AHC: Esperanto Nation

Tsochar

What would it take for the creation of a nation based around the use of Esperanto?

This ought to be quite a challenge, given that Esperanto is intended to be specifically non-nationalist and politically neutral in nature. However, that didn't stop Hitler from condemning Esperanto as part of a Jewish conspiracy. Perhaps, if it becomes more widespread in the early part of the 20th century, there might be enough Esperantists to try to band together and create their own multinational nation-state following their persecution in an alt-WWII.

What say you all? Is this idea just crazy enough to work, or just plain crazy?
 

HJ Tulp

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neutral_Moresnet

The most remarkable initiative occurred in 1908, when Dr. Molly proposed making Neutral Moresnet the world's first Esperanto-speaking state, named Amikejo ("place of friendship"). The proposed national anthem was an Esperanto march of the same name. A number of residents learned Esperanto and a rally was held in Kelmis in support of the idea of Amikejo on 13 August 1908. The World Congress of Esperanto, meeting in Dresden, even declared Neutral Moresnet the world capital of the Esperanto community.[8] Esperanto still plays a prominent role in the society of Kelmis.

However, time was running out for the tiny territory. Neither Belgium nor Prussia (now within the German Empire) had ever surrendered its original claim to it. Around 1900 Germany in particular was taking a more aggressive stance towards the territory and was accused of sabotage and of obstructing the administrative process in order to force the issue.
Click to expand...
 

Dathi THorfinnsson

A Martian stranded on Earth (Tesla Edition) (Multi-page thread 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8)
ComradeHuxley

Or the earlier version without Tesla

Had this. Well, IIRC, it wasn't strictly Esperanto, but it was clearly Esperanto based.

The USSR (as above) is the first and obvious choice, giving all nationalities within the new regime equal treatment, and imposing a 'modern', 'progressive' neutral language.

Assuming that doesn't happen, it would be possible for an alt-EU equivalent to choose Esperanto as the official Union language. (OTL, they need translators for every language pair in the Union, and are just really, really glad that 1) Ireland didn't insist on Gaelic, and 2) that Iceland (pop. 300,000) didn't join. Without the aid of modern technology (earpieces that can pipe translated discussion in your own language into your ear, for instance), the current structure of the EU would be very much more difficult.

It would be 'easy' to insist on Esperanto as the official language of all laws and regulations, to be translated into each nation's language. All desks in the assembly hall have a phone/headset connected to a single source (the translator into Esperanto from whatever language the speaker's using).

It would be easier for the *EU to do this if either a) the UN did it first, or b) there were more languages represented in the initial body.
 

David T

Tsochar said:
What would it take for the creation of a nation based around the use of Esperanto?

This ought to be quite a challenge, given that Esperanto is intended to be specifically non-nationalist and politically neutral in nature. However, that didn't stop Hitler from condemning Esperanto as part of a Jewish conspiracy. Perhaps, if it becomes more widespread in the early part of the 20th century, there might be enough Esperantists to try to band together and create their own multinational nation-state following their persecution in an alt-WWII.

What say you all? Is this idea just crazy enough to work, or just plain crazy?
Click to expand...

The young Stalin avidly studied Esperanto, which he regarded as the language of the future. http://books.google.com/books?id=kouXUFhmodEC&pg=PA203 We just have to get him to keep his enthusiasm. (As it was, of course, once in power he persecuted Esperantists as spies and traitors.)
 
Maeglin

Maeglin

OK. Got it. The country? San Marino.

The San Marino Academy of Sciences in OTL currently uses Esperanto as a teaching language. Let's have the San Marino Communist Party (who ruled democratically 1945-1957) implement language reform that involves Esperanto being universally taught and promoted.

As the years go by, San Marino wants to demonstrate its independence from Italy. So Esperanto becomes the first language of Government. People still speak Italian in their day to day lives, of course, but Esperanto is used for all formal occasions.
 
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