So Mot

Số Một (数没), born 鄧桑塔 Đặng Dâu Thạp (19 May 1882 – 15 April 1970), was a Kuehongese politician who governed Democratic Kuehong as its president from 1942 till 1954. Initially ideologically a communist and Kue nationalist, upon taking power, he enforced his interpretation of communism branded as Kue Socialism. His rule has been widely criticised as totalitarian, as he attempts to form an agrarian socialist society that would ultimately evolve into a communist society, leading to the deaths of many Kuehongese through forced labour and genocide.

Born in Jitian (now Tế Thiên), Bai Muinon, in the 1880s to a family of prosperous farmers, he later studied in Gobrassanya briefly where he was influenced by his communist friends and became communist. He returned to his homeland in 1909 with some of his fellow Kue communists and joined the nationalist movement against the Bai. So Mot quickly rose in prominence and later lead the Kue communist movement in 1927, becoming the general secretary of the Kue People's Communist Party (KPCP). The KPCP later went on to become more influential in the Phongthinh government while weakening the remaining KNA factions and eliminating rival communists.

After the war, the greatly weakened KNA was ousted through the October 31st September led by So Mot. His initial years saw some stability over Kuehong and reformations to the economy by nationalized the various industries and used the increasing state revenues to bolster the military (launching the Sự Đối Đầu movement against its neighbours), fund foreign revolutionaries, and implement social programs emphasizing house-building, healthcare and education projects. However, as the economy and other policies continue to fail due to his mismanagement of the economy, his rule became more autocratic. He took rather extreme measures that greatly isolated Kuehong, including his infamous Nhảy Tuyệt Vời policy that forcibly relocated the urban population to the countryside to work on collective farms. At the same time, mass purges were then conducted in hopes to eliminate those sabotaging the economy. These mass killings, coupled with malnutrition and poor medical care, killed between 1.5 and 2 million people, approximately a quarter of the population. Repeated purges generated growing discontent; by 1950 the army, which has not really supported the communists, were mounting a rebellion in the east.

So Mot's rule ended on 7 April 1954, when the military-led rebellion by 陈卡诺 Trần Tạp Nặc overthrew the communists through a coup. So Mot was forced to flee from the country upon losing power; his whereabouts were unknown until he was discovered and arrested by Gobrassian authorities in 1969 for using a fake Belphenian passport. So Mot managed to evade the authorities and seek asylum in the Antigoan embassy, until nearly a year later when he decided to turn himself over to the authorities. Before he could be deported back to Kuehong for his crimes against humanity, So Mot died in mysterious circumstances on 15 April 1970, presumably by suicide.

Early life
So Mot was born in Jitian, Basheng, then one of the provinces of Bai Muinon, on 19 May 1882, according to Bai records, though he claimed that he was born on 6 July 1882, which matches the lucky and auspicious numbers of Kuehong. His name was Đặng Dâu Thạp, taking on the surname of his father.