History of Madagascar
3. The colonial period and the return to independence
Joseph Gallieni, a French officer, served as governor of Madagascar from 1896 to 1905. He repressed all revolts and pacified the country by force. About 100.000 out of 3 million inhabitants disappeared.
Schools were francized. Natives lost all political rights. French missionaries developed a great activity on the island. France invested in road, railway and port infrastructure and exploited the resources of its colony.
During World War I, 40.000 Malagasy soldiers fought in Europe. One fifth of them died there. In Madagascar, nationalist resistance continued. The French severely repressed rebellions in 1915.
During the Second World War, the Vichy government administered Madagascar until 1942 when British troops invaded the island. In 1943, the British handed over control of the island to the representatives of General de Gaulle. Difficult economic conditions fuelled nationalist unrest. In 1947, an insurrection was again suppressed by force. This resulted in thousands dead. Estimates vary from 12.000 to 80.000 dead.
In 1946, Madagascar was granted the status of French “overseas territory”. Since France had been weakened by its defeat in Indochina, the island could return to full independence on June 22, 1960.
Philibert Tsiranana was the first elected president of the Republic of Madagascar. Criticized for his support to the French interests, he faced increasing unrest (including student strike) and resigned in 1972. After two other presidents failed to restore stability, a military conspiracy succeeded in placing Vice Admiral Didier Ratsiraka as head of the state in 1975.
Didier Ratsiraka set up a socialist system. He nationalized banks, insurance companies and some other firms. He expelled French troops from the island. Madagascar left the CFA franc zone in 1972 and the Malagasy franc was declared inconvertible. The withdrawal of foreign investors caused an economic slowdown and a dramatic pauperization of the Malagasy population.
Opposition finally defeated Ratsiraka in 1993. Albert Zafy succeeded him as President. He liberalized the economy, but failed to restore prosperity.
In the 1997 presidential elections, Didier Ratsiraka narrowly defeated Zafy and took office again.
In the 2001 presidential elections, Marc Ravalomanana, mayor of Antananarivo, claimed to have won over 50% of the vote in the first round. The two leaders fought for control of the country. Didier Ratsiraka attempted to change the composition of the High Constitutional Court and blockaded the capital.
In April 2002, the High Constitutional Court pronounced Ravalomanana the winner of the election. After the Agreement of Dakar, the African Union and the Western countries recognized Ravalomanana’s victory. The president was re-elected in 2006.
Real problems arose in 2008 since food and products became much more expensive. Unrest started in December 2008 with opposition between President Marc Ravalomanana and Mayor of Antananarivo Andry Rajoelina. President closed Viva TV owned by Andry Rajoelina.
Arguing that President does not respect opinion freedom and has a wrong economic and social policy, Rajoelina requested for President Ravalomanana to resign. Rajoelina announced he will govern the whole country. There were rallies and demonstrations on both sides.
The Mayor of Madagascar was dismissed by President. However, the latter got growing support from population, and then from troops.
Facing pressure from the military, President Marc Ravalomanana resigned mid-March 2009. The military transferred power to Andry Rajoelina. The High Constitutional Court approved Rajoelina's replacement of outgoing President Marc Ravalomanana. Since protests broke out in January 2009, about 170 people have been killed while around 1,000 have been injured
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You may get latest news from Madagascar here:
http://news.google.be/news?pz=1&ned=us&hl=en&q=madagascar
http://search.live.com/news/results.aspx?q=madagascar
and similarly with http://news.yahoo.com/
See also:
1. The origins
2. The Merina Dynasty