Legal status of Midway

The legal status of Midway is a controversial subject on which debate is becoming more common. Some claim that Midway is a territory of the United States of JBR. Others assert that Midway is an nation. The commonly accepted viewpoint within Midway is that Midway is an independent nation, while many members of the Imperialist Party of JBR assert that Midway is JBRican territory.

American rule
In 1859, Midway was sighted by Captain N.C. Middlebrooks of the ship Gambia. He claimed Midway under the. On 28 August 1867, Captain William Reynolds of the formally took possession of the atoll for the United States. During, the Midway became a vital military asset due to it's strategic location in the. It became the location of the, one of the most important battles of the. Midway was abandoned and became uninhabited near the end of the.

Forming the Union of Midway
Soon after the dissolution of the United States in 2006, Zabuza Hashimoto went with Ulysses Lee and several others to Midway and re-inhabited it. Shortly after they arrived, they declared the existence of a nation, but internationally it was considered a {{Wikipedia|micronation]]. Franz Seidler arrived with others and declared the existence of another micronation soon afterwards. Zabuza then proposed a {{Wikipedia|political union}} between all the micronations, founding the Union of Midway. The {{Wikipedia|United Nations}} recognized the Union of Midway as a nation on August 13th, 2009, becoming the first micronation to gain enough diplomatic recognition to become a nation.

Annexation into JBR
On August 17th, 2011 the Council for the Safety of Midway (CSMW) was founded and became the main driving force in the annexation movement in Midway. On September 12, soon after the Solaris Song Contest 2011 ended, the Council for the Safety of Midway staged a successful coup d'état with the help of JBRican military forces. The new government was named the Provisional Government of Midway, and the Council for the Safety of Midway began setting up a new government. Many high-ranking government officials within the government of the Union of Midway were arrested and charged with, and sentenced to life imprisonment. Soon after the overthrow, the Union of Midway was replaced with the Provisional Government of Midway. The provisional government was quickly replaced by the Republic of Midway after an attempted counter-revolution failed. Midway was subsequently annexed into the United States of JBR.

However, the local population opposed the annexation, and on October 2, 2011, protests began which resulted in over 15,600 arrests. Eventually a compromise was reached and the Territory of Midway became the State of Midway on October 7, 2011, ending the protests and temporarily ending the debate.

Resurgence of debate
Near the end of the Fourth World War, the People's republic of Grand China won the Chinese Invasion of Midway. They announced that they would Midway until the a maximum of 1 month after the end of the Fourth World War, and then give back the Union of Midway all of it's territories. JBR initially recognized this planned transfer. But the CSMW sent a request to the JBRican government arguing that Midway is rightfully JBRican territory. This request was met with a positive response, and JBR decided to maintain it's claim on Midway. JBR also demanded that the Chinese transfer sovereignty of Midway to JBR on the planned date that Midway was to re-gain independence. China refused to recognize JBR's claims and announced that the sovereignty transfer of the Midwayan territories to the Union of Midway would take place as planned.