After last week’s news reports detailing how Madagascar’s president Rajoelina will run in July’s controversial presidential elections in spite of a previous agreement specifying that he would not do so ,it seems timely to give an introduction into Madagascar’s history and explore how its past holds insight into its current poltical dynamic and has influence upon present environmental and social debates in Madagascar.
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In the grand scheme of history, Madagascar is just a baby. Despite being more of the new kid on the block when compared with other countries, Madagascar has an eclectic and exciting history to explore and discover. Modern day Madagascar’s cultural diversity is derived from a variety of different pioneers and a sometimes tricky and turbulent past associated with diverse indigenous kingdoms, colonialism and socialism. Gaining an understanding of Madagascar’s history leads the voyager to adopt a deeper appreciation for the context in which many of the high profile social and environmental issues of current importance sit, whilst also holding strong meaning for developing future strategies aiming to overcome these challenges.
The first settlers to the island journeyed from Southeast Asia followed by other immigrants from Africa and the Arabian Peninsula. These early founders provided a melting pot of Indian Ocean cultures which grew into diverse and distinctive kingdoms across the island and lit the path for the impressive cultural diversity we recognise today. The most powerful of Madagascar’s early empires was the Merina ethnic group of the central highlands who established political dominance and unified the people of Madagascar during the 18th century. The extension of their authority was facilitated by two prominent figures; Andrianampoinimerina (r. 1797-1810) and Radama I (r. 1816-28). These clever and ambitious monarchs used shrewd tactics to play off British and French interests and their relationships with rival Malagasy ethnic groups, to enable their power to spread to all but the most impenetrable regions of the island.
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| Ethnic groups and population density of Madagascar |
After establishing dominance, Merina leaders principally pursued to modernise Madagascar’s social and political arrangements in accordance to a rising presence of western influence since their arrival in the 16th century . European organisations such as the Protestant London Missionary society were encouraged to establish schools and churches which held significant consequences in developing the future of the country. As a result a written form of the local language of Malagasy based upon the Latin alphabet was created and almost half a million people were converted to Christianity. Through the latter stages of the 19th century European interests in Madagascar grew, encapsulated by concessions being given to both Britain and France through the signing of commercial treaties in 1877 and 1868 respectively. Other important social developments to occur at this time included the abolition of the slave trade and polygamy, the dissemination of education among the Merina and the conversion of the Monarchy to Protestantism in 1869.
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| The Merina |
Nevertheless unity led by the Merina proved too weak to hold off European imperialism in the long run, resulting in France claiming Madagascar for themselves in 1896. The colonial era under French rule continued until 1960 despite challenges from resistance and independence movements which grew steadily from the 1930s onwards with only a brief abatement during the Second World War. The long shadow of colonialism was finally shaken off around a decade after the reinstatement of independence, and thereafter the governance of Madagascar was diverted in a whole other direction. Socialism descended upon Madagascar in 1975 under the rule of Didier Ratsiraka until its ill-fated end in 1993 brought about by two years of violent riots and widespread civil unrest. Since then, this stormy pattern has largely continued with authority bouncing between parties and leaders which have been periodically ousted surrounded by their own cloud of political and social controversy.
The most recent dispute occured in 2009 when Andry Rajoelina sought to overthrow President Marc Ravalomanana ensuing in the formation of the ‘High Transitional Authority of Madagascar’ established under Rajoelina’s leadership. Nevertheless, despite relatively strong domestic popularity, the international community deemed his rise as unconstitutional and proceeded to withdraw foreign support and investment which has plunged Madagascar into one of its worst financial crisis’ to date.
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| Andry Rajoelina |
Unsurprisingly these largescale poltical interruptions appear to be holding broad consequences effecting Madagascar's economic, social and environmental domains at many different levels. For example, the current national and international attention focusing on the poltical status of the country has permitted the rise of increased levels of illegal logging, hunting, mining and outlawed agricultural practices such as slash and burn farming due to a loosening of regulation and enforcement. Calls have been made for the tighting of regulation to prevent future generations of the Malagasy people being deprived of their cultural heritage and to curtail further depletion of important resources with potentially dramatic short-term and long-term effects.
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Many people are asking what will the future bring for Madagascar and its people's hope for a peaceful, fair and free election to choose their next leader. At the moment the future of Madagascar appears to very much hang in the balance. Agreement is necessary between the four major factions of Malagasy politics, namely Rajoelina, Ravalomanana, Zafy and Ratsiraka, in order to ensure the successful transition towards a fourth republic and the building of a positive future for the people and landscape of Madagascar. It will be interesting to see the outcomes of the coming elections in July.......
Further Information
If you interested in taking a closer look at important Malagasy poltical events, this timeline gives a useful overview.
Also, if you would like to know more about Malagasy history these two books really good:
'A History of Madagascar' by Mervin Brown and 'Madagascar: A Short History' by Solofo Randriandra and Stephen Ellis.
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