First Liberian Civil War
The First Liberian Civil War, a devastating conflict spanning from 1989 to 1997, plunged the West African nation into chaos and claimed hundreds of thousands of lives. It was born from decades of political instability and ethnic tensions, culminating in a brutal struggle for power. This is the story of how a nation's hopes were shattered, and the long road it would take to rebuild. The war erupted due to President Samuel Doe's increasingly authoritarian and ethnocentric rule, which alienated large parts of the population. Multiple factions, initially united against Doe, splintered into warring groups, leading to widespread atrocities and a complex, multi-sided conflict. Despite international intervention and numerous peace agreements, lasting stability remained elusive, ultimately paving the way for a second civil war.
AI Summary
The First Liberian Civil War, a devastating conflict spanning from 1989 to 1997, plunged the West African nation into chaos and claimed hundreds of thousands of lives. It was born from decades of political instability and ethnic tensions, culminating in a brutal struggle for power. This is the story of how a nation's hopes were shattered, and the long road it would take to rebuild.
- The war erupted due to President Samuel Doe's increasingly authoritarian and ethnocentric rule, which alienated large parts of the population.
- Multiple factions, initially united against Doe, splintered into warring groups, leading to widespread atrocities and a complex, multi-sided conflict.
- Despite international intervention and numerous peace agreements, lasting stability remained elusive, ultimately paving the way for a second civil war.
A Nation Divided: The Seeds of Conflict
To understand the First Liberian Civil War, we must first look back to 1980. That year, Master Sergeant Samuel Doe, a member of the Krahn ethnic group, seized power in a violent coup. He became the first non-Americo-Liberian — descendants of freed American slaves who had governed Liberia since its founding — to lead the country, initially enjoying broad popular support.
However, Doe's promises of reform quickly dissolved into a paranoid, totalitarian regime. He brutally suppressed opposition, rigged the 1985 elections, and began favoring his own Krahn ethnic group, especially within the military. This created deep resentment, particularly among the Gio and Mano ethnic groups, who were increasingly marginalized and persecuted.
The Catalyst: Quiwonkpa's Failed Coup
In 1985, a crucial event inflamed these tensions: a failed coup attempt by Thomas Quiwonkpa, a former army general whom Doe had demoted. Quiwonkpa, a Gio, launched his attack from neighboring Sierra Leone. Though it failed, and Quiwonkpa was brutally killed and his body publicly displayed, the retaliation against the Gio and Mano peoples was swift and severe, further deepening ethnic divisions.
Charles Taylor Rises
Amidst this unrest, a figure named Charles Taylor emerged. Taylor had served in Doe's government but fled to the United States after being accused of embezzling nearly a million dollars. After a mysterious escape from a Massachusetts jail, he began assembling a rebel force in Côte d'Ivoire. This group, primarily composed of disgruntled Gio and Mano exiles, became the National Patriotic Front of Liberia, or NPFL.
The War Begins: Invasion and Escalation
On Christmas Eve, 1989, Taylor and his NPFL rebels invaded Liberia from Côte d'Ivoire, targeting Nimba County — a region heavily populated by the very ethnic groups persecuted by Doe. They were met with widespread support, as thousands flocked to their cause, eager to overthrow Doe's oppressive regime.
Doe's response was swift and brutal. His Armed Forces of Liberia (AFL) retaliated indiscriminately, attacking entire villages and targeting unarmed civilians, particularly those of the Mandingo tribe, who were wrongly associated with the rebels. This cycle of violence created a massive refugee crisis and further fueled the rebellion.
Rebel Infighting: A War within a War
Even as the NPFL advanced, cracks began to show within their ranks. Prince Johnson, a prominent NPFL commander from the Gio tribe, soon split off to form his own faction: the Independent National Patriotic Front of Liberia, or INPFL. Now, three main forces — Doe's AFL, Taylor's NPFL, and Johnson's INPFL — vied for control.
The Siege of Monrovia
By mid-1990, Taylor's forces were laying siege to the capital, Monrovia, joined by Johnson's INPFL. The city descended into anarchy, becoming a 'ghost town of starving people and rotting corpses,' as described by Freedom House. Looting, random killings, hunger, and disease became rampant, culminating in the horrific St. Peter's Lutheran Church massacre, where government soldiers killed 600 civilians.
International Intervention: ECOMOG Arrives
Alarmed by the escalating humanitarian crisis and the threat of regional destabilization, the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) deployed a joint military intervention force, ECOMOG, in August 1990. Led by Nigeria, ECOMOG's mission was to enforce a ceasefire, establish an interim government, protect civilians, and facilitate the evacuation of foreign nationals.
The Fall of Samuel Doe
Despite ECOMOG's arrival, Samuel Doe refused to resign, trapped in his besieged mansion. On September 9, 1990, under mysterious circumstances, Doe visited ECOMOG headquarters. There, he was ambushed by Prince Johnson's INPFL forces, captured, and taken to their base. Doe was then brutally tortured and dismembered on video, a shocking end to his autocratic rule.
A Shifting Landscape of Conflict
With Doe gone, the power vacuum intensified the conflict between Taylor's NPFL and Johnson's INPFL, who continued to battle for control of Monrovia. ECOMOG struggled to maintain order amidst the chaos, working to protect an Interim Government of National Unity (IGNU) led by Amos Sawyer, which Taylor refused to acknowledge.
The Emergence of ULIMO
In June 1991, yet another major faction entered the fray: the United Liberation Movement of Liberia for Democracy (ULIMO). Formed by supporters of the late President Doe and former AFL fighters, ULIMO sought to counter Taylor's NPFL. They quickly gained ground in western Liberia, particularly in vital diamond mining areas.
However, ULIMO itself was plagued by internal divisions and eventually split into two factions: ULIMO-J, primarily Krahn, led by Roosevelt Johnson; and ULIMO-K, Mandingo-based, led by Alhaji G.V. Kromah. These groups, like many others, were accused of severe human rights violations throughout the war.
Operation Octopus and UN Involvement
In October 1992, Taylor launched a major assault on Monrovia, dubbed 'Operation Octopus,' leading to a two-month siege. ECOMOG eventually repelled the attack, but peace remained elusive. The United Nations stepped in, establishing the UN Observer Mission in Liberia (UNOMIL) in 1993 to support ECOMOG and monitor numerous, often-failed, peace agreements.
Renewed hostilities in 1994 further exacerbated the humanitarian catastrophe, leaving 1.8 million Liberians in desperate need. UNOMIL, despite its efforts, faced constant challenges from warring factions and a lack of funding, highlighting the immense difficulty of achieving peace in a deeply fractured nation.
The Road to a Fragile Peace
In August 1995, a significant breakthrough occurred with a peace agreement brokered by Ghanaian President Jerry Rawlings and supported by international bodies. Charles Taylor, George Boley (LPC), and Alhaji Kromah (ULIMO-K) — Liberia's three principal warlords — dramatically entered Monrovia to form a transitional ruling council, promising elections for the following year.
Renewed Fighting and Final Accord
However, the peace was fragile. In April 1996, heavy fighting erupted again in Monrovia, devastating much of the city and leading to mass evacuations of international personnel. Finally, in August 1996, the Abuja Accord was signed, leading to a new ceasefire, disarmament, and demobilization by 1997, paving the way for elections.
The 1997 Elections
In July 1997, presidential and national assembly elections were held. In a climate still rife with intimidation, Charles Taylor and his National Patriotic Party achieved an overwhelming victory, securing 75% of the presidential vote. Many Liberians, exhausted by years of war, voted for Taylor in the hope that his victory would finally bring an end to the bloodshed.
Aftermath: A Troubled Legacy
The First Liberian Civil War officially ended with Taylor's election, but peace was tenuous. The country was devastated; over 200,000 Liberians had died, one out of every 17 people, and a million more were displaced into refugee camps. Child soldiers, a tragic feature of the conflict, were widespread, leaving deep scars on a generation.
The economic infrastructure was shattered, and the conflict destabilized neighboring West African nations. Liberia remained gripped by accusations of Taylor's continued involvement in regional conflicts, funding rebel groups through illicit diamond and timber sales, leading to a sharp national economic decline and persistent unrest.
\text{Civilian deaths} = \text{Total population} / 17Seeds of a Second War
Many former warlords and opposition figures were forced into exile after Taylor's victory. Some ULIMO forces reformed as the Liberians United for Reconciliation and Democracy (LURD), launching attacks from Guinea with the aim of destabilizing Taylor's government and seizing control of diamond fields. This marked the beginning of the Second Liberian Civil War in 1999.
In 2025, a significant gesture of healing occurred when the Liberian government, under President Joseph Boakai, issued an official apology to the victims and survivors of this brutal conflict, acknowledging the immense suffering endured by the nation.
Taylor's Final Reckoning
The Second Liberian Civil War concluded in 2003 with ECOWAS intervention, forcing Charles Taylor into exile. He was later arrested and, in 2012, sentenced to 50 years in prison by the Special Court for Sierra Leone for war crimes and crimes against humanity, including rape, sexual violence, and using child soldiers. By the end of both wars, over 250,000 lives had been lost, and nearly a million people displaced.
Article
First Liberian Civil War
The First Liberian Civil War was the first of two civil wars within the West African nation of Liberia which lasted between 1989 and 1997. President Samuel Doe's regime of totalitarianism and widespread corruption led to calls for withdrawal of the support of the United States, by the late 1980s. In December 1989, the National Patriotic Front of Liberia (NPFL) led by Charles Taylor invaded Liberia from Ivory Coast to overthrow Doe, and gained control over most of Liberia within a year.
Doe was captured, tortured, and executed by the Independent National Patriotic Front of Liberia (INPFL), a splinter faction of the NPFL led by Prince Johnson, in September 1990. The NPFL and INPFL then fought each other for control of the capital city, Monrovia and against the Armed Forces of Liberia and pro-Doe United Liberation Movement of Liberia for Democracy.
In 1995, peace negotiations and foreign involvement led to a ceasefire. Fighting continued until a peace agreement between the main factions occurred in August 1996. Taylor was elected President of Liberia following the 1997 Liberian general election and entered office in August 1997.
The First Liberian Civil War killed around 200,000 people and eventually led to an intervention by Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) and the United Nations. The peace lasted for two years until the Second Liberian Civil War broke out when anti-Taylor forces invaded Liberia from Guinea in April 1999.
Background
First Liberian Civil War
Samuel Doe with US Secretary of Defense Caspar W. Weinberger outside of the Pentagon in 1982.
Samuel Doe takes power in coup (1980)
In 1980, Samuel Doe took power in a popular rebellion against the Liberian Government, becoming the first Liberian President of non Americo-Liberian descent. Doe was a member of the Krahn ethnic group. Doe established a military regime called the People's Redemption Council and enjoyed support from Liberian ethnic groups who were denied power since the founding of Liberia in 1847.
Any hope that Doe would improve the way Liberia was run was put aside as he quickly clamped down on opposition, fueled by his paranoia of a counter-coup attempt against him. As promised, Doe held elections in 1985 and won the presidency by just enough of a margin to avoid a runoff. However, international monitors condemned this election as fraudulent.
Coup attempt by Thomas Quiwonkpa (November 1985)
In 1985, Thomas Quiwonkpa, the former Commanding General of the Armed Forces of Liberia, whom Doe had demoted and forced to flee the country, attempted to overthrow Doe's regime from neighbouring Sierra Leone. The coup attempt failed and Quiwonkpa was killed and allegedly eaten. His body was publicly exhibited on the grounds of the Executive Mansion in Monrovia soon after his death.
Mistreatment of the Gio and Mano ethnic groups (1985)
The Gio and Mano ethnic groups were persecuted because they were suspected of treason and were seen as inferiors to the President's own tribe, the Krahn. The mistreatment of the Gio and Mano increased tensions in Liberia, which had already been rising due to Doe's preferential treatment of his own group.
Charles Taylor builds insurgent forces (1985–1989)
Charles Taylor, who had left Doe's government after being accused of embezzlement, assembled a group of rebels in Côte d'Ivoire, mostly ethnic Gios and Manos who felt persecuted by Doe, who later became known as the National Patriotic Front of Liberia (NPFL). They invaded Nimba County on 24 December 1989.
The Liberian Army retaliated against the whole population of the region, attacking unarmed civilians, mainly of the Mandingo tribe, and burning villages. Many left as refugees for Guinea and Côte d'Ivoire, but opposition to Doe was inflamed. Prince Johnson, an NPFL fighter, split to form his own guerrilla force soon after crossing the border, based on the Gio tribe and named the Independent National Patriotic Front of Liberia (INPFL).
Overview
Charles Taylor's force attacks (1989)
Charles Taylor organized and trained indigenous northerners in Ivory Coast. During Doe's regime, Taylor served in the Liberian Government's General Services Agency, acting 'as its de facto director'. In 1983, he fled to the United States amid what Stephan Ellis describes as the 'increasingly menacing atmosphere in Monrovia' shortly before Thomas Quiwonkpa, Doe's chief lieutenant, fled into exile. Doe requested Taylor's extradition for embezzling $900,000 of Liberian government funds. Taylor was thus arrested in the United States and after sixteen months broke out of a Massachusetts jail in circumstances that are still unclear.
Ethnic conflict and siege of Monrovia
Charles Taylor's NPFL forces initially encountered plenty of support within Nimba County, which had endured the majority of Samuel Doe's wrath after the 1985 attempted coup. Thousands of ethnic Gio and Mano joined when Taylor and his force of 100 rebels reentered Liberia in 1989, on Christmas Eve. Doe responded by sending two AFL battalions, including the 1st Infantry Battalion, to Nimba in December 1989 – January 1990, under then-Colonel Hezekiah Bowen.
The AFL acted in a very brutal and scorched-earth fashion, which quickly alienated the local people. The rebel assault soon pitted ethnic Krahn sympathetic to the Doe regime against those victimized by it, the Gio and the Mano. Thousands of civilians were massacred on both sides. Hundreds of thousands fled their homes. The Monrovia Church massacre was carried out by approximately 30 ethnic Krahn government soldiers, killing 600 civilians in St. Peter's Lutheran Church, Monrovia, on 29 July 1990, the worst single atrocity of the First Liberian Civil War.
By May 1990, the AFL had been forced back to Gbarnga, still under the control of Bowen's troops. On 28 May, the Liberian army lost the town to a NPFL assault. By June 1990, Taylor's forces were laying siege to Monrovia. In July 1990, Prince Yormie Johnson split from Taylor and formed the Independent National Patriotic Front (INPFL). The INPFL and NPFL continued their siege on Monrovia, which the AFL defended.
In their Freedom in the World report for 1990, Freedom House described Monrovia in July as "a virtual ghost town of starving people and rotting corpses" as the rebel advance on the city caused widespread panic and anarchy, leading to Liberian soldiers looting shops and killing civilians at random, all while hunger and disease quickly took hold. Johnson swiftly took control of parts of Monrovia, prompting the evacuation of foreign nationals and diplomats by the US Navy in August.
ECOWAS intervention force (August 1990)
In August 1990, the 16-member Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) agreed to deploy a joint military intervention force, the Economic Community Monitoring Group (ECOMOG), and placed it under Nigerian leadership. The mission later included troops from non-ECOWAS countries, including Uganda and Tanzania. ECOMOG's objectives were to impose a cease-fire; help Liberians establish an interim government until elections could be held; stop the killing of innocent civilians; and ensure the safe evacuation of foreign nationals.
ECOMOG also sought to prevent the conflict from spreading into neighboring states, which share a complex history of state, economic, and ethno-linguistic social relations with Liberia. The Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) attempted to persuade Doe to resign and go into exile, but despite his weak position – besieged in his mansion – he refused. On August 24, 1990, ECOMOG, an ECOWAS intervention force, arrived at the Freeport of Monrovia, landing from Nigerian and Ghanaian vessels.
Capture and killing of Samuel Doe (September 1990)
On 9 September 1990, Doe visited the newly established ECOMOG headquarters in the Free Port of Maher. According to Stephen Ellis, his motive was to complain that the ECOMOG commander had not paid a courtesy call to him as the Head of State; however, the exact circumstances that led to Doe's visit to the Free Port are still unclear. Doe had been under pressure to accept exile outside of Liberia. After Doe arrived, a large rebel force led by Prince Johnson's INPFL arrived and attacked Doe's party. Doe was captured and taken to the INPFL's Caldwell base. He was brutally tortured before being killed and dismembered. His torture and execution was videotaped by his captors.
Johnson's INPFL and Taylor's NPFL continued to struggle for control of Monrovia in the months that followed. With military discipline absent and bloodshed throughout the capital region, members of ECOWAS created the Economic Community Monitoring Group (ECOMOG) to restore order. The force comprised some 4,000 troops from Nigeria, Ghana, Sierra Leone, the Gambia and Guinea. ECOMOG succeeded in bringing Taylor and Johnson to agree to its intervention. Taylor's forces later fought against ECOMOG in the port area of Monrovia.
Peacemaking attempts (1990)
A series of peacemaking conferences in regional capitals followed. There were meetings in Bamako in November 1990, Lomé in January 1991, and Yamoussoukro in June–October 1991. The first seven peace conferences failed, including the Yamoussoukro I-IV processes. In November 1990, ECOWAS invited the principal Liberian players to meet in Banjul, Gambia to form a government of national unity.
The negotiated settlement established the Interim Government of National Unity (IGNU), led by Dr. Amos Sawyer, leader of the LPP. Bishop Ronald Diggs of the Liberian Council of Churches became vice president. Taylor's NPFL refused to attend the conference. Within days, hostilities resumed. ECOMOG was reinforced in order to protect the interim government. Sawyer was able to establish his authority over most of Monrovia, but the rest of Liberia was in the hands of factions of the NPFL, or local gangs.
ULIMO
In June 1991, the United Liberation Movement of Liberia for Democracy (ULIMO) was formed by supporters of the late President Samuel K. Doe and former Armed Forces of Liberia (AFL) fighters who had taken refuge in Guinea and Sierra Leone. It was led by Raleigh Seekie, a deputy Minister of Finance in the Doe government.
In September 1991, after fighting alongside the Sierra Leonean army against the Sierra Leonean Revolutionary United Front (RUF) rebels, ULIMO forces entered western Liberia. The group scored significant gains in areas held by another rebel group – Taylor's National Patriotic Front of Liberia (NPFL), notably around the diamond mining areas of Lofa and Bomi counties.
From its outset, ULIMO was beset with internal divisions. In 1994, the group effectively broke into two separate militias: The ULIMO-J, an ethnic Krahn faction led by General Roosevelt Johnson; and the ULIMO-K, a Mandingo-based faction led by Alhaji G.V. Kromah.
ULIMO was alleged to have committed serious violations of human rights, both before and after its breakup.
Attack on Monrovia (1992)
Peace was still far off as both Taylor and Johnson claimed power. ECOMOG declared an Interim Government of National Unity (IGNU) with Amos Sawyer as their president, with the broad support of Johnson. On October 15, 1992, Taylor launched an assault on Monrovia, named 'Operation Octopus' which may have been led by Burkina Faso soldiers. The resulting siege lasted two months.
By late December 1992, ECOMOG had pushed the NPFL back beyond Monrovia's suburbs.
UNOMIL
In 1993, ECOWAS brokered a peace agreement in Cotonou, Benin. On September 22, 1993, the United Nations (U.N.) Security Council established the UN Observer Mission in Liberia (UNOMIL), to support ECOMOG in implementing this peace agreement. In early 1994, UNOMIL was deployed, with 368 military observers and civilian personnel to monitor the implementation of the Cotonou Peace Agreement, prior to elections originally planned for February/March 1994.
In May 1994, renewed armed hostilities broke out and continued, becoming especially intense in July and August. ECOMOG, and later UNOMIL, members were captured and held hostage by some factions. By mid-1994, the humanitarian situation had become disastrous, with 1.8 million Liberians in need of humanitarian assistance. Conditions continued to deteriorate. Humanitarian agencies were unable to reach many in need due to the hostilities and general insecurity.
In September 1994, factional leaders agreed to the Akosombo Agreement, a supplement to the Cotonou agreement, named after the Benin city where it was signed. The security situation in Liberia remained poor. In October 1994, in the face of ECOMOG funding shortfalls and a lack of will by the Liberian combatants to honor the agreements to end the war, the UN Security Council reduced the number of UNOMIL observers to about 90. The UN extended UNOMIL's mandate and subsequently extended it several times until September 1997.
In December 1994, the factions and other parties signed the Accra Agreement, a supplement to the Akosombo Agreement. Disagreements ensued, and fighting continued.
Ceasefire (1995)
In August 1995, the main factions signed an agreement largely brokered by Ghanaian President Jerry Rawlings. At a conference sponsored by ECOWAS, the United Nations and the United States, the European Union, and the Organization of African Unity, Charles Taylor agreed to a cease-fire.
At the beginning of September 1995, Liberia's three principal warlords – Taylor, George Boley and Alhaji Kromah – made theatrical entrances into Monrovia. A ruling council of six members under civilian Wilton G. S. Sankawulo and with the three factional heads Taylor, Kromah and Boley, took control of Liberia, in preparation for elections that were originally scheduled for 1996.
Fighting in Monrovia (1996)
NPFL fighters search for ULIMO militants in Monrovia, 1996
In April 1996, heavy fighting broke out again. This led to the evacuation of most international non-governmental organizations and the destruction of much of Monrovia. The U.S. military's Operation Assured Response evacuated 485 Americans and over 2,400 citizens from 68 countries.
In August 1996, fighting stopped after the Abuja Accord in Nigeria, agreeing to disarmament and demobilization by 1997 and elections in July 1997. In September 1996, Sankawulo was followed by Ruth Perry as the chairwoman of the ruling council, who served until August 1997.
1997 Elections
In July 1997, simultaneous elections for the presidency and national assembly were held. In a climate hardly conducive to free movement and security of persons, Taylor and his National Patriotic Party won an overwhelming victory against 12 candidates. Assisted by widespread intimidation, Taylor took 75 per cent of the presidential poll. No other candidate won more than 10 per cent. The NPP won a similar proportion of seats in both parliamentary chambers. On 2 August 1997, Ruth Perry handed power to the elected president Charles Taylor.
Aftermath
First Liberian Civil War
In 1997, the Liberian people elected Charles Taylor as the President after he entered the capital city, Monrovia, by force. Liberians voted for Taylor in the hope that he would end the bloodshed. The bloodshed slowed considerably, but it did not end. Violent events flared up regularly after the putative end of the war. Taylor was accused of backing guerrillas in neighboring countries and funneling diamond money into arms purchases for the rebel armies he supported, and into luxuries for himself. The implicit unrest in the late 1990s is emblematic in the sharp national economic decline and the prevalent sale of diamonds and timber in exchange for small arms.
After Taylor's victory, Liberia was sufficiently peaceful that refugees began to return. Other leaders were forced to leave the country, and some ULIMO forces reformed as the Liberians United for Reconciliation and Democracy (LURD). LURD began fighting in Lofa County with the aim of destabilizing the government and gaining control of the local diamond fields, leading to the Second Liberian Civil War.
In 2025, the Liberian government, under President Joseph Boakai, issued an official apology to victims of the conflict.
Impact
Liberia's population pyramid in 2020. The obvious "cinching" between ages 23 and 31 corresponds to the generation born during the years of the civil war. The excess female population among those aged 46 or under is due to young men and boys killed in the civil war.
The Liberian civil war was one of Africa's bloodiest. From 1989 to 1996, it claimed the lives of more than 200,000 Liberians. A million people were displaced into refugee camps in neighboring countries. Child soldiers were used throughout the war.
The civil war killed one out of every 17 people in Liberia, uprooted most of the rest, and destroyed a once-viable economic infrastructure. The strife spread to Liberia's neighbors. It helped slow democratization in West Africa at the beginning of the 1990s and destabilized a region that already was one of the world's most unsteady.
Second Liberian Civil War
First Liberian Civil War
The Second Liberian Civil War began in 1999 and ended in October 2003, when ECOWAS intervened to stop the rebel siege on Monrovia and exiled Charles Taylor to Nigeria. He was arrested in 2006 and taken to The Hague for his trial. By the conclusion of the final war, more than 250,000 people had been killed and nearly 1 million displaced. Half that number remained to be repatriated in 2005, at the election of Liberia's first democratic President since the initial 1980 coup d'état of Samuel Doe.
In January 2006, former president Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, who was initially a strong supporter of Charles Taylor, was inaugurated and the National Transitional Government of Liberia terminated its power.
Charles Taylor was sentenced to a trial in 2003, after being accused of rape and acts of sexual violence, promoting child soldiers, and an illegal ownership of weapons. He denied these accusations, but was testified against by his victims. He was sentenced to 50 years in prison.
Lists
Armed groups that participated in the war
• Armed Forces of Liberia (AFL) • Liberia Peace Council (LPC) • Lofa Defense Force (LDF) • National Patriotic Front of Liberia (NPFL) • Independent National Patriotic Front of Liberia (INPFL) • National Patriotic Front of Liberia-Central Revolutionary Council (NPFL-CRC) • United Liberation Movement of Liberia for Democracy (ULIMO) • United Liberation Movement of Liberia for Democracy-Johnson faction (ULIMO-J) • United Liberation Movement of Liberia for Democracy-Kromah faction (ULIMO-K)
Peace agreements
• Banjul III Agreement (14 October 1990) • Bamako Ceasefire Agreement (28 November 1990) • Banjul IV Agreement (21 December 1990) • Lomé Agreement (13 February 1991) • Yamoussoukro IV Peace Agreement (30 October 1991) • Geneva Agreement 1992 (7 April 1992) • Cotonou Peace Agreement (25 July 1993) • Akosombo Peace Agreement (12 September 1994) • Accra Agreements/Akosombo clarification agreement (21 December 1994) • Abuja Peace Agreement (19 August 1995)
In literature
First Liberian Civil War
Liberia during this civil war is one of the numerous locations worldwide depicted in 1998 novel The Savage Detectives (Los Detectives Salvajes in Spanish), by the Chilean author Roberto Bolaño.
The 2020 memoir by Liberian-American author Wayétu Moore, The Dragons, The Giant, The Women, recounts her family's flight from Monrovia when she was a five year old at the onset of the war.