CD Review no. 51 | All CD Reviews

The long-awaited Volume 5 of Prof. Jean Julien’s “Istwa Peyi Dayiti”, was recently released for the benefit of all Haitians of all ages. Indeed, it is as interesting and fascinating as the first four volumes. Volume 5 covers the period from 1859 to 1908 and is comprised of 14 chapters recounted in a crisp and concise manner. Every volume released by Mr. Julien enhances the importance of this initiative and gives us a better perspective of the amount of work involved in the project.

At the same time, this volume is a painful reminder of the trials that the young Haitian Republic went through, of the abuses that it suffered from the international community , and of the mismanagement that characterized the administration of our leaders. Having gained independence by force, we all know how isolated Haiti became and how some powerful foreign powers let it be known that the new nation should not expect any lenient treatment. Jean Julien describes how, after the Dominican Republic decided to annex itself to Spain, Geffrard protested against this threat. As a result, Spain sent her warships into Haiti’ports and threatened to bomb the palace if Geffrard did not pay a ransom. Later, it was the turn of Germany seeking to protect one her nationals in Haiti who had violated Haitian laws. On that occasion, the Germans desecrated our flag. France and England, who each had their consuls in Haiti, were no different. Those international abuses always caught us in a weak political position, because of the internal rivalry among politicians hungry for power whose only pastime was to plot how to overthrow the president in power. Sounds familiar? Another painful reminder is how those presidents came to power without a program of government. Lysius Félicité Salomon is the only one who did have a program. Of particular note is the section where Mr. Julien puts emphasis on the deep class divide in the Haitian society between: on one hand, the Liberals, made up of colored people, whose motto was “Power to the most able”, since they had the knowledge and the know-how; on the other hand the “Nationals”, made up of black people whose motto was “Power to the greater number”, since they were in greater number, lived among the people and had more legitimacy to govern. Sounds familiar? These two positions were key factors in preventing the country from developing in the right conditions.

You might expect from this critique that nothing those leaders did had any positive repercussions. Far from it! Hear for example about Salomon’s Administration. But, why should I tell you all this in this Chronique?. You need to go get your copy of Volume 5, Istwa Peyi Dayiti. Not only will you learn a lot of historical details not indicated in history books, but you will have a handy reference at your disposal. I find it very convenient to be going to work and listening to my Haitian history on CD. Once again, Jean Julien did a masterful job of compressing so many facts on a compact disk and presenting a clear picture of our historical background. Don’t wait to complete your set and get up to date on Mr. Julien’s work.

Serge Bellegarde
Windows on Haiti
September 2001