page_title: Madagascar in World War II
section_title: Later war and aftermath
hierarchical_section_title: Madagascar in World War II / Later war and aftermath
caption_attribution_description: English: General Paul Le Gentilhomme, commander-in-chief of French troops in French Somaliland, reviewing military units In Djibouti in 1939 or 1940. Français&#160;: Le général Le Gentilhomme, commandant en chef des troupes françaises en Côte des Somalis, passant en revues des troupes en 1939 ou 1940.
context_page_description: Madagascar, then officially known as French Madagascar, was a French colony at the outbreak of the Second World War, having been under French administration since 1885. It played an important role in the war due to the presence of critically important harbors, the contribution of Malagasy troops, and was also the scene of fighting between Allied and Vichy French forces in 1942. After the fall of France in 1940, Madagascar became a crucial flashpoint in contention between the Free French movement and Vichy France. The island was also consequential in the Pacific theater of the war as Imperial Japanese naval forces operated unopposed off the island for some time.
  In 1942, the British and several other Allied forces launched an invasion of Madagascar, seeking to protect its position as an important juncture in Allied shipping and deny its use to the Axis. In addition to its role as a key link in the Allied supply lines and major provider of troops, Madagascar was also briefly considered as the solution to the Jewish Question by the government of Nazi Germany who openly floated deporting Europe's Jewish population to the island in 1940.
context_section_description: Madagascar remained firmly in Allied hands for the remainder of the war, becoming an important link in the nexus of Allied shipping lines as a link between Western Europe, the East Indies, Africa, and the Middle East. Madagascar's deepwater port of Diego Suarez remained heavily defended, and created a base from which Allied ships could combat Japanese submarines. In 1943, British forces left Madagascar and full control was given to Free France and Paul Legentilhomme was appointed to serve as Commissioner of Madagascar. U-boats of the Kriegsmarine continued to operate in the seas around Madagascar until at least the end of 1944. In August 1944, a trio of U-boats sank eight merchant ships in the Mozambique Channel. On 5 September 1944, U-861 sank a Greek freighter off the coast of Madagascar.
  At the Brazzaville Conference in 1944, Charles De Gaulle gave all of France's colonies, including Madagascar, representation in the French National Assembly as a way of securing their loyalty in the face of rising anti-colonial sentiments worldwide.
  At the conclusion of the war, thousands of Malagasy troops returned home to Madagascar contributing to the already growing nationalist and pro-independence sentiment on the island. Many Malagasy were angered at France's treatment of its colonial subjects as second-class citizens and the forced conscription of its men into the armed services. In 1946, Madagascar's representatives in the National Assembly submitted a bill to grant Madagascar its independence from France. It was rejected. All of these events eventually culminated in the Malagasy Uprising of 1947 which saws tens of thousands of people on the island killed when French forces violently crushed the rebellion. Madagascar did not achieve independence until 1960.
caption: Paul Legentilhomme inspecting a garrison in Djibouti, three years before arriving in Madagascar
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