The Republic of Haiti is the only nation tracing its genesis to a successful slave revolt. After more than a decade of war that destroyed the country's infrastructure and cost tens of thousands of lives, the French relinquished military control in 1804. However, France maintained financial repression by demanding that the fledgling nation pay damages for property losses incurred during the revolution. These demands marked the birth of Haiti's longstanding debt burden. As historian von Tunzelmann 6 describes, Haiti was on the brink of humanitarian calamity even before the devastating earthquake of 2010: