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Huadao: Difference between revisions
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Prior to the 19th century, Huadao never had a permanent human population. Various reports and archaeological evidence suggests the island was occasionally home to bands of fishermen or whalers who would use it as a temporary base of operations, and some records indicate [[Daxia]]n prisoners were occasionally exiled to the island, but beyond these limited instances the island was unpopulated on a permanent basis. The island was, however, home to large numbers of seabirds, and over the course of hundreds and thousands of years, Huadao became covered in accreted bird feces, creating a rich {{wp|guano}} deposit. | Prior to the 19th century, Huadao never had a permanent human population. Various reports and archaeological evidence suggests the island was occasionally home to bands of fishermen or whalers who would use it as a temporary base of operations, and some records indicate [[Daxia]]n prisoners were occasionally exiled to the island, but beyond these limited instances the island was unpopulated on a permanent basis. The island was, however, home to large numbers of seabirds, and over the course of hundreds and thousands of years, Huadao became covered in accreted bird feces, creating a rich {{wp|guano}} deposit. | ||
===Guano War=== | ===Guano War=== | ||
{{Main|Guano War}} | |||
In the late 1850s and 1860s, [[Urcea]] was undergoing a [[History_of_Urcea_(1798-1902)#Birth_of_a_global_navy|major naval expansion]] which included new bases in [[Arona]] and [[Rapa Rapa]], allowing it to project power into the [[Ocean of Cathay]]. Following Urcea's purchase of Rapa Rapa in 1861, it began to seek another island that could serve as a naval base or {{wp|coaling station}} to the west in the [[Trade Islands]] region. Huadao, sitting in the far southeastern corner of the Trade Islands region and unpopulated, appeared to be an ideal target, and the fact the island was rich in {{wp|guano}} (a key agricultural product) made it an even more appealing target. The [[Royal Navy (Urcea)|Royal Navy]] began to chart the region in early 1863. [[Daxia]] had claimed the islands for more than three centuries, and these first exploratory ships were fired on and driven off by the Daxian Navy, sparking the so-called Guano War. The "War" was comprised of two and a half years of naval skirmishing between the Daxian and Royal Navies in the Trade Islands region. The conflict, which was undeclared, eventually resolved in Urcea's favor as most Daxian squadrons had been driven out of the southeastern Trade Islands by February 1865. A small guano mining outpost and military dock were built on Huadao in May 1865, establishing Urcean control over the island. In October 1865, Urcea paid Daxia three million [[taler]]s as compensation for their claim to the island plus claimed damages against Daxian ships in the last two years, resolving the dispute and formally giving Urcea control over the island. | |||
===Mining operations and early colony=== | ===Mining operations and early colony=== | ||
===Second Great War=== | ===Second Great War=== | ||