Pierre Nord Alexis

Pierre Nord Alexis (born August 2, 1820 in Cap-Haïtien , † May 1, 1910 in Kingston (Jamaica) ) was a Haitian politician and President of Haiti .

biography

Family, military and professional career

Nord Alexis came from a family that had been politically and militarily influential since Haiti's independence from France on January 1, 1804 . His maternal grandfather was the President and later King of Northern Haiti , Henri Christophe . His father served this as a high-ranking employee. He himself joined the army as a cadet in the 1830s . Between 1845 and 1846 he was adjutant ( aide-de-camp ) to President Jean-Louis Pierrot , with whose daughter Marie Louise Amélia Célestine he had been married since 1845.

His political career began in 1867 when he was appointed Minister of War in President Sylvain Salnave's cabinet until 1869 . After the fall of Salnave, he became a member of a Provisional Government on December 27, 1869, chaired by General Nissage Saget . He then served as general in command of the army units in the north during the presidency of Saget . After Saget's resignation in 1874, due to the political clashes between the country's black and white political elites, he had to go into exile .

However, after President Pierre Théoma Boisrond-Canal took office , he returned to Haiti in 1876. Under his successor, Lysius Salomon , he was the spokesman and actual leader of the opposition , which led to him being sentenced to several prison terms until Salomon was overthrown in an uprising in August 1888.

President Florvil Hyppolite appointed him after his inauguration in October 1889 as commander of army units in northern Haiti . However, he later developed into an opponent of President Hippolyte.

The Road to Power: Haitian Civil War and the Marcomannia Incident

After the resignation of President Tirésias Simon-Sam in May 1902, under whom he continued to hold command in the north, Boisrand-Canal was his acting successor in the office of President. Its provisional government ordered the election of a Chamber of Deputies ( Chambre des Deputées ), which should elect the successor to Simon-Sam together with the Senate .

As a candidate for the presidency, in addition to the former Minister of War, Senator Seneque Pierre, and the former Minister of Finance, C. Fouchard, the ambassador to France , Anténor Firmin , also former Minister of Finance and Foreign Affairs, emerged. While Pierre and Fouchard were directly concerned with the preparation of the presidential election campaign, Firmin first tried to get his own election as deputy in his hometown of Cap-Haïtien . The election campaign in this part of the country became more intense every day. Firmin did everything in his power to secure his election, while his opponents, who knew that a mistake would be detrimental to his chances in the election for the presidency, did not negate any of his campaign theories that were detrimental to him. After the tumult in Cap-Haïtien, General Nord Alexis, who had meanwhile been appointed Minister of War in the Provisional Government by his old friend Boisrand-Canal, was sent to Cap-Haïtien to restore public order there.

At the opening session of the National Assembly on June 28, 1902, there were disputes between Firmin's supporters and opponents. However, naval forces in the port of Cap-Haïtien prevented further riots. Rather, Firmin first ended the disputes and went to Gonaïves on June 30, 1902 , where he had previously been elected member of the Chamber of Deputies. On arrival, he protested the Provisional Government, claiming that the elections were illegal.

In the following months, the government army under North Alexis and the insurgent army units under General Firmin fought until he was finally defeated in the fighting for Port-au-Prince. At that time Firmin only had army units loyal to him in the cities of Gonaïves and Saint-Marc , located in the Artibonite department .

From this situation, North Alexis took advantage of negotiations with the US , in which he declared his support for American interests in the Caribbean . The United States responded to this support by imposing a sea blockade on the port cities of Gonaïves and Saint-Marc, paving the way for the eventual final takeover of North Alexis.

SMS "Panther"

In the course of these events, the Marcomannia incident occurred . In the context of the Haitian civil war, the rebellious Haitian gunboat "Crete à Pierrot" under the command of Haitian Admiral Hammerton Killick searched the German steamer "Markomannia" . Admiral Killick, who was close to Firmin, confiscated the weapons and ammunition on board the "Markomannia" because, according to the rebels, they were intended for the troops of General Nord Alexis in Gonaïves . At the urging of the German Empire, the Haitian government declared the boat a "pirate ship", whereupon it was destroyed on September 6, 1902 in the port of Gonaïves by the gunboat SMS "Panther" . The crew had left the ship beforehand. However, Admiral Killick stayed on board and died on the ship. His body was later recovered from the half-sunken wreck.

After this loss, Firmin went to Inagua on October 15, 1902 on a sailing ship .

President 1902 to 1908

Meanwhile, the presidential campaign continued, which looked like the election of a new president would be a drawn out act. Tired by an endless election campaign, the people of Port-au-Prince voted against the three previous candidates Senator Pierre, C. Fouchard and Firmin and instead demanded the election of General Nord Alexis on December 17, 1902, which finally took place on December 21, 1902 elected President of Haiti by the National Assembly for a seven-year term . Under Article 93 of Haiti's Constitution, his term of office would end on May 15, 1909.

The consolidation scandal

Immediately after his election, he showed strict financial policy determination in dealing with the state budget . At that time there were allegations of fraud over the consolidation of the escalating national debt during the administration of President Simon-Sam. On March 22, 1903, he set up a commission to investigate this so-called consolidation scandal. The result of the investigation was that there was an embezzlement of 1,257,993 US dollars during Simon-Sam's tenure .

After a further ten months of investigation, a trial began in the Grand Chamber of the Port-au-Prince Court. Accused in this case were the French director of the National Bank of Haiti Joseph de la Myre Mory and their German and French employees Georg Oelrich, Rudolphippenhauer and Poute de Puybaudet, as well as the former war minister Vilbrun Guillaume, the former prosecutor general G. Gédéon, the former Foreign Minister Brutus Saint-Victor, the previous Minister of Finance Herard Roy and Demosthenes Simon-Sam, Lycurgue Simon-Sam, JC Arteaud and Auguste Léon.

This consolidation scandal sparked a series of public debates as all of the accused were influential and well-known figures. The friends of the accused tried to avoid any kind of conviction. The National Bank of Haiti went so far as to publicly state that it would stop any kind of aid to the government of President North Alexis unless all of their former defendants were released and allowed to leave Haiti without further investigation. Despite his personal sympathy for some of the accused and pressure from the National Bank, President North Alexis maintained his position of non-interference in the case, while the Haitian people ignored all threats and pleadings and quietly awaited the judicial decisions in the case.

On November 28, 1904, public negotiations began before the Criminal Tribunal ( Cour d'Assises ), which lasted almost a month. Not only were the French and German ambassadors present , but also a representative of the Paris Court of Appeal as an observer. The court dealt impartially and correctly, despite the overwhelming burden of proof against the defendants. At the end of the negotiations, the jury decided , taking 85 questions into account, that only the former Treasury Secretary Herard Roy was not guilty and therefore had to be released immediately. The other defendants were found guilty and received the following convictions: De la Myre Mory, Oelrich ,ippenhauer and de Puybaudet to four years of forced labor , Guillaume to lifelong forced labor, Gédéon, Demosthenes Sam and Lycurgue Simon-Sam to three years of forced labor and Saint-Victor to three years imprisonment .

With the announcement of the verdict, the consolidation scandal, which had long been watched anxiously because it was seen that Haiti was entangled in great trouble, ended. Despite his already old age of over 80, President Nord Alexis showed great personal energy in coming to terms with the scandal.

Successes and end of his presidency

Despite the importance of the consolidation scandal, the president made personal efforts to get public buildings and works. During his presidency, not only was the Lycée in Port-au-Prince rebuilt, but the construction of the new Palace of Justice was also completed. In addition, the celebrations for the 100th anniversary of Haiti's independence on January 1, 1804 took place in 1904 .

In the spring of 1905 he laid the foundation stone of the cathedral ( Cathedrale de Notre-Dame ) for the bishopric, the construction of which was completed in just four years. Eager to facilitate the transport of the country's numerous products, the President ordered the construction of the Cap-Haïtien railway at state expense, as its operation had been suspended by the concessionaires. In addition, the construction of another railway line in Gonaïves began, the concession of which was granted to a Haitian citizen.

In his almost six-year term in office, President North Alexis faced rebellion and allegations of corruption against his government. In January 1908 he appointed himself president for life, which led to the reunification of the supporters of General Antenor Firmin, who started a new revolt against the president. When the revolt broke out, the country's existing economic problems worsened.

On March 14, 1908, 27 intellectuals, including the well-known poet Massillon Coicou , were arrested and executed on the same day. Coicou himself was beheaded and then thrown into a mass grave . His execution inspired the French poet Guillaume Apollinaire to write his poem "Le Poète Assassiné" .

A famine in southern Haiti that same year led to violent food fighting and a new rebellion led by the army commander in the south, General François C. Antoine Simon , whom President North Alexis had previously relieved of his mandate as a member of the Chamber of Deputies would have.

This rebellion led to his fall on December 2, 1908 and his flight into exile in Kingston (Jamaica) .

His long-time rival Antenor Firmin was not succeeded as president, but General Simon. Despite a pardon from President Simon, he never returned to Haiti because he died just under four months later.

Individual evidence

Web links

predecessor	Office	successor
Pierre Théoma Boisrond Canal	President of Haiti December 17, 1902 - December 2, 1908	François C. Antoine Simon

personal data
SURNAME	North Alexis, Pierre
BRIEF DESCRIPTION	President of Haiti
DATE OF BIRTH	August 2, 1820
PLACE OF BIRTH	Cap-Haïtien
DATE OF DEATH	May 1, 1910
Place of death	Kingston

[1] Pedigree of Henri Christophe and descendants

[2] "Haitian Troubles Expected; Alexis Nord And Exiles Against The Rule Of President Hyppolite," New York Times December 31, 1895

[3] "Sharp Fighting In Haiti; Firminist Troops Completely Rout Gen. Nords Army" , New York Times August 10, 1902

[4] "Haitian Unrest Continues; It Is Said That Gen. Nord Means To Declare Himself President," New York Times November 28, 1902

[5] New York Times July 1, 1902

[6] "German Act In Haiti Perhaps Unjustified; But Is Not Likely To Lead To A Dispute With This Country" , New York Times September 9, 1902

[7] "Firmin Looks To Us In His Next Revolt; Haitian Leader Much Encouraged By His Interview With Secretary Root" , New York Times June 21, 1908

[8] Belleau, Jean-Philippe: "1902-1908: The Dictatorial Regime of Nord Alexis" , in: Massacres Perpetrated In The 20th Century In Haiti, 2008

[9] Joan Dayan: Haiti, History, and the Gods (= A centennial book ). University of California Press, 1998, ISBN 0-520-21368-8 , pp. 41 (English, 339 pp., Limited preview in Google Book search).

[10] "Alexis Flees To French Ship, Haitian President Deposed, Interleaved His Capital, Wrapped In The Tricolor" , New York Times on Dec. 3, 1908

[11] "The Passing Of Nord Alexis Of Haiti; A Typical Turn In The Wheel Of Popular Fortune By Which Presidents Are Made And Lost In The Black Republic" , New York Times February 21, 1909

[12] "Nord Alexis May Return; President Simon Of Haiti Willing To Welcome The Deposed Leader," New York Times January 5, 1910

[13] "Nord Alexis Is Dead; Aged Ex-President Of Haiti Spent Last Days In Exile In Jamaica" , New York Times May 2, 1910