Chapter 469 Haiti and Dominica (Part 1)
On February 7, 1844, a riot broke out in Dominica, overthrowing the local Haitian government and seriously injuring Governor de Grote.
As the first independent black nation in history, Haiti has a lot to commend itself for, but that doesn't include its treatment of its neighbors.
It annexed Dominica by force 22 years ago, setting a precedent in modern history for a black country to invade and enslave a white country.
But the black uncles seemed only interested in rebellion. With no threat from Europe, they started a no-holds-barred fighting competition in Haiti.
The whole situation is similar to Gu refining, with various warlords, so-called kings and leaders emerging one after another.
These guys are quite qualified when it comes to infighting, but they are really blind in the economic field. In the style of relying on the mountains and rivers, the blacks in Haiti asked the enslaved whites and mixed-race people to hand over grain to provide the necessities of the civil war.
In addition, the so-called "peasant code" there is actually equivalent to the restoration of the serfdom system. This kind of perverse behavior naturally has no good fruits.
The warlords who could not collect taxes could only condone robbery in order to prevent soldiers from mutiny. As a result, instead of being able to live a "good life", the newly independent country allowed its fields to become barren and plunged the country into starvation.
Sugar production dropped by 95%, and cacti were overrun. A French missionary recorded in his diary:
"Cacti have invaded cities and villages, and are everywhere in pastures and fields. Residents ignore them, and livestock will not eat these plants. The ruins of the city and the lush green plants seem to make a mockery of this civilization. .”
Affected by the warlords' melee, legal provisions have become a piece of paper, and public security is out of the question. Therefore, Youdao believes that it is better to farm than to rob, and to have money is better to have guns. The Dominicans who were enslaved by them are even more miserable.
After all, all the warlords in Haiti thought of the same way to solve their country's economic situation, which was to transfer the domestic crisis to foreign countries.
In the end, the Dominicans couldn't bear it, but they also knew that it was impossible to defeat this powerful black country on their own.
So the drama of asking the great powers to intervene was staged again, but in fact Haiti was too busy internally to take care of itself and never thought of sending troops to invade Dominica again.
At this time, Juan Pablo Duarte was the leader of Dominica and a naive liberal. His supporters actually controlled the country, but he insisted on free elections.
Because his position as president was recommended by everyone, in his eyes he was just a temporary agent rather than a formal one.
But it would be fine if it only involved the position of president, but this naive liberal was still too young; he hoped that all official positions in the country would be freely elected, including military officers, so he offended many people. Interests.
Franz knew very well that the biggest challenge facing the interim president was not external but internal, but he did not intend to help. After all, the empire's ability to control overseas was limited, at least not for now.
And it is obvious that such a ruler can really govern the country well. If not the ambitious Pedro Santana, there would be someone else. Of course, it might be even worse, such as being invaded by Haiti again and becoming a black colony.
In fact, Juan Pablo Duarte and his motherland were useless to the great powers. At that time, no large copper mines were discovered in Dominica, and no one found gold. All they had was corn and sugar, among which the most famous It's a blue gemstone called "Hainite".
While not producing much, they also had to face a "powerful" neighbor - a barbaric black country.
The major European powers at that time had basically suffered at the hands of this black country, so naturally no one wanted to "relive the old dream" again.
At this time, France was still stuck in the quagmire of Salvador in Central America, and Louis Philippe and other high-level Paris officials had no intention of provoking a thankless war again.
Portugal and Spain are also unable to launch a war alone. As for the British, they actually hate this religious country, and they also do not want to fight the black people in Haiti. The strategic value of Dominica is really not as good as that of Juan Pablo Du It's as big as Alter imagined.
But on the other hand, although the Haitians have not yet decided on the leader, their verbal threats have never stopped, which makes the new Dominican Republic panic. After all, the former has invaded the latter before, and it is not impossible to do it again.
As a result, pressure from the outside allowed Juan Pablo Duarte to temporarily retain his position as president. Although Franz did not want Austria to be involved now, he still conveyed his "goodwill" through Archbishop Rauscher. ".
Dominica has a strong religious force and is very willing to see European religious "brothers" come to help.
At the same time, Franz also suggested to Prime Minister Metternich to recognize the new regime in Dominica. The latter knew that the former was often involved with religious elements, so it was not surprising.
Moreover, recognizing the Dominican government and sending troops to help are completely different things. Although there is some fear of Haiti, it is just a fear of sending troops there.
If Haiti dares to send troops to attack Austrian warships or colonial ships, it will be another matter entirely.
Austria was the first to recognize the Dominican Republic rather than Juan Pablo Duarte, which did not cause any dissatisfaction from the latter. On the contrary, he felt that it was the former that made his reputation better.
Franz couldn't help but sigh, it's great to be able to do business with such a person who is good at brainstorming.
Dominica is reorganizing its military and preparing for war, so it naturally needs a large number of urgently needed supplies such as weapons and uniformed military uniforms. After all, the industrial level of this place is almost zero. It can be said that everything except food needs to be imported from abroad.
But this country has neither money nor goods that can be exchanged; because the war-torn fields are largely deserted, the rest are either taken away by the Haitians or kept by the locals for food.
And no country believes that such a bad land has any future. Even if it is a colony under its own country, it is too hot, because there is a black country next to it that has defeated the great powers several times.
The same political instability has also forced European businessmen and politicians to think carefully. The result is that no one is willing to take this risk, because the benefits are not proportional to the effort.
But Franz is different. He knows very well that this small Dominican Republic will become the largest economy in Central America in the future.
But he prefers to support weak liberals rather than hard-line conservatives. After all, the latter are more like and more suitable to be agents, especially naive idealists like Juan Pablo Duarte.
This person has countless beautiful plans and blueprints, and he describes a beautiful and prosperous future to his supporters, but there is no feasible solution.
In history, this man only served as president for five months before he was overthrown. Tianhu's beginning ended up in exile overseas, which can't help but make people feel sad.