Topic summary
French Comoros
Extracted from the Wikipedia article History of the Comoros.
French Comoros
France's presence in the western Indian Ocean dates to the early 17th century. The French established a settlement in southern Madagascar in 1634 and occupied the islands of Réunion and Rodrigues; in 1715 France claimed Mauritius (Île de France), and in 1756 Seychelles. When France ceded Mauritius, Rodrigues, and Seychelles to Britain in 1814, it lost its Indian Ocean ports; Reunion, which remained French, did not offer a suitable natural harbor. In 1840 France acquired the island of Nosy-Be off the northwestern coast of Madagascar, but its potential as a port was limited. In 1841 the governor of Reunion, Admiral de Hell, negotiated with Andrian Souli, the Malagasy ruler of Mayotte, to cede Mayotte to France. Mahore offered a suitable site for port facilities, and its acquisition was justified by de Hell on the grounds that if France did not act, Britain would occupy the island.