Poland will be in the World Cup, but not as a participating selection. Haiti will wear his flag on his elastic to compete in the World Cup as a tribute to the Polish people for their help in the Battle of Vertieres which took place 1802 to 1804. Two twinned countries, each on one side of the Atlantic Ocean, due to a war. Haiti is in the group C with Brazil, Scotland and Morocco and he will take advantage of his second participation in the World Cup to show himself to all football fans.
The Battle of Vertières was the confrontation with which Haiti achieved its independence. This conflict occurred between 1802 and 1804 between the invading French troops of Napoleon Bonaparte and the indigenous army. The capture of the governor general of Haiti, Toussaint Louverture, by Napoléon Bonaparte’s troops was the fuse that lit the people’s rebellion against the French who had occupied their territory. It was Major General Jean Jacques Dessalines who led Haiti during this conflict.
In this battle, Napoleon Bonaparte sent more than 5,000 Polish legionaries to quell the indigenous revolution. Polish soldiers had joined revolutionary France hoping for its help in dealing with the Third Partition of Poland. However, of 150 to 200 soldiers joined Haiti because they sympathized with their cause. Realizing that they were fighting against a people seeking freedom from slavery, exactly like them, many deserted and joined the rebels.
Many of the Polish soldiers ended up staying and settling in Haiti so many of the Caribbean inhabitants have Polish as well as French roots. Poland and Haiti, two twinned towns more than eight thousand kilometers apart.
