In 1971, real estate millionaire Michael Oliver sought to create a libertarian paradise free from taxes, welfare, and government intervention. He targeted the Minerva Reefs, two submerged coral formations located in the South Pacific Ocean. Oliver's syndicate, the Ocean Life Research Foundation, brought barges laden with sand from Australia to dump onto the reefs, raising them above high tide.
They built a small tower, raised a flag depicting a gold torch on a blue background, issued their own currency, and officially declared the Republic of Minerva in January 1972. The new nation even sent declarations of independence to neighboring Pacific nations. However, the Kingdom of Tonga viewed the enterprise as an unwelcome violation of regional sovereignty and historic fishing rights.
In June 1972, King Taufa'ahau Tupou IV personally led a Tongan expeditionary force to the reef. The Tongan troops dismantled the tower, lowered the Minervan flag, raised the Tongan flag, and formally annexed the territory. The South Pacific Forum subsequently recognized Tonga's claim, effectively sinking the world's most ambitious libertarian micro-nation experiment beneath the Pacific waves.