The
history of Kanasa goes back many thousands of years. The first settlers came to
the island approximately in 500BC from what is now Indonesia on their way to
Madagascar. In isolation, they developed a complex culture and writing system
that was more advanced than most of its day. They had no contact with outside
peoples for more than 2000 years.
In
the belief that a massive southern continent must exist to “balance” those of
the northern hemisphere, King Louis XV of France commissioned Yves de
Kerguelen-Tremarec, a Breton Captain to discover the continent for France.
Commanding the Fortune and the Gros-Ventre, Kerguelen left Mauritius on January
16, and sailed through mist, fog and storms to “discover” the islands on
February 12, 1772.
When
he landed on the islands, he found a relatively advanced culture with a
calendar, writing system and own religious system. He claimed the islands for
France and then sailed away to report his findings to King Louis XV. He
described the islands as “desolate yet beautiful”.
When
he returned to France, he told the king of a beautiful southern land which he
called “la France Australe” to entice settlement and colonization there. He
neglected to tell the king about the advanced culture that lived there. Again
under the direction of Kerguelen, France sent three ships, le Roland, l’Oiseau
and le Dauphine. They arrived at Kanasa Islands or “Kerguelen Island” on
December 14, 1772. They brought French colonists with them to settle the
islands. The Kanasans didn’t mind the French at first but when the colonists
started taking over their land and caught unknown foreign diseases and started
dying in large numbers, the Kanasans weren’t happy and they managed to kick the
French out. The French presence that remained on the island, mostly asserted
itself with the introduction of thousands of borrowed words into the Kanasan
language. Some of the French colonists were able to intermarry with some of the
Kanasans producing some French blood in the gene pool for later generations.
Approximately
4 years later, Captain James Cook from England landed at where the French
settlement was established and found that their buildings were mostly destroyed
and there were no French colonists anywhere to be seen. He found the Kanasans
to be relatively cautious but more friendly than with the Kerguelen and his
party.
He
landed at Kanasa Island on his 3rd journey around the world on
December 25, 1776. He claimed the island for England and sailed off. France of
course was furious and demanded that England hand the island back over to the
French, but the English refused and instead traded one of their Caribbean
islands (which later turned out to be a mistake for England) for Kanasa.
The
British later used Kanasa as a penal colony at the end of the 18th
century due to its isolation and remoteness. England sent its wost convicts to
a prison there built for them. The British also built a military garrison to
defend the island against foreign incursions by other European powers. In the
mid 19th century, the British started recruiting free colonists to
go and settle the island. About 1,000 people went on the first ship in 1858. At
first the British were welcomed by the Kanasans, but again the problem of
encroachment on Kanasan lands was a continual problem. Fortunately, the
Kanasans and the British were able to sign a peace treaty whereby the settlers
would be able to settle the land and in return the British would provide
protection to the Kanasans against other foreign powers who may wish to “enslave”
the population. After much trepidation, the Kanasan population eventually
agreed to this and Kanasa officially became a British crown colony for the next
100 years.
Immigration
increased during the early part of the 20th century, with about
another 10,000 colonists going to the country. Most of these colonists
intermarried with the native Kanasans and created a virtually bilingual
population. The colonial administration recognized that Kanasa and English were
both official languges of the colony.
During
the depression of the 1930s, the economy hit hard times and unemployment soared
from 0.8% in 1928 to 6.4% in 1932. The economy didn’t start to recover until
the onset of World War II.
During
World War II, the Germans tried to use Kanasa as a base for their U-boats and
attempted to occupy the island. They used it in order to hide from allied
forces but the British and the Australians caught on and were able to blow up
several German U-boats hiding there. In the end, allied forces were able to
reclaim the islands for England.
After World War II, the economy started
expanding rapidly and the economy turned from a predominately agricultural base
(fishing and sheep) to a more industrial and manufacturing base. In the 1950s,
fairly large oil deposits were found offshore in Kanasan territorial waters on
the continental shelf that surrounds the island. Exploitation of this oil
started in the early 1960s under the new federal corporation “Kanasa oil”. In
the 1970s, the electronics and computer industry got a foothold in Kanasa due
to a few upstart companies and some revolutionary ideas. With this new found
wealth from oil and the burgeoning computer industry, the Kanasans wanted more
autonomy for their internal affairs and an independence movement formed as many
Kanasans felt that their country had become too “British” and many Kanasan
traditions had been lost in favour of British ones. Even though, the Kanasa language
had survived up until this point. In 1975, a referendum was held in Kanasa on a
vote for independence from Britain. Over 86% of the population voted to secede
from the UK in the form of a republic retaining no ties to the British Queen
but still being a member of the British Commonwealth. On January 5, 1976, the independent republic
of Kanasa was formed and a month later admitted itself to the UN. Throughout
the next 2 decades, the country has grown substantially economically as oil and
computer profits boosted the economy. With the British out, the Kanasans
reasserted their own cultural identity and started replacing all the English
signs with Kanasan ones. Despite this mixed relationship with the UK, many
Kanasans (particularly the older ones) are proficient in English having been
exposed to many years of the English language. In the late 1990s, the economy
started to slow down due to the afteraffects of the Asian financial crisis that
finally stabilized in 2000. After Sept. 11, 2001, the economy also faltered as
many tech stocks went down and commodity prices plummeted. The economy is still
trying to recover to this day and it is making an eventual recovery as exports
rose in the second quarter of 2002.
Any more questions about
Kanasan history, e-mail me for
more details.