Did you know that many countries in Africa pay a colonial tax to France up until this day? We are talking a minimum of 50 years since "independence" all round.
But let's be fair, the French have form in this kind of thing, so let's go a little further back in time to see why it shouldn't surprise anyone…
Prior to independence, St Dominique – the country that is now #Haiti – was France's most profitable colony, thanks in no small part to its particularly brutal system of slavery.
In 1791 the time was right as France was in revolution, so the slaves revolted, and in 1804, after defeating Napoleon's armies, founded the world's first black republic.
Following Haiti's independence, former French slave-owners submitted details of their losses to the French government, with line items for each of "their" slaves that had been "lost" with Haitian independence.
In 1825, France, with warships at the ready, demanded Haiti compensate France for its loss of men, colony, and above all, profit. Faced with no help, the Haitians capitulated.
In exchange for French recognition of Haiti as a sovereign republic, France demanded payment of 150 million francs (modern equivalent of $22 billion). Read More
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