Faustin Soulouque
Faustin Soulouque (* 1782 in the district of Petit Goyave, Haiti; † August 4, 1867 ) was a Haitian politician and from 1847 to 1849 and President from 1849 to 1859 as Faustin I. Emperor of Haiti.
Life
Fausti Soulouque was born in 1782 in Haiti as a slave. When eleven years later in 1793, slavery was abolished, he also received his freedom.
At 22 he got a job in 1804 at General Jean -Jacques Dessalines, the first Emperor of Haiti, later he became its adjutant. 1810, Soulouque under President Alexandre Pétion Sabes as a lieutenant. When his protector died, Soulouque moved on the same day as his successor Jean -Pierre Boyer.
Under his command became Soulouque soon to captain. In 1843 he was promoted to colonel and a short time later a general. As a result of Boyer entrusted him with the leadership of the Presidential.
1846 took over Soulouque the commandant of Port -au -Prince and was elected on March 1, 1847 after the death of Jean -Baptiste Riches by the Senate President of the Republic. As he could neither read nor write, was Solouque, politically a completely blank slate, as completely uneducated and naive. It therefore seemed an ideal exponent of the so-called politique de doublure ( " representative politics " ) to be, by which is understood the election of black president, which were controlled by the mulatto. First Soulouque seemed to want to accomplish this task faithfully and was directed by his mulatto consultants.
" Given his long reign, one must, however, assume that he completely underestimated by contemporaries, quickly developed an awareness of the problems and power relations of his country. " ( Walther L. Bernecker ) Soulouque thought no more soon because its intended role of puppet to keep playing. On April 16, 1848, the subliminal power struggle escalated Soulouques against his mulatto men in Port -au -Prince in a four-day bloodbath at the mulatto elite, who may have worked at this time of his deposition.
For fear of further atrocities, the Chamber of Representatives thanked on December 3, 1848 at publicly dictator Soulouque for the salvation of the fatherland and the Constitution. A campaign against the rebellious mulattoes of Santo Domingo (which had become independent in 1844 ) in March 1849 ended for Soulouque however shamefully. Nevertheless, Faustin Soulouque made a proclamation on 26 August of the same year the emperor. On April 18, 1852 Soulouque was crowned in the capital in pompous manner as Faustin I.. His enthronement engulfed the entire state treasury; alone the diamond-studded crown which Faustin had to sit on the head, costing $ 100,000.
His court directed Faustin I. along the lines of France and Napoleon III. from. After his accession to the throne Faustin I. donated the two Order of St. Faustin for military personnel as well as the Legion of Honour for civilians. Soulouque created his own aristocracy. " Four princes, 59 dukes and an immense number of earls, barons and other ennobled heads were the especially in the press of France often mocked, island nobility ' "
Soulouque was the first head of government since independence, who admitted in an identical position in addition to the official Catholicism voodoo, although both were intimately bound up without this in the religious practices of ordinary people. For this reason, the Vatican signed a concordat with Haiti resolutely rejected. As in Saut d' Eau, a Marian apparition has been reported, there was Soulouque build a hermitage.
His three attempts to subdue Santo Domingo, failed, as did those of his predecessors. Faustin I ruled absolutist and exploited the country. On December 22, 1858 began with the proclamation of the Republic of Haiti's civil war. From Gonaïves from General Fabre began his march against Geffrard Faustin I. Since the dictator had little popular support, he was betrayed and arrested on 15 January 1859 in the capital, Port -au -Prince.
Known for his generosity, let Geffrard General Faustin I. emigrate to Jamaica. After the fall Geffrards 1867 he received permission to return to their homeland and died there at the age of 85 years on August 4, 1867 in Petit Goyave.