Huadao: Difference between revisions

'''Huadao''' is an island in the [[Trade Islands]] area that is part of [[Urcea]]. Prior to the 19th century, Huadao was inhabited on an inconsistent basis, and it was claimed by [[Daxia]]. The island was rich in {{wp|guano}} deposits. Following Urcea's acquisition of [[Rapa Rapa]], it was able to project naval power into the [[Ocean of Cathay]], and the guano-rich island became a possible target for expansion. Urcea took the island from Daxia in the [[Guano War]] and began mining operations while also colonizing the island. In the early 20th century, most of the accumulated guano was depleted, but the island remained economically viable due to trade with Alshar and other parts of the Trade Islands, as well as its importance as a {{wp|coaling station}}. Huadao in the 21st century is primarily inhabited by people of Levantine descent or by Audonian mainlanders. In addition to the civilian settlement, the island remains a [[Royal Navy (Urcea)|Royal Navy]] base.

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. A new source of income for the local residents was also in the customs station, constructed in [[1915]]. The customs station on the island was built in order to allow Audonian goods to arrive relatively cheaply and easily from the Audonian mainland, and then exist within Urcea's customs system for the remainder of its journey to [[Levantia]]. The two stations remained the largest employer on the island between the end of guano mining and the Second Great War.