As a result, a French expeditionary force occupied Antananarivo in September 1895 and imprisoned the queen and prime minister. In January 1897 France declared Madagascar a French colony and deported the prime minister to Algeria, where he died shortly afterward. A civil governor was put in place and key opposition figures were imprisoned or executed. The queen was allowed to continue managing certain internal affairs as a figurehead. A popular resistance movement, called the "Menalamba" rebellion, arose in response to the perceived corruption and ineffectiveness of the monarchy, growing European presence and influence on the island, and the spread of Christianity. After violently quelling the rebellion in 1897, the French executed key members of the royal family and sent the queen into exile first in Réunion and later Algeria, where she died in 1917.