Liberia

**Liberia**, officially the **Republic of Liberia**, is a country in West Africa, bordered by Sierra Leone to the west, Guinea to the north, and Ivory Coast to the east.

## History

### Barclay Administration

Liberia was hit harshly by Black Monday and even more harshly by the Second American Civil War, only avoiding its own collapse with German investment. During the wave of revolutions in French West Africa during the Second Weltkrieg, Barclay intervened in the chaos, expanding its borders under the guise of national security but further diplomatically isolating the country. Though the country had initially seen economic recovery during the war, becoming a major source of rubber for the Reichspakt-Entente alliance, the collapse of Germany and the cost of governing Liberia's new territories caused the country to declare bankruptcy.

### Tubman Administration

Edwin Barclay retired immediately after the country's economic collapse, succeeded by William Tubman, who defeated his pragmatic opponent Clarence L. Simpson, a supporter of political neutrality, through Entente backing. Tubman's new government, already on shaky grounds, lost much of its support after the San-Pédro Agreement, in which it returned the occupied regions of Guiglo and San-Pédro to the Ivory Coast. Its president, Félix Houphouët-Boigny, pressured the Entente to threaten economic withdrawal if the territories were not returned. Though Tubman already planned to negotiate the return of these territories, which proved costly and unstable to govern, Houphouët-Boigny's show of force robbed the Tubman administration's desire to appear as a legitimate Entente ally. Losing its main foreign backer gave Pacific-Canadian corporations the excuse they needed to withdraw from the country, plunging the bankrupt country even further into crisis.

As the popularity of the Tubman administration plummeted, the President took desperate measures to maintain its own legitimacy, primarily the passage of universal suffrage including tribal citizens. Even so, Tubman's True Whig Party took an active role in suppressing opposition, employing repressive measures and curbing dissent to stifle any challenges to its authority. Didwho Welleh Twe, a Liberian anti-slavery activist of tribal descent, had been leading the Reformation Party in exile against Tubman's True Whig Party, and returned in 1951 to contest the presidential election. Despite facing intimidation and obstacles from the ruling party, Twe and the Reformation Party garnered substantial support from the disillusioned populace, including many Americo-Liberian members of the TWP, who split off to join the Reformation Party. Even under a blatantly rigged election, the Reformation Party managed to gain 15.2% of the vote, the highest a Liberian opposition party had officially gained since 1878. Twe immediately contested these results, calling on the Pacific States to recognize the True Whig Party's refusal to conduct free and fair elections. Though allied Canada congratulated Tubman, the Pacific States, while not openly supporting Twe, publicly expressed concerns about the lack of democratic principles in Liberia and criticized Tubman's conduct.

### June Revolution

Amidst growing discontent and protests, the Pacific States's public disapproval of the election in spite of Canadian support was the final straw against TWP dominance. The Chief of the Liberian Frontier Force, Alford Russ, stormed the capital Monrovia on June 2nd, 1951, a month and one day after the election, ending 73 years of undisputed TWP rule. Russ's forces encountered minimal resistance, as the disillusioned military and civilian populations welcomed the overthrow of the Tubman administration. After two years of negotiation, Russ's junta, the “Institutional Transitional Council”, transferred the presidency to Didwho Welleh Twe on October 12th, 1953. Twe would be inaugurated as the first non-Americo-Liberian president of the country, leading Liberia away from the one-party state and initiating a series of democratic reforms aimed at establishing a more inclusive and representative government under the Reformation Party.

However, Twe's presidency faced numerous challenges and opposition from entrenched interests. Political factions loyal to the former True Whig Party sought to undermine the new government's legitimacy, leading to internal conflicts and power struggles. Despite Tubman's overthrow, due to the Cold War, Liberia remains a battleground for competition between the Global Whites and the Third International. The Entente, concerned about syndicalist influence in Africa, still provides support to Liberia through its border with the Ivory Coast. In addition, the border territories with the Mali Federation states of Sierra Leone and Guinea (known as the Cismoa and Nzérékoré territories respectively) remain occupied by the Liberian military, resulting in ongoing tensions, and often skirmishes, with its northern neighbors.