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Esperanto is an international auxiliary language developed by Ludwik Lazar Zamenhof in 1887 through the Unua Libro. It is the most popular IAL, with the estimated amount of speakers varying between 10,000 and 2,000,000 depending on the criteria of a speaker used. It is maintained by the Academy of Esperanto.
History
Oppression
The Kingdom of Hungary banned Esperanto in 1920 due to it's local association with the Bolsheviks and to uphold bourgeois nationalism.
Esperanto was oppressed by fascists (Nazi Germany in Europe and Imperial Japan in Asia) during the 1930s, due to reactionary nationalism and it's association with communism, anti-imperialism, and national liberation.
Bourgeois media and historians (prominently liberal Ulrich Lins) claim that the USSR oppressed Esperanto.[1] However, there is not much evidence to support this claim, and the minority of Esperantists that were persecuted were often persecuted for being trotskyists, and class enemies of the Soviet Union.
Socialism and Communism
USSR
Soviet Esperantists in the Red Army fought in the anti-fascist war against Nazi Germany.[2]
China
If Esperanto is taken as a form and enshrined in the way of true internationalism and the way of true revolution, then Esperanto can be learned and should be learned.[3]
— Mao Zedong, Letter, Yan'an Esperanto Association, 1939
Esperanto is supported by the Communist Party of China and the Chinese people, with the national liberation movement. El Popola Ĉinio, a state official Esperanto journal, was established in 1951.
China Radio International supported Esperanto starting from 1964.[4]
Vietnam
Ho Chi Minh learned Esperanto in 1915 and supported Esperanto during the Vietnamese Liberation War.[5] He suggested to the director of Voice of Vietnam to utilize esperanto in the Declaration of Independence.
Cuba
Fidel Castro supported Esperantists in the UEA Congress to Havana, Cuba.[6]
Further Reading
Language
- L. L. Zamenhof (1905). Fundamento de Esperanto. Hachette.
See also
References
- ↑ Dangerous Language (2017) (Esperanto: La Danĝera Lingvo). ISBN 978-1-352-00019-1
- ↑ Anatolo Sidorov (2022). Soviet Esperantists, which battled against the Nazis in the second world war (Esperanto: Esperantistoj de Sovetunio, kiuj batalis kontraŭ nazioj en la 2-a mondmilito). Russian Esperantist Union.
- ↑ "Esperanto, China’s Surprisingly Prominent Linguistic Subculture is Slowly Dying Out".
- ↑ "China Radio International".
- ↑ "Ho Chi Minh kaj Esperanto" (2006-12-27T14:53:21Z+08:00). China Radio International.
- ↑ "Fidel Castro & Esperanto" (2009-01-18). YouTube.