13th of July 1883, and was succeeded by her niece, Princess
Razàfindrahèty, under the title of Rànavàlona III., who maintained
the same policy as her predecessor, and was much beloved
French Protectorate, 1885–1894.
by her people and respected by all. Several French
residents successively represented France at Antanànarìvo;
but these found themselves unable to
obtain that influence which the home authorities thought they
had a right to demand. Although the British government, in
return for concessions in Zanzibar, had consented, in 1890, to
recognize a French protectorate over Madagascar, the Malagasy
prime minister, Ràinilaiàrivòny, was not disposed to give any
advantage to France and continued to arm and train, by the
help of British officers, a large body of native soldiers. This
state of tension and irritation could not last, and at length,
towards the close of 1894, the French government sent an
ultimatum to the Malagasy sovereign, demanding such powers
as would have made French authority supreme in the island.
These demands were refused by the native government, and
other conditions were offered; but the French envoy, together
French Invasion and Conquest, 1895.
with the resident’s escort, left the capital, as also did
the French traders and others, including the large
Jesuit mission. As soon as these had left the island,
the chief ports were occupied by French troops, and
an expeditionary force under General Duchesne was afterwards
landed on the north-west coast at Mòjangà—commonly, but incorrectly,
written Majunga—with the object of breaking the
Hòva authority. Owing to the necessity of making a road for the
passage of artillery and military stores, many months were spent
on the march into the interior, and there was considerable loss
of life by fever and other disease among the invading troops.
But no effectual resistance was made by the Malagasy, and
at length, on the 30th of September 1895, the French forces
appeared on the heights north and east of Antanànarìvo, bombarded
the city, which surrendered in the afternoon, and on
the evening of the same day the French entered the capital.
The result was that the protectorate of France was re-established in the central provinces, but the queen was allowed to retain her position. Early in 1896, however, a serious Rebellion of 1896, and Gradual Subjection of the Malagasy. rebellion broke out in several parts of Imèrina. This movement was not only anti-French and anti-foreign, but also distinctly anti-Christian. The French troops gradually broke up the power of the rebellion in the central provinces, but as there appeared to be considerable unrest in many other parts of the island, General Gallieni, an officer with a reputation for vigour and ability in the Sudan and Tongking campaigns, was sent out to relieve the then resident-general.
General Gallieni had a difficult task in establishing the authority of France throughout the island among numbers of tribes who had never submitted to any control from others. Among the first steps he took were to put the country Administration of General Gallieni. under martial law, to abolish royalty and all semblance of Hòva government, and to declare Madagascar to be henceforth a colony of France. Queen Rànavàlona III. was exiled to Réunion, and subsequently to Algeria. Meanwhile carriage roads were commenced to connect all the chief centres, and the military posts were gradually extended so as to consolidate French rule over all the outlying tribes. French residents and numerous other officials were placed at every important town, and various projects were started for the civilization of the Malagasy in accordance with French ideas. At the close of 1899, General Gallieni was able to report that only portions of the west and south-west remained to be brought into submission. Not long afterwards the authority of France was recognized throughout the island. General Gallieni, whose firm and vigorous administration, and desire to treat the Malagasy justly and kindly, made him liked by the people, retired in 1905, and was succeeded in that office by M. Victor Augagneur, late mayor of Lyons. Since the French occupation the Malagasy have conformed pretty readily to the new order of things, although many of the most intelligent Hòva deeply regret that their country did not retain its independence. Justice is administered, on the whole, with fairness and impartiality; but the taxation seems too heavy for the means of the people, indeed it is affirmed by trustworthy natives that the well-to-do classes are being gradually drained of their property. To an outsider it also appears that the staff of officials is very largely in excess of any real needs of administration; several monopolies, which interfere with the habits of the people, tend to produce discontent; and the taking of their land and houses for public works, roads, &c., while but a mere fraction of their real value is allowed as compensation, does not help to increase their acquiescence in foreign control. But the most serious cause for dislike to government action was the interference by the governor-general, in 1907, with their religious customs, by the suppression of hundreds of their congregational schools, and the closing of numbers of their churches. In July 1910 M. Augagneur was replaced as governor-general by N. Picquié, a prominent official of the Colonial Department, who had previously served with acceptance as deputy governor-general of French Indo-China, and who had a reputation for tact and impartiality.
Christian Missions and Education.—As already noticed, the Malagasy owe to missionaries of the London Missionary Society their first school system and their first literature, in 1820 and subsequent years;[1] and for fifteen years all educational work was carried on by them, some 10,000 to 12,000 children having been instructed in their schools. On the reopening of the country to Europeans in 1862, the L.M.S. mission was resumed and was carried on with vigour for several years, stations being formed in several parts of Imèrina, in the Bétsiléo and Antsihànaka provinces, and at the ports of Tamatàve, Majunga and Fàrafangàna (south-east coast). In 1890 the number of their churches was 1220; adherents, 248,000; and scholars, 68,000; so that for long the greater part of the educational work was in their hands, carried on not only in primary schools, but also in high schools and colleges. In 1863 the Church of England began work in the island through the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel and the Church Missionary Society. After some time, however, the latter society withdrew, leaving the field to the S.P.G. A bishop is stationed in the capital, with a theological college in its neighbourhood, but the chief work of the Anglican mission is on the east coast. In 1866 the Norwegian Lutheran Society began work in Madagascar, and was joined in 1888 by an American Lutheran Society. With a representative church at the capital, the chief work of these missions is in the Vàkinankàratra district (south-west of Imèrina), in the Bétsiléo province, and on the south-east and south-west coasts; in these places they have a large number of converts and (until lately) schools. In 1867 a mission was begun by the Society of Friends, who gave great attention to education and literary work, and afterwards took up as their field of labour the western and south-western parts of Imèrina, where they have a large and well-organized mission. Immediately after the island became a French possession the French Protestant Churches began (in 1896) to take part in the evangelizing of their new colony, and about half the area for long occupied by the London Missionary Society was transferred to the Paris Society. The bulk of the Malagasy Christians are Protestants, probably three-fourths or four-fifths of those professing Christianity. A Roman Catholic (Jesuit) mission was begun in 1861, and a large force of priests with a bishop and lay brethren and sisters engaged in education, have been at work in the island since then, except during the two Franco-Malagasy wars.[2] Since the French conquest, the north of the island has been occupied by a mission of priests of the Saint Esprit, and the southern portion by the Lazarist mission, each with a bishop at its head. The following table gives the statistics of the various Protestant missions at the close of 1906:—
| Mission | Missionaries | Churches | Adherents | Members | Scholars |
| Lond. Miss. Soc. | 25 | 630 | 120,000 | 32,000 | 27,000 |
| Soc. Prop. Gospel. | 15 | 121 | 13,000 | 4,094 | 7,655 |
| Norweg. Luth. | 60 | 892 | 84,000 | 71,500 | 38,000 |
| Am. Luth. | 14 | ? | ? | ? | ? |
| Soc. of Friends. | 27 | 178 | 15,000 | 2,540 | 7,122 |
| French Prot. Miss. | 29 | 491 | 110,660 | 10,500 | 18,200 |
- ↑ It is true that 200 years earlier than this, persistent efforts were made for nineteen years (1600–1619) by Portuguese Roman Catholic missionaries to propagate their faith among the south-east coast tribes. But although much zeal and self-denial were shown by these men, their efforts were abortive, and the mission was at length abandoned, leaving no fruit of their labours in a single church or convert. Half a dozen small books of devotion are all that remain to show their presence in Madagascar.
- ↑ The work of the “Frères chrétiens” was, however, almost broken up by the anti-clerical policy of the French government.
