Madagascar

The struggle

The Merina kingdom was conquered and its queen exiled in 1897. The 1947 insurrection against French rule was crushed with tens of thousands of deaths — one of the bloodiest repressions of the colonial era — and its leaders imprisoned. Constitutional politics resumed in the 1950s and Madagascar regained sovereignty on 26 June 1960.

Key people

• Ranavalona III

  1861–1917

  Last queen of Madagascar, exiled by France

• Jacques Rabemananjara

  1913–2005

  Poet and MDRM deputy imprisoned after 1947

• Philibert Tsiranana

  1912–1978

  First president of the republic