A few days have passed and the longest period of time in Haiti is already behind us. It’s one of those days when nothing seems to go right. I’m being held up and distracted by little things, which hasn’t been the case for a long time. Well, these days happen, and it doesn’t help to try to turn them into something else. In reality, more is achieved in the end than one’s own mind would have one believe. Tonight, for the first time, our air conditioning didn’t work, and so I actually became even more attuned to the conditions here. Most of the people here probably don’t have air conditioning. It’s not particularly hot by Caribbean standards, but the humidity is very noticeable and it’s unpleasant to move around in the sun.
Yesterday, I finished my first article on Haiti and am waiting for someone to show interest in it.
Today, I looked into German interventions and trade monopolies in Haiti, and I am truly ashamed of the arrogance our ancestors displayed here.
In the 1850s, German traders controlled approximately 80% of Haiti’s foreign trade and enriched themselves semi-legally at the country’s expense. The “Lüders Affair” (worth reading) deeply humiliated the government of 1897 and entire generations of Haitians. After the merchant Emil Lüders rebelled against police officers in the capital Port-au-Prince and resorted to violence, he was sentenced to one year in prison, together with a Haitian who had been wanted by the authorities for some time. After a few days and some international efforts, he was released and the matter could have been settled.
Two months later, however, two military ships of the Imperial Navy landed in Port-au-Prince and made the most brazen demands on the Haitian president. They demanded:
20,000 US dollars in compensation and the dismissal of the judges and police officers responsible.
A public and written apology, including a 21-gun salute for the German flag.
The rehabilitation of Lüders and permission to re-enter the country – so that he could continue to earn a fortune for his country, effectively stealing from Haitians.
An ultimatum was issued giving the Haitian government exactly four hours to meet the demands. Knowing full well that the Haitians, weary of civil wars and defending their freedom, and faced with foreign superiority, would not be able to mount a counterattack, German vanity dug deep rifts in the relationship with Haiti.
Later, in the Second World War, the Haitians, with their modest army, would take on the burden of going to war alongside the Americans. Not least because it was a welcome opportunity to take revenge on the Germans for the humiliation they had suffered.
With this history, the Germans in Haiti are still a tired tail-ender when it comes to exploitation and humiliation. America and France bear a much greater share of the blame for Haiti’s suffering and exploitation. But I am neither American nor French; I am German, and I am struck by this story.