The Malagasy Uprising was a Malagasy nationalist rebellion against French colonial rule in Madagascar, lasting from March 1947 to February 1949. Starting in late 1945, Madagascar's first French National Assembly deputies, Joseph Raseta, Joseph Ravoahangy and Jacques Rabemananjara of the Mouvement démocratique de la rénovation malgache (MDRM) political party, led an effort to achieve independence for Madagascar through legal channels. The failure of this initiative and the harsh response it drew from the Socialist Ramadier administration radicalized elements of the Malagasy population, including leaders of several militant nationalist secret societies.
The Malagasy Uprising against French colonial rule, which began on 29 March 1947, is commemorated by a national monument in Moramanga.
A nationalist fighter from the rural southeast. The rebels were poorly armed, as only a few had rifles. Most faced the modern French military with spears.
Monument for the Malagasy Uprising in the village of Antoetra. The memorial reads: "In memory of the Malagasy who died in 1947 for the love of their homeland."
Trial of former deputies Ravoahangy [mg; ru], Raseta and Rabemananjara (far left to right)
The Colony of Madagascar and Dependencies was a French colony off the coast of Southeast Africa between 1897 and 1958 in what is now Madagascar. The colony was formerly a protectorate of France known as Malagasy Protectorate. The protectorate became a colony, following Queen Ranavalona III's exile to Réunion.
Political divisions of French Madagascar, 1948.