Gadangmeland

Gadangmeland

Subdivision of:	Scandinavian Realm
Cities:
Capital:	Akra
Largest:	Akra
Other:	Tesji (Augustaborg) Ningo (Fredensborg) Ada (Kongensten) Keta (Prinsensten) Akropong (Frederiksnopel) Kpompo (Frederiksgave)
Languages:
Official:	Riksmål, Gadangme
Others:	Akan, Ewe
Currency:	1.5 Riksdaler guineaiske Courant = 12 Bit = 72 Styver

Gadangmeland is a country in Guinea and is a member state of the Scandinavian Realm. The capital and largest city is Akra, with the coastal port district of Osu (Christiansborg) serving as both the cultural centre and an important financial centre, handling the imports and exports of raw materials and manufactured goods.

Geography

The southeastern part of the country is dominated by the coastal savanah, including the Krobo Plains, Akra Plains, and the Volta River Delta. The Volta river empties through Gadangmeland. Its delta forms numerous lagoons, some quite large, where salt-making is done.

Further inland, the Akwapim Ranges in the northwestern part of Gadangmeland are a range of high hills averaging 1500 feet in height. The ranges are largely covered with rain forests, and their higher elevation provides a relatively cooler, pleasant climate. In addition to the cultivation of rice and other staples, coffee plantations are also found there.

Borders

The country borders Western Gold Coast to the north and west, Togo the east, and the Atlantic Ocean to the south.

Climate

Gadangmeland is located in the dry tropics with two seasons: wet and dry. The amount of rain that falls in a given area depends on the wind and topography.

In Gadangmeland, the seasons are influenced by the movement and interaction of the dry dusty Harmattan winds, which blows from the northeast from the Sahara, and the opposing moist southwest monsoon winds coming in from the Atlantic. The Harmattan season starts in December and lasts until March. It is then followed by the wet season for the rest of the year. In Gadangmeland most of the rains fall west of the Akwapim Ranges.

History

Early History

In the beginning of the 17th century, a commonwealth of Adangme tribes was created forming the Chiefdom of Ga. It was the first centralized chiefdom on the Gold Coast with its capital was at Okaikoi, near present-day Ayawaso. Its cultural influences spread to other cheifdoms along the Gold Coast, and slave provinces, where Ga traders could purchase Akan slaves, were established at Akwapim and Akwamu.

By about the middle of the 17th century, Europeans had begun trading along the coast and the Ga capital was moved to Akra. Ga began to dominate coastal trade with the interior people. They established a market at Abonse, a few miles north-east of Akra. By doing so, the Ga succeeded in confining the Akim and Akwamu traders to this market to trade only with them, and prevented them from coming into direct trading contact with the Europeans on the coast. The Akim Chiefdom essentially becomes a vassal of the Ga Chiefdom.

The Slave Trade

Scandinavian activities in the Gold Coasts started in the mid-17th century when Denmark-Norway and Sweden each established trading companies to trade in Guinea. In 1649, the King of Sweden granted Batavian traders privileges to establish the Svensk Guinea Compagnie (Swedish Guinea Company) to trade with Africa. Denmark-Norway followed suit in 1651 when the King of Denmark-Norway granted Jewish traders from Glückstadt in Holstein the right to establish the Dansk Guinea Compagnie (Danish Guinea Company).

The Swedes established Fort Carlsborg in Cape Coast in 1650, and in 1652 they also established a trading lodge in Osu, which was conquered by the Danish-Norwegians in 1658. The following year, in 1659, the Danish-Norwegians conquered Fort Carlsborg in Cape Coast and rename it Frederiksborg Castle and established their base of operations there. However, the Danish Commander of Carlsborg was shortly after tricked into believing that Denmark-Norway had been conquered by the Batavians. He therefore sold Carlsborg to the Batavians and with it the former Swedish establishments, including Osu lodge. The Ga Paramount Chief Okaikoi, disgusted with their trickery, asked the Batavians to leave Osu. In 1661, Jost Cramer, Danish governor of Frederiksborg acquired land from Chief Okaikoi for 3200 gold florins. The Danish-Norwegians built a stone fort in Osu to replace the earthen lodge and named it Christiansborg (Christian's fortress) after the former King of Denmark, Christian IV, who had died in 1648.

By 1663, the Swedish Guinea Company was bankrupt and the Danish Guinea Company purchased all Swedish claims in Africa. In the course of the following years some other fortified trading posts were built. The primary purpose of these forts was to gather slaves purchased from the locals to be shipped off to the West Indies, particularly the Cruzan Islands.

The triangular trade between Europe, Guinea, and the West Indies proved lucrative that the Dansk Guinea Compagnie (Danish Guinea Company) and the Dansk Vestindiske Compagnie merged to form the Dansk Guinea-Vestindiske Compagnie in 1674.

In 1677, the Battle of Nyantrabi took place. The Akwamu, wishing to have direct trade with the Europeans, engaged Akra in battle, which resulted in the decisive defeat of Ga by the Akwamu. Akim gained full independence and Ga became a vassal of Akwamu. The other Adangme chiefdoms became independent as well.

In 1680, the Portuguese conquered Christiansborg, only to abandon it in 1682 to the Akwamu. The following year, the Danish-Norwegians retake control of Christiansborg by force.

In 1685, the Austro-Dalmatians conquered Frederiksborg Castle, renamed it Cape Coast Castle, and established it as their capital of the Austro-Dalmatian Gold Coast. The Danish-Norwegians are forced to move their base of operations to Christiansborg. The Dano-Norwegian strategy from then on became a move of expansion east of Christiansborg to eventually dominate the entire Volta River delta.

In 1739, the local political situation became reversed once again when the Ga-Adangmes regained their independence from Akwapim, and Akwapim then became a vassal of the Ga.

Period of Enlightenment

Responding to the appeal of the king of Denmark-Norway, Frederik V, many German missionaries began arriving in Gadangmeland in the 1750s.

In 1755, the Crown purchased the majority of shares in the Dansk Guinea-Vestindiske Compagnie and turned it into the Kongelige Guinea-Vestindiske Handel (Royal Guinea-West Indian Trade Department). The Danish-Norwegian establisments in Gadangmeland then became a crown colony under the corporatocracy of the Kongelige Guinea-Vestindiske Handel. The establishments became known as Dansk Guinea (Danish Guinea).

In 1783, the Battle of Anlo took place when the Ewe Kingdom of Anlo came into conflict with the Danish-Norwegians after they had attacked and killed a Danish trader. In the battle that ensued, the Danes were supported by the Ga, Ada, Akwapim and Akim, all traditional enemies of the Anlo. The Anlo were defeated and were thus under the dominion of the Danes. The Castle of Prinsensten is built in Keta near Anlo.

That same year, Paul Erdmann Isert arrived in Christiansborg as chief surgeon. His experiences in Gadangmeland and in the West Indies prompted him to try to end the slave trade. He found the slave trade absurd and wanted to demonstrate that Europeans should have been establishing plantations in Africa itself, rather than shipping thousands of Africans to the West Indies. To this end, and financed by the Danish-Norwegian Crown, he established a few plantations in Gadangmeland in 1788. Although he was assassinated the following year, the Crown was convinced of the feasability of his project that Denmark-Norway became the first country to ban the slave trade in 1792 (fully effective in 1803).

By the time Denmark-Norway united with Sweden to form the Scandinavian Realm, experiences learned from Isert's projects prompted the new Crown to initiate projects to irrigate the entire coastal savannah region in Gadangmeland.

During the first half of the 19th century, the Scandinavian Realm and the Federated Kingdoms waged a campaign against the Austro-Dalmatian slave-traders. Slaves freed by Scandinavia were given land in Gebaland and the Pepper Coast, two settlements originally established by Denmark-Norway for free negroes of Gadangmeland and the Cruzan Islands wishing to return to Guinea.

Until 1820, Christiansborg served as the residence of the Scandinavian governor of Danish Guinea, which also included the Gebaland and Pepper Coast settlements. Christiansborg served as the educational center of Danish Guinea as well. Legonberg University, established in 1827, rapidly became a magnet for Negerhollands-speaking Africans. For more than a century, it was the only European-style university in Guinea.

The Effects of Katamanso War

In 1826, Gadangmeland fought in the Katamanso War. This was, perhaps, the greatest set-piece battle West Africa has ever known and the turning point of Gadangmeland history. The Ashantis (Akans), who were the native inhabitants of the inner Gold Coast, and their allies, the Akim, sent 40000 warriors to subdue the Ga-Adangmes in the Krobo plains. The Ga-Adangmes and their allies (the Awutu-Adangmes, the Krobo-Adangmes, the Ada-Adangmes, the Akwapim-Akans, the Akwamu-Akans, the Anlo-Ewes, and the Scandinavians) numbered only 15000 (including only 60 Scandinavian soldiers), but successfully managed to defeat the Ashantis. This "Gadangmeland Alliance" (between Ga-Adangmes, Krobos, Akwapims, Akwamus, Anlos, and Scandinavian colonists) remains to this day.

During the war, the population of Gadangmeland nearly halved. The main historic occupation of the African people had been pastoral farming until this point, when so many of the pastoral farmers died, while most of the Europeans had been the Scandinavians and Germans administering the nation. Many of the remaining farmers moved to Christiansborg, developing a unique blend between the African, Scandinavian and German cultures called Gadang-mena. In the following decades, many Cambrians, Castilians, Germans and Scandinavians flocked to see this, which means that now, there is an equal number of Africans and Europeans. In fact, following this, most people are descendents of both freed African slaves and Cambrians, Castillians, Germans or Scandinavians.

Colonial Division and Independence

In 1833, the Gold Coast was divided into spheres of influences between Batavians, Austro-Dalmatians, and Scandinavians. The Scandinavians wanted influence over the Ga-Adangmes, Krobos, the Adas, the Awutus, the Anlo-Ewes, Akwapim, Akwamu, and Akim. But an infamous Scandinavian mulatto slave-trader, Henrik Richter, tried to bribe the Henes of Akwapim, Akwamu, and Akim not to sign the agreement with the Scandinavians. By this time, only the Austro-Dalamatians were active in the slave-trade, and he was aware that the Scandinavian government would be better able to enforce their ban on the slave-trade in their sphere of influence. Richter only managed to persuade Akim to avoid meeting with the Scandinavians, and it ended up under the Austro-Dalmatian sphere of influence.

In 1847, in an attempt to ease the transition from slavery to freedom, the government of the Scandinavian Realm made a proclamation that stated that from then on all children born of slaves were free while the parents would become free within the next 12 years.

In 1850, after repeated harassment by the Ashantis, the Austro-Dalmatians in the Gold Coast decided to move their capital to their castle in Akra. The climate near the Akwapim highlands was also regarded to be friendlier for Europeans. Akra then became a condominium capital between Gadangmeland and the Austro-Dalmation Gold Coast colonies when on 1850 Mar 30 the agreement on Condominium was reached, which stipulated that Austro-Dalmatia must also ban the slave trade.

By 1859, all the slaves in Gadangmeland were granted emancipation. Many slaves in the Austro-Dalmatian territories surrounding Gadangmeland sought refuge in Gadangmeland.

In 1900, it became clear to the chiefs in Gadangmeland that the Austro-Dalmatians were very dominant in West Africa, and that European protection was the only way to ensure some independence. So the Mantses (chiefs) of Gadangmeland agree to make Gadangmeland a Scandinavian protectorate.

Recent History

Gadangmeland suffered greatly during the Second Great War. It was invaded and occupied by Ashanti in 1945; many people, including civilians, were killed during this invasion and many buildings were damaged. Afterwards, entire population of Gadangmeland was deported to avrious places of Ashanti in order to make them assimilate with the Ashantian culture. Diseases and povetry struck the deported people in the places of deportation, they were forced to live poorly. During the invasion and due to deportations, around 27% of Gadangmeland's citizens perished. People of Gadangmeland were permitted to return only in 1947, when the Scandinavian Realm had liberated the territory.

Since the GWII, the Scandinavians have developed a great industry, with many factories. The League of Nations often recieves complaints that the Scandinavian government allows transnational companies to settle here and pollute the atmosphere. The Scandinavian government states that they are improving the economy of the nation.

In 1953, Gadangmeland became fully independent but decided to remain within the Commonwealth of the Scandinavian Realm - in personal union with the Scandinavian King and in free association with the Commonwealth government. This gesture was formalized with the enstoolment of King Frederik the IX of Scandinavia as Grand-Mantse (Grand Chief) of Gadangmeland. The local chiefs retained their traditional rights over the traditional states, while the local Scandinavian colonists retained their rights along the coastal settlements and their plantations.

In 1964, the Akosombo Dam was built, a joint project between Gadangmeland and the Gold Coast and with Scandinavian and CSDS aid.

Communications

Most mail comes in and out of Christiansborg by Zepplin from Gøteborg daily. Rikets Radio have offices in Christiansborg, serving Gadangmeland and subscriberes in the Gold Coast, with Gadangme programming.

Religion

Prior to the colonisation by Scandinavians, most Gadangmes were animists, called Fetishism, which is a recognized religion within the Scandinavian Realm. However, most people are now Evangelic Lutheran Christians, as that is the official religion of the Scandinavian Realm. There is a Mormon temple in Osu.