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written history of Sierra Leone began in 1462, when
the Portuguese explorer Pedro da Cintra landed and
named the country. Europeans used the land as a
source for slaves, but in 1787 Freetown was established
as a haven for former slaves who had been living
in London.
In 1808, Sierra Leone became
a British Crown Colony, which it remained until
halfway through the 20th century, when the process
of de-colonization was commenced. This culminated
in independence on April 27, 1961. Sir Milton
Margai (1895-1964) was the first prime minister.
Sierra Leone became a one-party
state in the early 1970s. The country suffered
a civil war beginning in 1991, with the Revolutionary
United Front (RUF), led by Foday Sankoh, attacking
government soldiers and civilians indiscriminately
(Sierra Leone Civil War). This resulted in tens
of thousands of deaths and the displacement of
more than 2 million people (well over one-third
of the population) many of whom became refugees
in neighboring countries. A military coup on May
25, 1997 briefly replaced then President Ahmad
Tejan Kabbah with Major Johnny Paul Koromah. Kabbah
was reinstated in March 1998 after the junta was
ousted by the Nigerian-led ECOMOG forces.
The Lomé Peace Accord,
signed on July 7, 1999 in Lomé, Togo offered
hope that the country would be able to terminate
the period of civil chaos that had engulfed it,
and rebuild its devastated economy and infrastructure.
As of late 1999, up to 6,000 UNAMSIL peacekeepers
were in the process of deploying to bolster the
peace accord.
In
May 2000, the situation in the country deteriorated
to such an extent that British troops were deployed
in Operation Palliser to evacuate foreign nationals
and establish order. They stabilized the situation,
and were the catalyst for a ceasefire and ending
of the civil war. United Nations peacekeeping
forces withdrew at the end of 2005.
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