Johannes Klopper
Johannes Klopper | |
|---|---|
 Klopper, 1984 | |
| Born | July 8, 1930 Hondeburg, Dominion of Satavia |
| Died | December 19, 2009 (aged 79) University College Hospital, Port Hope |
| Buried | |
| Service | Satavian Army |
| Years of service | 1954-1976 |
| Rank | Lieutenant Colonel |
| Commands held | Commander Officer of the Hope Province Provincial Guard 7th Division, SDF 3 Kommando |
| Battles/wars | 1976 Satavian coup d'etat Battle of Divalberg Saltfields Massacre |
| Awards | Military Cross |
| Children | 2 |
Lt. Col. Johannes Klopper was a Satavian lieutenant colonel, who served as interim Prime Minister of Satavia for two months following the collapse of the National government. Klopper was instrumental in the 1976 Satavian coup d'etat which removed sitting Prime Minister General Hendrik Botha from office.
Klopper was born in Hondeburg during the Nuvanian occupation of Satavia. Klopper attended University College Port Hope before joining the Satavian Army in 1954. Klopper's promotion was slow; mainly due to the fact that he was a member of the Country Party, then the only legal opposition to the National Party.
In 1961, Klopper ordered men under his command in the town of Saltfields to fire upon a crowd of peaceful protests; leading to the deaths of 134 people, in what became one of the worst massacres of the National dictatorship. Klopper was later exonerated of any wrongdoing, by the High Court in 1961, and later again in 1977.
Klopper, by now controlling the 7th Division, was sent into the area of Divalberg, which was made up predominantly by ethnic minorities. Klopper's A Company, 7th Division were attacked by a crowd numbering around 5,500 people - A Company fired into the crowd, killing 79. In 1967, the same year as the battle, he was found to have acted well and responsibly. This decision was later affirmed by the Supreme Court in 1977.
Klopper is most noted for his actions during the 1975 and 1976 Satavian riots and protests. Klopper, by now Commanding Officer of the Hope Province Provincial Guard, had been ordered by the Satavian Government to move the provincial guard into Port Hope's center and to disperse the crowd and quell the unrest in the capital. Klopper refused twice, reporting to the Governor of the Hope Province that the road had been "blocked, preventing vehicular movement".
On the morning of 27th September, Klopper's forces moved into Port Hope but did not fire upon the protesters, instead joining them, whilst Klopper himself, supported by a division of soldiers, entered the Office of the Prime Minister and arrested Botha. Klopper's forces also seized the Office of the President, Parliament and several other governmnet buildings. Klopper appeared on national television the same day announcing the end of National Party's "reign of terror", and to inform the public that talks had already begun with several democratic organisations.
Fears that Klopper may hold onto power never materialised; instead, he steped back one month after taking power, handing power over to Eric Edwards and his Labor Party, who had won the 1976 election. Klopper retired from the army that year, and took a less active role in politics and the Defence Forces.
Klopper died in Port Hope aged 79, following a heart attack. He is burried in St Patrick's Cathedral, and was granted a state funeral, which Prime Minister Edward Norton spoke at. He is burried next to former Prime Minsiter Sydney Warwick, whom Klopper was a great admirer of.