Ceranthor
Banned
It's pretty well known that Haiti, for most of its history, has essentially been a massive shitstorm of barbarism, poverty, and economic and environmental degradation. While it did have some potential to stabilize in the interval between the second and third French invasion of the island, the death of Toussaint Loverture and the bloodbath that followed basically ruined the entire country and made any attempts at uplifting it nearly impossible.
Now I don't think Haiti was ever really destined to become so degraded; the island of Hispaniola was obviously rich and fertile(the ruling French considered it the "Jewel of the Caribbean") and they had Toussaint Loverture, who was a canny leader and a great general. I personally believe that the two factors that did them in were Toussaint's capture and the ascension of Jean-Jacques Dessalines, who essentially kicked off a genocide against the resident French and proceeded to run the whole country into the ground. If those two things hadn't happened, and Toussaint had been smart enough not to allow French agents to double-cross him, then Haiti wouldn't have done nearly as badly as it did OTL.
This also opens up some interesting scenarios for international diplomacy. The Americans and the Europeans were already wary of an independent black republic in the Caribbean and the implications it held for their slave economies, but the ensuing ruination of the island made them lose interest; while Toussaint was still in power, Napolean schemed to unseat him, reinstate slavery, and use Hispaniola as a power base in the Americas. The combination of Dessalines and the war in Europe scrapped those plans, and essentially minimized Haiti's role on the international stage. However, an extant Toussaint would likely butterfly away the massacres that marked the end of the Haitian Revolution, allowing the country to maintain its stability, and, by extension, its importance as a piece in the Caribbean.
So, if given the right circumstances, could we see Haiti stabilize and consolidate, and perhaps maintain its independence till the present day? Might it become a puppet for the various powers, or could Toussaint(and similarly able successors) maneuver their way out of being returned to a colonial state? Could we see Haiti actually prospering, even becoming a regional power?
Now I don't think Haiti was ever really destined to become so degraded; the island of Hispaniola was obviously rich and fertile(the ruling French considered it the "Jewel of the Caribbean") and they had Toussaint Loverture, who was a canny leader and a great general. I personally believe that the two factors that did them in were Toussaint's capture and the ascension of Jean-Jacques Dessalines, who essentially kicked off a genocide against the resident French and proceeded to run the whole country into the ground. If those two things hadn't happened, and Toussaint had been smart enough not to allow French agents to double-cross him, then Haiti wouldn't have done nearly as badly as it did OTL.
This also opens up some interesting scenarios for international diplomacy. The Americans and the Europeans were already wary of an independent black republic in the Caribbean and the implications it held for their slave economies, but the ensuing ruination of the island made them lose interest; while Toussaint was still in power, Napolean schemed to unseat him, reinstate slavery, and use Hispaniola as a power base in the Americas. The combination of Dessalines and the war in Europe scrapped those plans, and essentially minimized Haiti's role on the international stage. However, an extant Toussaint would likely butterfly away the massacres that marked the end of the Haitian Revolution, allowing the country to maintain its stability, and, by extension, its importance as a piece in the Caribbean.
So, if given the right circumstances, could we see Haiti stabilize and consolidate, and perhaps maintain its independence till the present day? Might it become a puppet for the various powers, or could Toussaint(and similarly able successors) maneuver their way out of being returned to a colonial state? Could we see Haiti actually prospering, even becoming a regional power?