Mouvement Démocratique De La Rénovation Malgache
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The Democratic Movement for Malagasy Rejuvenation (, MDRM) was the first Malagasy political party to be represented in the French
National Assembly In politics, a national assembly is either a unicameral legislature, the lower house of a bicameral legislature, or both houses of a bicameral legislature together. In the English language it generally means "an assembly composed of the repr ...
, taking advantage of the reforms announced by
Charles de Gaulle Charles André Joseph Marie de Gaulle (22 November 18909 November 1970) was a French general and statesman who led the Free France, Free French Forces against Nazi Germany in World War II and chaired the Provisional Government of the French Re ...
at the
Brazzaville Conference The Brazzaville Conference () was a meeting of prominent Free French leaders held in January 1944 in Brazzaville, the capital of French Equatorial Africa, during World War II. After the Fall of France to Nazi Germany, the collaborationist ...
of 1944.


Founding and ideology

At the first post-war
constituent assembly A constituent assembly (also known as a constitutional convention, constitutional congress, or constitutional assembly) is a body assembled for the purpose of drafting or revising a constitution. Members of a constituent assembly may be elected b ...
convened in Paris in November 1945 to draft the
constitution A constitution is the aggregate of fundamental principles or established precedents that constitute the legal basis of a polity, organization or other type of entity, and commonly determines how that entity is to be governed. When these pri ...
of the
French Fourth Republic The French Fourth Republic () was the republican government of France from 27 October 1946 to 4 October 1958, governed by the fourth republican constitution of 13 October 1946. Essentially a reestablishment and continuation of the French Third R ...
, the non-citizen population of
Madagascar Madagascar, officially the Republic of Madagascar, is an island country that includes the island of Madagascar and numerous smaller peripheral islands. Lying off the southeastern coast of Africa, it is the world's List of islands by area, f ...
was represented by two doctors, Joseph Raseta and . They formed the MDRM political party together with
Négritude ''Négritude'' (from French "nègre" and "-itude" to denote a condition that can be translated as "Blackness") is a framework of critique and literary theory, mainly developed by francophone intellectuals, writers, and politicians in the Africa ...
poet
Jacques Rabemananjara Jacques Rabemananjara (23 June 1913 – 2 April 2005) was a Madagascar, Malagasy politician, playwright and poet. He served as a government minister, rising to Vice President of Madagascar. Rabemananjara was said to be the most prolific write ...
in early 1946; all three leaders were descendants of prominent '' Hova''
courtiers A courtier () is a person who attends the royal court of a monarch or other Royal family, royalty. The earliest historical examples of courtiers were part of the retinues of rulers. Historically the court was the centre of government as well as ...
. The party's 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. 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 In politics, a national assembly is either a unicameral legislature, the lower house of a bicameral legislature, or both houses of a bicameral legislature together. In the English language it generally means "an assembly composed of the repr ...
.
Merina The Merina people (also known as the Imerina, Antimerina, Borizany or Ambaniandro) formerly called Amboalambo are the largest ethnic group in Madagascar.
Hova elites founded the MDRM not only in the interest of liberating all Malagasy from French rule, but to regain the political dominance of the Merina upon independence. In reaction to the founding of the MDRM, in 1946 the ''
Parti des déshérités de Madagascar Parti may refer to: *Parti (service), an online video platform, web hosting, livestreaming, and cloud services business. *Parti (surname), a Hungarian surname, and a list of people with the name * ''Parti'' (architecture), the organizing concepts b ...
'' ("Party of the Disinherited of Madagascar"; PADESM) was formed. It attracted membership from coastal communities formerly subjugated by the Merina empire, as well as highland descendants of slaves of Merina masters. 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. The
Socialist Socialism is an economic ideology, economic and political philosophy encompassing diverse Economic system, economic and social systems characterised by social ownership of the means of production, as opposed to private ownership. It describes ...
-dominated French authorities tacitly supported PADESM, seeking to cast themselves as champions of the oppressed masses against the exploitative Hova elites.


Role in nationalist movement

The MDRM deputies submitted a bill in late 1946 for the independence of Madagascar from French rule, but French deputies rejected it. The deputies' nationalist efforts attracted the disapproval of France's
Socialist Socialism is an economic ideology, economic and political philosophy encompassing diverse Economic system, economic and social systems characterised by social ownership of the means of production, as opposed to private ownership. It describes ...
Prime Minister,
Paul Ramadier Paul Ramadier (17 March 1888 – 14 October 1961) was a French statesman who served as Prime Minister of France in 1947. Biography The son of a psychiatrist, Ramadier graduated in law from the University of Toulouse and started his profess ...
, and the Minister of the Colonies,
Marius Moutet Marius Moutet (19 April 1876 – 29 October 1968) was a French Socialist diplomat and colonial adviser. An expert in colonial issues, he served as Minister of the Colonies for four terms in the 1930s and 1940s and was president of the Gener ...
, who received the MDRM quest for independence as a blow to French prestige and authority. It also raised the specter of the violent conflict launched by Vietnamese nationalists in
French Indochina French Indochina (previously spelled as French Indo-China), officially known as the Indochinese Union and after 1941 as the Indochinese Federation, was a group of French dependent territories in Southeast Asia from 1887 to 1954. It was initial ...
the month before. Moutet consequently responded by declaring a "war against the Malagasy autonomy movement", leading to a radicalization of the militant nationalist groups in Madagascar. Sensing the worsening mood in the country, on 27 March 1947 deputies Raseta, Ravoahangy and Rabemananjara jointly issued a statement, urging the public to "maintain absolute calm and coolness in the face of maneuverings and provocations of all kind destined to stir up troubles among the Malagasy population and to sabotage the peaceful policy of the MDRM." This entreaty was not obeyed, and on 29 March 1947 militant nationalists launched a two-year insurrection against colonial rule, known as the
Malagasy Uprising 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, ...
. On 6 May 1947, in
Moramanga Moramanga is a city (commune urbaine) in Madagascar. It is located in the region Alaotra-Mangoro and the Moramanga District. It has a population of 57,084 inhabitants (2018). It is situated between the capital Antananarivo and the east coast on ...
, soldiers machine-gunned MDRM officials detained in wagons, killing between 124 and 160 mostly unarmed MDRM activists.Jean Fremigacci, "La vérité sur la grande révolte de Madagascar," ''L'Histoire'', n°318, March 2007. According to the official accounts of the French general staff the repression caused 89,000 Malagasy deaths in the first 20 months of the insurrection. The colonial forces lost 1,900 Malagasy auxiliary men in battle. 550 Europeans were killed, including 350 soldiers.


Banning of MDRM

Although the MDRM leadership consistently maintained its innocence, the party was outlawed by the French colonial rulers. From July to October 1948 in Antananarivo, the French organized a large public trial of the uprising, charging 77 officials of the MDRM. The French authorities claimed that their public statements calling for calm immediately prior to the outbreak of violence had been a diversion tactic to mask their involvement in organizing the rebellion, which they had secretly launched by way of an encoded telegram. Deputies Ravoahangy and Rabemananjara were arrested and imprisoned on 12 April 1947, followed two months later by Raseta (who was in Paris when the Uprising began), after their
parliamentary immunity Parliamentary immunity, also known as legislative immunity, is a system in which politicians or other political leaders are granted full immunity from legal prosecution, both civil prosecution and criminal prosecution, in the course of the exe ...
was revoked by the National Assembly. Debates about the Malagasy Uprising in the French National Assembly on 1 August 1947 concluded with the decision to revoke this immunity for all three deputies, who were tortured in prison. The trial, which was held from 22 July to 4 October 1948, was marked by numerous irregularities. The principal witness for the prosecution was shot dead three days before the trial, and much of the evidence against the defendants was obtained through torture. All three were found guilty of conspiracy against the state and endangering national security. Although these irregularities were raised at the trial, Ravoahangy was
sentenced to death Capital punishment, also known as the death penalty and formerly called judicial homicide, is the state-sanctioned killing of a person as punishment for actual or supposed misconduct. The sentence ordering that an offender be punished in s ...
, along with Raseta and four other nationalists, while Rabemananjara was sentenced to
life in prison Life imprisonment is any sentence of imprisonment under which the convicted individual is to remain incarcerated for the rest of their natural life (or until pardoned or commuted to a fixed term). Crimes that result in life imprisonment are co ...
. In July 1949, the convicts' death sentences were commuted to life in prison, and the trio remained imprisoned until they were granted amnesty in 1958. Few individuals, with the notable exception of
Monja Jaona Monja Jaona (September 1910 – 3 September 1994) was a Madagascar, Malagasy politician and early nationalist who significantly drove political events on the island during his lifetime. He was a member of Jiny, a militant nationalist group formed ...
, the founder of the Jiny political movement in the south, have claimed responsibility for a leadership role in the insurrection.


See also

*
Congress Party for the Independence of Madagascar A congress is a formal meeting of the representatives of different countries, constituent states, organizations, trade unions, political parties, or other groups. The term originated in Late Middle English to denote an encounter (meeting of ...
—Merina-dominated Communist party which claimed the legacy of the MDRM *
Vy Vato Sakelika ''Vy Vato Sakelika'' was a nationalist secret society formed in Madagascar in 1913 by '' Hova'' ''Merina'' elites to inspire rebellion against French colonial rule on the island. The colonization of the Kingdom of Madagascar in 1896 prompted a po ...
—nationalist secret society involved in the Insurrection


References


Bibliography

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Mouvement democratique de la renovation malgache Defunct political parties in Madagascar Political history of Madagascar 1946 establishments in Madagascar 1948 disestablishments in Madagascar Political parties established in 1946 Political parties disestablished in 1948