A thing is however sure: one does not find on the “Large Island” of vestiges dating from prehistory. The discovery of Madagascar was the consequence of a great movement of commercial exchanges that people austronésiens, as of the III E front century J. - C., established in the Indian Ocean to transport towards Africa, Arabia and the Mediterranean the aromatic plants, condiment and medicinal of the West Indies.

At the beginning of our era, a certain number of these merchants austronésiens migrated well, by successive waves, from the Eastern coast of the Black Africa (current Tanzania and Mozambique) to be established in Madagascar. On the new grounds of the “Large Island”, they imported rice, the taro, banana, coconut and the ginger. They naturalized there trees of the West Indies like Cinnamomum, a variety of cinnamon-tree, and Calophyllum, species then used for the needs for the marine carpentry.

From Africa, they made come zebus, sheep, goats and guinea fowls. The moments of prosperity corresponded to the formation of great territorial units gathering the old principalities inspired of the institutions austronésiennes. To the XI E and XII E centuries, the Bantus, by reaching the coast of the channel of Mozambique, caused the disappearance of the States austronésiens and the migrations towards the central Highlands. This double origin, at the same time African and Asian, explains the interbreeding of the population and especially of Malagasy civilization, so much in the economic domain (though irrigated rice growing rather raises of the Indonesian practices) that in the fields cultural and religious (worship of deaths, in particular). The migrations continued up to one recent period.  

Little by little, the people of Madagascar organized themselves as clans, directed by the old ones, and, starting from the XVI E century, in a multiplicity of small kingdoms. For the majority, they were established along the coast. In spite of the great diversity of the people and political organizations, the Malagasy population always presented a great unit, in particular by the use of the same language and because of establishment of bonds of exchanges between the various areas.  
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Madagascar in the Moslem Indian Ocean

If the first millenium of the Malagasy history is still known little about, of the documents of Arab origin (in particular Al-Masoudi, geographer which visited Eastern Africa in first half of X E century) and the oral tradition rather precisely document us on the events which have occurred starting from the VII E century. The Malagasy economy indeed was very related to the history of the Middle East, area to which it provided aromatics, spices and perfumes. The cubèbe, medicinal herb appreciated of the Arabs, came from Madagascar. On sea, the Moslem navigators established, at the expense of Austronésiens, their control on the roads and the traffic of the Indian Ocean.

But the cultural influence of the Middle East was limited to some secondary counters of the Swahili network. The vestiges of an Arab counter dating from the XI E or the beginning of the XII E century were put at the day close to Vangaindrano, on the south-eastern coast, and it is proven that Islam had made some incursions into the interior of the country well before the XVI E century. In addition, a partially Arab “ancestrality” conferred on the posterior Malagasy dynasties an addition of prestige.  

The position of Madagascar made of it during several centuries the turntable of the slave draft on the Eastern coast of Africa and in the Indian Ocean. Of the XII E to the XVIII E century, the traffic was dominated by the Arab merchants, who based counters on the north-western coast. It was then the fact of Europeans.

Contacts with Europeans

In the year 1498, Vasco de Gama which had just crossed the Cape of Good Hope and sailed towards India would have seen the “Large Island”. In 1500, Diego Diaz which sought to regain the African coast from which it had moved away by error arrived at Madagascar. After having taken the control of Western bank, the Portuguese considered, at the beginning of the XVII E century, to explore the systematic island of manner and to convert its inhabitants with Christianity, but the Portuguese soldiers and Jesuits could neither overcome the hostility of the Malagasy populations nor to take the control of the Arab counters. They gave up the island all while maintaining with it commercial contacts from Mozambique.  

After the failure of the Portuguese, the Dutch navigators, on the way for Indonesia, took the practice to make stopover in the ports of the “Large Island” to supply itself, before him to prefer the colony of the Cape where they were established to the XVII E century. The attempts at colonization by the British also ran up against the difficulties related on the insalubrity of the climate and the vigorous resistance of the populations.

In the middle of the XVII E century, the French in their turn were caught interest for Madagascar. In 1643, they established in the south-east of the island a camp which they named Fort-Dauphin (today Faradofay), in honor of future Louis XIV. But in 1671, the 63 French survivors of the attacks of the local populations had to flee the island. The era of the pirates of the “international Republic of Libertalia started then”, who dominated the maritime trade until around 1720.

Malagasy size

While providing to Sakalavas, established in the west of the island, the means of acquiring firearms, the maritime trade of the draft gave to their dynasty the means necessary to sit their domination on a great territorial unit: the “empire sakalava” was a confederation great principalities which the relationship of the various sovereigns sealed. To the XVII E century, the sovereigns sakalavas seized on all the west coast and established two kingdoms: Menabé around Morondava and Boina around Mahajanga. To the XVIII E century, they held the north and the west of the island. But at the end of the XVIII E and especially to the XIX E century, they were crushed by another dynasty, in its turn in full expansion, that of Merinas (or Imerinas).

In 1770, two of these kingdoms were joined together. Around 1785 the reign of Andrianampoinimerina started (literally: “the expensive lord in the middle of Imerina”). Until 1806, this sovereign got busy to reunify Imerina then launched out to the conquest of the island. With its death, in 1810, it would have left this will to his son and successor, Radama I er: “The sea will be the limit of my rice plantation.” Radama modernized the army before completing the work of his/her father. It was pressed for that on the British, who gave to him their diplomatic support and of judicious councils. With her death, in 1828, his wife Ranavalona I Re succeeded to him.

In 1835, fearing that Christianity comes to ruin the political and social order founded on the god-king, the queen reconsidered the policy of her late husband. Under its reign, Madagascar insulated itself and folded up itself: the missionaries were expelled and the persecuted Christians; this isolationist policy succeeds in containing impatiences British and Frenchwoman. In 1861, the power returned to his/her son, Radama II. Raised by Europeans, this one opened Madagascar with the foreign influences. But, divided between the attraction of the European models and the national requirements, its actions remained vain and caused the popular disaffection then the destabilization of the institutions on which the royal power had been always based. The disorder and confusion settled and, in 1863, Radama II was strangled on the order of the old party hova.  

From this date, the power which returned to sovereign, was actually held by the Prime Minister, Rainilaiarivony, Hova, which married successively three queens (Rasoherina, widow and cousin of Radama II, then his/her cousin Ranavalona II, and finally Ranavalona III) and remained in charge of the country during more than thirty years. He undertook careful reforms, reorganized justice and the administration, completed the constitution of the State, encouraged the formation of an Europeanized elite and abolishes slavery. Vis-a-vis the French aggressions (1883 and 1894-1895), Rainilaiarivony did not obtain British the support that he solicited. Indeed, by a treaty signed in 1890 with the United Kingdom, France had given up its claims on Zanzibar in return for the recognition of its rights on Madagascar.

In 1885, on the flagship of a French task force anchored in roads of Tamatave (today Toamasina), Rainilaiarivony was thus constrained to sign with France an ambiguous treaty: Merinas thought that it was about a simple agreement of friendship but the French considered that it was about a treaty of protectorate; the state of war was notified and, in 1895, the Duchesne general was charged to impose the French authority. A task force of 15 ' 000 men took Antananarivo, the capital merina, and obliged Rainilaiarivony to recognize its authority, before being off-set in Algiers. Popular insurrection of Menalambos (literally: “red togas”) burst the same year.

French colonization

In 1896, the French Parliament declared the annexation of Madagascar, issued French colony. The Gallieni general was sent urgently to take the civil and military command of the island and to subdue the insurrection. He repressed the revolts, deposited and exiled the queen Ranavalona III with the Meeting, then in Algiers, and abolishes monarchy. Gallieni then establishes the bases of its colonial action: “political of the races”, Francization, works economic and social. It replaced the governors merinas by local administrators framed by French.

From 1900 to 1902, Lyautey subjected the populations of the South; in 1905, “pacification” was completed. Nearly 50 ' 000 Madagascans were incorporated in the French Army during the First World War. However, the resistance of the Malagasy people to colonization continued without slackening, and the French domination was never accepted besides. As of the years 1910, the nationalists grouped in a secret society militant for the freedom and the equal rights, Vy vato sakelika (VVS, literally: “Iron, stone, network”) whose leaders, in particular Pasteur Ravelojaona, were stopped in 1916.

In 1920, the movement developed under the impulse of Jean Ralaimongo. At the beginning of the Second world war, the colonial administration remained faithful to the Vichy government. In 1942, the British unloaded in Diego-Suarez and occupied the island, that on the insistence of the de Gaulle general, they finally agreed to give to free France. In 1945, the Madagascans could elect two deputies with the constituent Assembly in Paris.

In 1946, Madagascar became a French territory of overseas. But in March 1947, a popular rising (insurrection of Menalambos) burst in the island. Repression was pitiless: it would have made 80 ' 000 to 100 ' 000 died, and it decapitated the movements of opposition created in 1946: the Democratic movement of the Malagasy restoration (MDRM) of Joseph Ravoahangy, and the Party of disinherited of Madagascar, Joseph Raseta. In 1956, the outline law founded the vote for all. A self government was made up with in the chair Philibert Tsiranana, founder of the social democrat Party (PSD). But when, on on June 26th, 1960, exceeding the objectives of the outline law of 1956, the Large Island reached independence, the colonial policy had for a long time thrown the young Malagasy elite in the arms of the militancy prosovietic.

Madagascar contemporary

Being based on the majority party, Philibert Tsiranana became president of the Malagasy Republic. In the years 1970, it was in hillock with the rise of the opposition: after having faced a country revolt in the south of the country in April 1971, its mode was carried by a school and university insurrection, supported by workers and opposition parties, which reproached him its “pro-imperialist” option. In May 1972, overflowed, Tsiranana gave its powers to the chief of staff of the army, the general Gabriel Ramanantsoa. This one obtained powers extended for one 5 years duration but, in 1975, he resigned with the profit of colonel Ratsimandrava; this last was assassinated a few days later.  

A military Directory seized the power then, proclaimed the martial law, then scuttled in June. The frigate commander, Didier Ratsiraka, was named president of the Supreme council of the revolution and Head of State. In December 1975, the Malagasy people approved by referendum the constitution of IIe République, instituting the Malagasy Republic. The new mode continued at once resolutely Marxist and establishes privileged relations with the USSR.  

Beyond appearances, this mode, by the monolithism of its principles founders and the functional preponderance of the administration, set up a neocolonial unit. This centralizing tendency, which existed already as well within the social democrat Party (PSD) of Tsiranana as in the opposition parties, was amplified with the installation of the military regime which accentuated the official character of the country by the nationalization of the economy, the exit of the free zone and the creation of the Malagasy franc, in 1973, a diplomatic change characterized by the distances taken with the Western France and countries, then, as from 1978, by an immoderate policy of debt which was going to ruin the country, while repression against the nationalist opposition of the South was accentuated.  

Since 1982, the Churches catholic and Protestant woman reflect in guard the power by denouncing the failures and the drifts resulting from the revolutionary ideology. Besides from 1987, the gravity of the economic situation and the needs for the international assistance forced the mode with the political expansion and a certain liberalization of the economy, by reducing the share of the nationalized sector and by opening the door with the Malagasy and foreign private sector investments. In 1990, a general strike burst. Didier Ratsiraka, while continuing to repress any demonstration very hard, had to call a National conference. The delicate democratic transition thus started in 1991 brought the fall of the mode.

In 1992, a new constitution was approved by referendum, giving rise to IIIe République. In February 1993, the presidential election carried to the power the candidate of the “Lifeblood”, Albert Zafy, in a country whose standard of living had decreased by 40 % in 25 years. After bloody confrontations between the partisans of new and the old power (March-June 1993), the party of Zafy gained the legislative elections. In September 1995, the president obtained, by referendum, the right to name the Prime Minister, hitherto elected by the Parliament. In September 1996, this one relieved it, and Didier Ratsiraka returned to the power by gaining the presidential election of December.