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.

[4] On the evening of 29 March 1947, coordinated surprise attacks were launched by Malagasy nationalists, armed mainly with spears, against military bases and French-owned plantations in the eastern part of the island concentrated around Moramanga and Manakara.

The French military force carried out mass execution, torture, war rape, torching of entire villages, collective punishment and other atrocities such as throwing live Malagasy prisoners out of airplanes (death flights).

By August 1948, the majority of the nationalist leaders were killed or captured, and the Uprising was effectively put down by December 1948, though the last armed resistance was only defeated in February 1949.

Although the kingdom had existed since the early 16th century, it expanded its control beyond its traditional borders in the 1820s under King Radama I, who the British government officially recognized as the sovereign over the entire island of Madagascar.

[6][7] The Menalamba rebellion was only the first manifestation of ongoing opposition to French rule that occasionally erupted in violent clashes between the Malagasy and the colonial authorities in Madagascar.

Conscription of Malagasy soldiers to fight for France in World War I strengthened resentment of foreign rule, and in the interwar period these nationalist organizations proliferated.

Germany's defeat of the French army and occupation of France in 1940, the imposition of a Vichy regime in Madagascar and the subsequent capture of the island by the British in 1942 further tarnished the colonial government's image.

Popular anger was especially aroused by its policies of forced labor in lieu of taxes, involuntary conscription into the army to fight in World War II, and the required contribution of large quantities of rice per head annually.

Together with future writer Jacques Rabemananjara, in early 1946 they formed the Mouvement démocratique de la rénovation malgache (MDRM) political party, whose platform was built on national independence from France.

The movement was pacifist, and while it sought independence for Madagascar, it embraced the French vision of the island as part of the global Francophone economic and cultural community.

[10] Their platform garnered mass support that cut across geographic, ethnic and class divisions, and in November 1946 the trio were elected to represent Madagascar as deputies (députés) in the French National Assembly.

[11] Sensing the worsening mood in the country, on 27 March 1947 deputies Raseta, Ravoahangy and Rabemananjara jointly issued a statement,[8] urging the public to "maintain absolute calm and coolness in the face of manoeuvrings and provocations of all kind destined to stir up troubles among the Malagasy population and to sabotage the peaceful policy of the MDRM.

[14] Most historians share the view that the militants escalated the conflict toward violence on the basis of false information transmitted by duplicitous individuals or groups attempting to neutralize the nationalist influence.

Researchers have documented reports of nationalists whose member organizations joined the conflict upon commands issued by the colonial police and French settlers living in Madagascar.

[10] Despite the role of the militants in leading the uprising, the colonial authorities immediately held MDRM responsible for the movement and responded by targeting the party's members and supporters.

[10] Many of the insurgents were demobilized soldiers of the Tirailleurs Malgaches returning from World War II and frustrated with the limited recognition and opportunity afforded them by the French colonial government.

[15] The rebel territory was home to about 1,600,000 people, and a provisional government was set up: The head of the northern zone was Victorien Razafindrabe, a Merina and low-ranking ex-official, whereas Betsileo ex-teacher Michel Radaoroson served as insurgent leader in the south.

[14] The eruption of the conflict provided the pretext for violence between highland Merina and coastal Malagasy of other ethnic groups that were linked to precolonial history and politics.

Initially a non-nationalist party, PADESM eventually favored a gradual process toward independence that would preserve close ties to France and prevent the reemergence of the precolonial Merina hegemony.

[3] The French strategy followed the "oil spot" method of General Joseph Gallieni, the first governor of the island (1896–1905) to root out, demoralize and crush the guerrilla fighters.

[15] In addition, the security forces adopted a strategy of terror and psychological warfare involving torture, collective punishment, the burning of villages, mass arrests and executions,[8] and war rape.

[18] The French counter-attacks remained rather limited until April 1948, however, as their forces were hindered by disease, the weather, and the unfamiliarity of the imported troops with local conditions, with over a thousand men hospitalized.

[8] Historian Jean Fremigacci contested the 89,000 estimate, noting that losses of this magnitude normally should have manifested on the demographic curve, but in Madagascar population growth began again and even accelerated from 1946 to 1949.

Fremigacci's interpretation was challenged by demographer Alfred Sauvy, who suggested the trauma to population growth that would normally be observed by these casualties may have been masked by improvements in malaria survival rates resulting from a major colonial anti-malaria campaign undertaken in the same period.

Healing at the national level is further complicated by the fact that the same leaders who proclaimed Madagascar's independence in 1960 were those who had been major players in the PADESM political party, which had been favored by the colonial administration after the crushing of the revolt.

[15] According to historian Philippe Leymarie, the French crushing of the Uprising resulted in the near annihilation of the managerial class in Madagascar, with consequences that continued to reverberate for decades after the country's independence.

After initially supporting Admiral Didier Ratsiraka, Tsiranana's successor, in 1992 Jaona led demonstrations against it and in favor of federalism, being severely wounded in the process.

[24] The annual commemorations under his administration brought together perpetrators of war crimes, their surviving victims, former nationalist guerrillas and leaders, and family members of those killed, and characterized the Uprising as a tragic mistake.

[22] In 1994, French directors Danièle Rousselier and Corinne Godeau produced a documentary on the Uprising entitled L'Insurrection de l'île rouge, Madagascar 1947.