Context: During the Haitian Revolution, France hired Polish mercenaries to go to Haiti and help with putting the slave rebellion down. After arriving, the Polish mercenaries immediately recognized they had much more in common with the other people being oppressed by major European powers and joined the revolution on the Haitians' side. After the revolution and because of some of the most severe international sanctions in world history (many of which are still in effect to this day), the Polish mercenaries were now completely Haitian and were legally declared "black" by the new Haitian government.