Madagascar History:
Initial
Madagascan History is sketchy and it is estimated that the Island’s
first inhabitants who included Africans and Indonesians began
arriving here at around the 5th Century A.D. Between the 7th
and 9th Century;
Arab merchants arrived here and this led to the development of
small towns from trading outposts.
The first Europeans to arrive
here were the Portuguese from the early 16th Century, followed
much later by the French. A number of small kingdoms developed
in the 17th century and this later became merged to form an
empire that covered most parts of the island by the early 18th
Century.
Madagascar first became a French Protectorate in 1885 which
was met by heavy resistance by the locals. Heavy fighting took
place in following years culminating in the defeat and abolishing
of the Madagascan Empire in 1896 by the French. By 1904, Madagascar
was a fully fledged French Colony.
There was increased resistance
to colonization following the end of the 2nd world war in which
Malagasy soldiers fought for the French. Fighting broke out
between 1947 and 1948 but the rebellion was quelled. Political
lobby
groups and parties came up and the Social Democratic Party
under the leadership of Philibert Tsiranana became a major force.
On
the 14th of October 1958, Malagasy became an autonomous republic
under France with Tsiranana as its President. Full independence
came on the 26th of June 1960.
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