years with a mixed form of government, half tribal, half democracy. It is clear to all that that experiment has failed and that the clans should meet once more to decide on Somaliland's political future…We continue to follow events in Borama very closely. As I write this report, I'm told that a new development indicates that the government in Hargeisa has dropped its opposition to the free port and road project. We look forward to hearing more, soon.”
These events (I cannot conclude if either of the versions is fairly reliable or factually distorted) really seem to have taken the wind out of Freedonia's sails. Here is how issue #145 (Jan. 20, 2001) of The Republican, a weekly English language publication based in Hargeisa, reported the matter: “An organisation called the Awdal Diaspora Forum has condemned the killing of one demonstrator and injuring of others in Borama on Jan 11, 2001 by the Somaliland police. ‘We convey our deepest and most heartful condolences for recent deaths and injuries inflicted on the unarmed civilian population of Awdal. We hold the Administration of Somaliland and especially its delegation to Borama led by the Vice-President responsible for these unfortunate and wholly unnecessary events’, the group said. The SNM [Somali National Movement] and Ururka Badbaadinta Somaliland (UBS), a political organisation recently launched in Hargeisa and headed by Fu’aad Adan Ade, also condemned what they termed ‘the heavy handed repression of the demonstration’ by the security forces. The demonstration was believed to have been triggered by a government decision to deport two foreigners who arrived in Borama recently. The two foreigners, an American and a Dutch were reportedly members of a group that calls itself ‘Fredonia’. It was understood that the Fredonians concluded a deal with one of the elders of the Gadabursi tribes named Suldan Ibrahim Jama Samatar to obtain land for their utopian dream of establishing a stateless society somewhere in the world. In return for land space to have being provided by Suldan Ibrahim, the Fredonians would have constructed some roads and port infrastructure for the natives of Awdal. Meanwhile leaders of the intellectual community in Borama have established, after reviewing documents presented by Vice-President Riyale, that the Fredonian project was actually a fake. The intellectuals however criticized the Somaliland Administration on the way it had handled the whole affair. Vice-President Riyale went to Borama on Thursday Jan 11, 2001, to explain the government position with regard to the deportation of the two expatriates. Riyale is still in Borama and seems to have made a considerable success in clarifying the government position.”
Freedonia’s Web-site has not been brought up to date in ages, and many people have wondered if the micro-nation has been dissolved for good. In May of 2004, I received a response to one of my queries from Prince John I: “It is with a very heavy heart that I have taken a temporary leave from Freedonian development. Unfortunately, until I can greatly increase my personal (royal) assets, I am not able to pursue Freedonia full-time, which is definitely what is required...I am most certainly still connected to Freedonia, as I have been for 12 years, and the project is by no means terminated. I look forward to the day when I will be able to lead the project onward both with a full allotment of time, and financial resources. The website should reflect some updates in the near future.”
Information about purchasing the 1998 50 Dollars medallion can still be found at: http://www.freedonia.org/bof.html.
Images of the Freedonia coin can also be viewed at the Coin Library of the USNS:
http://www.usns.info/coin-freedonia.html
The Frisians (or Friesians, Frieslanders, Friesen, Fresken, and several other variants) are a Teutonic people who belong to a West Germanic tribal group known as the Inguaeones (Ingvaeones, Ingaevones); the name is derived from the god Inguz, from whom the Frisians believed they had descended (Inguz is another name for the god Freyr). The forefathers of the Frisians colonized the coastal clay-districts of the current Dutch provinces of Friesland and Groningen circa 700-600 BCE. The largest group came from the areas around the mouths of the rivers Ems and Weser (both in northwestern Germany). Afterwards, a proto-Frisian culture began to evolve. These landfolk would subsequently fall under the influence of the Romans. Then, during the period known as the Migration of Nations, the Frisians started establishing their Frisian Empire circa 400 CE. At its peak in the 7th century, this empire consisted of the coastal areas from north Belgium to southern Denmark; they were in possession of the whole seacoast of the Netherlands, and apparently ruled over the greater part of what is known as modern Flanders. Lasting until 719, this empire controlled a large part of the North Sea (which at the time was even called “Mare Frisicum”) trade routes from Friesland to England, France, Scandinavia and northwest Russia. But the encroaching Frankish Empire (heir of the Roman Empire — with blessings of the Pope in Rome), seeking to advance their dominion northwards, entered the scene. Their territorial ambitions collided with those of the Frisians. After accepting Catholicism under their founder, Clovis (496), the Franks automatically (as a result of Christian belligerence and expansionism) became the major antagonists of the Frisians. Christianity became a tool in the hands of the Franks to destroy the Frisian independence north of the Rhine. After the death of Clovis in 511, the Frisians took advantage of the internal Frankish power struggle and captured Utrecht and Dorestad. The seizing of these cities, which they kept for over 100 years, was of great importance because they were the gateways of trade from the Saxon and Frankish hinterlands to the North Sea. Under the leadership of King Redbad (a devout heathen and the greatest folk hero of Friesland), the Frisians conquered Utrecht (which had been recaptured by the Frankish/Christian king Dagobert in 628) and destroyed its church. Attempting to free themselves from Frankish subjection, Christian missionaries were then forcefully removed from the Frisian empire. When Pepin became leader of the Franks, the West Frisians of Dorestad (689) and Utrecht (between 690-92) soon fell into his hands. In 714, Pepin died. Redbad took advantage of this and defeated the Frankish armies under Charles Martel (Pepin's son) in 716 at Cologne, thereby winning back the Frisian Empire. King Redbad died in 719, leaving behind a “Great and Heathen Friesland”.
In 734, Martel reached the peak of his power as Frankonian king. His forces secured the supremacy over the Frisians in the north: on the river Boorne, in the heart of Frisian lands, the decisive battle was waged, with Poppa (Hrodbad) at the head of the Frisian reprisals. Poppa, the son of Redbad, was killed in battle, and the Frisian forces (in disaray) were slain. Thus, the West Lauwers portion of Friesland was incorporated in the Frankish Empire as a County. It surrendered its freedom and the Church secured a foothold. Meanwhile, the East Frisians (east of the Lauwers) bonded with the neighboring Saxons (another tribe, the closest in kin to the Frisians, descended from the Inguaeones) by forming a coalition. Only under the leadership of Martel's grandson, Charlemagne, is the Saxo-Frisian alliance defeated in 785. After his victory, the entire Frisian Empire became a County of the Frankish Empire. Charlemagne freed the people of Friesland from swearing fealty to foreign overlords. Only under him would the Christianization of the Frisians be ostensibly completed. By 800, Friesland was firmly in his grip, yet the Frisians only “seem” to be converted. It is just the ruling elite (the Counts and other vassals) who have become Catholic. Large portions of the population are still heathen, and will remain so for a long time. Nevertheless, under the Christian dominance of the ruling class, the voices of the Frisian priests are silenced, and the epic songs of the skalds (poets) are forbidden. Thereby, the chain of the oral tradition that connected the Frisians with their heathen past was broken, and Christianity, in the end, would win.
In 807, a war started between Charlemagne and the Danish king Godfried, who raided Friesland with a fleet of 200 ships, mocking the outpost's Frankish defenses. The Carolingian Empire started to fragment with the death of Charlemagne in 814. Afterwards, the Frisian lands were divided into 3 districts: West Frisia (the northern part of the modern province of Noord-Holland), Middle Frisia (the modern province of Fryslân and the northern part of the province of Groningen), and East Frisia (the German portion). Each district probably had their own Count (feudal tenants whose main duties were to maintain the rule of law and to organize the conscripts for the Frankish armies) to represent the Frankish Emperor. After the death of the Frankish emperor Lewis the Pious in 840, the Carolingian defensive forces protecting Friesland collapsed. Consequently, the Frisians frequently lived under Danish rule and had to pay taxes to the Danish feudal lords. The Danes forced the weakened Carolingian Kings to give them Friesland as a feudal estate. In 885, the last Scandinavian ruler of Friesland, Godfried the Norwegian, was murdered. Thus, the Frisians evicted the foreigners from their territory. Smaller viking raids could continue for another couple of hundred years. In 843, the Treaty of Verdun divided the Carolingian Empire; by the end of the 9th century, the Frisian lands were divided between the kingdoms of the West Franks (Westrasia, which was still under Carolingian rule) and the East Franks (Austrasia, which was under Lotharingian rule). At first, all of Frisia belonged to the latter, but by 911, all of Frisia had come under the West Frankish dominion of Charles III.
Friesland soon became part of the “Heiliges Römisches Reich Deutscher Nation” (Holy Roman Empire of the German Nation), which emerged from the eastern part of the Frankish Empire. Executive power remained in the hands of feudal lords (Counts). Nevertheless, the districts of East Frisia continued to assert their independence, governing themselves in a very simple democratic fashion. Beginning circa 1000, an alliance called the “Opstalboom” (Opstalsboom, Upstallboom, Upstalesbame) gathered on a burial mound in East Friesland dating from the Bronze Age. There, representatives of the 7 Frisian “Zeelanden” (lands by the sea) gathered once a year to draw up rules of law. The alliance would also join forces if one of the 7 members was attacked. Meanwhile, the Counts of the House of Holland became the ruling elite in the lands along the North Sea, south of West Friesland. They were viewed as rivals in trade, not as allies, and they turned an acquisitive eye towards the farmlands of Friesland. A deep rift developed between the West Frisians and the County of Holland. In 1248, Count Willem II of Holland, having become king of Germany, restored the Frisians to his countship, but in 1254 they revolted, and he lost his life in the contest which ensued. After many struggles, West Friesland was eventually subdued (by Floris V — his son — and later Jan II) and henceforth virtually absorbed in the County of Holland, even though Middle Friesland had tried to aid their brothers. In 1345, Count Willem IV then tried to conquer Middle Friesland, but the approach of the aggressor united the Frisian factions (the Upstallboom played a role in this unification). As for the part of Frisia which lies east of the Lauwers, it found itself part of the East Frankish kingdom (Austrasia) once again.
By and large, in spite of all these happenings, the Frisians (shipbuilders, seafarers, bargemen, fishermen, dairy-farmers, cattle-raisers, sheep-breeders, and originators of the wonderful Frisian Horse) had retained a considerable degree of autonomy and were largely self-governing in these medieval times. The Frisian freemen had no king, no lords, and the people practiced democracy. Since there was no overruling authority, indigenous administrative organs developed everywhere. It was a period of booming prosperity, allowing agriculture and trade to flourish. Frisian cities joined the “Hanze” (West-European trade alliance). Unfortunately, the strong streak of individualism in Frisian society eventually led to the creation of factions, prompting tremendous internal divisions and pitting village against village. Friesland's darkest hour commenced in 1217, when the rule of Charlemagnian Counts in Middle Friesland ended. The Frisians gained political independence, but law and order in the communities was severely weakened. Petty lordships sprang into existence, and the people began to be split up into cliques which were continually engaged in feuds with one another. At the end of the 1300s, two opposing parties, the infamous Schieringen and Vetkopers, led Frisians into a civil war. The Frisians remained in an almost constant state of revolt because of a character trait - their intense individuality. Their personal freedom was seemingly more valuable than the freedom of the people as a whole. In the course of the 14th century, Friesland was in a state of anarchy.
When Holland passed to the house of Burgundy in 1433, Philip the Good laid claim to the whole of Friesland, yet the authority of the Burgundian dukes was not recognized by the independence-minded Frisians. They appealed to Frederick III, gaining the empire's protection circa 1457. But the Emperor's son, Maximilian, reversed his father's policy after marrying the heiress of Burgundy. Thus, the Frisian Freedom ended in 1498, when Emperor Maximilian I detached a large chunk of territory from the empire, known afterwards as the province of Friesland, and bestowed it as fief to Duke Albrecht of Saxony. Attempting to calm the chaos and to thoroughly end the catastrophic partisanship, he created a centralist authority and installed Saxon civil servants. Crushing all resistance, law and order returned to Middle Friesland; but culturally, it was impoverished. Having lost their freedom, the Frisians would also forfeit their mother tongue; the official language was now German. In 1515, his son restored Friesland to Maximilian. In 1523, it was grouped with all the rest of the provinces of the Netherlands under the strong rule of the emperor Charles V, the grandson of Maximilian and Mary of Burgundy.
In 1579, Friesland was one of the seven provinces which by the treaty known as the Union of Utrecht joined together to resist the tyranny of the Spanish Hapsburgs. Although remaining part of the Republic of the Seven United Netherlands (formed in 1581, after the war ended), these Frisians insisted on its sovereign rights, especially against the encroachments of the predominant province of Holland. The Frisians did not consent to the stadholdership of the House of Orange, and they continued to appoint their own stadholders (“place-holder”, viceroy, governor) until finally, in 1748, William of Nassau-Siegen, stadholder of Friesland, became the sole hereditary stadholder (chief magistrate) of all the United Provinces (his grandson, William I, became King of the Netherlands in 1815). Prussia took possession of East Frisia in 1744 and it is now part of Germany. Fryslân became a province of the Netherlands when it became a monarchy in 1814. Dutch government and civil servants were installed and from then onwards, the fortunes of Friesland have been intertwined with those of the present-day Netherlands. Nevertheless, the Frisian people have kept their stubborn love of individuality and their keen sense of freedom, all the while preserving a recognizably independent culture which remains the keystone of their Frisianity. Today, they do not experience ethnic discrimination in the Netherlands or Germany by the respective majorities; they are not denied any rights other citizens enjoy. However, since the early 20th century, Frisian discomfort against a supposed Dutch or German influence grew steadily, leading to a strong Frisian movement that has gained much steam. In 1925, the first supraregional Congress of Frisians was held; in 1930, the Frisian Council, with delegates from the three regions, was formed. In 1938, the Fryske Akademy, a scientific center for research and education, was founded in the provincial capital of Leeuwarden. By the late 1990s, after years of legislative negotiation between the central government and the provincial council, Frisian became a fully accepted language.
I learned, from Mr. Chaim Dov Shiboleth, that a handful of coins have been issued in the name of Friesland. First, there is a simple 1982 1 Daalder made of silver; it is “a private issue by Lykele Jansma (and minted in Schoonhoven) reading ‘leaver dea as slaaf’ = ‘rather dead than a slave’, relating to the 1435 battle at Warns, where Friesland kept its autonomy.” It also features the “plompeblad” leaf, which is the predominant Frisian symbol. Secondly, there is a well-made, 4-coin set from 1983, all silver-plated. The obverse of each token shows a dagger, and their reverse shows the “plompeblad” and the skûtsje (a Frisian type of sailing boat). “Both sides have the local saying ‘Buter, brea en griene tsiis’, literally ‘Butter, Bread and Green Cheese’ (short for ‘Buter, brea en griene tsiis, hwa't dat net sizze kin is gjin oprjuchte Fries’ translated: Anyone who can't say ‘butter, bread and green cheese’ is not a real Frisian. This sentence was used by ‘Grote Pier’, a 16th century Frisian freedom-fighter and rebel king, the same way the word ‘Shibbolet’ was used in the Bible by Gideon, to differentiate between friend and foe)...This set had an extra token added that was meant as a mint-medal or to be used as jewelry, showing your colours for ‘the cause’, and three beautiful banknotes that could be used as vouchers at a local restaurant.” The bonus medal bears no denomination. It is likely that these pieces were also designed by Mr. Jansma and that they were minted at “the now defunct ‘Frisian Mint’ (Fryske Muntsentrale)”. I purchased the '82 piece, the '83 ½ Daalder and 2½ Daalder, and the '83 medalet from Mr. Peter Geelen.
Mr. Shiboleth believes that these Fryslân pieces may have been minted for purposes of promoting secession. For one, their “symbolism is undoubtedly autonomist: the slogans of the 1982 and 1983 coins both relate directly to Frisian nationalism.” The second reason has to do with information he received a few years ago from a retired coin-seller in the Hague; the gentleman told him that “the coins were made in the '80's at a period when the autonomy status of Friesland and the Frisian language was an issue in the Netherlands.”
I learned a little more from Mr. Marten van der Veen, a Fraksjefoarsitter (Political Leader) for the Fryske Nasjonale Partij in the Achtkarspelen municipality (village of Twizelerheide) — the Frisian National Party is a moderate nationalistic group, which was founded in 1962 as a result of the “Fryske beweging”, a movement of people who advocated the importance of Friesian language, sports, and culture; the FNP is also described as more of a linguistic defense organization; though striving for its protection and for greater recognition, they are currently uninterested in independence or even substantial autonomy. Mr. van der Veen remarked that the initial Friesland token “was a little business from a book publisher” whose name indeed was Lykele Jansma and who lived in the Fryslân village of Stynsgea. Apart from its being a commercial venture, he minted the coin for idealistic reasons. Though Mr. Jansma passed away some years ago, “I did know Lykele very well and helped him sometimes with the actions. Also in 1981/82 we published Frisian poststamps.”
There is also a set of 6 coins, each one bearing a Kroan/Kroanen denomination of its own, minted in 1985 by the Royal Dutch Mint, per order of the Fryske Muntsentrale. These were “made for the ‘1st Small Nations Olympic Games’ for cultural and language minorities which were held in Friesland that year for the first time.” Mr. Shiboleth indicates that 5 of these tokens, made of brass and copper-nickel, could have been used during the event itself. This is probably not the case with the 6th piece, which is made of silver; an additional 7th piece, made of gold, purportedly also exists. “These coins all show the national symbols of the oakleaf and ‘plompeblad’.” On their reverse is the phrase “Eala Frya Fresena”, which means “Hail Free Frisians” or “Get Up, Free Frisian”; this is a traditional regional salute, to which the greeted person would respond “lever dod as slaav” (which is the Low Saxon version of the previously mentioned phrase belonging to the '82 piece). These exclamations, which served to reverse the feudal kneel-down procedure, were once spoken at the Upstalsboom, a place at Rahe (near Aurich) where the elected Frisian representatives of the many districts met once a year each spring. This historic site was the old Frisian Thingstead; a “place of the folk” where a “Thing” — a public assembly — was held, like the Althing of Iceland and the Gulathing of Norway. I purchased the 6-coin set from V.O.F. Kienhorst/W.S.G. van de Pol (Kienhorst Breda).
In 1985 and 1986, the Fryske Muntsentrale also issued silver commemoratives for the “Elfstedentocht” (Eleven Cities Tour), a cross-country skating event held in Friesland. I obtained the '86 1 Fryske Sulveren Rider from Mr. Shiboleth.
Images of the Frisian coins can be viewed at the site of Mr. Shiboleth's private collection:
http://www.taedivm.org/coin-fryslan.html
Additional images can be viewed at the site of Mr. Geelen’s private collection:
http://www.jezuss.nl/friesland.htm
With this in mind, we can backtrack just a bit in order to resume our chronology. The period of Aquileian hegemony lasted until 1420, when the feudal principality was conquered by the powerful Venetians. Thus, the Patrie dal Friûl was incorporated entirely within the Serenissima Repubblica di Venezia. After nearly 4 centuries of Venetian dominance, the name Friuli lost its political connotation. Pordenone, which until then had constituted a sort of separate entity (a “corpus separatum”) under the Austrian influence, became part of the government of Venice in 1515. In 1500, after the counts of Gorizia became extinct, the eastern county (including Trieste) became a province of the Austrian Empire (attempts by Venice to acquire it from the Hapsburgs were unsuccessful). The western segment (including the actual capital Udine) remained a Venetian district until the Treaty of Campo Formio (1797) made all of Friuli Austrian. Though there was a brief period of Napoleonic occupation (1805-1814), the treaties of Paris (1814, 1815) once again transferred control of Friuli to Austria. All the integral localities pertaining to Friuli would remain Austrian until 1865. In 1866, as a fortunate outcome of the Austro-Prussian War, Austria ceded W. Friuli (the aforementioned Venetian section) to Italy; it was then incorporated into the Kingdom together with the region Venezia. At the turn of the century, deliberations favoring cultural/social progress in Friuli continued, almost like the formation of a national conscience, both among the Italians and the Slavs. Clashes between the two sides became somewhat destructive. One of the principal objectives of Victor Emmanuel III in participating in World War I was to reunite E. Friuli (including much of what is now Slovenia and Croatia) with Italy. Friuli became a battlefield; the region, which was a main theater of military operations and was on the frontline of the bloody conflict, bore the brunt of the fighting for three years. During that time, Friuli experienced an exodus of much of its population. By 1918, the Italians had indeed retaken the province of Gorizia; after the war ended and the Austro-Hungarian monarchy was dissolved and its territory dismembered, the Treaty of Saint-Germain (1919) awarded the rest of E. Friuli (Istria and the province of Trieste) to the Kingdom of Italy. These integral localities formed what would soon become (circa 1935) the province of Venezia Giulia (the name, invented by Graziado Isaia Ascoli, had actually existed since 1863), where Italians lived mostly in the main cities and along the coast, while Slavs inhabited the hinterland. Even after the peace treaty was agreed upon, social tension persisted in the countryside, accompanied by violent political debate. The situation in Friuli was at the heart of Italian affairs. Nationalist persecutions caused the emigration of thousands of Slovenians and Croatians. But after much heated diplomatic wrangling, a large number of Slavs were brought within the new borders. With them, as a result of the nationalistic claims of Yugoslavia on Italian cities, there arrived a strong sense of irredentismo. After the passing of World War II and of Italy's fascist leadership, the critical question of boundaries emerged once again, sharpened by the familiar east-west dispute (even today, these artificial divisions still illustrate the “two geopolitical cores of the region”: the Aquileian/Venetian moiety and the Hapsburg/Slavic moiety; the common Roman roots being the only unifying element between them). In 1947, the porous borders were redrawn again. The Treaty of Paris awarded most of Venezia Giulia (E. Friuli) to Yugoslavia; the actual town of Gorizia/Gorica was split in half. The compact also founded the so-called Free Territory of Trieste, which was partitioned into Zone A (under Anglo-American administration) and Zone B (controlled by Yugoslav army). On account of Yugoslavia's harsh communist regime, almost all the ethnic Italians were displaced from the redefined region; when the last wave of this new exodus was completed, the Istrian Peninsula had lost about half of its population. In '47, the name Friuli (now an incomplete patchwork, compared to the vaster, historic homeland) was officially revived, when the actual region of Friuli-Venezia Giulia was formed by the merger of Udine province (circa 1923, its name was actually changed — for a couple of decades at least — to the province of Friuli) with the small portion of Venetia Giulia (called Gorizia province) which had not been annexed by Yugoslavia. In 1954, a key arrangement was reached between Italy and Yugoslavia, whereby territorial concessions were made by both of the rivals, who for decades had shared dominion over the highly contested region. Known as the London Memorandum; it assigned the northern half (Zone A) of the Free Territory of Trieste to Italy, including the strategic city of Trieste (the 1975 Osimo Agreement finally closed this contentious issue, favoring the establishment of cordial and constructive relations between the two countries at both an economic and cultural level). This event finally created conditions favorable enough for Friuli-Venezia Giulia to be designated as an autonomous region in 1963. The province of Pordenone, was formed in 1968 and added to the region.
Once unified, the Kingdom of Italy was composed of many different groups which had not been united since Roman times. One of its goals was to homogenize Italians so that they would all speak only one language and would form one people. They Italianized all of the Friulan names of towns, rivers and mountains. This posed a problem for the people of Friuli, who speak Friulian — a Romance language too distinct from Italian to be considered the same language. Friulian (widely referred to as eastern Ladin), Ladin, and Romansh (or Romansch) are Rhaeto-Romanic tongues. The Rhaetian language, which once spread from the Swiss Alps to the Adriatic, has survived against all obstacles and is now spoken in small enclaves (the canton of Grisons, in the valleys of the Dolomite mountains, and Friuli). At the end of the XIX century, the Friulian language was mainly spoken in rural areas, while in the towns it was more common to speak Venetian dialects. The Friulian language experienced a high point in its sense of linguistic identity in the 1950s, and the rise of Friulian regionalism (friulanità) was a product of the post-war period. This popular ethno-nationalism was, however, mostly a cultural movement as opposed to a political one. Currently, there seems to be a downward trend in the use of Friulian within families; though the language still enjoys considerable support, it has been handed down less and less since the 1960s; on the other hand, there is a recent interest in Friulian even among the youth, and this is a promising sign which might change the situation and further ensure its survival. There are now 3 dialects of Friulian: the conservative northern variety, the most commonly used central-eastern variety, and the more Italianized and innovative western variety. According to UNESCO, it is an endangered language; it is sometimes difficult to ascertain if a person speaks Friulian or Friulian-flavored Italian. Fortunately, all of the striving towards an administrative unification of the Friulian-speaking areas did lead to the emergence of cultural associations/organizations such as the Società Filologica Friulana (1919), Int Furlan, and the Scuole Libere Furlane, all dedicated to the preservation and promotion/diffusion of the language, customs, and traditions of the Furlan-speaking minority. A few political groups/parties were also established, such as l'Associazion pe Autonomie Furlane (1945), Moviment Popolâr Furlan pe Autonomie Regjonâl (1947), Moviment Autonomist Furlan (1961?), Moviment Friûl (1966), and Fuarce Friûl. Even after Friuli-Venezia Giulia was given limited self-governance, these entities continued aiming towards the creation of a separate region (not independent) for Friuli itself, so that their homeland would no longer be forcibly appended to the overbearing shadow of Venezia Giulia. To this end, the Friulian-speaking community has used all the means at its disposal to achieve administrative autonomy or at least to obtain unofficial recognition of Friulian from the government, and the regional authorities have indeed issued a number of regulations on the protection and use of Friulian language and culture (covering the education system, studies and research, publishing, theatre, placenames, folklore, and its usage in the mass media). After long discussions, a unified Friulian orthography was even chosen. Unlike most of the independence movements in northern Italy, the Friulian political groups have resisted (mostly on linguistic grounds) being drawn into the Lega Nord party, which has aspired to create a new country — Padania (see my separate listing for this coin-issuing entity). To some extent, Friuli keeps stronger ties with Austria and other regions of Mitteleuropa (Central Europe) than to those within Italy. Signs of Austrian and Slavic influence can be observed in the lifestyle, customs, cuisine, and architecture of the natives. In light of this lively diversity, the Friulians' un-Italian identity is part of the reason for the special autonomous status of the region. Friuli would like to divorce itself even further from the regional government, which has its seat in the city of Trieste.
The resultant mindset, in a nutshell, has been kindly explained to me by Mr. Robert Pontisso: “Furlans have always had a very strong sense of identity, and have always been quick to point out that Friulian is a language, not a dialect; but while it's true that the desire for greater autonomy has always been strong in the region (and yes, this does predate the whole Padanian movement by decades), I don't think there has ever been a real separatist movement to speak of. Friulians' sense of identity may in part be a product of their history within Italy: when most of Friuli became part of Italy in the 19th century, a big chunk of it remained part of Austria-Hungary; when that part was united with the rest after WWI, Friuli didn't constitute a Region unto itself (it was just part of Venetia). The post-WW2 years did see the creation of the Region of Friuli-Venezia Giulia, and this region was one of five (of Italy's twenty) classified as autonomous and given some devolved powers, but the fact that Friulians have to share a hyphenated region with Venezia Giulia (the Venetian areas around Trieste), still rankles some (not to mention the fact that the regional capital is Trieste), and there are calls in some quarters for more of a split between Trieste and Friuli. So while I wouldn't say there's a separatist movement or calls for real independence in Friuli, a desire for greater autonomy does exist. How strong or widespread this desire is is more difficult for me to say...” To this day, April 3rd is a regional holiday, celebrated by many as the anniversary of the date in 1077 when Friuli was granted independence. La Patrie dal Friûl is also the name of their main monthly magazine (founded in 1946 by Giuseppe Marchetti and Felix Marchi), and its masthead even uses that auspicious date in its chronology: the March 2004 issue says “926 years”, while the April issue says “927 years”.
Numismatically, the first two coins produced for the Patrie dal Friûl are dated 1977: a 100 Furlans piece — I found one on eBay — and a 200 Furlans piece — I obtained one from Mr. Oded Paz, who is the founder of the Unrecognised States Numismatic Society (http://groups.yahoo.com/group/UnrecognisedStatesNumismaticSociety/ and http://www.usns.info/). According to Mr. Pontisso, the 100 Furlans piece was struck not only to mark Friuli's 900th birthday, but also in remembrance of the May 1976 earthquake (its epicenter was north of Udine) which devastated the region, resulting in over 1,000 fatalities. The inscription, “Un Modon Par Omp e ó Tornarin a Plomp”/“One brick each and we'll get ourselves back up” (more literally, “One brick per man and we'll be plumb again”), was meant to encourage a spirit of rebuilding and communal solidarity in the face of disaster. He initially assumed, and plausibly so, that its denomination “was meant to symbolize the work of 100 Friulians” in the reconstruction effort. The obverse shows what's presumably a Longobard/Lombard man. On the reverse there is an 11th-century bishop's chair from Cividale del Friuli, which became the first capital and cultural center of the Longobardic dukedom (in 568) as well as the capital of the patriarchal state of Friuli (in 1077). The 200 Furlans piece bears the exact same inscriptions as the earlier coin. In addition, the word “Vencǒn” — accompanied by the depiction of a man wrestling a beast — appears on its obverse: Vençon (this is the correct spelling) is the name of a comune (municipality) in the Province of Udine that was particularly hard-hit by the catastrophe, so perhaps the image may be the town's symbol. The reverse presumably depicts Emperor Henry IV and Patriarch Sigeardo of Aquileia. A great source of information about these coins was Mr. Walter Giuliani (also a member of the USNS). He stated that the leader of the Friuli separatist party was a friend of Mr. Guerrino Mattia Monassi, the Manager and “the boss-engraving” of the Italian State Mint (Istituto Poligrafico e Zecca Dello Stato), and he asked the Mint to issue these coins “to keep money for earthquake victims”. Monassi’s name — he was their engraver — appears on both pieces.
Friuli also has another series of privately-minted pieces: a 100 Furlans (dated 983-1983), a 200 Furlans (dated 981-1981), a 500 Furlans (dated 983-1983), and a 1,000 Furlans (dated 983-1983). The ones dated 983-1983 seemingly commemorate themes pertaining to Udine, the historical capital of Friuli (the Patriarchs of Aquileia — remember, they were main the feudal lords of the region — made it the seat of the Patriarchate in 1238; another source states that in 1222/23, with the foundation of its market, the flourishing and populous city became finally the most important in the area for economy and trades, and it also became Friuli’s capital; the change of residence from Cividale del Friuli to Udine was the origin of a longstanding antagonism that existed between the two locales). This is especially evidenced by the 1,000 Furlans piece, which marks the 1000th anniversary of the first known mention of this city: this earliest reference is from a document in which the Emperor Otto II grants the Utinum (Udine) castle (together with those of Buga, Fuganea, Groang and Braitan) to Patriarch Rodoald of Aquileia. The text on its obverse reads “Par Ricuarda 1 Mil Agns di Udin”/“To remember 1 thousand years of Udine”; landmarks of that city — the main square and castle — are depicted in the center; the images on the reverse are that of “Oton II” (Otto II) and “Rodoalt” (Rodoald). As for the other 3 coins, the obverse of the 500 Furlans piece shows the type of headdress worn by a Patriarch; on the reverse, there is a “Representation of the first mention of Udine in a historical document, in which the Emperor grants the city and the surrounding castles of Buga, Groang, Braitan, and Phagagna to the Patriarch of Aquileia.” On the obverse of the 100 Furlans piece, “The figures ‘Ermacure e Furtunat’ are Saints Hermagoras and Fortunatus. Hermagoras is the earliest known bishop of Aquileia, Fortunatus his deacon”; the reverse depicts a broad view of the capital city, Udine. As for the 200 Furlans piece, it commemorates the millennium of the town of Maniago (in spite of being the only one from the quartet that is not dated 983-1983, it seems evident that this piece was minted in conjunction with the other three); its obverse shows a “View of the town of Maniago (presumably)”; the text on the reverse reads “Par Ricuarda 1 Mil Agns di Manià”. I am grateful to Mr. Pontisso for his assistance in deciphering the wording/imagery on all 4 coins.
According to Mr. Giuliani, the Friulian coins were “made by teachers of the museum of the medal” in Buja (native land — a villa in Friuli — of many master medalists). This museum also has a “school for medals,” and they do work for the abovementioned Mint. Some of these coins — and some currency as well — were used for a short while in Friuli; one Furlan was equal in value to one Lira.
Images of the Friuli coins can be viewed at the Web-site of Mr. Haseeb Naz (http://chiefacoins.com/Database/Micro-Nations/Friuli-Homeland.htm) and at the Web-site of Mr. Peter Geelen (http://www.jezuss.nl/friuli.htm).Return to the Main Index