Editing History of Esperanto (section)

== Declaration of Boulogne to present (1905–present)==
The [[World Esperanto Congress]] has been held every year since 1905, except during the two [[world wars]] and the [[COVID-19 pandemic]].

The autonomous territory of [[Neutral Moresnet]], between Belgium and Germany, had a sizable proportion of Esperanto-speakers among its small and multiethnic population. There was a proposal to make Esperanto its official language. In 1908, it was eventually accepted alongside [[Dutch language|Dutch]], [[German language|German]], and [[French language|French]].<ref>{{Cite web |last=Carter |first=Dylan |date=2023-10-16 |title=The forgotten tale of Neutral Moresnet |url=https://www.brusselstimes.com/742058/the-forgotten-tale-of-neutral-moresnet |access-date=2025-04-07 |website=Brussels Times |language=en}}</ref> There was also a large Esperanto group led by [[Anna Tuschinski]] in the [[Free City of Danzig]].<ref>{{Cite web |date=2021-03-26 |title=Anna Eliza Tuschinski (1841–1939) |url=https://www.reformacja-pomorze.pl/2021/03/26/anna-eliza-tuschinski1841-1939/ |access-date=2023-06-02 |website=Committee for Celebrating the 500th Anniversary of the Reformation in Pomerania |language=pl-PL}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Daniluk |first=Jan |date=2017-08-13 |title=90 lat od spotkania esperantystów w Gdańsku |trans-title=90 Years Since the Meeting of Esperanto Speakers in Gdańsk |url=https://historia.trojmiasto.pl/90-lat-od-spotkania-esperantystow-w-Gdansku-n115510.html |access-date=2023-06-02 |website=Trojmiasto.pl |language=pl}}</ref>

In the early 1920s, a great opportunity seemed to arise for Esperanto when the [[Iran]]ian delegation to the [[League of Nations]] proposed that it be adopted for use in international relations, following a report by [[Nitobe Inazō]], an official delegate of League of Nations during the 13th World Congress of Esperanto in Prague.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Zaft |first=Sylvan |title=Esperanto: A Language for the Global Village |date=2002 |publisher=Esperanto Antauen Publishing |location=Calgary |chapter=Chapter Two: From a Dream to a Reality |access-date=<!--24 February 2018--> |chapter-url=http://www.esperanto.ie/en/zaft/zaft_2.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150924002210/http://www.esperanto.ie/en/zaft/zaft_2.html |archive-date=24 September 2015 |url-status=dead |via=Website of the Esperanto Association of Ireland}}</ref> Ten delegates accepted the proposal with only one voice against, the French delegate, [[Gabriel Hanotaux]], who employed France's Council veto privilege to squash all League attempts at the recognition of Esperanto, starting on the first vote on 18 December 1920 and continuing through the next three years.{{Citation needed|date=August 2020}} Hanotaux did not like how the French language was losing its position as the international language and saw Esperanto as a threat. However, two years later the League recommended that its member states include Esperanto in their educational curricula. The French retaliated by banning all instruction in Esperanto in French schools and universities.{{Citation needed|date=August 2020}} The French Ministry of Instruction said that acceptance of Esperanto would mean that "French and English would perish and that the literary standard of the world would be debased".{{Citation needed|date=August 2020}} Nonetheless, many people see the 1920s as the heyday of the Esperanto movement.

In 1941, the Soviet Union started performing mass arrests, deportations, and killings of many Esperantists and their relatives for fear of an anti-nationalistic movement, but it was interrupted by the [[Operation Barbarossa|Nazi invasion]].<ref>{{Cite book |last=Sutton |first=Geoffrey |title=Concise Encyclopedia of the Original Literature of Esperanto 1887–2007 |date=2008 |publisher=Mondial |isbn=978-1-59569-090-6 |location=New York |page=162 |language=en}}</ref>

Hitler wrote in ''[[Mein Kampf]]''<ref>{{Cite book |last=Hitler |first=Adolf |url=https://archive.org/details/meinkampf035176mbp |title=Mein Kampf |date=1941 |publisher=Reynal & Hitchcock |volume=1 |location=New York |page=[https://archive.org/details/meinkampf035176mbp/page/422 423] |language=en |chapter=Chapter XI |author-link=Adolf Hitler |via=[[Internet Archive]]}}</ref> that Esperanto was created as a universal language to unite the Jewish [[diaspora]].

The creation of a [[Judenrein|Jew-free]] [[National German Esperanto League]] was not enough to placate the Nazis.
The teaching of Esperanto was not allowed in [[List of prisoner-of-war camps in Germany|German prisoner-of-war camp]]s during World War II. Esperantists sometimes were able to get around the ban by convincing guards that they were teaching Italian, the language of Germany's closest ally.

[[File:Sixday.jpg|thumb|A Soviet calendar page for 22 October 1935 including the Esperanto ''oktobro'' among other translations.]]
In the early years of the [[Soviet Union]], Esperanto was given a measure of government support, and an officially recognized Soviet Esperanto Association came into being.<ref name="Harlow">[http://donh.best.vwh.net/Esperanto/EBook/chap07.html Donald J. Harlow, The Esperanto Book, chapter 7] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101201024512/http://donh.best.vwh.net/Esperanto/EBook/chap07.html |date=1 December 2010 }}</ref> However, in 1937, Stalin reversed this policy and the use of Esperanto was effectively banned until 1956.<ref name="Harlow" />
While Esperanto itself was not enough cause for execution, its use was extended among Jews or trade unionists and encouraged contacts with foreigners.{{Citation needed|date=February 2022}}

[[Kingdom of Italy under Fascism (1922–1943)|Fascist Italy]], on the other hand, made some efforts of promoting [[tourism in Italy]] through Esperanto leaflets and appreciated the similarities of Italian and Esperanto.

[[Estado Novo (Portugal)|Portugal's right-wing governments]] cracked down on the language from 1936 until they were deposed in the [[Carnation Revolution]] of 1974.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Melo |first=Daniel |date=2022-04-01 |title=‘Living Normally’: Everyday Life Under Salazarism |url=https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/02656914221085129 |journal=European History Quarterly |language=en |volume=52 |issue=2 |pages=200–220 |doi=10.1177/02656914221085129 |issn=0265-6914|hdl=10362/138560 |hdl-access=free }}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |last=Nelsson |first=Richard |last2=Nelsson |first2=compiled by Richard |date=2024-04-24 |title=Portugal’s Carnation Revolution – archive, April 1974 |url=https://www.theguardian.com/theguardian/2024/apr/24/portugal-carnation-revolution-archive-1974 |access-date=2025-02-13 |work=The Guardian |language=en-GB |issn=0261-3077}}</ref> After the [[Spanish Civil War]], [[Francoist Spain]] cracked down on the [[Anarchism in Spain|Anarchists]] and [[Catalan nationalist]]s among whom the speaking of Esperanto had been quite widespread; but in the 1950s, the Esperanto movement was tolerated again,<ref name="Del Barrio">''[http://www.nodo50.org/esperanto/artik68es.htm La utilización del esperanto durante la Guerra Civil Española]'', [[Toño del Barrio]] and [[Ulrich Lins]]. Paper for the International Congress on the Spanish Civil War, (Madrid, 27–29 November 2006).</ref> with [[Francisco Franco]] accepting the honorary patronage of the [[Madrid World Esperanto Congress]].{{Citation needed|date=January 2015}}

The [[Cold War]], especially in the 1950s and 1960s, put a damper on the Esperanto movement as well, as there were fears on both sides that Esperanto could be used for enemy propaganda. However, the language experienced something of a renaissance in the 1970s and spread to new parts of the world, such as its veritable explosion in popularity in Iran in 1975. By 1991 there were enough African Esperantists to warrant a pan-African congress. The language continues to spread, although it is not officially recognised by any country, and is part of the state educational curriculum of only a few.

In 2022 an Esperanto club was founded on the [[Amundsen–Scott South Pole Station]] making Antarctica the last continent with organized Esperantists.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://icecube.wisc.edu/news/life-at-the-pole/2022/05/week-19-at-the-pole-2/ | title=Week 19 at the Pole | date=20 May 2022 }}</ref>
[[File:Esperanto-Klubo-Amundsen-Scott-2022.jpg|thumb|Esperanto Club on the [[Amundsen–Scott South Pole Station]] in 2022]]