If you mention superpowers, you must think of some familiar countries. Even superpowers sometimes keep a low profile.
But there is another country in the world, which is neither strong nor rich, but has extreme self-confidence, with some people trying to become president for $220,000, and others claiming to be able to sweep China in a day.
The Gambia, the kingdom of the universe
Many years ago, the novel "Roots" written by African American writer Alex Harry was published and was also adapted into a TV series.
The TV series caused a big stir in the United States because it was a family history novel that reflected the suffering of slavery and black people in American history.
The author, Alex Harry, whose ancestors were sold as slaves from the country of The Gambia and brought to the United States.
Since then, black Americans have gone to the Gambia to "trace their roots".
And the place where the author's ancestors were born became their place of pilgrimage.
It is not difficult to see that the Gambia is not a country that is very strong, and it has been a small country that has been bullied in history.
The Gambia is the westernmost part of the African continent, and the country's name is derived from the Gambia River.
The Gambia is one of the smallest countries in Africa, both in terms of its size and population.
The Gambia was also historically a region long contested by Britain and France.
Between the 14th and 17th centuries, the Gambia was a dependency of the Mali Empire.
Between the seventeenth and nineteenth centuries, fifteen small Mandingo kingdoms ruled the region, the most powerful and wealthy of which was the kingdom of Barra at the mouth of the river.
Portuguese navigators discovered the place in the middle of the fifteenth century.
They were the first Western colonists in The Gambia.
In 145556 AD, Prince Henry of Portugal sent people to explore the source of the Netbia River for the first time.
At that time, the Gambia was part of the Mali Empire.
Later, the Portuguese came here one after another, intermarried with the local natives, and gradually cut off from the Portuguese mainland.
In the sixteenth century, the British and French came here one after another, and established merchants (trading posts) on Mei'an, exchanging weapons and textiles for local products such as ivory, gum, wood and so on.
As the demand for slave labor increased on plantations in North America and the West Indies, it became one of the major sources of slaves.
It is said that in the first twenty-five years of the eighteenth century, about 1,000 slaves were trafficked from here each year, and as many as 2,000 slaves were shipped out in good years.
Later, the Gambia and Seneca became areas of long-term contention between Britain and France.
It wasn't until 1918 that The Gambia became a colony in British hands.
The British Government had always regarded The Gambia as a small and impoverished region and a financial burden, and as a result, political institutions and economic policies there were formulated as temporary measures.
It can be said that the colonial government has done little to develop the Gambia's economy and culture.
The Gambia's economic and cultural development was the most backward even among the British colonies.
Economically, the colonial government's stated policy was to maintain the status quo and keep development funding to a minimum, so the Gambia remained a single-crop country dominated by groundnuts.
Culturally backward too.
In 1940, there were only six elementary schools in the entire reserve, and in 1960 it grew to thirty-seven.
Health care has also been neglected.
In the sixties, there was only one hospital in Bathurst.
In 1961 there were only five doctors in the country.
The Gambia's political awakening was also relatively late, lagging far behind its West African neighbors.
The first movement of a political nature was in 1928, but the impact did not extend beyond the immediate colonies.
Political parties in the modern sense only developed in the fifties.
The Gambia gained independence in 1965 and by 1970 the Gambia became a republic but remained within the British Commonwealth.
During the period of colony, for the needs of the Manchu suzerainty and to obtain huge profits, the Gambia was unilaterally developed peanut cultivation, which also led to peanut production becoming the economic pillar of the Gambia.
As long as the price of peanuts fluctuates greatly in the international market, it will seriously affect the country's fiscal revenue and people's economic life.
After independence, although the Governments of Daouda Kailaba Jawara and Yahya Jammeh made the development of agriculture vigorous, achieving food self-sufficiency as a priority for economic development.
However, the reality remained grim, as the profound effects of colonial rule on the Gambia would not be undone for a long time.
Between 1976 and 1985, the Gambian economy deteriorated sharply as a result of natural disasters, management errors and changes in the price of groundnuts on the international market.
During this period, two five-year plans were implemented: 1975-1980 and 1981-1985, aimed at gradually restoring the economy to the level of the mid-70s, but did not achieve the expected results.
In 1985, peanut production fell by half, and exports plummeted.
Gross national product fell by 18.3 per cent, per capita income fell by 59 per cent, currency depreciation by 222 per cent, prices soared by 283 per cent, and the national economy fell into difficulty.
At the same time, the participation of government ministries in the economy has increased, and the central government has expanded.
The result has been a surge in government spending, widening fiscal deficits, slow economic growth and a surge in inflation, leading to serious balance-of-payments imbalances.
In 1991, the Gambia suffered another large-scale drought natural disaster, a major agricultural failure, a 50 per cent reduction in groundnut production and a growth in GDP of only 2-3 per cent, and the country's economy was in a very difficult situation for several years.
In 1994, the CFA franc depreciated by 50 per cent, and the Gambia's economy suffered a major blow.
At the same time, Senegal stepped up its efforts to crack down on the smuggling of Gambian businessmen through Senegalese territory, and Senegal even closed its border crossings with the Gambia, making the Gambia's economy deteriorate.
In early 1994, the Government of the Gambia submitted a package of applications to the Geneva International Assistance Conference, but the coup d'état of July 1994 ultimately prevented assistance.
In 2014, the Gambia's GDP per capita was just over $400, according to the International Monetary Fund.
This data ranked sixth from the bottom among the 189 countries and regions participating in the competition.
In The Gambia, where people live mainly by fishing and farming at home, self-sufficiency is problematic.
However, such a small country with a struggling economy has a honey confidence, not only once boasting that it can sweep China in one day, but also trying to seize the presidency for $220,000.
Being able to show the momentum of the number one power in the universe is all more or less related to their current president.
"West African Madman" Jammeh
Gambian President Jammeh was born in 1965 in a village called Kaniyi in the western Gambia.
From a young man in a small village to becoming the leader of the Gambia at the age of 29, Jammeh followed a coup path.
When it comes to coups, it has to be said that in The Gambia in 2014, an astonishing American businessman tried to use $220,000 to stage a coup d'état in The Gambia to gain the presidency.
It was December 30, 2014.
In the early hours of that morning, there was an attempted military coup in The Gambia.
A group of armed men attacked the presidential palace at gunpoint.
But they did not succeed, firstly because President Jammeh was not in the presidential palace but abroad, and secondly, they were soon discovered by the president's guard and suppressed in the firefight, so they failed.
Interestingly, the coup was not initiated by a native Gambian but by two Gambian-American businessmen, one named Cherno Nji and the other named Papa Farr.
Nji, then 57 and Farr, 46, left The Gambia more than two decades ago to work and live in the United States.
They claimed to have been instigated by others for launching this coup.
They were drawn into a cabal four months ago.
The people in this gang are all Gambians, some in France and some in the United States.
And, most importantly, most of them have military experience.
It was an organized and planned coup d'état.
When he was in the United States, he and two other gang members each bought four M4 and AKM rifles, as well as weapons and body armor, about thirty weapons, in addition to night vision devices and other equipment, very complete.
The equipment was smuggled into the Gambia by cargo ship.
They did not intend to attack the presidential palace directly, but planned to set up an ambush halfway along the way to attack Jammeh's convoy.
However, he learned that Jammeh was about to go abroad, so he planned to go straight to the presidential palace.
According to Farr, they had already bought off a battalion in the Gambian army, and as soon as they stormed the presidential palace, the Gambian soldiers who had already surrendered would come to their aid, so that the guards in the presidential palace would not be their opponents.
So they didn't have many people participating in the attack on the presidential palace this time.
Who knew that those soldiers who "surrendered" did not arrive as promised, and Faller and they were suppressed by the fire of the guards of the presidential palace and directly defeated.
Faller fled in a panic and then sailed to the U.S. Embassy in Senegal's capital to turn himself in.
Another mastermind, Enji, was arrested at the international airport.
Subsequently, FBI personnel searched Enji's residence in the United States, where they found numerous handwritten documents, as well as a list of weapons and other equipment lists.
The preparation was very substantial, as the list included the amount of equipment purchased for the coup d'état, the budget for transporting the equipment, and even the budget for compensation for the families of the gang members after their death.
The total amount is $220,798.
It is reported that Eunji, who was arrested at the international airport, is actually one of the main leaders of the coup, he is the president of a real estate company.
However, business could no longer satisfy his vanity, and he wanted to go into politics.
As a Gambian American, he knew that there was little hope for making a name for himself in American political vanity fair.
But his hometown of The Gambia can still give it a try, because it is basically a backcountry, and if he can win the presidential palace, he is a big step away from his dream of becoming the leader of the Gambia.
In the planning of this coup d'état, Nji gave them 4,000 US dollars, which were used to spend on the Gambia.
Regarding the coup, President Jammeh accused "terrorist groups backed by foreign forces" of carrying out the coup.
Although Jammeh was outraged by the coup, he also came to power by the coup.
Yahya Jammeh excelled from an early age, and after graduating from high school, he entered the training center of the American School of the United States Army for basic officer subjects, and later obtained a degree in military science.
At this time, there were only 800 soldiers in the Gambia, and in July 1994, it was these soldiers who staged the coup d'état.
The army's dissatisfaction with the Jawala government culminated in the Government's arrears in the salaries of soldiers serving in Liberia in 1991, which led to the eventual coup d'état.
Because the incident could not be resolved for a long time, the dissatisfaction of the lower ranks of the army spread to the dissatisfaction of the rule of the Jawara government.
The Jawara government is not unaware of the army's grievances.
On 21 July 1994, Jawara returned home from a one-month state visit.
Fearing a coup d'état in the army, he immediately arrested all the heavily armed soldiers at the airport as soon as he got off the plane.
In the face of such public humiliation of the army by Jawara, Jammeh commented after the coup: "This is the last straw that broke the camel's back." Subsequently, lower-ranking officers planned a coup d'état within 24 hours.
Jameh and four other lieutenants organized everyone and took up arms to attack the Gambian capital.
The coup d'état of July 22, in which Jammeh won without any resistance, has not yet been clearly explained.
Because, on the one hand, there were Nigerian soldiers in the Gambian army, and there was no doubt that they could not have supported Jammeh's regime, and under the circumstances, they were most likely aware of the coup in advance.
And even if they did not anticipate the coup, these Nigerian soldiers did not have any resistance after the coup.
On the other hand, during the July 22 coup, the U.S. warship Lamour docked in the port of Banjul, and the United States has long considered the regime of Jawara to be a model for black African countries.
On the morning of the coup, Rumour's captain, Rubin Booker, and the U.S. ambassador to Gundam, Andrew Winter, visited the Gambia's Capitol.
At this point, the vice president informed them of the disturbances in the Gambian barracks and asked if they could bring President Jawara to the warship for protection, and Booker agreed.
Within hours, Jammeh led the rebels in capturing the Capitol.
Subsequently, Jammeh and others seized the presidential palace and overthrew the rule of the then president Vala over the Gambia.
On the day of the coup, the soldiers announced the election of officers led by Jammeh and others to form the Provisional Governing Council of the Patriotic Armed Forces.
Jameh gave the coup a grandiose reason to end the corruption that had lasted for more than three decades in the Jawara government.
Jammeh claimed that the Gambia needs genuine democracy and that they will lead the Gambia on the path to democracy.
On July 24, 1994, at the age of 29, Jammeh rose to the top of power and became the new president of The Gambia.
Among the world leaders at the time, Jammeh was also the youngest head of state.
After coming to power, Yahya Jammeh took a tough stance against the condemnation of the international community, especially Western countries.
In October 1994, Yahya Jammeh even announced a four-year transition plan, the central element of which was that the military would remain in power until the end of 1998.
To this end, the former colonial power Britain, the European Union, the United States and Japan have announced the suspension of economic and financial assistance and military cooperation to the Gambia.
At the same time, the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund have also decided to end their aid disbursement program to the Gambia.
Jammeh has always been a "maverick" and often outspoken president.
China established diplomatic relations with the Gambia in 1974, and in the 21 years since the establishment of diplomatic relations, China has selflessly helped the Gambia.
Including but not limited to helping them build independent stadiums, friendship dormitories, health centers and other projects.
He also helped the people of The Gambia, so that some people became rich first.
In 1995, in order to get more money, Jammeh announced the "resumption of diplomatic relations" with the Taiwan authorities after launching a military coup (the Gambia "established diplomatic relations" with the Taiwan authorities in 1968 and "severed diplomatic relations" in 1975).
In 2009, the Taiwan authorities were still engaged in business and sent four missile boats to the Gambia.
However, on November 15, 2013, the Office of the President of The Gambia issued a statement saying that the Gambia was no longer suitable for continued diplomatic relations with Taiwan in terms of national strategic planning, and would sever diplomatic relations with Taiwan from November 14.
Although it is a small country, the Gambia's actions still cause an outcry.
In fact, Jammeh is often surprising in life.
In early 2007, Yahya Jammeh attracted worldwide attention by claiming to diplomats that he had "mysterious powers" to treat asthma and AIDS.
He also vowed: "The treatment takes a whole day. Within three days, the person with AIDS becomes negative. ”
But his claim that he was "mandated" to limit the number of people treated was criticized by the World Health Organization.
The British "Daily Mail" also reported that Yahya Jammeh's aunt died without cause in her hometown.
Life and death are impermanent, and if you are an ordinary person, you will feel sad, but Yahya Jammeh is a person with a particularly magical brain circuit, and he firmly believes that his aunt was killed by those witches with so-called superpowers, so he ordered the witch to be arrested nationwide and vowed to avenge his aunt.
As a result, as many as 1,000 people were taken to secret detention centers, the vast majority of them elderly.
In 2007, Yahya Jammeh said during talks with George W. Bush during a visit to the United States that if the situation in the Taiwan Strait changes, the Gambia will then take action and send troops to China's coastal economic zone to carry out offensive operations and sweep across China, thereby preventing the Taiwan Strait issue from further expanding.
Regarding this operation, Jammeh also said that the Gambia only needs 1,000 men to completely contain the military action carried out by the Chinese side.
It is not arrogant, but it has become a laughing stock because the world knows that it is absolutely impossible to achieve.
But Yahya Jammeh failed to learn lessons, and in a meeting with Obama in 2011, Yahya Jammeh again said that if the situation in South Asia changed, Jammeh could also send troops to attack China's coastal economic zone to prevent the situation in South Asia from expanding.
Yahya Jammeh claimed that the Gambia only needs to send about 2,000 Marines to completely contain China's actions and cooperate with the US military to completely eliminate the Afghan Taliban and al-Qaeda.
These arrogant statements are simply ironic.
Innocent people
The Gambia is a small country in Africa, and its people continue to struggle to feed themselves, and still have to receive assistance from international organizations.
However, such a small country has repeatedly become the laughing stock of the world because of the president's confusing speeches, and has been ridiculed as the "number one power in the universe", and the people of the Gambia cannot but be innocent of this.
Resources
"The Gambia, the world's first "powerhouse"
"American businessman spends $220,000 to attempt coup in Gambia"
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Author: Yeonkai
Editor: Duo Jie