Liberia celebrates its Independence Day on 26 July. This small West African country is one of the most historically remarkable states of the continent. Strictly speaking, Independence Day is more likely the day of the creation of Liberia, since it is one of the few African countries that has managed to maintain its sovereignty and has never been a colony of any European power. Moreover, Liberia is a kind of "African Israel". Not in the sense that Jews also live here, but because it was created as a state of repatriates who returned "to their historical homeland." The "Country of Freedom" on the coast of West Africa owes its appearance to the descendants of African slaves taken to North America, who decided to return to their ancestral homeland and create their own independent state here.
The coast of the Atlantic Ocean, where Liberia is located, is a land of plains and low mountains. Since ancient times, it has been inhabited by Negroid tribes speaking various Niger-Congolese languages. First of all, these are ethnic groups attributed to the Mande and Kru language families: Mande, Vai, Bassa, rowbo, crane, Gere, etc. They actually did not know statehood, however, the European colonialists were in no hurry to completely conquer the territory of modern Liberia. In the period from the 15th to the 17th centuries. there were several Portuguese trading posts that served as centers of trade. The Portuguese called the territory of modern Liberia the Pepper Coast.
To the promised land
In 1822, the first groups of African Americans landed on the territory of the Atlantic coast of West Africa - in the area of the same Pepper Coast. Former slaves, whose ancestors were exported from the territory of West Africa by the Portuguese, Dutch. English slave traders on the plantations of North America and the West Indies, hoped that in their historical homeland they would be able to find their happiness. Although most of the settlers were born already in America and had only a genetic relationship to the Black Continent, the new settlers perceived African land as their homeland. The American Colonization Society initiated the repatriation of former slaves to West Africa. It operated in the 19th century with the support of a part of the slave owners who did not want to see freed slaves on the territory of the United States. As the number of freedmen increased every year, advocates of the preservation of the slave system began to fear undermining the very foundations of the social order that had developed in the United States.
That is, initially it was the racial intolerance of the slave owners and their social conservatism that acted as an impetus for the beginning of the repatriation of former slaves to the continent. White slave repatriation theorists were convinced that the concentration in the United States of a significant number of freed African slaves would not do anything good and would entail such negative consequences as an increase in marginalized population and crime, plus inevitable racial mixing. Accordingly, it was decided to spread the idea of returning to the land of their ancestors among the released slaves and their descendants, which was what the repatriation leaders did from among the African Americans themselves.
The freedmen themselves, oddly enough, agreed in their interests with yesterday's exploiters - slave owners. True, from their point of view, the motives for the need to repatriate former slaves to Africa were different. First of all, the leaders of the freedmen saw in the return to the land of their ancestors liberation from the racial discrimination that was inevitable in the United States. On the African continent, former slaves could find the long-awaited freedom and true equality.
In the first quarter of the 19th century, the leaders of the American Colonization Society were actively negotiating with congressmen on the one hand and representatives of Great Britain on the other. The British Empire at that time already owned the Lion Mountains - the territory of modern Sierra Leone and allowed the first immigrants to settle there. For the British, Westernized and English-speaking descendants of North American slaves could act as conduits for British influence in West Africa.
It should be noted that the British Empire, before the United States, began the practice of exporting freed slaves to West Africa. The reason for this was pure chance. A ship wrecked off the coast of Britain was carrying several hundred Africans into slavery in North America. According to the laws of Great Britain, the Africans who escaped from the ship, who were placed in Liverpool, could not remain slaves in the land of the metropolis and they were given freedom. However, what was to be done in England by those who did not know the language and who were completely not adapted to the local conditions of Africans? The Committee for the Liberation of Unhappy Blacks was formed, an organization of English philanthropists who set as their goal the salvation of Africans by returning them to their homeland.
In 1787, a ship carrying 351 Africans landed on the coast of Sierra Leone. A little later, a much larger party of repatriates arrived - 1,131 freed Africans from Canada. They were freed for taking part in the fighting on the side of Britain during the American Revolutionary War. In 1792, they were the ones who founded Freetown - the future capital of Sierra Leone, the name of which is translated as "City of the Free". In the 19th century, freedmen were added to the freed war veterans - former slaves from the British colonies in the West Indies, primarily in Jamaica. Therefore, when the American Colonization Society began to probe the question of the possibility of placing immigrants from the United States in West Africa, the British agreed to let them into Sierra Leone. In 1816, the first batch of 38 ex-slaves was brought to Sierra Leone on a ship commanded by Paul Caffi, a sambo racial (half-Indian, half-African of the Ashanti people).
However, the main flow of American immigrants after 1816 was directed to the neighboring coast of Sierra Leone on the Pepper Coast. In 1822, a colony of "free people of color" was established here, who called themselves "American-Liberians." In 1824, the territory occupied by the colonists received the official name Liberia, and on July 26, 1847, the independence of the Republic of Liberia was proclaimed - the first African state, created on the model of the United States by American repatriates.
It is significant that yesterday's slaves who arrived on the Liberian coast did not want to return to the traditions and foundations of social life that the indigenous peoples of West Africa lived with. The American-Liberians preferred to reproduce the external attributes of the American state on the West African coast. Liberia became a presidential republic, and political parties were created in it along the American-British model. The capital of Liberia, Monrovia, even built its own Capitol, and the flag of Liberia resembles the flag of the United States of America.
On the other hand, it was the emphasis on the pro-American character of Liberia that possibly saved this country from the fate of colonization, which in one way or another affected all the countries of the African continent. At least by the British and French, who ruled in neighboring Sierra Leone and Guinea, Liberians were perceived as American subjects. However, the American-Liberians themselves tried in every possible way to emphasize their American origin, their "otherness" in comparison with the indigenous population of West Africa.
America failed
The political system of Liberia, as already mentioned, was imitated from the American one, however, numerous socio-economic problems made themselves felt in Liberia, despite the absence of a colonial past, and failed to become one of the developed and stable states of the continent. The situation was aggravated by constant conflicts between the colonists - the American-Liberians, and representatives of the tribes that make up the indigenous population of Liberia. For obvious reasons, for a long time it was the American-Liberians who made up the country's political and economic elite, and for this reason Liberia enjoyed the support of the United States, which provided it with numerous loans.
The American Liberians, who currently make up no more than 2.5% of the country's population (another 2.5% are descendants of settlers from the West Indies), concentrated in their hands all the reins of government of the country, as well as its economic wealth. Yesterday's slaves and children of slaves from the plantations of the southern states of the United States themselves turned into planters and treated the representatives of the indigenous population, turned into farm laborers and pariahs, almost worse than the white slave owners of the States - to their black slaves.
Among themselves, the American-Liberians spoke exclusively in English, not at all striving to learn the languages of the local tribes. Of course, the natives of the United States and the British Empire remained Christians of various Protestant churches by religion, while the local tribes continue to profess traditional cults for the most part. Even if the natives formally appear to be Christians, in fact they remain largely adherents of Afro-Christian cults, fancifully combining Christian elements with voodooism, traditional for the West African coast.
The indigenous population was culturally much more backward than the American-Liberians. In this regard, the lack of colonial experience even played a negative role for the country, since the American-Liberians did not pursue a policy of any meaningful “domestication” of the indigenous population. As a result, the forest tribes of Liberia remained extremely backward even by the standards of other parts of West Africa. They preserved the same "wild culture" of Africa, which the British, French, Portuguese, Italian colonial authorities in other regions of the "Black Continent" tried, at least in part, to fight against.
In full measure, all the problems that had accumulated in the country came out after the military coup carried out in 1980 by the senior sergeant of the Liberian army, Samuel Doe. On April 12, 1980, Doe's troops overthrew and assassinated President William Talbert. Until the military coup in Liberia, the dominant position of the American-Liberians and the assimilated representatives of the local population and emigrants from neighboring countries professing Christianity who joined them remained. Ameri-Liberians made up the vast majority of Liberian entrepreneurs, political and public figures, senior military and law enforcement officers, education and health officials.
In fact, until 1980, Liberia remained a state of American-Liberians, where much more numerous indigenous tribes lived in the forest zone and on the urban slum outskirts, without real access to all the benefits that the descendants of African American returnees enjoyed. Naturally, the current situation caused significant discontent among the indigenous population, whose representatives were many among the rank and file and non-commissioned officers of the Liberian army. Since the senior officers were almost entirely from American-Liberian families, the preparing conspiracy of the lower ranks was led by the twenty-nine-year-old Samuel Canyon Doe, who bore the rank of senior sergeant.
The dictatorship of the Crane indigenous Dow has set Liberia culturally back centuries. First of all, Dow, who came to power under the progressive slogans of transforming the country's social system, brought representatives of his ethnic group into the power structures, thereby establishing a tribalist dictatorship in the country. Second, the Dow, despite his indigenous origin, demonstrated pro-American positions and even in 1986 severed diplomatic relations with the Soviet Union.
Dow's reign, which began with slogans to combat corruption and equal rights for all Liberians, has become increasingly irritating in a wide variety of sectors of Liberian society. The representatives of the other twenty ethnic groups of the country also felt deprived, who again found themselves in secondary positions - only not after the American-Liberians, but after the representatives of the Crane people, to which the dictator himself belonged. Numerous insurgent formations have become active in the country, in fact, they were criminal gangs with political phraseology.
Ultimately, the commander of one of these formations, Prince Johnson, surrounded Monrovia, lured President Doe to the UN Mission, from where he was kidnapped. On September 9, 1990, the former dictatorial president of Liberia was brutally murdered - he was castrated, cut off and fed to his own ear, then killed in front of a video camera. So in Liberia, which has always been considered the stronghold of American-European political traditions on the African continent, real Africa woke up. From 1989 to 1996, a bloody civil war continued in the country, which cost the lives of 200 thousand Liberians. Ultimately, power in the country passed into the hands of the partisan commander Charles Taylor.
Taylor: From President to Inmate at The Hague Prison
Coming from the Gola people, Charles Taylor received an economic education in the United States and first worked in the administration of Samuel Doe, but in 1989 he created the rebel organization National Patriotic Front of Liberia, which became one of the key actors in the First Civil War of 1989-1996. In 1997-2003. he served as president of Liberia, while at the same time strongly supporting the rebels in neighboring Sierra Leone, where a bloody civil war was also raging.
Interference in the internal affairs of Sierra Leone was explained by the Liberian leader's interest in the diamond trade, which is rich in the land of the Lion's Mountains. Supporting the Revolutionary United Front under the leadership of Faude Sanka, Taylor pursued his own selfish interests - enrichment through diamond mining, which the rebel group sought to control, as well as strengthening his political positions in the neighboring country. Meanwhile, dissatisfaction with Taylor's policies was growing in Liberia itself, leading to the Second Civil War. Ultimately, Taylor was overthrown and fled to Nigeria.
Significantly, Charles Taylor initially acted with the explicit support of the United States. Not only was he educated in the United States - he was a quarter American through his father. A number of sources claim that since the early 1980s, American intelligence services have worked with Taylor, who needed him as a conduit for American interests in West Africa. In particular, Taylor acted as one of the co-organizers of the military coup on October 15, 1987 in Burkina Faso, as a result of which Thomas Sankara, the head of state and legendary revolutionary, whose socialist experiments were clearly not to the liking of the United States, was killed. By the way, Taylor's participation in organizing the coup in Burkina Faso and the murder of Sankara was confirmed by his closest associate Prince Johnson - the same field commander whose soldiers brutally killed the former President Samuel Doe in front of video cameras.
However, over time, Charles Taylor, recruited by the CIA, turned into a "genie released from a bottle." Since the late 1980s, he established friendly relations with Muammar Gaddafi, whom Blaise Compaore, a former associate of Sankara who became president of Burkina Faso, after his overthrow, organized an acquaintance with him. Gaddafi began to provide material assistance to Taylor, although, unlike other West African leaders, Charles Taylor could not even be called a socialist or anti-imperialist. Most likely, it was Taylor's reorientation towards Gaddafi, who supported the position of the Liberian president in the "diamond war" in Sierra Leone, that led to a sharp cooling of the United States' sympathy for his former ward and caused the fall of the Taylor regime. If Taylor was rescued from repression during the Dow years - obviously in order to later be used in American interests, then the States did not interfere with the persecution of Taylor after he was overthrown from the presidency. Unless, he did not suffer the same terrible fate that the people of Prince Johnson provided to President Doe - international structures began an investigation into Charles Taylor.
Overthrown in 2003, Taylor did not stay at large for long. Now the West has become profitable to hang on him all the many bloody atrocities committed during the civil war in Sierra Leone. In March 2006, the leadership of Nigeria extradited Taylor to the UN International Tribunal, which accused the ex-President of Liberia of numerous war crimes during the civil war in Sierra Leone and abuses during the presidency in Liberia.
Taylor was taken to The Hague Prison in the Netherlands. The former president of Liberia was blamed for the organizational and financial support of the Revolutionary United Front, which carried out Operation No Living Soul in Sierra Leone, which killed more than seven thousand people. Among other things, Taylor was accused of numerous crimes of a sexual nature and cannibalism, claiming that Taylor and his associates ate opponents of the regime from the Crane people, to which the ousted dictator Samuel Doe belonged.
The investigation into Taylor's crimes lasted six years until the former Liberian President was sentenced to 50 years in prison by the Special Court for Sierra Leone on May 30, 2012. In 2006, Ellen Johnson Sirleaf became the president of the country, who remains in office.
Seventy-six-year-old Helene - the first woman president of the African continent - began her political career in the 1970s, and during the presidency of Samuel Doe initially served as finance minister and then went into opposition. She does not hide her pro-American positions and, probably, this is precisely why she was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize.
On the list of the poorest countries in the world
Liberia remains one of the most backward states on the African continent, with extremely unfavorable living conditions for the population. Civil wars threw back the already weak Liberian economy, undermined the social foundations of society, since a large enough stratum of people was formed who did not know how and did not want to work. On the other hand, the presence of a large number of people with combat experience who were left out of work adversely affected the crime situation in Liberia, turning it into one of the most dangerous countries in this respect on the African continent, and so not distinguished by tranquility.
More than 80% of the country's population lives below the poverty line. There is a high mortality rate associated with the lack of proper medical care and the low standard of living of the population. The country's backwardness is aggravated by the fact that no more than a third of Liberians speak English, which is the official language in the country. The rest speak local unwritten languages and, accordingly, are illiterate. The country has a high crime rate, especially women and children, who are most often the targets of criminal encroachments, are especially vulnerable.
It is known that people are still abducted here for slave labor both in Liberia itself and in neighboring countries. An important role in the dysfunctional existence of the inhabitants of this West African state is played by such a reason as a certain decomposition of the local population, accustomed to constant flows of humanitarian aid and stubbornly unwilling to work. Many travelers who have visited Liberia note the laziness and propensity to steal many of the locals. Of course, this is not a trait of the national character of Liberians, but very common vices that affect both the country's image and the level of its development.
Human sacrifice remains a terrible reality in Liberia. It is clear that they have been banned by law for a long time and people who commit them are subject to criminal prosecution and severe punishment, but traditions turn out to be stronger than the fear of criminal liability. Moreover, considering that, in reality, only a minority of cases of sacrifices are investigated by law enforcement agencies and the perpetrators are held accountable. After all, traditional beliefs are still very widespread among the rural population of Liberia, especially in the interior areas, which have practically not been Christianized.
Most often, children are sacrificed to ensure commercial or life success. Liberia has a very high birth rate - in 2010, the country ranked third in the world after the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Guinea-Bissau in terms of fertility. In poor villages, where families have the largest number of children, there is simply nothing to feed them and little Liberians are perceived as a commodity not only by buyers, but also by the parents themselves. Of course, most of the children are sold on plantations, including to neighboring states, or to industrial enterprises, pretty girls join the ranks of prostitutes, but there are also cases of buying children with the subsequent purpose of sacrifice. What can we say about the fight against such crimes, if in 1989 there was a fact of conviction of the Minister of Internal Affairs of the country for organizing human sacrifice.
Liberia is currently under the special control of the United Nations. Despite the fact that the country is formally establishing a democratic political system, in reality, the deployment of peacekeeping forces and foreign military and police advisers here, helping to strengthen the country's defense and law enforcement system, are cracked at the seams, plays a significant role in maintaining a semblance of order.
Does Liberia have a chance to improve its socio-economic situation, gain the long-awaited political stability and turn into a more or less normal state? In theory, yes, and according to the Western media, this is evidenced by such progressive undertakings as the presidency of a woman - a Nobel laureate. But in reality, a serious modernization of this African state is hardly possible in the context of the continuing neo-colonial policy of the United States, interested in the exploitation of natural resources and, at the same time, in maintaining a low standard of living and political instability in the Third World countries. Moreover, the social system created in Liberia cannot exactly reproduce the American one in its worst features, with the same stratification of the population, only not according to race, but according to ethnicity. This system has evolved over almost two centuries of Liberia's existence as a sovereign state and it is hard to believe that it can be changed, at least in the next historical period.
