Madagascar's 1898–1905 French Pacification Campaigns

After the French captured Antananarivo in 1895 and officially colonized Madagascar in 1896, they faced decades of armed resistance across the island. This episode focuses on the so-called 'pacification' campaigns from 1898 to 1905, when French colonial troops under General Gallieni and his subordinates waged brutal counterinsurgency warfare against the Menalamba rebels in Imerina and against Sakalava and other peoples in the west and south. Lucas and Luna examine specific battles like the siege of Ambositra (1898), the French use of the fanompoana forced labor system as a weapon, the role of captured Merina artillery, and the controversial figure of Colonel Marie-Gabriel Joffre, who later became a World War I hero. They also discuss the destruction of the Rova of Antananarivo by fire in 1895, the exile of Queen Ranavalona III, and the reshaping of Malagasy society through military occupation. The episode draws on recent scholarship by historians like Stephen Ellis and Solofo Randrianja to question the colonial narrative of 'pacification'. #Madagascar #Pacification #Gallieni #Menalamba #Joffre #Ambositra #Sakalava #Fanompoana #RanavalonaIII #Rova #FrenchColonialism #Counterinsurgency #1898 #1905 #Imerina #ColonialWarfare #History #FexingoHistory Keep every episode free: buymeacoffee.com/fexingo