1883-1918 1939-1960







French Conquest and Early Colony, 1883-1918



After the VVS secret society had been crushed in 1916, Malagasy political movements now aimed for more realistic political goals, such as reforms in labour legislation and equal rights for the Malagasy. In France the contribution of Malagasy soldiers to the defence of the country was well remembered, and celebrities such as novelist ANATOL FRANCE suggested that French citizenship be granted to all Malagasy.
Yet the movement for equality and political representation made limited progress. While ECONOMIC AND FINANCIAL DELEGATIONS - one each for the French settlers and for the Malagasy - were established in 1924, the Malagasy delegation elected, it was never given any political authority; it lay with the governor residing in Tananarive.
In this situation, radical ideologies such as socialism and communism found many followers among the native intellectuals.
As early as 1885, PAUL DE LAGARDE has suggested to deport Eastern Europe's large Jewish minority to Madagascar. In 1926, Polish politicians had taken up that idea, and in 1937, Poland, being a close ally of France, sent a delegation to the island to establish the feasibility of the MADAGASCAR PLAN; their result was disappointing.






EXTERNAL
FILES 		Articles from Infoplease : Madagascar
Madagascar, from Library of Congress, Country Studies
A History of Madagascar, Review of a book by Stephen Ellis from Univ. Leiden
The Madagascar Plan, by Jennifer Rosenberg
DOCUMENTS Flag of Madagascar as French Protectorate, from FOTW
5 Franc banknote of Madagascar, 1937, from Ron Wise's World Paper Money
REFERENCE Article : Madagascar, in : Statesman's Yearbook 1919 pp.862-866, 1924 pp.911-916, 1925 pp.923-927, 1926 pp.896-900, 1928 pp.911-916, 1929 pp.898-903, 1932 pp.901-905, 1937 pp.942-948 [G]
Article : Madagascar, in : Americana Annual 1927 pp.519-520, 1928 p.474, 1930 p.463, 1931 p.457, 1932 pp.430-431, 1933 p.450, 1934 pp.351-352, 1935 pp.423-424, 1936 pp.425-426, 1937 pp.425-426, 1938 pp.408-409, 1939 pp.458-459, 1940 pp.470-471 [G]



This page is part of World History at KMLA
First posted in 2001, last revised on August 27th 2007

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