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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.
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.
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 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 (in Japanese, "ア・バオア・くー", "A Baoa Kuu"), 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. 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 rebelion, 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 Germans. 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 a mobile suit named Kämpfer (German for fighter). In Gundam 0083, a mobile suit named Neue Ziel (German for new goal) was introduced. In Char's Counterattack, German theme continued with mobile suit named Jagd Doga (Jagd is 'hunt' in German).
Starting from Gundam F-91, the Nazi German themes were no longer introduced. However, in G Gundam, there was a German mobile suit named Gundam Spiegel, but the series itself was represented in such a way that it doesn't heavily emphasized on Germans.
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.
External Links
Gion/Zion/Zeon/Jion message thread (http://gundam.aeug.org/archives/1999/09/0725.html)
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