The Lüders affair was a legal and diplomatic embarrassment to the

Haiti Haiti, officially the Republic of Haiti, is a country on the island of Hispaniola in the Caribbean Sea, east of Cuba and Jamaica, and south of the Bahamas. It occupies the western three-eighths of the island, which it shares with the Dominican ...

an government in 1897. On September 21, 1897, Haitian police were looking for one Dorléus Présumé, who was accused of theft. They found him washing a coach in front of the "Écuries Centrales" (Central Stables) of

Port-au-Prince Port-au-Prince ( ; ; , ) is the Capital city, capital and List of cities in Haiti, most populous city of Haiti. The city's population was estimated at 1,200,000 in 2022 with the metropolitan area estimated at a population of 2,618,894. The me ...

. His employer was Emile Lüders. Présumé resisted arrest, and Lüders, who had heard the noise, came to his defence. On September 21, 1897, both Présumé and Lüders were sentenced by the Police Tribunal to one month's imprisonment for assault and battery. They appealed to the Correctional Tribunal, but this time they were also charged with using force to resist arrest. The original sentence was annulled and on October 14 they were sentenced to one year's imprisonment. Lüders had previously been sentenced to six days imprisonment in 1894 for

battery Battery or batterie most often refers to: * Electric battery, a device that provides electrical power * Battery (crime), a crime involving unlawful physical contact Battery may also refer to: Energy source * Battery indicator, a device whic ...

on a soldier. Witnesses against Lüders included

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies. * British national identity, the characteristics of British people and culture ...

French French may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to France ** French language, which originated in France ** French people, a nation and ethnic group ** French cuisine, cooking traditions and practices Arts and media * The French (band), ...

, and

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany, the country of the Germans and German things **Germania (Roman era) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizenship in Germany, see also Ge ...

witnesses. Nonetheless, on October 17 the German

Chargé d'affaires A (), plural ''chargés d'affaires'', often shortened to ''chargé'' (French) and sometimes in colloquial English to ''charge-D'', is a diplomat who serves as an embassy's chief of mission in the absence of the ambassador. The term is Frenc ...

, Count Schwerin, demanded the immediate release of Lüders (who had been born in Haiti but had a German father), as well as the removal of the judges and dismissal of the police officers involved in the case. Responding to intervention by the

American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, p ...

representative, W.F. Powell, President Sam pardoned Lüders, who left the country on October 22. On December 6, 1897, two German warships, the

screw corvette Steam frigates (including screw frigates) and the smaller steam corvettes, Screw sloop, steam sloops, steam gunboats and steam schooners, were steam-powered warships that were not meant to stand in the line of battle. The first such ships were p ...

s and , anchored in the harbor of Port-au-Prince, without the usual salute, and Captain Thiele of ''Charlotte'' notified the Haitian government of an

ultimatum An ; ; : ultimata or ultimatums) is a demand whose fulfillment is requested in a specified period of time and which is backed up by a coercion, threat to be followed through in case of noncompliance (open loop). An ultimatum is generally the ...

whose conditions were humiliating in both form and substance: compensation in the amount of twenty thousand dollars for Lüders, a promise that Lüders could return to Haiti, a letter of apology to the German government, a 21-gun salute to the German flag, a reception for the German Chargé d'affaires, and four hours to decide. The President was required to raise a white flag on the presidential palace in token of surrender. The Haitian government yielded, to the distress of its people, who had been prepared to defend their national honor. They were horrified to see the white flag, despite the protestations of the French ambassador, Théodore Meyer, that it was merely a parliamentary standard.

Solon Ménos Solon Ménos (9 March 1859 – 14 October 1918) was a Haitian writer and politician. Born in Anse-à-Veau, Ménos studied in France and received a doctorate in law there at the age of twenty-two. A prominent politician, Ménos served as Haiti's ...

, Foreign Minister of Haiti at the time, subsequently fought a duel with a member of Lüders' family and was the subject of an action for defamation by two German officials requiring him to append a statement to the end of his book on the Lüders affair.Ménos
p. 391
The Lüders affair was extremely embarrassing for president Sam, and undermined his authority in Haiti, leading to his resignation in 1902.

References

{{Reflist 19th century in Haiti 1897 in Germany Foreign relations of the German Empire 1897 in international relations 1897 in Haiti Political scandals in Haiti Ultimata Germany–Haiti relations Diplomatic incidents

See also

References