1787-1896 1918-1939







Madagascar, 1896-1918



French colonization of Madagascar began in 1883. In 1885, they established the colony of DIEGO SUAREZ on the island's northern end. In 1885, the French declared a PROTECTORATE over the entire island, at that time a mere claim. In 1840 France acquired NOSSI-BE, in 1894 at STE MARIE DE MADAGASCAR, both islands off Madagascar. In 1896, the central region of the Merina kingdom, with the capital Antananarivo (TANANARIVE) was conquered; the Merina Kingdom was declared dissolved. and the French PROTECTORATE over all of Madagascar declared. Diego Suarez was integrated into the protectorate, the seat of administration moved to Tananarive. Queen Ranavalona III., and her prime minister were deported, first to Reunion, then to Algeria. Nossi-be and Ste Marie de Madagascar were annexed in 1898.
The French developed the capital region; French settlers came into the country. A railroad was built to connect Tananarive (altitude 1,400 m) with the east coast port of TAMATAVE (modern Toamasina), which subsequently replaced Diego Suarez/Antsirabe as Madagascar's main port. In 1911, the COMORO ISLANDS (Anjouan, Grand Comore, Mayotte and Moheli), French since the 1880es, were annexed to Madagascar as dependencies. Resistance against French rule until 1904. In 1913, VVS, a Malagasy secret society aiming to overthrow French colonial rule, was founded, inspired by Japan's economic and technical progress; it was uncovered and suppressed in 1916.
During World War I, thousands of Malagasy have served in the French army.








EXTERNAL
FILES 		Articles from Infoplease : Madagascar
Madagascar, from Library of Congress, Country Studies
Articles from Catholic Encyclopedia : Madagascar
A History of Madagascar, Review of a book by Stephen Ellis from Univ. Leiden
Armed Conflict Events Data : VVS Suppression 1913, from OnWar.org
DOCUMENTS Flag of Madagascar as French Protectorate, from FOTW
Petition de 51 colons français au Gouverneur general de Madagascar, le 13 janvier 1900, from cliotexte, in French, scroll down
REFERENCE Article : Madagascar, in : Britannica Book of the Year 1913 pp.1006-1007 (on events of 1912) [G]
Article : Diego Suarez, Nossi-Be and St. Marie, in : Statesman's Year Book 1895 p.520, 1898 pp.518-519 [G]
Article : Nossi-Be and St. Marie, in : Statesman's Year Book 1901 p.596 [G]
Article : Madagascar, in : Statesman's Year Book 1895 pp.516-520, 1898 pp.514-518, 1901 pp.591-596, 1905 pp.652-658, 1910 pp.797-802 [G]
Article : Madagascar, in : International Year Book 1898 p.493 [G]
Article : Madagascar, in : Appleton's Annual Cyclopedia and Register of Important Events 1886 pp.576-579, 1894 pp.448-451 [G]



This page is part of World History at KMLA
First posted in 2001, last revised on September 6th 2007

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