The first Franco-Malagasy war was the colonial war of France against the kingdom of Imerina. France's goal was to transform Madagascar into part of its colonial empire. It is part of a series of French wars against the Malagasy; was continued in the form of the Second War.
On May 16, 1883, without a declaration of war, France began military operations against Imerin. Through fierce resistance from the people of Madagascar, the interventionists were unable to capture the island for two years. After several defeats (in particular in the war in Indochina), the French sat down at the negotiating table, which ended with the signing of a peace treaty on December 17, 1885, an unequal and unfavorable for the kingdom of Imerina.
Prerequisites
British influence
During the Napoleonic Wars, the neighboring island of Madagascar, which at that time belonged to France, became the base of pirate squadrons, which made constant raids on British merchant ships. In August 1810, the French repulsed a major attack by the British, but in December the latter landed in the north of the island and forced the defenders to surrender. On December 3, 1810, the island of Mauritius passed into the possession of Great Britain, which was enshrined in the Paris Treaty of 1814.
This was the beginning of the British claim to Madagascar. The British viewed the capture of the island as an opportunity to expand their influence in the Indian Ocean. King Imerina, Radama I, after the weakening of France in the region (the temporary loss of Reunion and the alienation of Mauritius in favor of England) made a bet on Great Britain, signing an agreement with her in 1817. The agreements provided for an end to the slave trade on the island, assistance to Anglican missionaries in spreading their faith, and the adaptation of the Malagasy language to the Latin alphabet. Radama I was able to unite Madagascar under his rule with the help of British arms, proclaiming himself "King of Madagascar" in 1823, which caused outrage from France. In response to protests from France, Radama captured Fort Dauphin, a French fortress in the south of the island, which showed the seriousness of his intentions.
French influence
When Queen Ranavaluna I (wife of Radam I) came to power in 1828, relations with foreign countries began to gradually deteriorate. Until the mid-1830s, almost all foreigners left or were expelled from the island. One of those Europeans who were allowed to stay was the Frenchman Jean Labor, under whose leadership foundry was developed in Madagascar. In addition, after unsuccessful attempts by the Anglo-French squadron in 1845 to impose certain territorial, trade and other conditions by force, Queen Ranavaluna banned trade with these countries, declared an embargo on the neighboring islands, which were controlled by the European metropolises. But the rights to monopoly trade were granted to the Americans (they used them until 1854), relations with which began to quickly improve.
Meanwhile, the son of Queen Ranavaluni - Prince Rakoto (future King of Radama II) - was under significant influence of the French inhabitants of Antananarivo. In 1854, a letter intended for Napoleon III, which Rakoto dictated and signed, was used by the French government as the basis for a future invasion of Madagascar. In addition, the future king on June 28, 1855 signed the Lambert Charter, a document that gave the Frenchman Joseph-François Lambert numerous lucrative economic privileges on the island, including the exclusive right to all mining and forestry activities, as well as the exploitation of unoccupied land in exchange for 10% taxes for the benefit of the kingdom. There was also a planned coup d'etat against Queen Ranavaluni in favor of her son by the French. After the death of the queen in 1861, Rakoto accepted the crown under the name of Radama II, but he ruled for only two years, since then an attempt was made on him, after which the king disappeared (later data indicate that Radama survived the assassination attempt and continued his life as an ordinary citizen for outside the capital). The throne was taken by the king's widow - Rasukherin. During her reign, the position of Britain on the island again strengthened, "Lambert's Charter" was denounced.
Although officials in Madagascar tried to distance themselves from British and French influences, the country needed treaties that would regulate relations between states. In this regard, on November 23, 1863, an embassy left Tamatave, which was sent to London and Paris. A new treaty with England was signed on June 30, 1865. He provided for:
Free trade for British subjects on the island;
The right to lease land and build on it;
The freedom to spread Christianity was guaranteed;
Customs duties were set at 10%.
Escalating conflict
In the early 1880s, French ruling circles began to show concern about the strengthening of British positions in the region. Reunion parliamentarians advocated an invasion of Madagascar to reduce British influence there. In addition, the reasons for the future intervention were the desire to obtain a transshipment base for further colonial policy in the region, to gain access to a significant resource of "colonial" products - sugar, rum; base for military and merchant fleets.
The abolition of the Lambert Charter and the letter to Napoleon III were used by the French as a pretext for the invasion of the island in 1883. Other reasons include a strong French position among the residents of Madagascar, the murder of a French citizen in Antananarivo, property disputes, and the policy of protectionism pursued by the government of Madagascar. All this led to an escalation of an already difficult situation, which allowed the French government, headed by Prime Minister Jules Ferry, who was a well-known propagandist of colonial expansion, to decide to launch an invasion of Madagascar.
The beginning of the war. 1883 year
On May 16, 1883, French troops attacked the kingdom of Imerina without declaring war and on May 17 occupied the port of Mahajanga. During May, the French squadron systematically shelled the coastal regions of Madagascar, and on June 1, Admiral A. Pierre delivered an ultimatum to Queen Ranavaluni II (second wife of Radam II). Its provisions boiled down to three main points:
Transfer of the northern part of the island to France;
Guaranteeing ownership of land to Europeans;
Compensation for French citizens in the amount of 1 million francs.
Prime Minister Rainilayarivuni rejected the ultimatum. In response, A. Pierre on June 11 fired at Tamatave and occupied the port. The Malagasy surrendered the city almost without a fight and retreated to the fortified camp of Fara-Fata, located out of the reach of naval artillery. The Prime Minister reacted to the aggression from France immediately: he banned the sale of food to foreigners in the port cities (the exception was the British, with whom negotiations for assistance were underway), and a mobilization was announced.
The Malagasy made several attempts to recapture the port of Tamatave from the French, but each time they were forced to retreat, suffering heavy losses from artillery fire. All this time, the French tried to advance inland, but the Malagasy, who deliberately did not engage in battle on the coast, where the French could be supported by their artillery fire. Having received reinforcements and bringing the number of ground forces in Tamatave to 1200 people, the French troops went on the offensive, but all their attempts to storm Fara-Fata ended in failure.
On September 22, 1883, Admiral Pierre, who could not show effective actions at his post, was replaced by Admiral Galliber, who, although famous for his decisiveness, did not begin active ground operations, adhering to the tactics of shelling the island from the sea. As of November, a certain parity of forces had formed, which Galliber wanted to break with the promised reinforcements from the metropolis. In the meantime, the parties decided to sit down at the negotiating table. The French demanded the establishment of a French protectorate over northern Madagascar. The negotiations, which almost immediately reached an impasse, were used by Galliber to drag out time. As soon as reinforcements arrived, active hostilities were resumed. Nevertheless, reconnaissance in force showed that even the increased number of the French garrison was not enough to break through into the interior of the island.
1884-1885 years
At this stage, the French government realized that such a desired quick victorious war would not work, so it decided to conduct a second round of negotiations. The Malagasy embassy demanded recognition of the queen's sovereignty over the entire island - only in this case negotiations could continue. The French, in turn, demanded recognition of the French protectorate over the north of the island, where the Sakalava people lived predominantly, and the French positioned themselves as defenders of their rights. A new inconclusive stage of negotiations lasted until May. The Prime Minister of Madagascar sent a request for the mediation of the American president, but did not find the support he hoped for there.
Rear Admiral Mio, who replaced Admiral Galibert as commander of the troops, ordered the landing (several infantry companies and an artillery unit) in the province of Wuhemar, counting on the help of the population of the north of the island, which was hostile to the central government of the country. A short battle took place near Andraparani on December 15, 1884, in which the Malagasy troops were defeated and quickly retreated, but the French did not go inland for fear of possible ambushes. Over the next year, hostilities were limited to bombing and blockade of the coast, small skirmishes with the troops of Imerin. Until September 1885, Admiral Mio received reinforcements from the metropolis and Tonkin (Indochina). He decided to make an attempt to break through into the interior of the island from the east - from Tamatave, which at that time was occupied by the Reunion garrison. For this, it was necessary to capture the Fara-Fata camp, which controlled all routes from the port. On September 10, the French set out from Tamatave, but met such fierce resistance from the Malagasy that they were forced to quickly retreat. Imerin's troops were commanded by General Rainandriamampandri. Further actions of the French were limited to the blockade of the coast, the capture and destruction of small ports, unsuccessful attempts to go deep into the island.
The setbacks in Madagascar, together with the defeats of the French forces in Indochina in the war against the Chinese, led to the fall of the Jules Ferry cabinet on July 28, 1885. After the defeat in the Fara-Fatskoy battle, the French sat down at the negotiating table with Reinandriamampandry, who took this opportunity to end the war, since both the country and the army were in a very difficult situation.
Results of the war
Negotiations began in November 1885. The French eventually abandoned most of their original claims. The peace treaty was signed on December 17 and ratified by the Malagasy side on January 10, 1886. According to the provisions of the treaty, the unequal status of the kingdom of Imerina was established:
The Madagascar government was deprived of the right to conduct an independent foreign policy: from now on, the French government had to represent the kingdom in the international arena;
The Kingdom of Imerina pledged to pay "voluntary compensation" in the amount of 10 million francs in damages to "private individuals of foreign origin";
A serious concession in favor of France was the transfer to her of the strategically important bay of Diego Suarez, where the French intended to create their military base;
A French resident was stationed in Madagascar, who was supposed to monitor compliance with the terms of the treaty.
For its part, the Malagasy side also achieved some success during the negotiation of the terms of the agreement. So they achieved recognition by France of Ranavaluni III (niece of Queen Ranavaluni II) as the queen of all Madagascar. Also, France pledged not to interfere in the internal affairs of Madagascar and to provide military instructors, engineers, teachers and business leaders.
