Eclipsed: Contemporary Liberian History
Posted by Patrick McKelvey on February 2nd, 2009
Danai Gurira’s Eclipsed takes place in 2003, during the final year of Liberia’s Second Civil War. Below, we have created timelines of contemporary Liberian history and provided summaries of some of the war’s major players, including Charles Taylor, LURD, and the Liberian Women’s Initiative. (For a more in-depth information, stay tuned for an upcoming entry which features a digest of Liberian current events throughout 2003.)
A Condensed Early History of Liberia
In 1816, prominent Americans found The Society for the Colonization of Free People of Color of America (also known as the American Colonization Society) to facilitate the return of “Africans in America” to Africa. The first ACS ship arrives on the coast of what will become Liberia and settlers stake their claim in 1821, meeting resistance from the indigenous people. A series of wars between settlers (and their descendents) and the native tribes (including the Dei, Bassa, Kru, Vai, and Grebo) rage off and on for the next hundred years. This tension-and the continued economic and political power of settlers’ descendents (called Americo-Liberians) at the expense of the indigenous people-remains a dominant current throughout Liberian history.
Timeline of Contemporary Liberian History
1979—Liberian President William Tolbert refuses citizens the right to non-violently protest his increase on the cost of rice; a violent “Rice Riot” begins, resulting in over forty deaths.
1980—Non-commissioned officers in Liberia’s armed forces stage a coup, assassinating Tolbert and creating a military government, People’s Redemption Council (PRC), with Master-Sergeant Samuel K. Doe, a member of the Krahn tribe, as head of state.
1980-9—The Doe Era, marked by instability and ethnic conflict. Foreign anxiety regarding violent overthrow instigates a downward economic spiral; despite this, government wages increase, amplifying Liberia’s national debt.
1989—Charles Taylor, a former government official under Doe, and his National Patriotic Front of Liberia (NPFL) leads insurgency against Doe and attack government posts in Nimba County. Beginning of Great War/First Civil War.
1990—Following a dispute with Taylor, Prince Johnson and others separate from the NPFL and form Independent NPFL (INPFL). INPFL captures and kills Doe; four warlords, including Taylor, claim the presidency.
1992—NPFL initiates “Operation Octopus” and attacks ECOMOG, a cease-fire monitoring group organized by ECOWAS, the Economic Community of West African States. Many rebel factions emerge.
1993—Cotonou Peace Accord provides for Liberian Transitional Government that includes faction representatives and civilians, and organizes the processes of disarmament and democratic elections. Fighting continues in the countryside.
1994—Founding of Liberian Women’s Initiative, one of many women’s organizations that advocates peace.
1996—War arrives in Monrovia; cease-fire begins in September; end of First Civil War; Ruth Perry leads transitional government.
1997—Election: Taylor wins the presidency (70%); his National Patriotic Party (NPP) wins 21 of 26 Senate Seats and 49 of 64 House seats.
1999—Liberian government observes large military movement of rebel Liberian soldiers in Sierra Leone; the rebels eventually seize most of Lofa County. The group is eventually discovered to be LURD, Liberians United for Reconciliation and Democracy, a recently emerged faction.
2000—US Undersecretary of State for Political Affairs Thomas Pickering and other international delegates meet in Monrovia and declare that if civil war does not cease, Liberia will be recognized as an international pariah.
2002—Taylor declares State of Emergency; many flee Monrovia as LURD troops encroach.
Eclipsed: 2003
March—Liberian Women’s Initiative, Women In Peacemaking Network , and other women’s organizations organize anti-war protests.
April—More than 80% of Liberia under LURD control.
More than one thousand women dressed in white, including members of the Liberian Women’s Initiative, stage peaceful assembly in front of Monrovia’s municipal building, demanding that leaders cease fire.
June—Leaders meet in Ghana for peace talks with Taylor’s government, LURD, and Movement for Democracy in Liberia (MODEL), a rebel group who launched attacks on Taylor from Côte d’Ivoire. Leaders sign a cease-fire treaty calling for a transitional government with a verification team and monitoring committee.
International Criminal Court in Sierra Leone indicts Charles Taylor for war crimes.
Cease-fire agreement fails; LURD and government continue fighting.
July—After sending small force of troops to US Embassy, US Secretary of State Colin Powell announces US support for peacekeeping in Liberia.
August—The UN Security Council authorizes the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) to launch peacekeeping mission in Liberia.
Charles Taylor resigns as President of Liberia and seeks asylum in Nigeria.
Liberian women publish “The Golden Tulip Declaration,” which calls for inclusion of women in existing and proposed government institutions/structures.
LURD, MODEL, government enter a comprehensive peace agreement (Accra Accord) which requires National Transitional Government of Liberia to maintain peace so that a proper democratic election can be held in 2005.
Nov 8, 2005
Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf is elected President of Liberia and becomes the first elected female head of state in Africa.
Charles Taylor
Born to an Americo-Liberian father and a mother from the Gola tribe, Charles Taylor serves briefly in the government of Samuel Doe until Doe accuses him of embezzling nearly one million dollars. Taylor flees to America, where he is imprisoned for his alleged crime until he escapes in 1985 and travels to Libya. There he receives training in guerilla warfare before returning to Liberia and leading an insurgency against Doe. Taylor acts as a vicious warlord until 1997, when a terror-stricken Liberia elects him President. He continues to commit atrocities throughout his presidency: facilitating illegal weapon and diamond trades; ordering the murder, rape, and torture of thousands of civilians; and conscripting child soldiers, some as young as six.
LURD
Liberians United for Reconciliation and Democracy (LURD) emerges in 1999 with the sole stated mission of removing Taylor from office. LURD first conquers Lofa County in early 2000 and soon gains control of Northwestern Liberia before invading Monrovia on June 4, 2003. Hundreds are raped and murdered during the June 4th attacks, amplifying LURD’s already vicious toll on civilian life.
Liberian Women’s Initiative
When the Cotonou Accord of 1993 calls for the installment of a transitional government in Liberia, women peacemaking activists convene and document their goal. They unanimously recognize disarmament as their primary concern and officially adopt the name Liberian Women’s Initiative on March 7, 1994, the day of their first public demonstration. Throughout the next decade, LWI promotes disarmament, talking directly to soldiers and warlords, pressuring them to give up their weapons and negotiate. They also engage with the greater community by educating voters and facilitating meetings with major international political figures.
After the War
On October 11, 2005, thirteen nominees compete for the Liberian presidency. Initially too close to call, the transitional government organizes a run-off between the top two contenders, George Weah (a Kru football player and UN Goodwill Ambassador) and Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf, a former Minister of Finance (under Tolbert) who had been imprisoned twice during the Doe regime. Johnson-Sirleaf achieves a decisive victory on November 8, making her the first elected female head of state in Africa. Under Johnson-Sirleaf’s leadership, Liberia receives assistance from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) to help eradicate the $3.5 of national debt that accumulated throughout the Great War. Johnson-Sirleaf’s other major works include facilitating Liberia’s food independence, establishing the Truth and Reconciliation Commission to address crimes committed throughout the war, and opening up business opportunities to businesses from Nigeria, a nation that was instrumental in facilitating peacekeeping in Liberia.
Posted by Patrick McKelvey, Literary Intern at McCarter Theatre.
