Principality of Zeon
In the TV anime Gundam (Universal Century series) universe, Zeon can refer to either: Republic of Zeon, Principality of Zeon or Neo-Zeon. It is also referred to as the Duchy of Zeon.
In the Star Trek episode, Patterns of Force, Zeon was a planet in the same system as the planet Ekos, which had (thanks to interference by Federation historian John Gill, who had been sent as a cultural observer) developed a Nazi culture; on Ekos, Zeons were the persecuted minority, analogous to the Jews in Nazi Germany.
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The Republic of Zeon
The Republic of Zeon was initially founded by Zeon Zum Deikun, who declared the colony located at the second Earth-Luna Lagrangian Point, named Side 3, independent from the Earth Federation in UC0058. For the next several years, Zeon Zum Deikun and his followers dealt with issues surrounding their independence, chiefly the economic pressure applied to Side 3 by the Earth Federation in their effort to force Side 3 back into the Federation. During this time Side 3 formed its first national guard unit. Unfortunately for the Republic of Zeon, Zeon Zum Diekun unexpectedly died in UC 0068, leaving Side three without a leader.
The Principality of Zeon
After Daikun's (suspicious) death, his advisor, Degwin Sodo Zabi becomes leader and renames it the Principality of Zeon. Degwin rapidly expands the colony's national guard units into a full fledged army. Mobile Suits and other unique weapons make their first appearance, and before long war is declared on the Earth Federation. This is when the Zeon Space Attack Force and Zeon Mobile Assault Force forms.
The result is the One-Year War. The first week, known as the One-Week War (Jan 3 – Jan 10, UC0079) resulted in more than a quarter of the Earth's population of 12 billion people perishing, especially residents of the Side 5 colonies. The Earth Federation and the Principality of Zeon signed the Antarctic Treaty (Jan 31) to prevent nuclear warhead use and colony drops as a result of the astounding losses.
The very next day (Feb 1) after the treaty, Zeon begins the formation of its Zeon Earth Attack Force. By the middle of 0079, the Zeon forces had control of about 70% of the Earth. Nevertheless, after several major operations (Velvet, Odessa, et al.), the Earth Federation regained much of the lost ground. The war eventually climaxed in the Battles of Solomon and A Baoa Qu, finally resulting in the end of the war. The final surrender occurred with the Treaty of Granada on January 14, UC0080.
Several years later (UC0083), the Delaz fleet, under Aiguille Delaz, sought to rebuild Zeon in Operation Stardust and the resulting colony drop destroyed much of the North American farmland. The Delaz fleet was soon defeated, but the war led to the Earth Federation's creation of a force called the Titans to prevent future insurrection.
The First Neo-Zeon Movement
Several more years passed as the Titans reigned with brute force. In UC0088 the Titans were eventually defeated by the Anti Earth Union Group (AEUG). Afterwards, seeing this opportunity, a new Zeon arose under the leadership of Haman Karn. The Haman Karn led Neo-Zeon Movement was aimed at resurrecting the Principality of Zeon under Minova Loa Zabi, herself a puppet to Khan. This movement met with fierce resistance from the AEUG. For the next year or so, the bulk of the Earth Federation's military might went into fighting the Neo Zeon. Haman Karn's movement died with her during Glemy Toto's rebellion, thus concluding the First New Zeon War.
The Second Neo-Zeon Movement
In UC0093, Zeon Daikun's son, Casval Rem Deikun (aka Char Aznable, the Red Comet) created a second Neo-Zeon. This movement was founded under the goal of moving all of humanity into space so the Earth could be a sanctuary. Char's plans involved colliding the huge asteroid, named Axis, onto the Earth, thus making it uninhabitable, but his plan was foiled by the Federation's Londo Bell taskforce, headed by Bright Noa, and his old adversary from the One Year War, Amuro Ray. Char's loss of the Second Neo-Zeon War effectively ended the Zeon/Neo Zeon movement.
In UC0100, The Republic of Zeon officially rejoined the Earth Federation.
Trivia
Early official romanizations were rendered "Zion." Early fansubbers often used the alternate romanization "Jion", derived from the pronunciation of the Japanese name, "ジオン". Frederick Schodt chose to use "Zeon" when he translated the Gundam novels into English, and this later became the official romanization. In the Cartoon Network run and English localization of Mobile Suit Gundam, the Zeons were also derisively referred to as "Zeeks", originally taken from one of the many Gundam side stories written by Kazuhisa Kondo and added by translator Neil Nadelman, to reflect the tendency to nickname war enemies, i.e. Yankees(Civil War), Commies(Cold War), Charlie(Vietnam). The Zeons uses similar nicknames for the Earth Federal Forces, such as "Feddies", which were used in fansubs prior to Gundam's official release.
The Zeon-German connection
In early Bandai plastic Gundam model kits, "Principality of Zeon" was titled "Zion Dukedom", as an attempt to model Zeon after Nazi Germany. In some cases, "Herzogtum" (German for "dukedom") was used. In the first Gundam series, Teutonic themed mobile suits included Dom (German for "cathedral" or "minster"). In Gundam 0080, there was the prototype mobile suit, Kämpfer (German for "fighter"), and a variation of the Gelgoog, the Gelgoog Jäger (German for "hunter"). In Gundam 0083, there was a gigantic mobile armour at the end of the series named Neue Ziel (German for "new goal"); also, two new varients of the Dom were introduced: the Dom Tropen (German for "tropical") and the Dom Fünf (German for "five"). In ZZ Gundam, Zeon's tradition of Germanifying mechs continued (albeit more and more of them started to sound Asian/African in origin, like the Jamru Fin and the Gaza-C), with the Sturm Dias (Sturm is German for "storm"), and the Dreissen (this may of may not be a corruption of the German word "dreizehn", which is "thirteen", but the "drei" indicates that the number three is involved; plus, it even looks like a Dom). In Char's Counterattack, the German-themed mobile suits ended with the Jagd Doga (Jagd is 'hunt' in German).
Starting from Gundam F-91, the Nazi German themes were no longer introduced, mostly due to the shift from Zeon to the Crossbone Vanguard. However, in G Gundam, there was a German mobile fighter called the Gundam Spiegel, but the series itself was represented in such a way that it doesn't heavily emphasized on Germans. In fact, G Gundam had machines from many different nations, bringing out stereotypes and customs from each nation. The Spiegel bore a Wehrmacht-like helmet, and its special attack was called the "Sturm Und Drang" (Storm and Urge/pressure).
When Bandai re-issued new Gundam plastic model kits in 1999, "Zion Dukedom" was renamed to "Principality of Zeon". In the official Sunrise-approved name list, it was explained that the "kokoku" is used to describe the real-world principalities of Andorra, Monaco, et cetera. However, it may have more to do with the later attempt of Bandai trying to market the original Mobile Suit Gundam series in North America. In particular, naming Zion as an evil Germanic entity could have lead to uproar and boycott by Jewish community due to North America's obsession with political correctness.
Also to support this connection is the Adolf Hitler reference in episode 40 of Mobile Suit Gundam (episode 39 in the English dub). The head of the Zabi family, Degwin Sodo Zabi, asked his eldest son (and the person with all the real power), Gihren Zabi, what he wanted to do if and when he managed to destroy the Earth Federation with the Solar Ray System. Gihren says that he will lower the human population and only permit breeding among the "superior races". Degwin asks him if he's heard of Adolf Hitler, and Gihren responds that he thinks he was a person from the Middle Ages (not to be confused with the Middle Ages we know), and Degwin says that he was a tyrant, and a madman, "completely out of touch with the rest of the world". He notes that Gihren is following him. Gihren claims that he will be victorious, and tells his father that he should "see how a Hitler follower fights" (in some versions, he calls himself a "Hitler Tail"). Degwin mutters that Hitler was defeated (in some versions, he says that Hitler was killed by his own people). While Gihren never claims which people are the "superior races", this is perhaps the greatest proof that he is much like Hitler, who felt that the Germans, or the Aryan race, were truly superior. Both also hate democracy, and had a nasty affiliation with guns and their heads (despite the fact that Hitler shot himself, and Kycilia Zabi shot Gihren in the head).
Other similarities between both the Nazis and Zeon include rallying cries, their defeat and rebirth, even the term axis. The two most familiar Nazi phrases are "Heil Hitler" and "Sieg Heil", meaning, respectively, "Hail Hitler" and "Victory and Glory". Gihren Zabi coined the phrase "Sieg Zeon" at his younger brother, Garma's, funeral. This has been used in many of the Japanese series with Zeon in them, but the Americans changed this in the two Vancouver dubbed Universal Century series, Mobile Suit Gundam, and Char's Counterattack; to keep the phrase in a similar fashion, it was mearly changed to "Hail Zeon". This is not true of American-dubbed versions. Most notably the 08th MS Team's Ginias Saharin used the "Sieg Zeon" cry in even the English version, although this is because the series was translated before Mobile Suit Gundam was dubbed in English.
Zeon, like many other empires, met its fateful collapse when it was defeated by the Earth Federation in early January UC 0080. However, many Zeon loyalists sought refuge with either the Delaz Fleet or the asteroid Axis (one must also note that the term axis may or may not refer to the Axis powers of World War 2, which included Italy, Germany, and Japan (WW2)). Zeon did not resurface for 3 more years, when the Delaz Fleet found the ample time to attack the Federation, mostly by stealing their nuclear-armed Gundam GP02A "Physalis", and using it against the amassed ships at Konpeito. Axis Zeon (nicknamed Axis) gave the Delaz Fleet their prototype mobile armour, the Neue Ziel, but did not attack the Federation directly. They later reappeared in full force in mid-UC 0087, and played both the Anti Earth Union Group (AEUG), and the Federations' facsist Titans division against each other, siding with whoever could make the best deal. With the Titans extinct and the AEUG weakened, Axis Zeon began their compaign to conquer Earth, eventually renaming themselves "Neo Zeon" (almost like the newer Nazi associations calling themselves "Neo Nazis"). Neo Zeon met its end, and a second Neo Zeon movement also failed to accomplish its goals.
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Categories: Section stubs | Gundam locations | Universal Century | Fictional governments