Martyrs’ Day
Intangible
Theme: Political persecution
Address
Country
Madagascar
City
Continent
Africa
Theme: Political persecution
Purpose of Memory
Commemoration of the Uprising on March 29, 1947.
Known Designation
Martyrs' Day
Date of creation / identification / declaration
1967
Public Access
Free
Location description
Every March 29, a holiday in Madagascar, the pro-independence insurrection that faced the French colonial power in 1947 is honored. In this day, ceremonies are organized in different emblematic places of the uprising and speeches are given, flowers are laid, testimonies are heard and the song Madagasikara Tanindrazanay that marked the national fight in those times is sung.
During the days prior to March 29, conferences and exhibitions are offered and special television programs about the 1947 rebellion are broadcasted.
Madagascar (the biggest island of Africa) became a French Colony in 1896. As a reaction to the colonization process, revolts occurred, which finished the following year, and a nationalist movement started and remained under different names. On the island, France installed a colonial system based on forced labor and the indigenous Code, a number of laws that established an inferior legal status for those who were natives of French colonies.
During the Second World War, the harshness of the exploitation, the colonial oppression and the intervention of the British to overthrow the collaborationist administration of Nazi Germany contributed to weaken the French presence in Madagascar. Likewise, the particular context led to the creation of secret organizations that looked for Madagascar’s independence through armed uprising, and also the appearance of the Democratic Movement for the Malagasy Renovation (MDRM) that wanted to achieve the same pro-independence objective through legal means.
On March 29 and 30, 1947, hundreds of men armed with lances and machetes attacked the military camp of Moramanga and the coastal cities of Manakara and Vohipeno. The rebels attacked the European people as well as those considered as pro-French. The colonial French forces reacted and repressed through arrests, out-of-court executions, tortures and massive massacres. The insurrection finished in 1948 and the colonial power quickly blamed the leaders of the MDRM, even though they had neither participated nor encouraged rebellion. The parliamentary immunity of three deputies of the movement was removed and so the trial was authorized. It started in 1948 and finished with imprisonments, death penalties or forced labor. The penalties were commuted for the Malagasy deputies.
On July 14, 1956, the Malagasy independence movements decided to take advantage of the national holiday scheduled for the French National festivity to honor the almost ten years of uprising. The 1947 rebellion and its repression left deep scars to the country, since part of the society supported the French administration. When the independence of the island was achieved in 1960, the highest political authorities rejected the 1947 rebellion, but over time they had to publicly acknowledge the importance of the uprising. In this regard, the 1967 ceremonies showed that it was still complex to address the issue. The State organized a simple homage in a monument that was related to the French presence and had been built to honor the French and Malagasy victims of the First World War. Meanwhile, the Assembly approved the construction of a stele and declared March 29 as holiday.
As from 1970, the II Malagasy Republic reinterpreted the memory of 1947 to include it in its official history. Some monuments were inaugurated in the uprisings’ emblematic places and some streets of the main cities were renamed with related names. In 1975, the National Directorate of Old Veterans of the Revolution was created, which decorated and gave pensions to former soldiers. To honor the 30 years, a mausoleum was built in the capital where the remains of unknown soldiers and 1947 leaders were moved.
Nowadays, ceremonies are held according to an established ritual. They start in the Avartr’Ambohitsaina Mausoleum. Then, the national authorities go to the stele that commemorates Moramanga and to the Ampanihifana cemetery where hundreds of insurgents were buried. Political personalities, veterans and survivors of the 1947 event participate. In the rest of the country other official and religious ceremonies are held. Every year, commemorations have a new slogan. In 2019, it was “March 29, the fight for independence, reflection of national pride and development”.
In 2012, the National Museum was inaugurated 100 km from the capital, built specially to honor the independence uprising.
