Huadao: Difference between revisions

In May 1865, the first civilian contractors arrived on the island to setup a rudimentary {{wp|guano}} mining operation. Given the distance to [[Levantia]], it was envisioned most of the guano would be sold at a profit to countries in mainland [[Audonia]]. As part of the initial construction, a small naval dock was built and the island's first coaling station was completed in June 1865, with coal supply ships first arriving the next month. Over the course of 1865 and 1866, most attention focused on improving both the port and mining infrastructure, with living quarters being a secondary concern. Most of the first workers - at this stage still [[Guilds (Urcea)|guilded professionals]] - lived either in shacks directly near their mine or aboard ships stationed in the dock. The [[Royal Navy (Urcea)|Royal Navy]] brought in several {{wp|barracks ship}}s both for its own personnel as well as the civilian workforce. Only in January [[1867]] was the first freestanding navy barracks constructed on the island, after which time economic activity and growth accelerated to meet the needs of the more permanent human presence.

By the [[1870]]s, Huadao was profitable. The initial mining presence - the Royal Overseas Fertilizer Company - was joined by two other competing companies, and the decade saw a dramatic increase of mining operations combined with an influx of new workers. Between [[1870]] and [[1895]], about a thousand mainland Audonians were brought to work on the island for six month terms, often in very poor working conditions. They were joined throughout the period by a mixed group of Levantines and Sarpics, including prisoners from [[Urcea]], [[Derian identity|Derian]] political refugees from [[Burgundie]], ambitious [[Isurian]]s, and a large number of other people, though predominantly ethnically Urcean. During the late 1890s, the island reached its peak guano productivity, shipping large amounts of product to both Audonia and [[Vallos]]. The economic boomtime was not to last, however, as the [['97 Rising]] and [[First Great War]] greatly disrupted operations; the Rising created instability on the island and the Great War disrupted international trade. The Rector of Huadao, George Renzo, declared his neutrality in the '97 Rising for the first two years of the war. As profits declined and business on the island slowed, Renzo decided to take the unusual step of declaring Huadao's independence. Accordingly, Renzo ruled the Republic of Huadao as its President from June [[1899]] through February [[1900]]. In that year, a detachment of the [[Navy of Burgundie]] arrived and deposed Renzo. In his place, a [[House de Weluta|de Weluta]]-aligned Rector was appointed. The Burgoignesc Navy assisted the new Rector in restoring business operations and improving the security of trade, and on 13 February 1900 he temporarily nationalized the guano mines. For the remainder of the Rising and First Great War, the guano profits of Huadao were divided between [[Burgundie]] and the de Weluta legitimist cause. The Rector remained in place after the Rising and restored private ownership of the mines. The mines continued to operate at peak efficiency until around [[1912]], when deposits began to dry up. From that time until the early [[1930]]s, the island sank into gradual irrelevance, though the Royal Navy base continued to function against a backdrop of an increasingly depopulated island. A civilian population did remain, however, primarily composed of ethnic Audonians with nowhere go to and various Occidental convicts sentenced to live on the island. In the 1920s, the people gradually transitioned from mine work to subsistence farming, fishing, and other low-level economic activities as well as working on the coaling station.