From 1863 to 1943, a large part of the Chinese metropolis of Shanghai was an international free city. Nineteen nations had joined forces to administer a cosmopolitan, autonomous city-state. In the wake of World War I, Germany and Austria-Hungary were excluded from this unique political arrangement. The section of the coat of arms and flag symbolizing Germany was removed, leaving a blank white space in its place. Austria’s emblem, however, was not removed from the coat of arms

Many Citizens and Friends of Duckionary have an academic background. The Archduke of Duckionary himself is a civis academicus. The founding of the Akademische Turnverbindung Duckonia Panagua was therefore a logical and consistent step. Student fraternities are (almost) as old as the very concept of the university itself. However, it was not until the late 18th and the first half of the 19th century that student fraternities evolved into their modern forms. With the Parliament

August 2026 marked the end of the 14-year existence of an autonomous region that had garnered significant international attention for its social experiment and its vital contribution to the Global War on Terrorism: the Democratic Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria. What made the Democratic Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria, better known as Rojava, so unique? Women's full emancipation; direct-democratic structures based on a council system that a

The Hanseatic League is often depicted as an early version of the European Union. There is some truth in this. Both the EU and the Hanseatic League stand for ideas like Free Trade, Representative Democracy and an open-minded European spirit that goes beyond national identity. That's all true. But one has to remind that the Hanseatic League was an Alliance of more or less self-governing autonomous city-states, while modern Europe is mostly shaped by large nation-states. In thi

We are living in polarized times. Even in countries with centuries-old democratic traditions, a civilized, respectful, peaceful and constructive dialogue is becoming more and more the rare exception than the norm. Many people, when the hear about the other side of the political spectrum, get in an almost psychotical condition. Blood pressure goes up, heart beats like a steam hammer, facial expression shifts into an angry, pinched grimace and the voice becomes aggressive. Frie

The Argentine Republic is a free country. It holds free and fair elections. Moreover, during the crisis of December 2001, the Argentine people demonstrated their ability to successfully organize themselves at the grassroots level. It is all the more astonishing, then, that Argentina effectively has the same president time and again-regardless of ideological shifts or election results. And this despite the fact that the president in question has been dead for over forty years.

The registered Austrian political party Minority List of Austria – Danube Federation has submitted an application to the Secretariat and the Bureau of the Unrepresented Nations and Peoples' Organization (UNPO). The aim of this application is to be admitted to the UNPO as a Peoples' Friend. The Peoples' Friend membership category is roughly equivalent to the status of an Observer Member. In the long term, the Minority List of Austria – Danube Federation also aspires to full me

The Free City of Panagua, our proto-state and capital city of the Parliamentary Monarchy of Duckionary, will be as free as possible from the plague of buerocracy. Bureaucracy is inefficient, inflexible, oppressive, expensive and it fosters corruption. We don't need anything like that. Neither in the public nor in the private sector. In Panagua, every citizen should have the opportunity to develop freely and contribute positively to the social and economic development of the s

Cairo, February 1947: Many deposed European royals from Italy, Bulgaria and Albania enjoyed the hospitality of Princess Shivakiar. Another illustrous guest arrived in Cairo on a travel passport of the Principality of Monaco to join the royal circle: Otto Habsburg-Lothringen, the former Crown Prince of the Austro-Hungarian Monarchy. The royals had a good time in the palace. Enjoying good talks, good food and drinks in an enchanting ‘‘One Thousand and One Nights‘‘ ambience. At

Yugoslavia was a great dream. The dream of a nation where many different people live together in brotherhood und unity. The dream of a nation where the workers are at the same time entrepreneurs. The dream of a nation where the people can manage their affairs for themselves, where every voice is heard and even the state itself in the end becomes obsolete. An utopian land of liberty and solidarity. A vision intended to bring peace, prosperity, and unity to the Balkans, that co

Following the successful MES in Romkerhall last year, it was once again time for a summit in the Czechia. The Moravian capital, Brno, had already been selected as the host city for the event in the first half of 2025, with the Old Town Hall, built in 1240 and featuring the famous Brno Dragon, designated as the venue. In 2022, five micronations were present in Chyše, and in 2026, we reached a record of 22 participating micronations The event began on 14 August 2026 with mornin

The Government of the Parliamentary Monarchy of Duckionary is glad and proud to announce that the Republic of Užupis, represented by the Minister of Foreign Affairs Mr. Tomas Čepaitis, signed a treaty at Brno, Czech Republic, to join the Duckonian Union as an Associate Member. The physical territory of the Republic of Užupis consist of the well-known Užupis district in the Lithuanian capital city of Vilnius and also of a claim in Antarctica. This historic event opens up a new

There is a republic in Europe whose existence might be unknown to most people. It's the Catalan Republic. On November 9, 2015, the Parliament of Catalonia passed the Declaration of the Initiation of the Process of Independence of Catalonia by an absolute majority of 72 votes to 63. On January 12, 2016, Carles Puigdemont, a particularly determined advocate of Catalan independence, was elected President of the Government of Catalonia by the Parliament of Catalonia. On September

For some professional micronations, achieving the leap to the status of a proto-state, as an indispensable step toward autonomy or even independence, is a dream, a goal, and a deep aspiration. Yet there is a paradox. For instance, the Principality of Seborga and the Republic of Užupis, despite possessing actual territory, a population, and public support, and even being able to shape their communities to a certain extent, are generally regarded as micronations, whereas many t

When the micronation Romanov Empire nearly made a deal with The Gambia in 2017, one that would have allowed it to establish itself there as an autonomous floating city-state, the agreement ultimately fell through. The Gambian government finally took the position that the Romanov Empire, as a diplomatically unrecognized micronation, was not a genuine state and therefore lacked the capacity to enter into international treaties. That was a great shame. That sort of thing can no

Do you remember the spring of 2017? A wave of hope spread from Paris across all of Europe. Emmanuel Macron, the youngest French head of state since Napoleon Bonaparte, had transformed France’s political landscape in just a few months. With ‘‘La République En Marche!‘‘, he had built a mass movement from the grassroots up and pushed the major established parties to the sidelines. This was no ordinary election. It was a peaceful revolution: Secular, democratic, republican, socia

During the Golden Age of Piracy - specifically the 17th and early 18th centuries - European pirates established quasi-states in the Bahamas and on Madagascar that ventured into utopian social experiments. Pirates founding states was nothing unusual; one need only consider the Duchy of Normandy, established by Vikings (Scandinavian pirates). Yet, the two proto-states founded by pirates in the Bahamas and on the east coast of Madagascar were something entirely different. They w

1991 was a year that began full of hope and ended in disillusionment. It was a year when a better world could have become reality, yet instead laid the foundations for the broken world we inhabit today. In 1989-90, the peoples of Eastern Europe had finally cast off the yoke of post-Stalinism. The heads of state of the USA and the Soviet Union had officially brought the Cold War to an end. The great promise of 1991 was that the world would now find its way to fraternal unity a

There are some insects that are virtually indestructible. Cockroaches would even survive a nuclear war. Most insects, however, are not so resilient; quite the opposite. Their tiny bodies are far more sensitive to toxins and other adverse environmental factors than our own. Just as miners once took canaries along on their dangerous work, using the birds as an early warning system against oxygen deprivation and toxic gases, bees, bumblebees, butterflies, and the like can warn u

While the Archduke of Duckionary was traveling through the metropolis of London on highly sensitive and secret missions, his path also led him to what is arguably one of the most famous doors in the world. The golden number “10” underscores the importance of the location. Amid the current political turmoil in Great Britain, partly due to the latest change in prime minister, the PM’s afternoon tea with the Archduke of Duckionary had to be postponed until politically calmer tim