History History

First territorial formation on the eastern side of the island.

The social organization, the control of trade, the writings, the medicine and the diplomacy of the Antemoro kingdom attest the dynamism of a feudal system which lasted from the ^13th to the ^19th century.

Almost the entire west coast is under the influence of the Sakalava kingdoms. The structured state is ruled by a council. A territorial administration is established in the most remote regions.

A people from the East settled in the Highlands. The Merinas settled in Ampandrana, then moved in the ^16th century to Merimanjaka where Queen Rangita, founder of the dynasty, reigned. Her son, King Andriamanelo, organized trade, expanded agriculture and established an army. His successors founded a feudal system, the Imerina, which they endowed with a structured social organization.

Diego Diaz, a Portuguese navigator, was the first European to touch the coasts of the island around 1500. Indeed, from the ^15th century, Arab navigators, but also Indians and Europeans are competing there.

This is a key aspect of the way in which the Creative City concept is understood and applied in the context of the Creative City concept.

At the beginning of the ^17th century, King Andriamasinavalona in the Highlands continued the extension of the kingdom. As an absolute monarch, he had large dams built and carried out important irrigation works to extend rice growing and fight against famine. But he divided the kingdom between his four sons, who immediately clashed.

The French created the port of Fort Dauphin.

Kingdoms of the Center. The Betsileo kingdoms were founded at the beginning of the century. Four great kingdoms were thus formed, sometimes allied and sometimes hostile. Little by little, trade developed and conquests progressed. At the end of the ^18th century, the kingdoms of Manandriana, Lalangina and Isandra became vassals of Imerina.

Further north, the kings Ramananao, Ramahasarika and then Ratsimilaho tried to put an end to the divisions of the Betsimisarakas. The Betsimisarakas kingdoms will know hours of glory. The strategic importance of the coast is in fact the object of all covetousness. It is the obligatory point of passage of the trade and the trade of the slaves, the hearths of wars between the Malagasy, the pirates and the slave traders.

At the end of the ^18th century, a young king, Andrianampoinimerina (1745-1810) reunified the Imerina through diplomacy and military operations. The local kingdoms rallied. The capital was installed in Antananarivo. The king organized the state in a lasting way: the feudal system instituted under his reign would function for more than a century. A law was established, a territorial administration was instituted.

His son Radama I raised an army of several thousand men. Weapons and ammunition were supplied from 1820 by England, which did not look kindly on French interference on the island. The young king undertook active international diplomacy, obtaining the help of the Royal Navy for his military operations on the east coast. The Merina army was modernized: hierarchy, discipline, training, tactics, and the results were not long in coming. Radama subdued the Betsileos, the Betsimisarakas, the Sakalavas; he extended the limits of his kingdom to the shores of the Indian Ocean and the Mozambique Channel. Everywhere, garrisons controlled strategic points, ports, trading and commercial places.

From 1825, the Malagasy language became a written language. In 1827, 4,000 Malagasy could read and write; schools multiplied. Under the impulse of the increasingly structured state, international trade flourished. Trade with Europe proliferated. Radama declared himself an Anglophile. At his death, on July 27, 1828, the European press evoked the work of the Malagasy sovereign, the people, however, were more and more suspicious of this "white" culture that was being inserted into society.

First wife of Radama, Ranavalona Manjaka was designated to succeed the king and took the title of Ranavalona^I. Suspicious of Europe, she denounced the Anglo-Malagasy treaties signed in 1817 and 1820. Having expelled the British missionaries to Mauritius, she distanced herself from England. However, Ranavalona^I pursued the modernization of the army, facilitated trade, and allowed a Frenchman with whom she had a privileged relationship, Jean Laborde, to create an industrial center in Mantasoa, as well as his own palace.

Relations between Europe and Ranavalona^I were complex: in 1836 and 1837, ambassadors were sent to England and France. But France, in spite of the resistance of the Merina bastions, established a sort of protectorate on Nosy Be and the surrounding islands.

The queen's protected son, Rakoto, organizes a plot with the support of influential Europeans... The coup is foiled. Ranavalona^I had all foreigners expelled, including her friend Jean Laborde!

After the death of Ranavalona Manjaka, his successor, Radama II, engaged in a different policy. He brought back Jean Laborde, who was to become consul, proclaimed freedom of thought and worship, authorized the return of missionaries, abolished drudgery and privileges, and initiated a rapprochement with France. This policy of openness did not please everyone: the institutions were weakened, and the end of his reign ended in civil war. Radama II was assassinated on May 11, 1863. His first wife succeeded him under the name of Rasoherina.

The new Queen Ranavalona II delegated most of the power to the Prime Minister, who devoted himself to modernizing the state. A Civil Code was drafted and a structured territorial administration was applied to the Imerina and all the conquered territories, as far as Mahajanga, Toamasina and Fianarantsoa.

Externally, France and England had to support their industrial revolution and the wealth of Madagascar attracted their covetousness. The pressures were more and more insistent. Political and commercial agreements were signed with England in 1863, and in 1868 with France. The Prime Minister abolished the slave trade and accepted the commercial activity of the Europeans. But already, France spread its territorial claims in broad daylight.

The first Franco-Malagasy war broke out following the French takeover of the Sambirano and England refused to intervene against France alongside the Malagasy government.

The Queen died in July 1883, while the war was raging. The Prime Minister chose Ranavalona III as her successor and married her.

The war continued in all the eastern ports. In the end, it turned to the disadvantage of Madagascar. On December 17, 1885, the Prime Minister, in order to obtain peace, signed a "treaty" stipulating that France would represent Madagascar in all its foreign relations. The Malagasy state was forced to take out a loan of 10 million francs to pay a (French) resident general posted to Antananarivo. Taxes and the Malagasy Treasury were ruined.

England accepted the protectorate of France over Madagascar. In return, France let England take possession of Zanzibar. The Prime Minister and the Queen did not accept the fait accompli.

The second Franco-Malagasy war broke out. Despite a fierce resistance, the Malagasy army was defeated. On September 30, 1895, the French expeditionary corps commanded by General Duchesne reached Antananarivo. The Prime Minister was deported to exile in Algeria.

The treaty of October¹, 1895 stipulated that: "The government of Her Majesty the Queen of Madagascar recognizes the protectorate of France with all its consequences." In appearance, the monarchy remained; in fact, the Resident General decided everything.

French colonization is total. In France, the National Assembly voted the texts declaring the island of Madagascar a "French colony" and "abolishing the royalty in Imerina". On September 16, 1896, General Gallieni arrived in Antananarivo to quell the revolution. On October 15, he had the commander-in-chief of the Malagasy army executed, followed by Prince Ratsimamanga, uncle of the queen. In February 1897, he ordered the deportation of Ranavalona III, in order to remove this symbol. The monarchy was abolished. Madagascar had no other borders than the sea and a humiliating diplomacy for the Big Island: it was the time of the "politics of races" decreed by Gallieni, of the colonial imposition in all domains, as much economic as cultural and social.

The colonial period lasted until Independence (June 18, 1960). Colonization responded to the needs of the European powers to feed their industrial revolution, to acquire raw materials at low cost, to have cultivable land, to open markets and to establish military bases. The Malagasy population, subjected to taxes and forced labor, had no civil or political rights. The repression of the centers of resistance was extremely brutal (villages were razed to the ground, leaders were executed).

While the colonialist lobbies pushed for the "cutting up" of all the island's wealth, the colonial administration, in order to ensure its control, completed the work begun by the Merina monarchies, by uniting all the Malagasy peoples under a single administration, where many of the local civil servants trained to manage the provinces were of Merina origin.

45,863 Malagasy enlisted in the French army. The bloodshed did not slow down the intensive pursuit of exploitation: agricultural products, meat, graphite and mica were sent to Europe. Between 1919 and 1936, economic colonization reached its peak. The colonial administration even founded the SMOTIG, a company responsible for organizing the unpaid forced labor service. Some 12,000 Malagasy were subjected to it. The Popular Front government abolished the SMOTIG in 1937.

Paradoxically, colonization contributed in part to the awakening of ideas of freedom. The Republic brings to Madagascar its founding principles. The Malagasy elites recovered the motto "Liberté, Egalité, Fraternité" in their fight for independence. The Malagasy patriotic movement developed quite rapidly.

During the First World War, a secret patriotic movement with the poetic name of "Vy vato sakelika", "Iron, Stone, Ramification" (the VVS), was active before being repressed. The opposition then took a republican form by expressing itself in newspapers supported in France by the left-wing parties.

Madagascar made an important contribution to the war effort for the liberation of Europe. Career soldiers and Malagasy soldiers left to fight the Nazi armies in France, which led the patriots of the Big Island to demand independence once again: "We bring freedom to those who refuse it to us!

Joseph Ravoahangy's Democratic Movement for Malagasy Renewal (MDRM) launched a general insurrection that spread throughout the island and lasted 21 months. The toll was heavy, with 100,000 people killed. MDRM leaders were summarily executed. Over the next twelve years, the revolts would never again have this magnitude since the radical wing of the patriotic movement had been decimated. The deported deputies were considered symbols of resistance.

Political life was structured by using the existing spaces of freedom. However, from structural reform to institutional change, it was not until the radical impetus given by General de Gaulle to French policy ("Tomorrow you will be a state again", Antananarivo speech of 22 August 1958) that Madagascar regained its independence. For the leader of Free France, colonization was an anachronism.

With Independence, political life experienced an unprecedented effervescence. Many parties were created during this First Republic. A bipolarization was established between the Social Democratic Party (PSD) and the Independence Congress Party (AKFM). When they returned from exile, the "rebel" deputies of 1947 took an active part in the debates.

Philibert Tsiranana, leader of the PSD, was elected President of the Republic in 1960 (he was re-elected in 1965). The institutions are close to those of the French^Fifth Republic. The Big Island developed an active diplomacy, but domestically, the regime stagnated. French companies and Réunionese colonists still dominated the economy. Transportation was increasingly inadequate, and urbanization became anarchic. Finally, the installation in power of the PSD state was accompanied by misappropriation of public property, corruption and privileges. Only schooling is to be credited to the regime. And this sustained effort will precisely contribute to its fall..

In the early 1970s, students increasingly challenged the president's submission to the business lobbies of the former colonial power. Malgachisation", a movement to adapt education to the cultural and social realities of the country, spread to all Malagasy universities.

The brutal repression of a revolt in the region of Toliara provoked the mobilization of students. The University of Antananarivo closed in March 1971. Strikes, demonstrations and revolts followed one another. On May 13, 1972, the police shot at the crowd. On July 27, General Ramanantsoa, Chief of Staff of the Army, proposed a referendum on a political program for change... On October 8, 1972, President Tsiranana resigned. A brand new constitution was adopted on 7 November 1972.

Second Republic. The government of Ramanantsoa decided to take radical measures. In early 1973, Madagascar created its own central bank and currency. In June 1973, France and Madagascar signed an agreement to evacuate the French armies based in Ivato and Antseranana.

Total independence and the end of "neo-colonialism" were the objectives expressed. The economic results did not follow. Prices increased while the notion of "Malagachization" became more and more popular among the youth. In 1973, revolts multiplied.

On December 31, 1974, police officers rioted. In 1975, Madagascar experienced permanent instability. Four heads of state succeeded one another: General Ramanantsoa, Colonel Ratsimandrav, General Andriamahazo and Captain Ratsiraka, President of the Supreme Council of the Revolution from June.

Didier Ratsiraka became President of the Republic on 4 July 1976. The State now controlled the banks, insurance companies, and three quarters of the import-export trade; centralization was extreme. Workers' self-management was instituted. The territory was reorganized with a return to the "Fokonolona", a community association prior to colonization, these decentralized local administrative entities with extensive powers: land management, rural development, health, security..

The fight against illiteracy is intense. On the international level, Madagascar distanced itself from France. This voice will express itself notably against apartheid and for the release of Nelson Mandela. The Malagasy language, spoken in the country for two thousand years, was given pride of place in the educational system and became the official language once again. Finally, the claims of "Malagachization" are taken into account. The state invests in infrastructure, health and industry.

But democracy is regressing. Freedom of the press is increasingly restricted and corruption is back in full swing. In addition, the economy is suffering from the effects of the oil crisis. Despite the reforms adopted at the end of the 1980s, the global economic crisis destabilized the economy of the Big Island. Poverty is spreading. The disappointment of the population is commensurate with the hopes of the 1970s. However, Ratsiraka was re-elected in 1982 and 1989 without opposition.

A Conseil national des forces vives was created on the initiative of the main opposition parties and former allies of President Ratsiraka. This was the beginning of a reflection on the "future of the nation". In 1991, the movement for change grew. On Labor Day, large demonstrations took place. On July 8, an unlimited general strike spread and lasted until January 1992. On August 10, a peaceful march of half a million people towards the presidential palace turned into a drama with several deaths.

A period of confusion followed, during which politicians in search of power tried to break up the unity of the country. On August 19, in the face of popular mobilization, the president agreed to the creation of a consensus and transitional government.

On August 19, 1992, a new constitution was adopted and with it the ^Third Republic. Based on political pluralism and democracy, it balanced power between a president elected by universal suffrage and a sovereign National Assembly.

On November 25, after the first round of presidential elections, Professor Albert Zafy, one of the leaders of the 1991 popular uprising, came out on top. On August 16, the legislative elections produced a confused parliamentary majority, but one that favored President Zafy.

On the economic front, the government followed the advice of the IMF and the World Bank: disengagement of the state, mixed economy, monetary reform. This contested reform, undertaken in 1994, led to a "floating" of the Malagasy franc, which lost its value.

The regime became more presidential. From then on, the President and the government were in principle united, facing a National Assembly where a majority that was hostile to them had been reconstituted. At the same time, the majority of the population, which sees the difficulties increasing, is irritated by the political debates. They are tired of the bad roads, rising prices, lack of social protection and corruption.

Between 1993 and 1997, the Assembly waged a guerrilla war against the president and the six successive governments. Inflation increased, with the Malagasy franc "sinking" when it was supposed to "float" according to the ultra-liberal monetary strategy adopted.

Corruption and embezzlement of public funds continue. In five years, the Malagasy people experienced a disappointment commensurate with the hopes and dreams of the popular movements of 1991.

At the end of 1996, the end of the reign was consummated. Former President Ratsiraka was a candidate. In the first round of elections, under international supervision, Ratsiraka came out on top and was elected in the second round ahead of President Zafy, while the abstention rate beat all records in the country's history.

More than twenty years after the Charter of the Malagasy Socialist Revolution, Ratsiraka proposed an unprecedented social project: the Ecological Humanist Republic, according to which the economy should be at the service of social development, respecting the environment while reducing poverty. Between the (dreamed) project of society and its realization, there will be a margin.

A referendum adopted constitutional changes, including increased decentralization of political and economic powers to bring power closer to neighborhoods and villages. Economic indicators are strong, suggesting that Madagascar has emerged from a long period of turmoil and uncertainty to enter the "modern" era.

In spite of numerous speeches, where he affirmed the contrary by assuring that he would only run for a single mandate, Ratsiraka declared that he wished to ensure the benefit of the policy that he had carried out on several fronts in Madagascar for the last five years... This is how Ratsiraka announced his candidacy for the upcoming elections.

In December 2001, elections were held and Didier Ratsikara and Marc Ravalomanana, mayor of Tananarive, fought for the first place. After a crisis, Marc Ravalomanana announced himself victorious and was finally elected President of the Republic in February 2002. The Dakar Agreements organized a recount of the votes, and he was officially elected. Ratsiraka left the Big Island in July, and the presidential election was recognized internationally, notably by the United States and France.

Ravalomanana launches big projects concerning a part of the infrastructures of Mada and the roads. In December 2006, he was re-elected as the new president for the next five years.

In April 2007, the inhabitants are called for a referendum on the suppression of the 6 "autonomous provinces", they will be replaced by 22 "regions".

At the beginning of 2009, a new crisis broke out and caused a hundred victims, pitting Andry Rajoelina, the mayor of Tana, against the President of the Republic. On March 16, 2009, the president resigned. Ravalomanana transferred powers to a military board, instead of the Senate as provided for in the Malagasy constitution. This Board (re)transfers power to Rajoelina. The international community will consider this maneuver as a coup d'état. From March 2009 to January 2014, Madagascar was ruled by Rajoelina under the Transition regime.

In 2013, Hery Rajaonarimampianina was elected president of the ^Fourth Republic. He has the support of Andry Rajoelina, with whom he finally distances himself. The new president was politically isolated and had to face the plutocracy at the helm of Madagascar. Politically, the crisis is coupled with an economic crisis that continues unabated.

Jean Ravelonarivo, then a general, was appointed Prime Minister. In 2015, the President of the Republic was impeached by the National Assembly, and this act was later overturned by the courts. Olivier Mahafaly Solonandrasana replaced Ravelonarivo in early April 2016. To calm a disgruntled population and the riots that were developing, he eventually resigned. He was then replaced by Christian Ntsay in early June 2018.

In December 2018 new elections are held, where Andry Rajoelina is elected for five years as president of the Malagasy Republic. Rajoelina then wins the legislative elections of May 2019, he takes the absolute majority in the National Assembly. The economic situation does not improve much for the Malagasy population, it will become dramatic during the health crisis.

The sanitary crisis is particularly affecting Madagascar. The whole economy of the country is affected, no industry is spared. With its failing infrastructure, the country cannot cope with the crisis. Historic droughts are aggravating the situation.

Presidential elections on November 9 and December 20, 2023.