War of Edenic Centralisation

War of Edenic Centralisation
The flag of the Empyrean of the Moon, which declared war on the legally existent remaining states created by Horatio Eden.
Date 17 August 2022 Location Various Edenic territories Result Empyrean victory Territorial changes The nations of Whestcorea, Amissopia, Arura Novale and Edenia agree to formally dissolve and accept Empyrean legal jurisdiction
Belligerents
Empyrean of the Moon	Former Edenic holdings: Imperial Union of Edenia Edenic Protectorate of Arura Novale Amissopian Federation Federal Republic of Whestcorea
Commanders and leaders
President Horatio Eden	Horatio Eden (various titles)

The War of Edenic Centralisation was a [[w:Legal_fiction legal fiction] masquerading as a civil conflict, started on 17 August 2022. It was created by President of the Empyrean of the Moon Horatio Eden to justify and formalise centralising the remaining legally-existent but practically inactive nations formed under his leadership since 2015 into the Moon], with the intent of legally dissolving those nations.

The "War" was not a military conflict in any meaningful sense; it was a creation of Empyrean law to formalise the process of absorbing the four inactive nations into the new micronation project.

Background

Over the period since 2015, President Eden created various micronational states, starting with the Federal Republic of Whestcorea. While some of these states, such as the Free City-State of Edenopolis legally formally ceased to exist, in this case for instance by joining the Edenic Compact which later became the Imperial Union of Edenia, others were never formally shuttered, meaning their legal status was unclear; they were still technically operational as political entities, but were no longer recognised by the international community nor performing any meaningful function.

Eden came to the conclusion that this situation needed rectifying, and that the continued technical existence of the previous nations represented "a legal mess we do not consider satisfactory". On 17 August 2022, the Empyrean government published the Declaration of the President on Edenic Centralisation, known in shorthand as the Edenic Centralisation Act. The Act issued formal war against:

• Imperial Union of Edenia
• Edenic Protectorate of Arura Novale
• Amissopian Federation
• Federal Republic of Whestcorea

demanding that the various states issue "[[w:Instrument_of_Surrender instruments] of unconditional|surrender]... to the Government of the Empyrean by 23:59 UTC on the 18th of August, 2022", with the surrender carrying the effect of dissolving those states into the jurisdiction of the Empyrean.

Results

The four nations signed a joint instrument of unconditional surrender on the same day as the issuance of the Edenic Centralisation Act. In the document, the nations agreed to accept the legal jurisdiction of the Empyrean and that their individual nations would be formally legally dissolved. This brought the technical state of war to a conclusion.

Aftermath

The government of the Empyrean - by way of the delegation of the Serene Beaconite Republic - later filed for an advisory opinion from the Supreme Court of the Grand Unified Micronational on the basis that it was unclear whether the Edenic Protectorate of Arura Novale was still subject to the jurisdiction of the Desi Empire and, consequently, whether the Grand Protector of Arura Novale was competent to sign the instrument of surrender.

On 26 September 2022, GUM Supreme Justice Anthony Clark found that Arura Novale had lawfully signed the surrender instrument, citing that although the Desi Empire still existed as a nation in international law, "the Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties, the doctrine of frustration, and the golden rule of statutory interpretation" as all "offer[ing] exemptions of varying strength" to Arura Novale's obligations under its initial treaty of subordination to the Empire.