The Colonial Robespierre: Victor Hugues on Guadeloupe, 1794-98
H.J.K. Jenkins profiles a dictator and liberator in the West Indies under the first French Republic.
H.J.K. Jenkins profiles a dictator and liberator in the West Indies under the first French Republic.
In the years following their seizure of the West Indian Island of Martinique from the French, the British had the task of maintaining internal order and restoring the island's prosperity before handing their protectorate back to Napoleon's envoy.
After the French Revolution, the colony of Guadeloupe experienced many upheavals and was, for much of the time, virtually independent. Nevertheless it kept the French flag flying against both Americans and British, its garrison deriving much strength from its newly-freed slaves. When Napoleon came to power, the black population revolted the Black Consul’s racist policies. H.J.K. Jenkins retells the story.