Conflict diamonds made a profound contribution to the growing tensions within Sierra Leone, laying the foundation on which the civil war would thrive. These diamonds can be defined as a rough diamond illicitly traded to finance an armed struggle. Sierra Leoneans who lived through and survived the Sierra Leone Civil War (1991-2001) may be remembered by loss of limbs, constant displacement, and mortality. In combination with other external factors, these diamonds triggered social, political and economic factors that can all be attributed to the increase in civil conflict in the Sierra before the start of the 20th century. The presence and sheer abundance of precious and easily extractable diamonds, which required neither huge financial investments nor overly advanced mining techniques provided an incentive to control diamond fields, leading to an increase in violence in the West African state of Sierra Lion. In 1991, former soldier and radicalist Foday Sankoh catalyzed the rise of extremist violence by exploiting Sierra Leone's abundance of highly sought-after diamonds, the value of which was one of the most significant on the market in the 1990s. With the help of Charles Taylor, Liberia's corrupt president, the two created a rebel army to overthrow the government of Sierra Leone – the Revolutionary United Front – but, instead, took advantage of the ease of extraction of a highly valuable resource. The publication of the RUF pamphlet “Paths to Democracy” revealed its initial goals to “no longer leave the fate of [Sierra Leone] in the hands of a generation of corrupt politicians and military adventurers.” However, subsequent years falsified most promises of “democracy” in Sierra Leone as RUF forces became… half of the paper… idge University Press.Sierra-leone.org, (2002). Sierra Leone Web - AFRC and RUF Statements. [Online] Available at: http://www.sierra-leone.org/AFRC-RUF.html [Accessed 29 June 2014].The Wall Street Journal, (2010). The "blood diamond" resurfaces. [Online] Available at: http://online.wsj.com/news/articles/SB100014240527487041 [Accessed 16 June 2014].Vanity Fair, (2000). RUF soldiers on the front line in May 2000. [Image] Available at: http://www.vanityfair.com/politics/features/2000/08/junger200008/_jcr_content/par/cn_contentwell/par-main/cn_pagination_contai/cn_image. size.poar01_junger0008.jpg [Accessed 29 June 2014].War and state collapse: the case of Sierra Leone, (1998). War and state collapse: the case of Sierra Leone. Waterloo, Canada: Wilfrid Laurier University.World Bank, (2001). Conflict Diamonds: African Region Working Paper Series. No. 13. World Bank.