Freedom of the seas

Freedom of the seas (Burg: mare liberum), is a principle in the international law and most recently written into statute as the League of Nations' Law of the Sea (LoNLoS). It stresses freedom to navigate the oceans. It also disapproves but does not ban, wars fought in water. The freedom is to be breached only in a necessary international agreement.

Freedom of the Seas, poster from the Great War era

This principle was first codified, internationally, following the Second Great War, by the Great Prince of Burgundie, who spoke of it thusly:

Absolute freedom of navigation upon the seas, outside territorial waters, alike in peace and in war, except as the seas may be closed in whole or in part by international action for the enforcement of international covenants.

Today, the concept of "freedom of the seas" can be found in the League of Nations' Law of the Sea (LoNLoS), which states: "the high seas are open to all sovereign states, whether coastal or land-locked". It gives a non-exhaustive list of freedoms including navigation, overflight, the laying of submarine cables, building artificial islands, fishing, and scientific research.

History

Between the end of the 15th century through the 17th century, various powers claimed sovereignty over parts of the sea. In 1609, Estian (Burgoignesc) jurist and philosopher Hugo Grotius wrote what is considered the foundation of international legal doctrine regarding the seas and oceans – Mare Liberum, a Latin title that translates to "freedom of the seas".

While it is generally assumed that Grotius first propounded the principle of freedom of the seas, countries in the south and eastern Levantine Ocean and the Ocean of Cathay already accepted the right of unobstructed navigation long before Grotius wrote his De Jure Praedae (On the Law of Spoils) in the year of 1604. Previously, in the 16th century, Cartidanian theologian Francisco de Vitoria postulated the idea of freedom of the seas in a more rudimentary fashion under the principles of jus gentium.

During the Second Great War, nations started to expand and claim many resources and water territories all over their surrounding coasts. There were four international treaties meticulously drafted in the late 1950s and onto the 1970s, but the issues were not resolved between nations until 1982 when the LoNLos was introduced.

The LoNLoS treaty is an agreement of rights and responsibilities of nations and their use of the world's ocean with guidelines of trade, environment, and the management of marine and open seas resources. LoNLoS replaced the four international treaties drafted in the late 1950s through 1970s.

Commerce raiding

Throughout the 18th and 19th centuries commerce raiding became an increasingly effective way for smaller and developing navies to compete with the established Kiro/Levanto-centric balance of power. As illustrated in the Kiro-Burgoignesc Wars, the Red Interregnum, and through to the early stages of the Second Great War, commerce was vital to the conduct of asymmetric maritime warfare.

Issues

Sudmoll

Main article: Sudmoll Island Conflicts

Songun straits

Freedom of the seas in the Songun straits has long been an issue at the heart of Arcerion national security policy, and also the cornerstone of its relationship with Burgundie.

Both sides of the strait being colonially controlled by Kiravia (The Cape) and Caphiria (Etzil) has made the area an area of focus and contention for Levantine powers. It is the site of a number of conflicts during the Kiro-Burgoignesc Wars and the Second Great War. Its violent history is one of the primary reasons that Burgundie proposed the Freedom of the Seas to be codified into international law.

In more modern times, Southern Levantine powers have invested heavily in Etzill to try to curry favor with them in light of the consistent political instability and mercurial swings in policy toward globalism and international trade.

Dating back to the 1980s Arcerion and Burgundie have conducted joint Freedom of Navigation Operations (FONOPs) in the Songun straits.

La Garrote

Many nations in Audonia and their trade partners have criticized Burgundie for being hypocritical in its touting of the freedom of the seas doctrine while it maintains the colonial islands of Antilles, Isle des Coulettes, Salarive, and Chaukhira, collectively called la garrotte Ularien or simply La Garrote , because they control the entrances to the Bay of Khandahar and the Aab-e-Farus. Burgundie states tha this is a by-product of xenophobic, Burgophobic, and anti-Levantine sentiment and that Burgundie has not leveled tariffs nor restricted the movement of ships maritime cargos unless there was a suspicion of a violation of international law.