Notes on Zeonism as practiced by Monaghan Baharov, prime minister of the Republic of Zeon
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In UC 0096, Monaghan Baharov was the a minister of the Republic of Zeon, which was a Federation-controlled puppet state governing Side 3, which contained the colonies of the former Republic of Zeon. Depending on whether you’re reading the novel or watching the anime, Baharov is either the Republic’s defense minister or its foreign minister. In addition to leading the puppet government, he’s the main sponsor of the Sleeves faction of militant Zeon Remnants.
Baharov has a very limited presence in the various Gundam stories, mainly appearing as a face on a video call, or a reference dropped by another character.
He is still an influential character.
In UC 0096, when Full Frontal describes his ideology to Princess Mineva Zabi and the crew of the captured Federation warship the Nahel Argama, Full Frontal claims that Baharov not only agrees with him, but that it was Baharov who came up with the idea of the Side Co-Prosperity Sphere that Full Frontal advocates for:
Full Frontal: The Space Migrant Independence Plan up till this point is determined by the Federation’s willingness to grant self-governance. Without looking at the example of the One Year War, we can be certain that the Federation will definitely not agree with this. Then, there’s no need to wait for their approval. It is my opinion that we ignore them.
Besides me, Defense Minister Monaghan Baharov of the Republic too has the same idea. Why will the Federation not agree to the independence of Spacenoids? It’s because Spacenoids are people who are abandoned in space. They [the Federation] feel that those are the descendents of those people who aren’t needed to Earth, people who are inferior to them. The people inferior to them are calling for their independence, wanting to be of equal standing to them, and selfishly insist that staying on Earth is a crime. The Federation government comprised of Earthnoids will naturally not agree to such insistences because they knew that once they accept it, Spacenoids would not simply be of equal standing, but may even lose the initiative.
The reason is simple. The current Earth Celestial Sphere can’t be established without Spacenoids. Energy, food, all economic activity is established by the 7 Sides and the Moon. In fact, the self-reliance can’t support the 2 billion Earthnoids. In contrast, Spacenoids are self-sufficient even if they break away from Earth.
The Federation will limit the authority the Spacenoids have and establish their authorities over the Side leaders, probably because they’re afraid of this truth. If all the Sides unite with each other, Earth will become a countryside that is without economic value. It will become a city with the shell of the Central Government, one without any sense of trustworthiness, a king going about naked. Zeon Deikun probably used this fact as a weapon. Once all the Sides unite together, establish an economic agreement, and exclude Earth, the Federation government will have no standing. He however was an outstanding thinker, and not a politician. The Zabi family is the same, twisting Zeonism and started a war of independence because of this. They never thought of the premise that the Federation had to recognize their independence, and can only use force to challenge.
It’s the same for the two Neo Zeon Wars. As long as we don’t give up on making others recognize our existence, there will be no day of victory in our battle against the Federation. The Spacenoids has a huge weapon in that it supports the Earth Celestial Sphere’s economy. The reason why the Federation deliberately lets us “Sleeves” escape is because they need us to keep the gear called the military requirement running, and this is proof that the Earth economy alone is insufficient.
We’ll strengthen the relationship of the Moon and the 7 sides, and fully exclude the center, forming a donut-shaped economic ring, a co-prosperity ring built around the Sides. As long as we don’t ask for Self-independence, the Federation will not pay too much attention to the interactions between the Spacenoids. With the lead of the enterprises, each Sides will continue to build clauses and agreements that don’t seem to have any problems on first glance. After that, we’ll build a united ring with common diplomacy and security measures…
Mineva: And this is where the Zeon Republic comes in…Monaghan Baharov, right?
Full Frontal: I don’t know if Minister Monaghan has any leadership qualities, but it was his proposal to have a Side co-prosperity ring, and only the Zeon Republic can form the basis of this. Perhaps quite a few people will feel repulsed by the name of Zeon, but Minister Baharov and I don’t care about it. The important thing is to create a united body that allows the Spacenoids to fight against the Federation. The entrepreneurs and investors who are unhappy about Earth’s squeezing system will most probably volunteer to assist once there is an opportunity.
The problem is that the Republic’s self-autonomy will have to be returned very soon. If it becomes the original Side 3 and is not allowed to have self-governance beyond its boundaries of author, the fad to create a co-prosperity ring amongst the Sides will not happen. Now, our problem here will be how to extend the deadline to this dissociation. At this moment, we received an invitation from the Vist Foundation, who wanted to hand the “Laplace Box” over to us…
I don’t think that Cardeas Vist knew of our plan. He probably proposed to hand over the “Box” at this time because he hated having the Federation system remain like this while the Republic dissolves. It is common knowledge that the Federation hopes to end Zeonism before that happens.
To us, it can be considered a blessing. This “Laplace Box” is said to be able to topple the Federation government…and if we can get it, we can ensure that the Federation will allow the Republic to coexist. If we ask for the revival of Zeon, the Federation may have no choice but to launch a full-scale war, but they may accept a request if we ask for a delay in the dissolving of the Republic. I thought it was worth a try, and wanted Zinnerman to head to the trading place, “Industrial 7”.
Mineva: I see. So that’s how it is. What you wanted to get from the "Box" is time, Captain. You want to buy time to delay the dissolution of the Republic and develop the Side co-prosperity ring.
Full Frontal: What you said is correct.
Volume 8, Chapter 3, Parts 8-11 of the Baka-Tsuki translation of Mobile Suit Gundam Unicorn available on The Internet Archive
Full Frontal believes that Baharov’s Zeonism is similar to his:
In response to a question from Princess Mineva Zabi, Garencieres captain Suberoa Zinnerman identifies Baharov as the sponsor of the Sleeves.
But the Sleeves are not Baharov’s only card in play.
Baharov, as a inister of the Republic of Zeon, fostered within the Republic Army a militant faction known as the “Wind’s Assembly”, which cooperates with the Sleeves to capture the Nahel Argama.
This group is best described by reading the entirety of Volume 8, chapter 2, part 4 of the Mobile Suit Gundam Unicorn novelization.