Internacia Esperanto-Ligo
Encyclopedia
The Internacia Esperanto-Ligo (or International Esperanto League) was for 11 years the largest and most important neutral Esperanto
federation, reuniting in 1947 with the World Esperanto Association
, (Universala Esperanto-Asocio) from which it had broken away in 1936.
, delegates worked out a system which was to govern the Esperanto movement from 1923 till 1932. The Helsinki system divided each country's individual membership contributions between a national federation on the one hand and the UEA on the other and determined the membership of an international central committee. This committee decided on the use of funds for general tasks of the Esperanto movement, such as lobbying of international organizations.
brought into being a "new UEA". The World Esperanto Association
would become an umbrella organization with an international council or parliament, the vast majority of whose members would be delegates representing dues-paying national Esperanto federations. At-large Esperantist
s residing in countries without national Esperanto bodies would be entitled to elect a smaller number of delegates as well.
The new election system weakened the traditional internationalist outlook of the UEA, removed from office the idealist Esperanto movement leaders like Edmond Privat
, Johannes Waldemar Karsch
and Andrei Cseh, and turned the UEA into a loose confederation of national Esperanto associations with conflicting nationalist ideologies. The German Esperanto Association not only tried to accommodate itself to the Nazi regime but even adopted its racist theories, expelled its Jewish members and minimized the extent of Hitler's human rights abuses.
office, in the spring of 1936 the UEA Central Office announced plans to move its headquarters to London
.
Leaders of the Swiss Esperanto Society challenged the decision in Geneva district court
(Genfer Amtsgericht ) on the grounds that by the terms of the UEA constitution its headquarters was to be in Switzerland
, and delayed the move for a year. By March 1937 most national federations (except for Spain
, still in the throes of the civil war
, and Switzerland) had left the UEA and affiliated with the newly established International Esperanto League (IEL). The remaining Geneva UEA, with the support of Lidia Zamenhof
, the daughter of L.L. Zamenhof, taking a courageous stand against Nazi Germany
and their co-opting of the German Esperanto movement, spoke out against the regime and made efforts to help Jews desperate to flee persecution in Germany.
on behalf of eight national Esperanto associations to condemn fascism did not pass at the Berne
Congress, in part because of fears of having to take sides in the incipient Cold War
, the German association dedicated itself to anti-fascism and pacifism
. Anti-fascist sentiment was very popular among Esperantists; after all, Nazi Germany
had eventually prohibited Esperanto
in the Third Reich despite all the prewar attempts to meld the incompatible ideals of Esperantism and Nazi ideology.
By now atrophied to a shadow of its former self, the leadership of the Geneva UEA realized that an organization independent of the successful IEL had no future. Thus, at the first postwar Congress in 1947, they decided to reunify with the IEL under the old name of World Esperanto Association
(UEA).
Esperanto
is the most widely spoken constructed international auxiliary language. Its name derives from Doktoro Esperanto , the pseudonym under which L. L. Zamenhof published the first book detailing Esperanto, the Unua Libro, in 1887...
federation, reuniting in 1947 with the World Esperanto Association
World Esperanto Association
The World Esperanto Association is the largest international organization of Esperanto speakers, with members in 121 countries and in official relations with the United Nations and UNESCO. In addition to individual members, 70 national Esperanto organizations are affiliated to UEA...
, (Universala Esperanto-Asocio) from which it had broken away in 1936.
Helsinki system
At the UEA's founding in 1908, the question arose of how the UEA would work together with national Esperanto societies, some of which perceived the UEA as a competitor that might lure away their most active members. The UEA reached a loose cooperation agreement with the national federations in 1913, but it was of mostly symbolic character. Meeting at the 1922 World Esperanto Congress in HelsinkiHelsinki
Helsinki is the capital and largest city in Finland. It is in the region of Uusimaa, located in southern Finland, on the shore of the Gulf of Finland, an arm of the Baltic Sea. The population of the city of Helsinki is , making it by far the most populous municipality in Finland. Helsinki is...
, delegates worked out a system which was to govern the Esperanto movement from 1923 till 1932. The Helsinki system divided each country's individual membership contributions between a national federation on the one hand and the UEA on the other and determined the membership of an international central committee. This committee decided on the use of funds for general tasks of the Esperanto movement, such as lobbying of international organizations.
Cologne agreement
With the rise in nationalism, by 1932 most of the separate national organizations had announced that they wanted a greater role in the UEA structure. After some considerable confrontation the 1933 World Congress in CologneCologne
Cologne is Germany's fourth-largest city , and is the largest city both in the Germany Federal State of North Rhine-Westphalia and within the Rhine-Ruhr Metropolitan Area, one of the major European metropolitan areas with more than ten million inhabitants.Cologne is located on both sides of the...
brought into being a "new UEA". The World Esperanto Association
World Esperanto Association
The World Esperanto Association is the largest international organization of Esperanto speakers, with members in 121 countries and in official relations with the United Nations and UNESCO. In addition to individual members, 70 national Esperanto organizations are affiliated to UEA...
would become an umbrella organization with an international council or parliament, the vast majority of whose members would be delegates representing dues-paying national Esperanto federations. At-large Esperantist
Esperantist
An Esperantist is a person who speaks or uses Esperanto. Etymologically, an Esperantist is someone who hopes...
s residing in countries without national Esperanto bodies would be entitled to elect a smaller number of delegates as well.
The new election system weakened the traditional internationalist outlook of the UEA, removed from office the idealist Esperanto movement leaders like Edmond Privat
Edmond Privat
Edmond Privat was a Francophone Swiss Esperantist. A historian, university professor, author, journalist and peace activist, he was a graduate of the University of Geneva and a lecturer for the World Peace Foundation...
, Johannes Waldemar Karsch
Johannes Waldemar Karsch
Johannes Waldemar Karsch was a German Esperantist and a state auditor.Karsch became an Esperantist in 1908 and was soon secretary of a local group of the German Esperanto Association 1910-1914, serving as its president from 1924 on.After 1913 he was a member of the Komitato of the World Esperanto...
and Andrei Cseh, and turned the UEA into a loose confederation of national Esperanto associations with conflicting nationalist ideologies. The German Esperanto Association not only tried to accommodate itself to the Nazi regime but even adopted its racist theories, expelled its Jewish members and minimized the extent of Hitler's human rights abuses.
Esperanto's schism
To avoid financial catastrophe resulting from the high cost of maintaining a GenevaGeneva
Geneva In the national languages of Switzerland the city is known as Genf , Ginevra and Genevra is the second-most-populous city in Switzerland and is the most populous city of Romandie, the French-speaking part of Switzerland...
office, in the spring of 1936 the UEA Central Office announced plans to move its headquarters to London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
.
Leaders of the Swiss Esperanto Society challenged the decision in Geneva district court
District court
District courts are a category of courts which exists in several nations. These include:-Australia:District Court is the name given to the intermediate court in most Australian States. They hear indictable criminal offences excluding treason, murder and, in some States, manslaughter...
(Genfer Amtsgericht ) on the grounds that by the terms of the UEA constitution its headquarters was to be in Switzerland
Switzerland
Switzerland name of one of the Swiss cantons. ; ; ; or ), in its full name the Swiss Confederation , is a federal republic consisting of 26 cantons, with Bern as the seat of the federal authorities. The country is situated in Western Europe,Or Central Europe depending on the definition....
, and delayed the move for a year. By March 1937 most national federations (except for Spain
Spain
Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...
, still in the throes of the civil war
Spanish Civil War
The Spanish Civil WarAlso known as The Crusade among Nationalists, the Fourth Carlist War among Carlists, and The Rebellion or Uprising among Republicans. was a major conflict fought in Spain from 17 July 1936 to 1 April 1939...
, and Switzerland) had left the UEA and affiliated with the newly established International Esperanto League (IEL). The remaining Geneva UEA, with the support of Lidia Zamenhof
Lidia Zamenhof
Lidia Zamenhof was the youngest daughter of Ludwig Zamenhof, the creator of the international auxiliary language, Esperanto. She was born 29 January 1904 in Warsaw, then in the Russian Empire...
, the daughter of L.L. Zamenhof, taking a courageous stand against Nazi Germany
Nazi Germany
Nazi Germany , also known as the Third Reich , but officially called German Reich from 1933 to 1943 and Greater German Reich from 26 June 1943 onward, is the name commonly used to refer to the state of Germany from 1933 to 1945, when it was a totalitarian dictatorship ruled by...
and their co-opting of the German Esperanto movement, spoke out against the regime and made efforts to help Jews desperate to flee persecution in Germany.
Return to ideals
After the Second World War the German Esperanto Association purged itself of its Nazi past and of members like Anton Vogt, a Nazi party member who in 1935 had been UEA vice-president. While a resolution put forward by Dr. Ivo LapennaIvo Lapenna
Ivo Lapenna was a Jugoslav Professor of Law, Esperanto speaker, and President of the World Esperanto Association...
on behalf of eight national Esperanto associations to condemn fascism did not pass at the Berne
Berne
The city of Bern or Berne is the Bundesstadt of Switzerland, and, with a population of , the fourth most populous city in Switzerland. The Bern agglomeration, which includes 43 municipalities, has a population of 349,000. The metropolitan area had a population of 660,000 in 2000...
Congress, in part because of fears of having to take sides in the incipient Cold War
Cold War
The Cold War was the continuing state from roughly 1946 to 1991 of political conflict, military tension, proxy wars, and economic competition between the Communist World—primarily the Soviet Union and its satellite states and allies—and the powers of the Western world, primarily the United States...
, the German association dedicated itself to anti-fascism and pacifism
Pacifism
Pacifism is the opposition to war and violence. The term "pacifism" was coined by the French peace campaignerÉmile Arnaud and adopted by other peace activists at the tenth Universal Peace Congress inGlasgow in 1901.- Definition :...
. Anti-fascist sentiment was very popular among Esperantists; after all, Nazi Germany
Nazi Germany
Nazi Germany , also known as the Third Reich , but officially called German Reich from 1933 to 1943 and Greater German Reich from 26 June 1943 onward, is the name commonly used to refer to the state of Germany from 1933 to 1945, when it was a totalitarian dictatorship ruled by...
had eventually prohibited Esperanto
Esperanto
is the most widely spoken constructed international auxiliary language. Its name derives from Doktoro Esperanto , the pseudonym under which L. L. Zamenhof published the first book detailing Esperanto, the Unua Libro, in 1887...
in the Third Reich despite all the prewar attempts to meld the incompatible ideals of Esperantism and Nazi ideology.
By now atrophied to a shadow of its former self, the leadership of the Geneva UEA realized that an organization independent of the successful IEL had no future. Thus, at the first postwar Congress in 1947, they decided to reunify with the IEL under the old name of World Esperanto Association
World Esperanto Association
The World Esperanto Association is the largest international organization of Esperanto speakers, with members in 121 countries and in official relations with the United Nations and UNESCO. In addition to individual members, 70 national Esperanto organizations are affiliated to UEA...
(UEA).
Further reading
- Peter Glover Forster, The Esperanto Movement, 1982, Walter de Gruyter pub., 413 pages, ISBN 9027933995
- Marcus Sikosek (Ziko van Dijk): Die neutrale Sprache. Eine politische Geschichte des Esperanto-Weltbundes (German, The neutral language: A political history of the World Esperanto Association), Bydgoszcz: Skonpres 2006, ISBN 978-83-89962-03-4