History of Gapla/Lesson 1: Difference between revisions

Revision as of 00:33, 11 October 2025

History of Gapla
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Warning:

While Wyatt Baek is recognized as the founder of modern Gapla, Ian Shin was the dominant figure in Gapla-Phoenix, serving as its first President.

Gaplan Prehistory (2015–2018)

The Establishment of Gapla-Phoenix

United Republics of Gapla and Phoenix On 24 August 2015, two first graders at Cypress Village Elementary School, Wyatt Baek and Ian Shin, founded the first known predecessor of the Federated States of Gapla, the United Republics of Gapla and Phoenix (comonly known as Gapla-Phoenix). Gapla-Phoenix was established in "Room 0"—an oddly numbered classroom—and was declared an "imaginary country," as the Wyatt and Ian were unaware of micronationalism. At the time of Gapla-Phoenix's establishment, Wyatt and Ian were good friends, and the country was split into the Republic of Gapla—Wyatt's province, the etymology of which is unknown—and the Republic of Phoenix, —Ian's province, deriving its name from the mythical bird of the same name..

The Local Context Cypress Village Elementary School was located in Irvine, California, an affluent, mid-sized suburban city in the United States. In 2015, the city had a population of approximately 250,000. New communities within the city (known locally as neighborhoods) consisted of small parks, apartment complexes, business centers, and schools, and were rapidly being developed during the 2010s to accommodate for the city’s increases in population. One of the newest communities of Irvine at the time was Cypress Village, and its elementary school witnessed the establishment of Gapla-Phoenix in its second-ever school year.

A Serious Project Despite the clearly fictional nature of Gapla-Phoenix and the young age of its founders, Wyatt and Ian took their project very seriously, and did not treat the project as simply a game of “make-believe”, where actions did not have real-world consequences. They called Gapla-Phoenix an imaginary country as they recognized that it had fictional elements and did not yet know about micronationalism or the micronational community, not because they lacked seriousness. Gapla-Phoenix was more advanced than any game of “make-believe,” and conflicts within Gapla-Phoenix will lead to real-world consequences for its members and its competitors. What began as a childhood project was taken seriously by its members and, in retrospect, represents the first serious predecessor to the modern Federated States of Gapla, now a thriving new country project by the Danube.

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 |next=Lesson 2}}{{warning|While [[Wyatt Baek]] is recognized as the founder of modern Gapla, Ian Shin was the dominant figure in Gapla-Phoenix, serving as its first President.}}
 == Gaplan Prehistory (2015–2018) ==
-'''Establishment of Gapla-Phoenix'''{{Spacer}}On 24 August 2015, two first graders at Cypress Village Elementary School, [[Wyatt Baek]] and Ian Shin, founded the first known predecessor of the [[Federated States of Gapla]], the United Republics of Gapla and Phoenix (comonly known as Gapla-Phoenix). Gapla-Phoenix was established in "Room 0"—an oddly numbered classroom—and was declared an "imaginary country," as the Wyatt and Ian were unaware of micronationalism. At the time of Gapla-Phoenix's establishment, Wyatt and Ian were good friends, and the country was split into the Republic of Gapla—Wyatt's province, the etymology of which is unknown—and the Republic of Phoenix, —Ian's province, deriving its name from the mythical bird of the same name..
+=== The Establishment of Gapla-Phoenix ===
+'''United Republics of Gapla and Phoenix'''{{Spacer}}On 24 August 2015, two first graders at Cypress Village Elementary School, [[Wyatt Baek]] and Ian Shin, founded the first known predecessor of the [[Federated States of Gapla]], the United Republics of Gapla and Phoenix (comonly known as Gapla-Phoenix). Gapla-Phoenix was established in "Room 0"—an oddly numbered classroom—and was declared an "imaginary country," as the Wyatt and Ian were unaware of micronationalism. At the time of Gapla-Phoenix's establishment, Wyatt and Ian were good friends, and the country was split into the Republic of Gapla—Wyatt's province, the etymology of which is unknown—and the Republic of Phoenix, —Ian's province, deriving its name from the mythical bird of the same name..
 '''The Local Context{{Spacer}}'''Cypress Village Elementary School was located in Irvine, California, an affluent, mid-sized suburban city in the United States. In 2015, the city had a population of approximately 250,000. New communities within the city (known locally as neighborhoods) consisted of small parks, apartment complexes, business centers, and schools, and were rapidly being developed during the 2010s to accommodate for the city’s increases in population. One of the newest communities of Irvine at the time was  Cypress Village, and its elementary school witnessed the establishment of Gapla-Phoenix in its second-ever school year.
+'''A Serious Project{{Spacer}}'''Despite the clearly fictional nature of Gapla-Phoenix and the young age of its founders, Wyatt and Ian took their project very seriously, and did not treat the project as simply a game of “make-believe”, where actions did not have real-world consequences. They called Gapla-Phoenix an imaginary country as they recognized that it had fictional elements and did not yet know about micronationalism or the micronational community, not because they lacked seriousness. Gapla-Phoenix was more advanced than any game of “make-believe,” and conflicts within Gapla-Phoenix will lead to real-world consequences for its members and its competitors. What began as a childhood project was taken seriously by its members and, in retrospect, represents the first serious predecessor to the modern Federated States of Gapla, now a thriving new country project by the Danube.