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Antelope Yunglang Антелопе Йунгланг 令狐永梁 | |
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Eternal Chairman of the Liberationist Party of Namor (Appellation) | |
Assumed office 2 February 1951 | |
2nd Chairman of the Liberationist Party of Namor | |
In office 3 December 1903 – 11 November 1950 | |
Preceded by | Chao Chunguk |
Succeeded by | Office abolished |
1st President-General of Namor | |
In office 28 March 1950 – 1 May 1960 | |
Preceded by | Office created |
Succeeded by | Mikhail Zo |
Deputy in the Namorese Central Council | |
In office 28 March 1925 – 11 November 1950 | |
Vice Chairman of the Liberationist Party of Namor | |
In office 28 December 1899 – 3 December 1903 | |
Preceded by | Txo Hongshe |
Succeeded by | Mikhail Sxo |
Personal details | |
Born | February 2, 1871 Fenhan, Tungun, Great Hào Empire |
Died | November 11, 1950 (age 79) Namo, Capital District, Namor |
Nationality | Namorese |
Political party | Liberationist |
Spouse | Chi Sangmei |
Children | Antelope Gelai Antelope Inling |
Alma mater | Nozama City University |
Antelope Yunglang (February 2, 1871 - November 11, 1950) was a Namorese politician, revolutionary and writer who led the Liberationist Party of Namor. He was the inaugural President-General of the People's Republic of Namor from 1950 to 1960, though his position as Chairman of the Liberationist Party enabled him to stay the de facto leader of the country for life.
Born to a peasant family that participated in the Kansist uprising of 1871-1886, Antelope attended Nozama City University, where he became affiliated with anti-Hao figures and groups. In 1896, he joined the Liberationist Party of Namor and became its chief theoretician. Following Namor's defeat in the First Namo-Luziycan War, he participated in protests against Hao rule, which were met with a heavy-handed suppression by the authorities. After the death of Liberationist chairman Chao Chunguk at the hands of government forces, Antelope took control of the party and organized an armed insurrection in the town of Tanken in 1900. He spent the next several years leading an anti-Hao insurgency in the Northern Mountains.
In the aftermath of the Double Fourth Revolution, Antelope pledged allegiance to the new constitutional monarchy and was named Governor of West Nozama, earning him and his party both official recognition and significant influence. But in 1915, he broke ranks with the government after monarchists returned to power and switched allegiance to the Republic of Namor in the Unification War. After the republican victory, the Liberationists entered another civil war, this time with the Republican Party of Namor led by Jung To. The war ended in a victory for the Liberationists, and the People's Republic of Namor was established on March 28, 1925, with Antelope as its President-General.
Under Antelope's rule, Liberationist Namor tried to achieve economic self-sufficiency by reducing trade with the outside world. The state nationalized all industries, combined farmland to create collective farms, and invested heavily in education and infrastructure. At the same time, Antelope initiated a series of purges against perceived enemies of the state, causing the deaths, imprisonment, and persecution of over 31 million people according to a 1997 report released by the Jenyikan Commission. After his presidency ended in 1935, Antelope's authority was challenged by rivals within the party, leading Antelope to launch the "Movement to Implement Comprehensive Liberationism," more commonly known as the Green Fever, in 1940. Although government authorities intervened to restrict activities associated with the Fever in 1942, it did not officially end until after Antelope's death in 1950 at the age of 79. His body was cremated and his remains were stored in the Mausoleum of Antelope Yunglang in his birthplace of Fenhan, East Nozama.
The legacy of Antelope Yunglang remains a controversial subject both in Namor and abroad. While supporters credit him for restoring stability to Namor, improving the status of women, ethnic minorities and other historically repressed segments of Namorese society, and improving both the life expectancy and literacy rate, critics say his dictatorial policies led to an economic downturn and millions of deaths.
Biography
Youth and early revolutionary activity (1871 - 1900)
Childhood
Little is known about Antelope Yunglang's early life other than what is found in Lifelong Revolution, the autobiography of Antelope Yunglang that was published in 1929. The autobiography states that Antelope was born in Fenhan, then a village in present-day East Nozama, on February 2, 1871. Both his parents were peasants — his father, Antelope Suying, lived in Fenhan all his life, while his mother, Ge Ju, grew up in a neighboring village and moved to Fenhan after she was arranged to marry Suying.
Not so long after Antelope Yunglang's birth, the Chen Minko Rebellion broke out. When the rebellion spread to East Nozama, Antelope Suying joined the rebels and left Ge Ju in Fenhan to raise Yunglang, but never returned. Presuming Suying to be dead, Ge sought refuge in a Txoist temple in Ahoi, East Namor, where her cousin, Ge Chang, was the head priest. Ge Chang admitted Ge Ju into the temple and accepted Yunglang as his stepson. Under the care of Ge Chang, Antelope studied Txoist texts in order to become a Txoist priest, thereby becoming one of the few literate members of his family. During his training, Antelope also gained exposure to non-Txoist texts, including a copy of the Declaration of Expelling the Hào which Chen Minko had written to declare the beginning of his rebellion. The declaration is said to have influenced Antelope profoundly, convincing him that his father had sacrificed himself for a just cause.
In 1889, with Ge Chang's help, Antelope entered Nozama City University, the first university in Namor.
First Namo-Luziycan War and joining the Liberationist Party
Though Antelope was opposed to Hao rule, he did not identify as a republican, but a constitutional monarchist. He wrote in a journal entry dated 1890 that he believed the Hao dynasty needed to be replaced, "peaceably if possible," by a monarchy headed by a Kannei Namorese, preferably a descendant of Dan Yensun. Antelope avoided persecution by not publicizing his views and meeting with like-minded people only in secret.
Antelope joined the Hao army after the outbreak of the First Namo-Luziycan War in 1897. He was scornful of the lack of discipline within the army, the mistreatment of soldiers during and after the war, and government corruption — all of which he identified as reasons for Luziyca's victory and the incompetence of the Hao dynasty. According to Antelope's autobiography, Antelope and several other troops were stranded on top of a hill after being abandoned by Hao troops retreating from the Luziycan invasion of Nantai. The stranded troops successfully fought their way out of the hill, killing a hundred Luziycans while losing half of their own. The survivors fled to safety and rejoined the rest of the Hao army, only to be discharged on the grounds that they did not obey orders to retreat. Antelope returned to Nozama City more resentful to the Hao dynasty than ever.
In 1898, Antelope joined the Liberationist Party of Namor, a republican organization which was distinguished by its anti-imperialist and vanguardist ideology. He became the editor-in-chief of The Liberator, the publication of the party that would later become the most widely-read newspaper under Liberationist rule. He also became a member of the Party Central Committee. Antelope claimed his elevation to the Central Committee established himself as a "key figure" within the party before he became Chairman; however, none of party leader Cho Chunguk's letters to his close comrades in the party either mentioned Antelope or were addressed to Antelope, lending credence to theories that Antelope was actually a peripheral figure in the party leadership, and that it was only after most of the Liberationist Party's original leadership was eliminated when Antelope assumed real control.
Leadership of the Liberationist Party (1900 - 1925)
Union of Revolutionary Councils
The signing of the Treaty of Tatra in 1899 that forced Namor to give major territorial concessions to Luziyca sparked nationwide protests against the Hao regime. The Liberationists joined in the protests, demanding an end to the absolute monarchy and the repudiation of the Treaty of Tatra. In response, the Rungchi Emperor issued an edict ordering a crackdown on all opposition activities. Thousands of republican sympathizers, including Cho Chunguk and most members of the Liberationist leadership, were arrested and executed. Antelope, whose role in The Liberator earned him the attention of authorities, fled Nozama City and returned to his uncle's home in Ahoi, where he and other surviving party members reorganized the Liberationist Party with himself as its chairman. Under Antelope's leadership, the Liberationists shifted towards agrarianism, viewing peasants as the primary drivers of sociopolitical change. The party no longer regarded reform to be a viable means of achieving change and advocated for violent resistance.
In 1900, Antelope led an armed insurrection of disgruntled Hao soldiers in Tanken and successfully captured the city. Taking advantage of the Hao authorities' slow response, the insurrectionists went on to capture neighboring towns and villages around Tanken Lake, setting up "revolutionary councils" everywhere they went. In 1901, Hao troops recaptured Tanken and forced the Liberationists to resettle in Pinrang, a mountainous village north of Tanken Lake. To demonstrate the continuity of the revolution, Antelope formally announced the creation of the Union of Revolutionary Councils (URC), a federation of revolutionary councils led by the Liberationist Party. The URC is considered by some to be the first Namorese republic, although it never controlled most of Namor or enjoyed international recognition. The URC's political structure, which was centered around mass councils, would influence the political system of the early People's Republic of Namor.