Londonian independence?

Their object was to minimize as far as possible the influence of individual great families, and this was effected by a complex elective machinery. Thirty members of the Great Council, chosen by lot, were reduced by lot to nine; the nine chose forty and the forty were reduced by lot to twelve, who chose twenty-five. The twenty-five were reduced by lot to nine and the nine elected forty-five. Then the forty-five were once more reduced by lot to eleven, and the eleven finally chose the forty-one who actually elected the doge.

DOGE

What do I think? It is a total joke.

Well you did ask...

I just got back from a week in Venice, which was absolutely marvellous. This post will be about Londonian independence, but I will get there circuitously via Venetian history. It's a long post so put the kettle on, or click the back button or something.

Anyway, re Venice... As if it wasn't cool enough that the city has no cars and its main streets are water instead, the city also has an incredible history. The city was founded in 421 AD by refugees who were fleeing from barbarians on the mainland; they went out into the Venetian lagoon and settled on a group of marshy, salty, flood-prone islands.

From 421 until 1798, the Venetians developed their society such that they were completely oriented toward the sea and to trading. They had their own dialect of Italian and in many ways considered themselves to be more a part of Byzantium (whose nominal vassal they were) than a part of Italian polities. The Venetians had trading interests that spread from the Adriatic and Italy through to the Eastern Mediterranean (Turkey, Palestine, Egypt) and far beyond. They traded with the Mongols and with China, and in the 1300s they even had a resident trade envoy in Thailand, at a time when most Europeans knew nothing about what was east of the Levant

The Venetians became a merchant republic, with a very unique and singular sort of national pride in their characteristics; "We are a sea people, not a land people". There's little doubt the Venetians were the greatest seafaring race until the rise of the British Empire.

Their republic, called the Serene Republic (or La Serenissima), was headed by an elected monarch called the Doge (pronounced "daw-jay". However, he was mainly a figurehead and power was held by a group of legislatures and councils. They had incredibly strict rules to prevent anyone from becoming a despot or to have too much power to acrrue in the hands of any person or family.

They had a patrician nobility, however these were not feudal landlords but a nobility of the greatest merchant families. The Venetians had great pride in their constitution; although their political system was quite oligarchical (the main plenary body was the Great Council, a body with about 1,500 members of all the male members of the greatest trading families), the Venetian nobility ruled in a very selfless manner and always in the interests of the republic. They ruthlessly stamped out any corruption and the great pride of the Venetians in their constitution, and their pride in their uniqueness, meant the nobility had instilled in them from birth that they had to always act in the best interests of the republic. To ensure that doge elections could not be stitched up, they made it extremely complex;



Anyway, having been immersed in their history for the last week, I have wondered whether we might consider Londonian independence. The City of London is politically constituted in a way that is closest to La Serenissima of any in existence today; it is a sort of oligarchical merchant polity (in the City of London, 80% of votes are held by corporations and only 20% by residents). They also have a very complex system of guilds, councils, and elections (if you want to see an awesome short video on it, see here https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z1ROpIKZe-c)

I was thinking, maybe London (not just the City, but the whole metropolis) could also become an oligarchical merchant republic? The United Kingdom would cede the metropolis of London to the City, and allow it to become a republic headed by a Lord Mayor who would be an elective monarch for life (but they would have to have a minimum age of 70 so they wouldn't live too long, and would also be wise). The Republic of Londonia would still be under the suzerainty of the British crown, and in exchange for the granting of our independence, and in consideration of Londonia's vassalage, we would would pay an annual tribute of perhaps £30 billion to £40 billion. The United Kingdom would continue to control the Republic of Londonia's defence and foreign relations needs. Perhaps Londonia could also join the EU (although I would be against it if the EU wanted to strangle the Republic with useless regulations and red tape).

Also, those parts of Westminster encompassing the Palace of Westminster, Westminster Abbey, the Supreme Court at Guildhall, all of the civil service departments along Whitehall, along with the Mall and Buckingham Palace, woudl remain a United Kingdom enclave within the Republic. Venice also had an empire encompassing the Dalmatian coasts (Croatia, basically), parts of Greece, Crete as well as an independent colony in Constantinople and special trading rights throughout Byzantium. Perhaps the United Kingdom could cede British Overseas Territories like the Channel Islands, Manx, the Cayman Islands, Bermuda and so on so that these territories with significant financial industries could become Londonia's overseas empire and add to its financial clout.

I'm not totally wedded to the idea, but not completely against either. I think it's an interesting and stimulating idea, and I am in favour of anything that permits us to emulate the Venetians. What do you think?

Can't tell if serious.....

Though The City has an interesting history, it doesn't have it's own culture to be a nation. I've never heard anyone say they are from "The City". Barely anyone lives there.

And if your arguing for the City to be independent based on it's unique history, then why should the rest of London be included in that because the rest of it doesn't share that history?

Londoners are a bunch of melts, couldn't run a bath let alone a city state.

I'm in, on one condition: Gloucestershire also becomes and independent. London, prepare for invasion.

It sounds like a Republic of Londonia will have to build a new London Wall to defend itself!