 Liberia - national flag
Liberia - national flag, Liberia's first flag of 1827 was similar to that of
the United States, though it had a cross instead of stars. At independence in
1847, the cross was replaced with a star. The eleven stripes stand for the
eleven signers of the country's Declaration of Independence. Blue symbolizes
Africa, and the white star must show that, by independence, Liberia was the only
state in Africa ruled by Africans.
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Liberia - history
Liberia History, In 1822, the philanthropic movement The American
Colonization Society created a settlement on the west coast of Africa for freed
American slaves. It was renamed Liberia in 1824 and the capital Monrovia
was named after US President James Monroe. In 1847, Liberia was declared
independent and the country was recognized by most European countries, but not
by the United States, for example. The emancipated slaves and their descendants,
the so-called Americo-Liberians, constituted only approximately 4% of the population,
however, managed to maintain a form of government with the suppression of the
area's indigenous population, which was similar to the one they had left in the
southern states. The Americo Liberian Party, the True Whig Party, sat
uninterruptedly in power from 1877 to 1980, and it was not until 1944 that
universal suffrage was introduced for parliamentary elections and in 1952 for
presidential elections.
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AbbreviationFinder: Check three-letter abbreviation for each country in
the world, such as LBR which represents the official name of Liberia.
Until 1920, Liberia was more oriented towards Europe than to the United
States, but after the conclusion of an agreement with Firestone Tire & Rubber
Company in 1927, the United States became the country's most important
partner. Under President William Tubman, from 1944, an economic policy, Open
Door Policy, was launched, seeking to attract private investors. At the same
time, a plan, the Unification Scheme, was launched, which sought to correct many
years of failed policy towards the indigenous population. Liberia was at that
time a one-party state. The formation of the Movement for Justice in Africa and
the Progressive Alliance of Liberians organizations changed this and led to a
growing political consciousness which in 1979 resulted in the first political
riots, the so-called Rice Riots. Deteriorating social and economic
conditions in 1980 led to a military coup during which President William
Tolbert was assassinated. The new government under the leadership of Samuel
Doe dictatorically ruled the country and failed a democratization attempt.
In 1989, a broad coalition of opposition groups was formed, the National
Patriotic Front of Liberia (NPFL), aimed at defeating the government. Under the
leadership of Charles Taylor, NPFL troops invaded the country that year, after
which civil war broke out. The development caused the ECOWAS (Economic Community
of West African States) to intervene in the conflict in August 1990. The fierce
civil war created major refugee problems. Following many peace agreements and a
number of temporary governments, elections were held in 1997 with the
participation of 12 parties. The election was won by Charles Taylor, who is
inaugurated as president.
Charles Taylor was heavily in power in Liberia after the 1997 electoral
victory, and instead of meeting the promises of a modern regime, he has, with
hard means, suppressed the opposition and secured control of the media. In 1999,
Taylor was charged with supporting the RUF rebel movement in neighboring Sierra
Leone. by decreasing the diamond production controlled by the RUF, thus keeping
the civil war going. That led to a UN-decided embargo on the country, in which
fighting in 1999 and 2000 also broke out with both Guinea's rebels and
forces. The fight against the rebels, the Liberians United for Reconciliation
and Democracy (LURD), continued, and in 2003 Taylor exiled Nigeria. Peacekeeping
forces from Nigeria was deployed in the country whose rule was taken over by a
transitional government. In 2005,Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf was elected president,
thus becoming Africa's first female head of state. She received the Nobel Peace
Prize in 2011 and was later re-elected President. Thus, with the continued
presence of UN forces in the country, there is prospect of greater political
stability, but the tasks of economic reconstruction are enormous and entirely
dependent on external financial support. In the spring of 2014, Liberia
experienced a new setback with the West African Ebola epidemic. Only a year
later, after 10,673 infections, of which 4808 perished, the country was free to
report Ebola.
In 2006, Charles Taylor was extradited to prosecution for crimes against
humanity, and in 2012 he was found guilty of war crimes.
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