New Territories

Official flag of New Territories, in use since 1966.

New Territories, officially the Republic of the New Territories of Greater Minecraftia, is an independent nation located in the North and Western Hemispheres. As a former United States colony, it shares some cultural and economic ties with its former colonizer. The country is largely extremely remote, with some development occurring in an approximate triangle surrounding the Great Lake. The country's largest city is Ashwood, followed second by Sterry.

History

Pre-Colonization

Indigenous tribes were scattered throughout New Territories for millennia having arrived via the Bering Land Bridge. This included a branch of the Apache tribe and the DeHatten Tribe. Today, both tribes can largely be found throughout the undeveloped parts of the country though are rapidly being exterminated by the New Territories Indian Removal Authority in many regions. An Indian Reservation has been established in the southeastern portion of the country for some Apache villages served by the Bridgewater, Iron, and Red Mesa Railroad.

United States Colonization

The United States arrived in New Territories in 1873 when General Ulysses B. Grant ordered a military expedition into the country. The DeHatten Tribe fiercely attacked the unsuspecting soldiers, many of who died. The expedition retreated until more troops arrived, at which point they captured the leader of the Dehatten Tribe, known locally as Hat. The colony of Pine Island was established just offshore from the North Slope Region of the country as a fort. This fort would later be dismantled. The colony of Ashwood was also established in the more temperate west-central region of the country.

As the colony became more populated, some levels of self-governance were allowed. An acting chancellor was elected; Samuel Wendover was the first. The country was largely free to pass local laws of its own, but US law superseded in many cases.

The Cold War

The Cold War brought large US Military presence to New Territories due to its relative proximity to Russia. Before the war, New Territories and Russia exhibited a fairly friendly relationship, with some Russian citizens moving there. They were, however, forced out by the US Military, beginning a rapid degradation of the relationship between New Territories and the Mainland US. A large military base was established on the south end of Ashwood, though this has largely been dismantled and turned into an expand Ashwood Airport and the New Territories CoalPort.

The New Territories Rebellion

During the Cold War, the United States decided to repeal some of New Territories' laws. The age of majority had been uniquely set at 16 (though high-school education was still compulsory), as well as a drinking age of 18 and voting age of 16. The US tried to raise these ages to 18, 19, and 21 respectively, meaning several thousand adults were suddenly legal minors. The US also enacted a series of sodomy laws and a ban on interracial marriage in 1964, neither of which New Territories had not established.

These sudden changes to New Territories society outraged the public. Chancellor Daisy "Maynard" Lemieux never publicly spoke out against the laws in order to not further degrade US relations. She did condemn it in private, however, and began planning a rebellion against the United States along with many other government and non-government citizens.

On August 26th, 1965, Daisy and others arranged for seven railroad hopper cars to be filled with ammonium nitrate with a time bomb planted in one of them. These cars were mixed into an Ashwood Southeastern Railroad train which would deliver general freight to the US Military Base from the rail barge docks at Pine Island. At 16:46:23 on August 27th, 1965, the bomb exploded on the docks of the base, exploding all seven hoppers. The hoppers were strategically parked next to a silo also full of ammonium nitrate, which also exploded. The entire military base was obliterated, and thousands of soldiers were killed instantly while many others were wounded.

Once an investigation revealed the incident to be an attack, the few surviving military forces on the island were dispatched to capture the NT government offices. All government officials had fled into a secret wilderness camp, while many people began sniping US soldiers from behind trees or from atop buildings. 343 other soldiers were killed during the rebellion, while over 200 New Territories citizens were also killed. Other attacks with explosives had crippled the military communication network, meaning a response was incredibly disorganized. Tanks were blown up with Molotov Cocktails and DIY land mines were placed on streets covered by fake manholes. Street signs were all removed so soldiers could not find their way around.

Before long, the USSR caught wind of the mistreatment of New Territories and threatened to push the nuclear button if the US did not cease operations there. Under duress from the Soviets and tired of loosing men and equipment in New Territories, the US began brokering an independence deal with New Territories which took effect January 1st, 1966. Daisy Lemieux was hailed a hero of New Territories and continued to serve as chancellor for a second term until 1972. She is forever immortalized today and the day of her passing, July 14th, 2018, was marked by great mourning.