So as we know Madagascar ended up becoming a French colony. What if France does not colonize Madagascar? Who else could colonize it? I decided to create a poll so feel free to vote and state why you chose your selection.
Madagascar under a different European power?
- Thread starter Datu Buwan
- Start date
-
- Tags
- madagascar
Interested to know in what aspects would Madagascar under another European power have been an improvement compared to French rule in OTL?
i can't remember if i was really seriously considering it, but one idea i had regarding that is that Libertatia really does persist and the pirates mainly live there in isolation, maybe as much as a century later than they did IOTL, and then reality punches them right in the balls when a then-modern navy shows up to finally shows up and the pirates are still using galleons or something
so many fun anachronisms! EDIT: well, okay, maybe one fun anachronism
Almost Anyone could do it, so i really went for would bother to. That said, i don't really know what madagascar had to boast in the mid to late 19th century, so i'm basing this on getting to other colonies and trade networks.
GB already had the whole damn cape. Who cares about one island?
Spain might, they do have the philippines and might want an easier way to- oh, oh right.
Honestly what does Portugal gain from it? They don't have any notable asian colonies, and while they did have angola and mozambique, they also had the oldest alliance in the world. If anyone is gonna be able to land in Cape Town, it'll be them.
Belgium only got the Kongo because it promised to trade with everyone. I think that's the best they can get. "This is too important for any of us to trust anyone else with, so we're just gonna pawn it off on you and everyone else gets some of the stuff there."
Italy taking is probably not gonna happen without something on the western part of africa, because if i had to pay france or GB just to send ships to 2/3 of my colonies, i'd get pissed.
Russia is one of the two (the other being belgium) i don't think actually could (unless they conquer Persia)
Well with Germany it wouldn't really matter because it won't win ww1 for them and it'll probably flip to Britain. But, i mean. They could?
But the dutch? They could and would do it. It's on the way to indonesia, opens up markets, and lets them circumvent the British in cape town, which both the Anglo-Dutch Wars, and the Boer Wars tell me is a really good thing for dutchmen.
That said, If america was feeling colonial, they would probably do it (and take Japan) because it opens up so many asian and african markets
GB already had the whole damn cape. Who cares about one island?
Spain might, they do have the philippines and might want an easier way to- oh, oh right.
Honestly what does Portugal gain from it? They don't have any notable asian colonies, and while they did have angola and mozambique, they also had the oldest alliance in the world. If anyone is gonna be able to land in Cape Town, it'll be them.
Belgium only got the Kongo because it promised to trade with everyone. I think that's the best they can get. "This is too important for any of us to trust anyone else with, so we're just gonna pawn it off on you and everyone else gets some of the stuff there."
Italy taking is probably not gonna happen without something on the western part of africa, because if i had to pay france or GB just to send ships to 2/3 of my colonies, i'd get pissed.
Russia is one of the two (the other being belgium) i don't think actually could (unless they conquer Persia)
Well with Germany it wouldn't really matter because it won't win ww1 for them and it'll probably flip to Britain. But, i mean. They could?
But the dutch? They could and would do it. It's on the way to indonesia, opens up markets, and lets them circumvent the British in cape town, which both the Anglo-Dutch Wars, and the Boer Wars tell me is a really good thing for dutchmen.
That said, If america was feeling colonial, they would probably do it (and take Japan) because it opens up so many asian and african markets
I doubt anyone besides the British or French would have been allowed to annex Madagascar, simply because those two powers had enough influence in the area to tell everyone else to back off.
For one thing, the Merina monarchy would have been retained along with its nobility, and likely there would've been a civil war in Madagascar in the post-colonial era against communist guerillas attempting to overthrow the monarchy.
Probably the most realistic result since OTL feels like a bit of a Malagasy screw if you look how well Japan did compared to its continental neighbours or Ethiopia.
Deleted member 109224
I'm fairly certain the Swedes contemplated nabbing Madagascar in the late 18th Century.
What would the British for example gain from ruling Madagascar in place of the French aside from its relative proximity to other British colonies?
I'd love to find out more about that, when you have the chance.
If Radama I king of imerina was unable to crush the Sakalava of the West Coast in the late 18th century and was instead conquered by a consolidated cotier/coastal kingdom through the marriages of the Sakalava and the Zana-Malatta led Betsimisaraka (the mixed race and or semi-westernized children of European Pirates and local princesses and female rulers) you would not have the ability for the French or really any european power conquer the island.
The above was actually OTL; but if you limit engagement with european slavers and if all the existing kingdoms continued to give tribute to Ibonia led by a Sakalava-zanamalata head had a local industry of gun and gunpowder production i think the subjugation of the whole island could be had.
I think the issue is most people have this thought that Merina always held power and thus it doesnt matter what European power took over because if you conquered the Merina you got reigns on the whole island.
That however is incorrect.
The above was actually OTL; but if you limit engagement with european slavers and if all the existing kingdoms continued to give tribute to Ibonia led by a Sakalava-zanamalata head had a local industry of gun and gunpowder production i think the subjugation of the whole island could be had.
I think the issue is most people have this thought that Merina always held power and thus it doesnt matter what European power took over because if you conquered the Merina you got reigns on the whole island.
That however is incorrect.
Last edited:
I wouldnt call it a colony, more of a settlement. They existed there through local cooperation and many such as Thomas Tew married into local polities.