white terror

white terror

White terror describes the social unrest caused by the persecution of political dissidents by the rulers in an autocratic society.

It is said that the name originated from the period of Paris Commune. The flag of revolutionaries was red, while the flag of government troops who killed revolutionaries wantonly was white, so it was called "white terror".

The origin of vocabulary

White terror began during the French Revolution, when Robespierre massacred dissident revolutionaries and royalists on a large scale. Another source is that during the period of Paris Commune, the flag of revolutionaries was red, while the flag of the government troops who slaughtered revolutionaries was white, so it was named "white terror".

Source history

After the restoration of the Bourbon Dynasty (Louis XVIII) in 1815, it restored its rule, implemented white terror, set up military courts and special courts to try a large number of revolutionaries. In 1820, Duke Berry was assassinated. The parliament passed the extraordinary measures proposed by the extremists. The censorship of the press was strengthened, and the Catholic forces regained control of the power of culture and education, which is called the second white terror. on March 28, 1871, the "Paris Commune", as the "working class de facto government", was formally established. With the help of the Prussian army, the government launched an attack on the commune members. Members of the commune also revolted. Because the flag representing the commune could not be found for a while, a female worker in the commune tore a piece of red cloth from her red skirt as the symbol of the commune. Since then, red has been cited as a symbol of all progressive enthusiasm and class liberation against injustice. In contrast, the forces representing reactionary and conservative forces are "white", and all the terrorist and repressive actions launched by them are the so-called "white terror".

Historical stage

Chinese Mainland

On April 12, 1927, Chiang Kai Shek launched the April 12 coup and persecuted the Communist Party and other political dissidents until he was defeated in 1949. He oppressed "left wing" writers from 1927 to 1937 and 1946 to 1949. In 1931, Deng Yanda, a leftist of the Kuomintang, was executed. The seven gentlemen incident in the middle of 1936. in 1946, Li Gongpu and Wen Yiduo, leaders of the China Democratic League, were assassinated by the authorities.

Taiwan, China

There are two versions of Taiwan's "white terror" period. One is that the "February 28" incident took place in 1947. Two years later, people's hearts floated and the authorities decided to clean up. Between that year and the 38 years when martial law was lifted in 1987. On the other hand, between 1949 and 1991, the authorities abolished the "Regulations on punishing rebellion" and "Regulations on inspecting and eliminating bandits and spies during the period of suppressing rebellion". During the "white terror" period in Taiwan, a large number of important archival data were kept in the Ankang reception room of the "bureau of investigation" which specialized in interrogating and imprisoning political prisoners and criminal felons. However, the media recently made a direct attack on the scene and found that the reception room was like a ruin without management, including the precious materials interrogated by the late chairman of the Democratic Progressive Party Huang Xinjie and the late writer Bo Yang during the martial law period were discarded like garbage. On August 30, 1987, the Taiwan Association of political victims was established. on September 27, 1988, the Taiwan Mutual Aid Association for political victims was established. In 1992, 100 articles of the criminal law were abolished. Article 100 of the criminal law, the so-called "crime of speech and civil strife", combined with the "Regulations on punishing rebellion" during the period of "mobilization and suppression of rebellion", is the source of law that led to 4000 people being shot and tens of thousands of people being imprisoned for a long time. on September 26, 1997, the Association for the promotion of the rehabilitation of white terror cases in the 1950s was established. The main demands are as follows: 1. 2. Urge the government to release relevant information. 3. The "white terror Memorial Park" in Liuzhangli and Machang town was established. On June 17, 1998, it promulgated and formulated the regulations on compensation for improper rebellion and bandit spy trial cases during the period of martial law. On September 5, the "compensation fund for improper rebellion and bandit espionage trial cases during the period of martial law" was set up to pay compensation to the families of the victims. In 1999, the publication law, which controlled speech and provided the legal basis for literary inquisition, was abolished. In August 2000, after two terms as mayor, Taipei municipal government set up Machang town Memorial Park to commemorate all political prisoners who were shot here. In December 2000, the Taipei County Government set up a monument to commemorate the "Deer Cave incident.". On December 29, 1952, the army and police surrounded the Luku mountain area in Taipei County and wantonly rounded up the underground Communists. More than 200 people were arrested in the first four months, which was the most important political case in Taiwan in the 1950s. in 2001, the criminal law of the army, navy and air force was amended, so that soldiers were also protected by constitutional human rights. Only two of the original 44 "only death penalty" are left after revision. In 2001, the law on compensation for unjust imprisonment was amended to expand the scope of compensation to include hooligans. In 2002, the "Regulations on punishing bandits" was abolished. On June 2, 2002, a human rights monument was set up in Green Island, where political felons were imprisoned for many years. The author of the inscription is Bo Yang, a writer who had been imprisoned here for 12 years: "at that time, how many mothers cried for their children imprisoned on this island all night." On January 11, 2003, Liuzhangli's "mass burial mound" officially became a "memorial park for political victims during the martial law period", which was open to the public.