Madagascar Uprising

The island of Madagascar has been a French colony since 1896 . In World War II , hostilities took place on the island, during which the colonial administration, which supported the Vichy regime , was forced to surrender to the allied forces. Several tens of thousands of Malagasy were drafted into the troops of the "Fighting France" and fought in Europe. The consequence was the rise of the national liberation movement. In December 1943, the Union of Trade Unions of Madagascar was created on the island, which actively opposed the colonial system. The general secretaries of this organization were political figures J. Ravuahangi and P. Bauto. In 1945, the party "Restoring the Independence of the Malgash People" was formed, in February 1946 it was renamed the "Democratic Movement of the Malgash Revival" ( DCMW , chairman - J. Raseta), which began to quickly turn into a powerful anti-colonial organization. DCMV had a great influence, during 1946 about 300,000 people entered it ^[1] .

In November 1945, deputies from Madagascar Joseph Ravuahangi and Joseph Raseta were elected to the Constituent Assembly of the Fourth Republic . On March 21, 1946, they introduced a bill to repeal the colonial treaty of 1896 and grant independence to Madagascar. This bill was not accepted for consideration on the pretext that it is of a pronounced anti-constitutional nature, although the constitution of the Fourth Republic was only drafted and has not yet been approved ^[1] .

In the summer of 1946, M. de Coppe, a supporter of tough measures against the liberation movement, who received the appropriate powers from Paris, was appointed governor-general of the colony. A wave of arrests swept across the island, over sixty criminal cases were instituted over the course of a few months “in connection with the commission of violence against the police commissioner and acts that could undermine state security, and in connection with conversations that could cause hatred of the French government” ^[2] . The French colonial authorities, in contrast to the DCMV, created the League for the Protection of Colonization, strengthened the police, created the so-called native guard from armed immigrants - Comorians and Africans who did not speak Malgash ^[3] . The “ divide and conquer ” policy was applied, for which they created the “Party of the disadvantaged Madagascar” ( Padesme ), headed by a certain Ramambason, a member of the security forces. The newspaper Padesme, the newspaper Vurumacheri (Bird of Prey), issued provocative articles aimed at contrasting the population of the coastal areas of the island with the ethnically different population of the central regions of Madagascar ^[3] .

October 13, 1946 in Paris, the Constituent Assembly adopted the constitution of the Fourth Republic , which provided for the creation of the French Union. In general, the constitution did not change all the political foundations of the colonial system and French sovereignty overseas possessions, not affected by cosmetic measures. Madagascar was declared a separate colonial administrative unit with the status of "overseas territory" and received the right to form the so-called deliberative advisory body under the governor - the "Great Council", as well as the Territorial Assembly (the provinces of Madagascar formed their Provincial Assemblies). Assemblies did not have legislative power. The head of the French administration, the governor, retained full power. In the elections to the French National Assembly in November 1946, deputies from the national liberation forces received the overwhelming majority of the mandates, including the leaders of the DCMF, Joseph Ravuahangi, Joseph Raseta and Raymond Rabemananzara ^[4] . In the elections to the Provincial Assemblies of Madagascar in January 1947, the DVTSM won 64 out of 92 seats ^{[5] [6]} . Colonial authorities perceived the election results as a threat to their sovereignty.

At the end of 1946, armed clashes broke out between members of the DECVM and Padesmeme, which allowed the French administration to receive funds from Paris to increase the number of police. In addition to 4 platoons of motorized police, 6 more were formed ^[6] . The armed forces of the French administration - 7 colonial infantry battalions, 2 artillery divisions, auxiliary units and 3,140 native guard personnel were put on high alert ^[7] . French immigrants were also hastily armed.

The authorities hastily changed "retroactively" the terms of the elections to the Grand Council, which were to be held on March 30, 1947 . Now the French administration had the opportunity to easily bring its deputies to the Grand Council, while the DCVM, which won the January elections, lost this opportunity. A new wave of mass arrests has begun. The "Party of the disadvantaged" also armed its supporters with the knowledge of the authorities.

The massive indignation of the indigenous population of the island by the provocative actions of the colonial administration caused a social explosion. On March 29, 1947, a national uprising broke out in Madagascar. On the night of March 29-30, the Malgash, mainly armed with spears , for which they later became known as the “spearmen,” attacked a military camp in Muramanga, where African soldiers (Senegalese arrows) were located. About 1,200 people participated in the attack. They managed to break into the camp, set fire to part of the buildings and capture several units of firearms. In the battle 11 soldiers, 5 non-commissioned officers and 4 officers were killed, including the head of the garrison ^{[7] [8]} . The same night in the districts of Muramanga, Ambatondrazak and Manakar there were raids on the posts and military camps of the police and the army, shops, warehouses, plantations and houses of the French immigrants were defeated. In total, about 140 Europeans died that night ^[7] . More numerous were the victims among Padesme activists and officials collaborating with the French administration. The city of Manakar, after a fierce hand-to-hand fight with the police, completely came under the control of the "lancers". In Fianarantsoa, ​​the rebels disabled a power line serving the city. In Diego Suarez, detachments of "spearmen", with a total of up to 4,000 soldiers, attempted to seize the arsenal of the naval base, but were repulsed by the French guard with losses. The attackers captured only a few rifles and light machine guns. In total, the "lancers", during the night attacks, managed to get only a few rounds and a little more than a hundred firearms.

On the morning of March 30, Tananarive radio reported that the MTC was fully responsible for the events that had taken place and that the military authorities had begun distributing weapons to their supporters. Troops were urgently sent to Muramanga and other districts where the armed demonstrations took place. Armored trains armed with machine guns began to ply along the railway line. The DECVM was banned, all the deputies of this party were arrested.

French troops and armed detachments began to suppress the uprising. Across Madagascar, a brutal reprisal began with the rebels and those who sympathized with them. Many were executed without trial. In Mananjari, 159 people were arrested and executed in one day, including two teenagers of thirteen and fourteen years old ^[9] . Six residents of the village of Ambuhimanga and a resident of the village of Maruhita were put on a plane and thrown alive from their heights above their villages. The number of those arrested increased to 20,000. ^[9]

At the end of April 1947, the uprising turned into a real guerrilla war. Residents, due to reprisals and arrests, took refuge in the forests, where fortified bases and armed detachments were hastily created. "Spearmen" established control over the territory of the central and eastern regions of Madagascar, which makes up 20% of the island with a population of more than 600,000 people ^[10] . Many areas were isolated from the rest of the island, the supply of police and troops in them was carried out only by air. In May - July 1947, the "lancers" carried out several attacks on settlements. A detachment of 400 people attacked the station in Muramanga. 200 "spearmen" attacked the prison in Fianarantsoa. Both attacks were repelled. On July 3, numerous partisan units attempted to capture Tananarive. In the course of the battle, the "lancers" suffered a brutal defeat, they captured more than 3 thousand soldiers only as prisoners ^[11] . This battle was the last of those in which the troops had to deal with significant partisan forces.

By the fall of 1947, the activity of the "lancers" had noticeably decreased. This was largely due to the large losses that the partisans suffered due to their own superstition. Local priests convinced many fighters that they would be invulnerable in the struggle for freedom, therefore often the "lancers", hung with amulets, with cold weapons rushed at rifles and machine guns in full confidence that "the French bullets would do them no more harm than drops water ” ^[10] . It was also affected by the partisans' lack of a unified leadership, a common plan of action and a shortage of firearms.

In turn, to suppress the uprising, parts of the Foreign Legion , paratroopers, Algerian and Senegalese arrows, with a total number of up to 15 thousand people, were sent to Madagascar. The commander of the French troops, General Garbe, used the “oil stain” tactic against the partisans: new roads were laid in the partisan areas, a dense network of fortified posts was created, which were gradually carried inland, depriving the “lancers” of maneuvering, making it difficult for them to communicate with the population, etc. By early 1948, under the control of the partisans, there were only two small areas west of Vatumandi and Fianarantsoa. In April - May 1948, the partisan movement in Madagascar was completely suppressed. True, in some districts armed clashes between the French and small partisan groups continued in 1949 and even in 1950 ^{[12] [13]} .

During the uprising of 1947-1948, up to 90 thousand people died, of which 5 thousand partisans and 85 thousand civilians ^{[13] [14]} . According to other sources, 100 thousand people were killed and 20 thousand were imprisoned and concentration camps ^{[5] [13]} . The losses of the French troops amounted to about 1000 people ^{[12] [13]} .

In 1950, the Malgash Committee of Solidarity ( Comité de Solidarité Malgache ) was created, the first general secretary of which was Gisele Rabesahala . He defended the victims of repression by the French colonial authorities after the uprising of 1947-1948, demanded the release of political prisoners and helped the families of the prisoners.

In Russian

• Pierre Buato . Madagascar. Essays on the history of the Malgash nation = Contribution a I'histoire de la nation malgache / ed. Yu.N. Pankova. - M .: Publishing house of oriental literature, 1961. - 436 p. - 1200 copies.
• Armed struggle of the peoples of Africa for freedom and independence / ed. Tyagunenko V.L. - M .: Nauka , 1974.- 443 p. - 3500 copies.
• French Politics in Asia and Africa (1945-1964) / Ed. Danzig B.M. - M .: Nauka , 1965 .-- 407 p. - 1400 copies.
• Erlikhman V.V. Population Losses in the 20th Century. - M .: Russian panorama, 2004 .-- 176 p. - (The whole world). - 1,500 copies - ISBN 5-93165-107-1 .
• Parshev A.P. , Stepakov V.N. When the Second World War began and ended . - M .: Yauza , Eksmo , 2007 .-- 576 p. - (Unknown wars of the 20th century). - 4000 copies. - ISBN 978-5-699-24574-1 .

In English

• Jennifer Cole. Forget colonialism ?: sacrifice and the art of memory in Madagascar . - Berkeley, Ca: University of California Press, 2001 .-- 361 p. - ISBN 0-520-22846-4 .

In French

• Eugène-Jean Duval. La révolte des sagaies - Madagascar 1947 .-- Paris: L'Harmattan, 2002 .-- 363 p. - ISBN 2-747-52336-5 .
• Jacques Tronchon. L'insurrection malgache de 1947: essai d'interprétation historique . - Paris: KARTHALA Editions, 1986 .-- 399 p. - ISBN 2-865-37156-5 .

• Philippe Leymarie. Painful memories of the revolt of 1947: Nationalism or survival? (English) (March 1997). Date of treatment January 23, 2010. Archived April 11, 2012.
• Philippe Leymarie. Painful memories of the revolt of 1947: Deafening silence on a horrifying repression (March 1997). Date of treatment January 23, 2010. Archived April 11, 2012.
• Madagascar's Battle for Independence