History of Haiti

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The history of Haiti relates to the history of the Caribbean state of Haiti , which today comprises the western half of the island of Hispaniola . Haiti was the first country in Latin America to liberate itself from colony status (in this case France ) and gain independence in 1804. After the USA , Haiti was also the second state on the American continent to do this on its own - through the Haitian Revolution . The history of the country also includes over 200 years of Spanish colonial rule (1492-1697), which the country shares with the Dominican Republic on the eastern half of the island, as well as 300 years of slavery for the majority of the population, which after the extermination of the indigenous indigenous population was largely forced off Africa displaced people or their descendants existed. It was not until the 17th century that France's influence in what is now Haiti began to oust and eventually replace Spanish rule. From this point on, the lines of development of the eastern, Spanish-influenced and western (Haitian) parts of the island of Hispaniola also separate, with which the history of Haiti in the narrower sense begins.

Territorial development of Haiti

The indigenous people

For the history of the Taino see section The history of the Taíno on Hispaniola in the article Taino

Wooden chair of the Tainos of Hispaniola, around 1000–1500 AD.

The size of the native Indian population of the island of Hispaniola at the time of the arrival of the first Europeans under the command of Christopher Columbus in 1492 is estimated at 300,000 to one million people. Most of these Indians belonged to the Taíno people , who are counted among the Arawak . A small group of the Ciboney lived in the later Haitian part , the better-known Caribs settled in the later Dominican part.

The ancestors of the Taino immigrated to Hispaniola around 250 and ruled the island when the Europeans arrived, divided into five chiefdoms , of which Guacanagari and Behechio were on the Haitian part.

The epidemics brought in by the Spanish conquerors, especially smallpox , led to the mass death of the indigenous indigenous population, and the system of forced labor (" encomienda ") introduced in 1503 accelerated the extermination of the Taino. From 1519 to 1533 the allegedly only 4,000 survivors rose against Spanish rule under their leader, called Enriquillo by the Spaniards . They were able to enforce a treaty with the Spaniards that ended the de facto enslavement of the Taino. In the middle of the 16th century, however, only a few hundred Taino lived and since the end of the 16th century they have been considered extinct.

From Spanish to French colonial rule

For the history of the area before Haiti's statehood, see

The military conquest of the island by the Spaniards was completed a few years after the arrival of Columbus and at the beginning of the 16th century they introduced sugar cane cultivation on the island through forced labor and slavery. From 1503/1505 Africans were deported to Hispaniola as slaves, so in 1542 there were 200 Indians and 5000 Spaniards, 30,000 black slaves on the island.

While Columbus had established the first settlement in the Caribbean, La Navidad , in the later Haitian part of Hispaniola, the next foundations took place in the eastern part of the island. Soon the city of Santo Domingo in the east became the capital of the island and the focus of Spanish colonial interest shifted there. The appearance of French, Dutch and British privateers off the coast of Hispaniola led the Spaniards to concentrate in the larger settlements in the east and south of the island.

Map of the French Saint Domingue from 1789

From 1625, therefore, French and English translated pirates ( Buccaneer or Filibustier called) on the belonging to today's Haiti Island Tortuga (Engl. Isle of Tortuga and the deserted shores of the West, "Turtle Island") firmly. They lived there by raiding Spanish ships and hunting the island's animals. Although the Spaniards destroyed their settlements there several times, they kept coming back. In 1659 the French King Louis XIV officially recognized a settlement on Tortuga for the first time. At around the same time, French Huguenots began to settle on the northern part of the island. In 1670, Cap François (later Cap Français, now Cap-Haïtien ) was founded on the main island, the first major French settlement. This first French colony was destroyed by the Spaniards in 1686, but was re-established in 1691. Finally in 1697, in the Peace of Rijswijk , Spain recognized French rule over the western part of Hispaniola, now known as Saint Domingue . In 1776 the border between the Spanish and the French Hispaniola was established, which essentially corresponds to the current border between Haiti and the Dominican Republic. In the Treaty of Basel in 1795, Spain also ceded the eastern part of the island (“Santo Domingo”) to France, which, however, never actually exercised its authority there.

Masters, slaves, maroons and mulattos in Saint Domingue, France

The code noir .

From the late 17th century until the beginning of the Haitian Revolution in 1790, Saint Domingue / Haiti experienced an extraordinary economic boom, which was based on plantation cultivation of sugar cane and coffee . In the 1780s, about 40% of the sugar and 60% of the coffee consumed in Europe came from Haiti. In order to maintain the sugar production, which made Saint Domingue at times the richest colony in France, large numbers of people from Africa were brought into slavery in Haiti. On the eve of the Haitian Revolution, about 90% of the population of Saint Domingue were black slaves. At times 40,000 slaves were "imported" annually. The majority of slaves were born in Africa because the living conditions of the slaves were so bad that their number could not increase significantly above the natural birth rate.

In order to regulate slavery in law, Louis XIV had issued the Code Noir in 1685 , through which the slaves were granted rudimentary human rights and the white "masters" received certain obligations regarding the care of the slaves as well as the right to corporal punishment. Whereby the usual punishments of slaves were often of immense cruelty.

Mackandal on a Haitian coin

Every year, an average of around 0.5% of slaves (thousands over the course of time) escaped to the inaccessible mountains and lived there in communities known as maroons or cimarrones . Occasionally they raided isolated plantations. There were several local slave riots. The most famous leader of such an uprising was a certain François Mackandal , who after six years that left thousands of dead, was caught and burned publicly in Cap-Francais. Today he is honored as a freedom fighter in Haiti. The African slaves brought their religion and culture with them to Haiti. The most famous element of Haitian folk culture that emerged from this is the voodoo belief, which developed from the West African vodun cult.

In 1788 there were about 455,000 people in Haiti, of whom more than 400,000 were black, 27,000 were white and just under 22,000 were mulattos , i.e. people with both black and white ancestors. First generation mulattos were mostly children who fathered white slave owners with black female slaves. They were usually released and soon formed a social class between white masters and black slaves. Although these "gens de couleur" were subject to certain restrictions - u. a. They were not allowed to marry whites, wear European clothing or weapons, certain professions were forbidden to them - they could buy land and keep slaves. In 1798, mulattos and the small group of free blacks owned a third of all plantations and a quarter of all slaves of Saint Domingues.

In 1789, almost half of the sugar produced worldwide came from the French colony, which was also the world market leader in the production of coffee, cotton and indigo.

The Haitian Revolution

L'Ouverture depicted on a 20 Gourdes banknote
Contemporary representation of the Declaration of Human Rights 1789

Freedom, equality, fraternity: the ideals of the French Revolution that broke out in 1789 had to be particularly explosive in a country in which almost 90% of the population were denied rudimentary human rights as slaves and a further 5% (the mulattos) were denied equality with the white upper class to have. The mulattos were the first to rehearse the uprising in the name of human rights , but without advocating the freedom of their own slaves. The uprising was put down and the leaders executed.

The uprising of the slaves began in August 1791 - starting from the Plaine-du-Nord region under the leadership of François-Dominique Toussaint L'Ouverture , later celebrated as a national hero - and soon flooded the entire colony and is considered the beginning of the Haitian Revolution. In the course of this revolution there were massacres of the white population, the abolition, reintroduction and renewed abolition of slavery, the French invasion of the island, the expulsion of the French troops by the black generals, the civil war between blacks and mulattos as well as the occupation and later Evacuation of the Spanish part of the island. It ended with the proclamation of the independent state of Haiti ("mountainous land" in the Taíno language ) in 1804.

Haiti until the independence of the Dominican Republic

The Citadelle La Ferrière, at its time the largest fortress outside Europe

On January 1, 1804, Jean-Jacques Dessalines proclaimed the independence of Saint Domingue (today in Haiti the Constitution Day, May 9, 1801, is celebrated as Independence Day). On the same day, French troops occupied Santo Domingo, where slavery was reintroduced. In practice, only the western part of Hispaniola became independent.

The country was named "Haiti", the self-designation at that time was "First Free Negro State". The first independent (but unstable) nation in Latin America emerged from what was perhaps the only successful slave revolt in world history. Dessalines is one of Haiti's national heroes today.

Dessalines designed a flag by simply removing the white of the French tricolor . He proclaimed himself Emperor James I (or Empereur Jacques I ) on October 8 (or December ) and issued a new constitution on May 20, 1805. Most of the French remaining in the country were murdered. The plantations were expropriated and divided, occupied or abandoned. The economic strength of Saint Domingues, based on the export of agriculture, waned. The goal of an egalitarian society, which was the mainspring of the French Revolution and also of the Haitian struggle for freedom, was missed. The mulattoes became the new elite, while the blacks remained largely an uneducated rural population with no rights.

In 1805 Haiti conquered Santo Domingo, which had been under French rule for a year.

Dessaline's cruelty provoked a conspiracy between the black Henri Christophe and the mulatto Alexandre Pétion the following year , who murdered the emperor on October 17, 1806. With his death the empire also ended ; Haiti became a republic again .

As leader of the freedom struggle (of the blacks), Henri Christophe also became a national hero of Haiti.

The rivalry between mulattos and blacks, pushed into the background by the common hatred of the whites, soon broke out and from then on remained the motive of all internal struggles of the new state. Pétion, as the leader of the mulatto, and Christophe, as the leader of the blacks, fought for supremacy. The country split into a southern mulatto republic headed by Pétion as president and a northern state ( northern Haiti ), headed by Henri Christophe as appointed president.

The two states were separated by a wide stretch of land that was deliberately left undeveloped and which soon formed a natural border, covered by lianas and thorn bushes.

In 1808, Haiti lost control of Santo Domingo. According to one opinion, the Spaniards retook Santo Domingo; According to another view, the Spanish Creoles (indigenous descendants of Spaniards) were able to drive the Haitians out of Santo Domingo with British support, but then put their land back into Spanish hands.

On March 26, 1811, Christophe transformed Northern Haiti into a hereditary monarchy and was crowned king under the name of Henri I. He imitated the French court in a ludicrous manner and awarded titles, court and state offices that seemed to be inflationary and comical. After all, there were four princes, eight dukes, 22 earls and a large number of members of the lower nobility.

On the 950 meter high Chaine Bonnet l'Eveque he had around 20,000 forced laborers build the most powerful fortress of his time outside of Europe, the citadel La Ferrière . At the same time a new state code ( Code Henri ) was published.

Slavery basically remained the same, only the saber took the place of the whip. There was irreconcilable hostility between the two states (the western part), and they were united only in rejecting the renewed claims of France after the Congress of Vienna . On June 2, 1816, Pétion issued a constitution to his republic that abolished all slavery, freedom of the press, etc. After Pétion's death on March 27, 1818, Henri I tried to unite the mulatto republic with his kingdom; only the mulatto general Jean-Pierre Boyer , who had succeeded Pétion as president, knew how to thwart this attempt. Henri I himself, who was incited to atrocities by a revolt of republican-minded mulattos in his empire, was increasingly hated, and in September 1820 an uprising broke out against him, which soon spread to the whole empire and resulted in the defection of his troops King Henri I shot himself on October 8, 1820. Thereupon, since the army submitted to President Boyer, the unification of both parts of Haiti into a single republic took place on November 26, 1820.

On December 1, 1821, José Núñez de Cáceres proclaimed the "Independent State of Spanish Haiti" ( Estado Independiente de Haití Español ).

In 1822 Santo Domingo was again connected to Saint Domingue. There are two views of the process:

  1. The Cáceres plan to join Greater Colombia under Simón Bolívar failed because the majority of blacks and mulattos preferred a union with Haiti, where slavery had already been abolished. The annexation to Haiti (and the abolition of slavery) followed in 1822.
  2. It is also possible that Jean-Pierre Boyer, after having had North and South Haiti in his power, subjugated Santo Domingo with the now freed military forces in 1822 and annexed it on February 8th. The main motive was the nationalization of the Spanish church property, the liberation of slaves and the establishment of a more efficient state administration based on the French model.

The Republic of Haiti was subsequently recognized by most states. After several unsuccessful attempts to recapture it, even France recognized it in 1825, albeit in exchange for a compensation of 150 million francs to be paid to the former plantation owners, which in 1838 increased to 60 million in 30 installments until 1867 when a trade agreement was concluded between France and Haiti pay, was reduced. By 1947, the burden of debt crippled the Haitian economy and laid the foundation for poverty and corruption.

Haiti had to introduce taxes to pay the debts, which caused long-lasting discontent, especially in the Spanish-influenced eastern part. In particular, Boyer financed it by borrowing from French banks, and that external debt became chronic.

From 1822 Boyer ruled under the constitution of June 2, 1816 as president for life, but under constant rift with the House of Representatives.

In the spring of 1842, Haiti was struck by a terrible earthquake that almost destroyed some cities; the city of Cap-Haïtien was particularly hard hit. Boyer was overthrown in 1843 by a conspiracy led by the mulatto Dumesle and Charles Rivière-Hérard , went into exile in Europe, where he died in Paris in 1850.

The victorious party leaders then divided the positions among themselves. Resistance was only evident in the Spanish-influenced eastern part (Santo Domingo), which is why Rivière hurriedly moved there with troops, captured the most distinguished inhabitants of Santo Domingo and left a garrison under his brother, Colonel Leo Herard . But no sooner had a new constitution been introduced and Rivière had taken power as President when an open uprising broke out again in the eastern part of the country in August 1843.

On February 27, 1844, Santo Domingo fought for and proclaimed its independence from the western part of Haiti as the Dominican Republic ( República Dominicana ).

Instability (1844 to 1915)

Haiti after the independence of the Dominican Republic

After the Dominican Republic fell from Haiti on February 27, 1844, Charles Rivière-Hérard declared the east of the island to be blocked. After he called the National Guard to arms, two armies with a total of 20,000 men set out east on March 10, 1844. One column, under Pierrot, a black general, was defeated on the march from Pimentel near Seybo , and the second, under Rivière himself, was defeated again on April 9 at Santiago de los Caballeros .

Now the blacks in Haiti revolted against the mulattos. In order to save what could still be saved, they agreed that a black man, Guerrier, should be elected president, especially since, given his old age and his excessive inclination to drink, he gave hope that the real management of the business would still be there would remain in the hands of the colored. In fact, Guerrier became a victim of his drunkenness in early 1845.

Under his successor Pierrot, the mulattos made an attempt to regain their old influence and rose on September 25, 1845 to force the recall of Rivières. However, the movement was immediately suppressed and the mulattoes were now subjected to bloody persecution. The hatred of blacks was expressed, among other things, in a law that forbade all marriage between whites and blacks. When, in early 1846, popular indignation turned against President Pierrot, he immediately gave up his cause and resigned to private life.

Faustin Soulouque , also known as Faustin I.

The president lifted to the chair by this revolution on February 28, 1846 was General Jean-Baptiste Riché . The constitution of 1843 was replaced by that of November 14, 1846, which was essentially that of 1816. The president, a man of almost 70 years but still very energetic, quickly restored peace to the island, increased the country's resources and made civilization of the Haitian people his concern. He died too early for Haiti on February 27, 1847.

General Faustin Soulouque , who was proclaimed his successor, promised in a decree of March 3 to keep the former ministry and to continue the policy of his predecessor. He began his government, however, with a change of minister, which brought the blacks most hostile to whites to the helm, and made preparations for war against the neighboring republic. In March 1849 there was an invasion of Santo Domingo. In the battle of Savanna Numero on April 22, 1849, however, the Dominicanos under General Santana claimed the field after a terrible slaughter. Soulouque's army disintegrated, and Santana would have put an end to the western state if a rebellion had not called him back to Santo Domingo.

Empire (1849 to 1859)

After his return from the unsuccessful campaign, Soulouque had himself proclaimed emperor on August 26, 1849 in Port-au-Prince and put on the crown himself in the cathedral. As Emperor Faustin I, he organized his empire entirely according to the Napoleonic model and surrounded himself with a brilliant imperial guard. Abroad he moved through monopolization of sugar and coffee , temporary closure of ports to foreign ships and high taxes that he imposed on the foreign merchants. The consuls of England, North America and France succeeded in obtaining the lifting of this monopoly in the summer of 1850, but in its place there was an increased exit tariff on coffee and other main export items.

Inside, the emperor ruled arbitrarily and cruelly. On September 30, 1850, he began hostilities against San Domingo again. But the emperor's land army suffered another major defeat on October 9 in the mountains of Banica. In early 1851, England, France, and the United States offered to mediate in the hostilities. Faustin's new plans to conquer San Domingo, despite the protests by France and England in December 1855, failed, as did the earlier ones. In the savannah of San Tome, the 18,000-strong army , partly under Faustin's and partly under General Fabre Geffrard's command, was defeated on December 22nd. The emperor himself fled and left the imperial treasury and baggage etc. to the enemy. He then had three generals and several officers shot - allegedly due to the agreement with the Dominicanos -, collected the remains of his army, but suffered a second decisive defeat with 10,000 to 12,000 men in the "great savannah" (Sabanalarga) on January 24, 1856 . Immediately after his return he announced in a proclamation that the war against San Domingo had only been temporarily postponed, but the mediation of England and France and the bold stance of the Dominicanos led to a three-year armistice that same year.

Restoration of the Republic (1859 to 1915)

In the meantime Faustin's fall took place. Jealous of the reputation that his General Geffrard enjoyed with the troops, he had already ordered his arrest and execution when he, warned in good time, escaped to Gonaïves on December 21, 1858 , and there from the troops of the Artibonite district to become President of Haiti was called out. Faustin's government was so hated that Geffrard was able to move into Port au Prince on January 15, 1859 without resistance and take over the presidency. He protected the ex-emperor, who was moving to Jamaica , from popular anger and did not conduct any other political persecution. Intelligent and active, he favored the arts and sciences and granted full civil and religious toleration, but just by doing so aroused constant opposition from the blacks of old. The army was reduced, the former liberal tariff restored and a fleet established. Several revolts were put down, notably that of the party of the so-called in 1865 with the help of England. Lizards ("lizards") under the Rittmeister Salnave.

However, this succeeded two years later to overthrow Geffrard and was then elected President for four years, whereupon a new constitution of the republic was promulgated.

But as early as 1868 the party of the Cacos ("parrots") rose against the Salnaves party under General Nissage Saget ; Saget won after two years of fighting, conquered Port au Prince in 1869 and had Salnave shot in 1870. Saget was then elected President of the Republic for four years.

He was followed in 1874 by General Michel Domingue . As this and his nephew, the Vice-President Rameau, aroused general discontent through greed and extortion, an uprising broke out in 1876, as a result of which on July 19, 1876 the head of the National, General Pierre Théoma Boisrond-Canal , was elected President. But as early as July 1879, Boisrond-Canal, whose government was not a happy one, was overthrown by the opposing party of the Liberals after a bloody street fight in Port au Prince, in which a large part of the city went up in flames, and General Solomon was made president. A walkout among Solomon's rival Boyer Bazelais , which broke out in Miragoane in 1883, was suppressed after stubborn fighting in late 1883.

By 1915 there were eleven other presidents. Florvil Hyppolite (1889-1896) ruled for six and a half years. During the turbulent period from 1912 to 1915 there were seven presidents.

U.S. Intervention (1915-1934)

The Caribbean at the end of the 19th century
American poses with dead Haitian revolutionaries killed by U.S. Navy machine guns (photo taken November 1915)

On July 28, 1915, immediately after a crowd lynched President Jean Vilbrun Guillaume Sam , Haiti was occupied by the United States . The official aim of the intervention was to restore public order in a country torn by internal conflicts. With the Haitian – American Convention of September 16, US influence was established and Haiti a protectorate. For ten years, the occupying power thus reserved the right to take over police duties and control over the country's finances in Haiti.

One aspect that led to the US intervention was German influence in Haiti. The small group of German immigrants (around 200 around 1910) dominated the country's economy at the time, and Washington feared that the German Reich might establish naval bases in the Caribbean Republic. In July 1918, shortly before the end of the First World War , Haiti was forced to declare war on Germany, freeing the way for the expropriation of the Germans. But after the war, the Germans were given back their property.

The American occupation lasted 19 years and was traumatic for Haiti in many ways. The leader of the armed resistance against the US occupation forces was the former General Charlemagne Péralte , who was shot dead in a covert operation by the United States Marine Corps in 1919 . Overall, there were fighting between the Marines and the Gendarmerie d'Haïti built and led by them against so-called cacos ; irregular fighters from northern Haiti, well over 2000 of these fighters. A key figure in the early days of the occupation was Marine Major Smedley D. Butler as chief of the gendarmerie .

The Americans built many roads, hospitals and telephone systems. But with their racism against blacks and mulattos, they deeply humiliated the Haitians. The saying of US Secretary of State William Jennings Bryan is indicative : "Oh God, just think - niggers who speak French." The US occupiers obliged peasants to do forced labor for their road projects and called for their fight against the "Caco" rebels thousands of lives. Voodoo was suppressed as a "satanic cult".

Renewed independence (1934 to 1957)

Ultimately, US forces were withdrawn from Haiti in 1934 under the Good Neighbor Policy . During the Second World War , Haiti, like many of the states of Central America that were under the influence of the USA, declared war on the German Reich on December 12, 1941. President Élie Lescot (Leslie Lescot), who came from the Mulatto elite and had close ties to the USA and to the Dominican dictator Trujillo , supported the entry into the war and the program initiated by the USA for the planting of rubber trees , which turned out to be a failure proved.

Participation in World War II was purely formal, there was no contribution to the fighting in Europe or Asia. The declaration of war made it possible, however, to expropriate German property in Haiti as enemy property. The declaration of war was also useful for the British and US armed forces, which were able to operate in the Haitian territorial waters and use the Haitian airfields to attack German submarines in the Caribbean Sea.

Corrupt and brutal police methods, Lescot was expelled from office and into exile in 1946 by a coalition of noirists (representatives of a black empowerment movement), Marxists and lower ranks of the military. In this so-called "revolution" the blacks broke the power of the mulattos; their supremacy was expanded under the first black president in decades, Dumarsais Estimé (1946–1950), a representative of the interests of the peasantry, and under General Paul Eugène Magloire (1950–1956).

Until 1950, Haiti had a census suffrage, which made certain income and property limits necessary in order to gain the right to vote. Furthermore, until 1950 there was neither active nor passive women's suffrage .

Duvalier dictatorship (1957 to 1986)

In 1957, the doctor François Duvalier , known as Papa Doc, was elected president with the help of the military, thereby placing himself and his family clan in key positions in the state. He represented a racially aggressive program and systematically disempowered the Mulatto elite. The voodoo cult was also allowed again. After his death in 1971, his son Jean-Claude Duvalier , called Baby Doc , succeeded him and was confirmed as president for life . The first unrest broke out in 1984. The 1985 constitution extended the right to vote to all citizens.

In 1986 martial law was proclaimed. Jean-Claude Duvalier was subsequently deposed and went into French exile.

Time of transition (1986 to 1990)

After Baby Doc's dismissal and flight, the time of transition began, with further attempts to form a stable republic. The unicameral parliament with 59 seats was dissolved. On March 21, 1986, General Henri Namphy named himself President. On October 19, 1986, a constituent assembly was elected with a participation of only five percent, which was to prepare a presidential republic with a corresponding constitution for 1987. On March 29, 1987, the new constitution was adopted by the people with a large majority.

A House of Representatives with 83 members, elected every four years, and a Senate with 27 members, elected every six years, were installed. The head of state should be directly elected every five years.

In November 1987, the parliamentary elections had to be called off because the still numerous supporters of Duvalier threatened and even murdered citizens willing to vote.

Leslie Manigat was then elected president in January 1988, but was ousted by the Forces Armées d'Haïti in June . After General Namphy appointed a government consisting only of the military, the next coup took place three months later, this time by Lieutenant General Avril .

In 1990, General Hérard Abraham overthrew the dictator Prosper Avril and turned power to civilians, paving the way for free elections .

1990 to 2000

Jean-Bertrand Aristide (left) with US President Bill Clinton , 1994
A market street in Haiti in February 1996

In these elections, Jean Bertrand Aristide won the presidential election in 1990, but was overthrown in an army coup in 1991 . General Raoul Cédras took power. Three dark years followed for the country. Mismanagement, terror and corruption determined the everyday life of the citizens, a wave of refugees to the US military base Guantanamo in Cuba began. Despite frequent changes in the position of Prime Minister, the situation did not improve, on the contrary. Economic sanctions were now imposed and international pressure increased.

On September 19, 1994, the US intervened a second time after 1915 as part of Operation Uphold Democracy in Haiti and reinstated Jean Bertrand Aristide as President. He dissolved the military at the beginning of 1995 , but in return strengthened the police apparatus (Chimeres). The later rebel leader and opponent Guy Philippe returned to his homeland from Ecuador and quickly rose to the top in the newly created police apparatus. In 1995 he became the police chief of Cap-Haïtien .

On March 31, 1995, Haiti was placed under a UN mandate that expired at the end of 1997. During this time, public life was relatively orderly.

Another foster child of Aristide, René Préval , was appointed president in December 1995, this period lasted from February 7, 1996 to February 7, 2001.

2000 to 2004

After the US intervention troops left the country in January 2000, controversial parliamentary elections took place four months later. The party Aristides ( Fanmi Lavalas ( Creole for avalanche family)) won the majority of the parliamentary seats.

After the presidential election on November 26, 2000, which Jean-Bertrand Aristide won with 91.8% of the vote and thus an overwhelming majority, allegations of manipulation were raised; the opposition had boycotted the election. At the urging of the USA, international aid to Haiti was then stopped.

Aristide took office on February 7, 2001. Without international help and with strong international pressure on Aristide, the government's position became increasingly difficult. Again and again there were clashes between Aristide opponents and protesters loyal to the government.

Revolution and Transition (2004)

The fall of Jean Bertrand Aristide

Serious riots broke out in Haiti on the 200th Independence Day on January 1, 2004, beginning with gunfire against President Jean Bertrand Aristide and his South African counterpart Thabo Mbeki in the city of Gonaïves. Haitian police officers and South African security guards returned fire. This led to clashes between opponents of the government and the security forces across the country.

Well-organized uprisings directed against Aristide, especially the Front pour la Liberation et la Reconstruction Nationales (sometimes called the Revolutionary Resistance Front of the Artibonite ), brought the country to the brink of civil war in early February. On February 5, 2004, the insurgents under their leader Butteur Métayer took power in the city of Gonaïves (160 km northwest of Port-au-Prince). Aristide disbanded the army in 1995 and the police were unable to offer any serious resistance to the rebels.

After the former putschists Louis-Jodel Chamblain and Guy Philippe returned from their exile in the Dominican Republic on February 14, 2004 , they joined the uprising. The rebels then conquered numerous cities and towns in the north of the Caribbean republic in the following days.

The troops finally reached Port-au-Prince at the end of February and the incumbent President Jean-Bertrand Aristide gave in to pressure from the rebels and the USA and was taken into the city by an American military aircraft on February 29, 2004 (curiously, Guy Philippe's birthday) Flown Central African Republic . Aristide later referred to this as "a modern kidnapping" and a "coup" of the US.

After Aristide's escape, the Chief Justice Boniface Alexandre took over the official duties of the head of state in the capital. More than 200 people had died in the armed clashes by early March 2004.

On March 4, 2004, the leader of the rebels, Guy Philippe, announced that he would lay down their arms, which he later put into perspective. In the capital Port-au-Prince , thousands demonstrated for the return of Aristide that same day. On March 7, 2004, unknown perpetrators shot at peaceful demonstrators and killed at least six people. For the first time since the riots began, a foreign journalist was also killed.

Aristide in exile

From his place of exile in Bangui , Central African Republic , Aristide accused the USA on March 1, 2004 of having taken him out of the country against his will. The US government immediately denied it; it was said that they were only given assistance in escaping abroad.

On March 9, 2004, an attorney for Aristide announced that they would sue the United States and France for kidnapping. The specific allegation was that the administration of US President George W. Bush wanted to remove Aristide from Haiti and that France had helped by violating international law.

On March 9, 2004, Aristide received support from the African Union (AU) and the Community of Caribbean States. The 53-state AU declared at its headquarters in Addis Ababa that the removal of Aristides from his office was unconstitutional. It is not about people, but about the principles of democracy . The 15-nation Caribbean Community also called for an international investigation into the kidnapping allegations. Aristide's lawyer had previously stated that one would also want to lodge a complaint with the United Nations if one got the support of some African states.

Furthermore, Aristide called for resistance against what, in his opinion, was unacceptable occupation . At his first public appearance he said: I am the democratically elected President and will remain so .

The announcement by South African government officials on March 5, 2004 that Aristide's stay in the Central African Republic was only of a temporary nature was confirmed eight days later. On March 13, 2004, Jamaica granted the ex-president temporary residence. The new government expressed concern that Aristides' proximity to Haiti could stir up further unrest. As a further reaction to this, the new government recalled its ambassador of Jamaica on March 15, 2004 and froze relations with the state. Jamaica's Prime Minister Percival J. Patterson assured, however, that he would only allow Aristide to enter the country for “humanitarian reasons” before a final country of exile outside the region could be found for him. He must abstain from any political activity.

March 22, 2004 brought a new twist to the question of exile. Nigeria wanted to grant asylum to the fallen, it said from there. The presidential office in the Nigerian capital Abuja announced that it was temporarily ready .

On April 1, 2004, the Haitian interim government announced that it would set up an independent commission to investigate corruption allegations against the ousted President Jean-Bertrand Aristide. The panel should list all violations in order to then formally request its extradition.

After the Community of Caribbean States officially asked South Africa on May 10, 2004 to allow the disempowered head of state to enter, the South African government announced on May 13, 2004 that, after consultation with the governments of France and the USA, they would temporarily accept Aristide becomes.

On May 30, 2004, he left Kingston , the Jamaican capital, with his wife and two daughters in exile in South Africa . There he was greeted by President Thabo Mbeki on May 31st . According to his own statements, he only wanted to stay in South Africa temporarily until the situation in Haiti had calmed down again. He still saw himself as the country's rightful president.

Foreign troop presence from 2004 to 2017

The USA , France and Chile sent their first troops to Haiti on February 29, 2004, the same day Aristide left the country. In March 2004 there were a total of 1,600 US soldiers, 800 French and 130 Chilean soldiers in the country.

Brazilian President Lula da Silva in front of Brazilian troops for the UN mission in Haiti in 2004

Brazilian government representatives announced on March 4, 2004 that they could, if desired, join a UN force for Haiti with 1,100 soldiers. Brazil was the first country to make such an offer. On April 9, 2004, the Brazilian Defense Minister José Viegas announced that in July 2004 Brazil would take over the leadership of the new UN peacekeeping forces in Haiti, which were stationed there as part of the Stabilization Mission for Haiti (MINUSTAH). The South American country will send 1470 soldiers from the army, navy and air force to the Caribbean Republic.

The first to arrive on March 17, 2004, was a 170-strong Canadian contingent of the official international peacekeeping force in Port-au-Prince to relieve the emergency forces. The US, France and Chile, who have already sent troops outside of the mandate, are also participating in the mission, which is initially scheduled to last 90 days.

On March 19, 2004, French soldiers advanced from the capital Port-au-Prince to the north of the country, which had previously been held by the rebels. A convoy of 150 members of the French Foreign Legion reached the city of Gonaïves , 250 soldiers took up their positions in the port city of Cap-Haïtien . In both cities, the rebels have only agreed to lay down their arms if Aristide's followers catch up. Rebel leader Butteur Metayer said in Gonaïves that the advancing French would be given all the rifles with which they had fought in recent weeks.

On May 1, 2004, the UN Security Council officially issued the mandate for the deployment of 6,700 blue helmets and 1,200 plainclothes police officers. The UN soldiers replaced the US-led multinational force stationed in Haiti in June.

The UN mission was extended a total of 18 times and ended the deployment of blue helmet soldiers in mid-October 2017. The police were then supported.

Formation of a transitional government

Efforts to form a new government continued on March 5, 2004. An electoral commission was formed to propose a new prime minister to the new interim president, Boniface Alexandre, who was sworn in on March 8, 2004. On March 9, 2004, the Commission proposed the lawyer and economic expert Gérard Latortue as the new Prime Minister. He accepted the call and returned to Haiti a day later from his exile in Florida. He was sworn in on March 12, 2004, officially taking office. The main task of his government was to organize free elections.

Latortue said that former General Hérard Abraham, who had returned to Haiti with him, should also play a leading role in forming a government, Latortue said. In 1990, after the fall of the dictator Prosper Avril, Abraham passed power to civilians and paved the way for the first free elections in the country's history.

US soldiers secure an aid convoy through the capital Port-Au Prince, April 5, 2004

Latortue replaced his predecessor Yvon Neptune , who had still led the old government under the ousted President Jean-Bertrand Aristide . In the meantime, President Alexandre called on his compatriots to seek reconciliation. At his inauguration ceremony, Latortue expressly thanked the international community for their help. The new Prime Minister already met on March 12, 2004 with representatives of the Aristide party Lavala to come closer to his goal of national reconciliation with the involvement of all relevant forces in the country.

The new cabinet was presented on March 16, 2004; for this purpose, the Prime Minister met with representatives from all sides for a discussion. Latortue appointed 13 new ministers, but no member of the Lavalas party of the ousted President Jean-Bertrand Aristide was taken into account. Latortue's predecessor Yvon Neptune therefore warned against further polarization in Haiti.

Transitional period between the fall of Aristide and the 2006 elections

Shortly after the fall of Aristide, there were isolated attacks on US soldiers, in which four Haitians were killed by March 10, 2004. In Port-au-Prince , there were again shootings between supporters of the ex-president and security forces. Previously, a demonstration for Aristide was broken up with tear gas. Human Rights Watch said that supporters of the ousted President Jean-Bertrand Aristide and journalists who stood on his side are being illegally detained by militants.

The organization also made serious allegations to the rebels. They are suspected of having extrajudicially executed people after capturing the city of Cap-Haïtien in February. The people were killed and weighted down with cement blocks and metal were thrown into the water.

The situation in northern Haiti continued to deteriorate. Many places there could not be supplied with food for weeks due to the unsafe situation. Babies have died of malnutrition and lack of fluids, according to doctors.

Gérard Latortue

After the nomination of the new Prime Minister Gérard Latortue by the Council of Wise Men , former Colonel Himler Rebu accused the Commission of making a tactical mistake in not choosing Hérard Abraham , the former Commander in Chief of the Haitian Army. After Latortue complied with this demand and appointed Hérard Abraham to office, the new interior minister immediately announced on March 18, 2004 that he wanted to raise an army again. Aristide had disbanded this in early 1995.

The armed forces of the neighboring country Dominican Republic announced after the events that they would increase their operations at the border. President Hipólito Mejía ordered this on the basis of reports that the Haitian rebels had freed more than 3,000 prisoners. On March 12, 2004, Haitian rebels took 36 businessmen from the Dominican Republic hostage to try to get a friend out of prison. The kidnappers threatened to kill the abductees if the Haitian is not released.

Venezuela's President Hugo Chavez announced on March 18, 2004 that he would not recognize the new Haitian government and also offered Aristide asylum. Jamaica's Prime Minister P. J. Patterson continued to regard Aristide, who was a guest there, as a legitimate president .

After the condemnation of the fall of Aristide by the Caribbean community CARICOM on March 1, 2004, Latortue suspended Haiti's membership in the CARICOM alliance. The chairman of CARICOM Patterson had previously offered Aristide asylum in Jamaica . In protest against the US- backed change of government, the member states of the alliance considered suspending the country's membership in the organization. On March 26, 2004, the Caribbean Summit in St. Kitts unanimously decided not to recognize the new government. The USA, on the other hand, supported the transitional government, B. with an infrastructure program of around $ 50 million.

Elections and presidency of René Préval

René Préval

In February 2006, after postponing the date several times and under chaotic circumstances, the interim government held elections.

The election was very controversial and marked by allegations of fraud. It was not clear by February 17 whether Préval would get a majority of 50% of the vote or whether a runoff would have to be scheduled. Ultimately, the election commission declared him the election winner with 51.15% of the vote - with a turnout of approx. 63%.

Préval, a former colleague of Aristides who supported the American intervention in Haiti, assumed the office of President of Haiti for the second time on May 14, 2006.

The tense humanitarian situation worsened in spring 2008 when protests against the sharp rise in prices for rice , maize and other staple foods led to serious riots with several deaths.

2010 earthquake

On January 12, 2010, a catastrophic earthquake struck Haiti, killing at least 250,000. More than 1.2 million people became homeless, and thousands of buildings were destroyed in the capital Port-au-Prince alone. The state institutions that had previously only existed in rudimentary form largely collapsed. Much of the public safety was taken over by the United States.

To cope with the aftermath of the earthquake and to rebuild the country's infrastructure, Haiti has pledged aid measures worth more than nine billion US dollars. Appeals for donations raised several hundred million US dollars. The International Monetary Fund canceled all Haiti debts.

Nine months after the earthquake, a cholera epidemic broke out in Haiti . At the end of October 2010, the diseases were limited to the province of Artibonite , north of Port-au-Prince, but on November 9, 2010, the first diseases were registered in the capital's refugee camps. At that time, more than 550 people had died from the disease and more than 8,000 Haitians were infected.

The government declared a sanitary emergency for the whole country.

Elections 2010/11

Regular elections were planned for January 2010, but were postponed due to the earthquake disaster. Parliamentary elections and the first round of presidential elections were held on November 28th. Before that, the popular left-wing party Aristides Fanmi Lavalas , as in all elections since its fall in 2004, was excluded. With a low turnout, two right-wing candidates, the wife of the former president Leslie Manigat, Mirlande Manigat and the politically inexperienced pop singer Michel "Sweet Micky" Martelly qualified for the runoff election. The incumbent Préval was no longer allowed to run for office after two terms.

On January 16, 2011, the former dictator Jean-Claude Duvalier returned to Haiti after almost 25 years in exile, according to his own admission, “to help”. The public prosecutor opened an investigation against Duvalier for corruption , embezzlement and theft at the expense of the Haitian treasury.

In addition, Jean-Bertrand Aristide returned on March 18, two days before the runoff election.

Preliminary results were announced on April 4th, with Martelly leading with 2/3 of the vote. Final results were announced for April 16th. On April 4, the electoral commission announced that, according to the preliminary official election results, Michel Martelly is the 56th President of Haiti with 67.6 percent of the vote. Mirlande Manigat reached a preliminary 31.7 percent.

After 2011

At the end of Martelly's electoral term, he constitutionally resigned from his office on February 7, 2016, without a successor having been appointed. Jovenel Moïse was only elected President on November 20th .

The last contingent of blue helmets stationed in the country since 2004 ( Mission des Nations Unies pour la stabilization en Haiti ) was withdrawn in October 2017. The international community supported the police established over these years with a contingent ( Mission des Nations Unies pour l'appui à la justice en Haïti ) until October 2019.

From autumn 2017, the Haitian army was reintroduced under President Moïse. The previous President Martelly had had good relations with the army before the dissolution of the army and launched the idea of ​​rebuilding in 2016. Human rights groups criticized the fact that all members of the General Staff in April 2018 came from the former army and were responsible for the 1991 coup. The new chief of staff Jean Robert Gabriel had also been convicted of the Raboteau massacre .

See also

Movies

  • Égalité for All: Toussaint Louverture and the Haitian Revolution . Koval Films LLC London 2009, (approx. 60 min) - German premiere: ARTE January 8, 2011

literature

German

English

  • Philippe Girard : Haiti. The Tumultuous History - From Pearl of the Caribbean to Broken Nation. Palgrave Macmillan, 2010 ISBN 978-0-230-10661-1 .
  • Carl Kelsey: The American intervention in Haiti and the Dominican Republic. Philadelphia, 1922 ( PDF, 3.3 MB )
  • Hans Schmidt: The United States occupation of Haiti 1915-1934. New Brunswick, NJ (Rutgers University Press) 1995. ISBN 0-8135-2203-X

French

Web links

Commons : History of Haiti  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Saunders, Nicholas J. The Peoples of the Carribbean: An Encyclopedia of Archeology and Traditional Culture. ABC-CLIO, 2005: xi, xv. ISBN 978-1-57607-701-6 s. here
  2. ^ Kohn GC, editor. Encyclopedia of Plague and Pestilence. New York, NY: Facts On File, Inc .; 1995. according to [1]
  3. ^ Haggerty, Richard A. (1989). "Haiti, A Country Study: French Settlement and Sovereignty". US Library of Congress. http://countrystudies.us/haiti/7.htm . Retrieved January 18, 2009.
  4. ↑ CLR James The Black Jacobins (Vintage Books: New York, 1963) Pg. 55, citation according to en: History of Haiti
  5. ↑ africanaonline ( Memento of the original from June 17, 2006 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.  @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.africanaonline.com
  6. ^ Jason Daniels: Recovering the Fugitive History of Marronage in Saint-Domingue, 1770–1791 . In: The Journal of Caribbean History , vol. 46 (2012), pp. 121–153, here p. 130.
  7. ↑ chnm.gmu.edu ( Memento of the original from November 5, 2011 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / chnm.gmu.edu
  8. ^ Andrian Kreye : Napoleons Schmach - The roots of misery: Haiti is still paying for its liberation , in: Süddeutsche Zeitung, January 19, 2010
  9. ↑ Alejo Carpentier: The Kingdom of this World , Michigan State University , October 14, 2013
  10. ^ Rediscovering Haiti's Declaration of Independence , Duke University , April 1, 2010
  11. ^ A b Andrian Kreye "Napoleon's Disgrace - The Roots of Misery: Haiti Still Pays for Its Liberation" in Süddeutsche Zeitung on January 19, 2010
  12. ↑ Ralph Pezzullo : Plunging Into Haiti: Clinton, Aristide, and the Defeat of Diplomacy . Univ. Press of Mississippi 2006 (p 78)
  13. ↑ globalsecurity.org: Haiti 1897-1918 - German Interests
  14. ^ Felix Galle: Haiti. In: Dieter Nohlen (Ed.): Handbook of the election data of Latin America and the Caribbean (= political organization and representation in America. Volume 1). Leske + Budrich, Opladen 1993, ISBN 3-8100-1028-6 , pp. 401-421, p. 404.
  15. ^ Mart Martin: The Almanac of Women and Minorities in World Politics. Westview Press Boulder, Colorado, 2000, p. 168.
  16. ↑ Christine Pintat: Women's Representation in Parliaments and Political Parties in Europe and North America In: Christine Fauré (Ed.): Political and Historical Encyclopedia of Women: Routledge New York, London, 2003, pp. 481-502, p. 488.
  17. ↑ - New Parline: the IPU's Open Data Platform (beta). In: data.ipu.org. December 6, 1950, accessed November 16, 2018 .
  18. ↑ http://coat.ncf.ca/our_magazine/links/63/63_15.htm An Excuse to Destabilize Haiti's Democracy By Regan Boychuk, activist, Canada Haiti Action Network, Calgary . Press for Conversion, Issue 63, November 2008.
  19. ^ Haiti Aristide accuses USA of a coup d'état , Süddeutsche Zeitung, March 2, 2004.
  20. ↑ a b Haiti: Elections on the Abyss, Prof. Arnold Antonin, 2006 ( Memento of the original dated December 8, 2011 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. (PDF; 291 kB)  @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / nuso.org
  21. ↑ René Préval declared the winner of the Haiti election
  22. ^ Wiener Zeitung : In the stranglehold of poverty ( Memento from May 13, 2011 in the Internet Archive )
  23. ^ Spiegel Online : Cholera epidemic reaches the capital Port-au-Prince , November 9, 2010.
  24. ↑ http://www.dradio.de/nachrichten/2011011701/1/
  25. ↑ http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-11943820
  26. ^ Haiti's judiciary initiates corruption investigation , Focus , January 18, 2011
  27. ↑ Aristide's return exacerbates Haiti's situation ahead of Saturday's election. , Berliner Morgenpost, March 19, 2011.
  28. ↑ Haiti's President Martelly resigned without a successor . Der Standard.at, February 8, 2016
  29. ↑ Haiti plunges into a new political crisis. Zeit Online, February 8, 2016, accessed on the same day
  30. ^ Haiti to reform army after 20 years without , BBC, July 11, 2017
  31. ↑ A zombie army is revived. NZZ , May 3, 2018, page 2
  32. ↑ Christoph Marx: Review of: Michael Zeuske: Schwarze Karibik. Slaves, slavery culture and emancipation, Zurich: Rotpunktverlag 2004, in: sehepunkte 5 (2005), No. 5 May 15, 2005 ( online ).