Many people erroneously believe that the Spanish island was unified in 1795 thanks to the Treaty of Basel and that in 1804 the Haitian Empire occupied the whole island. In reality the treaty was not fulfilled at first because at that time France was fighting in the Haitian revolution and who controlled the western part was Toussaint Loverture, who invaded the eastern part of the island in 1801 unifying it. He would later be defeated by the French who occupied the island in 1802 and the western part proclaimed its independence in 1804. The Haitians would again attempt to unify the island in 1805, but would fail at the sight of French reinforcements. The French would remain in the eastern part of the island until they were expelled by Juan Sánchez Ramírez in the war of reconquest. In other words, the French era in Santo Domingo lasted only 6 years.