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Description and Holding Information
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d’Alaux, Emperor Soulouqe and His Empire, 1856
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L’Empereur Soulouqe et son empire: by Gustave d’Alaux, 286p, Paris, Michel Levy Bros., 1856. (A TOC starts on p. 285. Lacks index. Faustin Soulouque
became President of Haiti in 1847, ending a period of great instability following the death of longtime president Jean-Pierre Boyer {1818-43}, which
included four administrations each lasting less than a year, and the final loss of the Spanish half of the island; which became independent as the
Dominican Republic. Haiti’s fortunes were at a very low ebb, but the generally light-skinned Boyerist ruling class managed to take them even lower.
Needing a malleable new candidate to serve as figurehead black president, they settled on Soulouque, an apparently ignorant dullard, then an elderly 65.
Given the Boyerist control of the electoral machinery, Soulouque was duly elected president in 1847. He quickly turned the tables on his sponsors.
Within two years he had purged the army and the administration of their ruling elites, replaced them with black-skinned loyalists, created a secret police,
set up an army corps for his personal protection, abolished the republican constitution, and proclaimed himself Emperor of Haiti with the name
Faustin I. Modeling his reign on the First French Empire, he embellished his court with a Haitian nobility. Since this also served the purpose of increasing
the base of support, he ennobled with a generous hand. By September 1850, Faustin had issued Letters Patent creating 4 Princes of the Empire, 59
Dukes, 2 Marquis, 99 Counts, 215 Barons, and scores of Hereditary Chevaliers and lesser nobles. The main cause of Faustin’s eventual downfall was the
immense drain on national finances caused by his campaigns to reconquer the Dominican Republic in 1849, 1850, 1855 and 1856. All ended in expensive
fiascos for Haiti. The last defeat brought on a revolution led by General Fabre Geffrard, who restored the republic and was elected president in 1859.
Soulouque went into exile in Jamaica, but was allowed to return to Haiti several years later and died at Petit-Goave in 1867.)
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Title:
L'empereur Soulouque et son empire / par Gustave d'Alaux.
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OCLC Number:
864019219
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Available Volumes
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| Name | Fiche Count | Online | Paper Backup |
| Volume 1 | | Yes | No |
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