Maharajhanate of Madagascar

The Maharajahnate of Madagascar is a Puppet State of the German Empire that is east of South Germany and in the Indian Ocean. It used to be independent before it was overthrown by the French Third Republic, now it is restored as a Kingdom.

## History

### Origins

Angry at the cancellation of the Lambert Charter and seeking to restore property taken from French citizens, France invaded Madagascar in 1883 in what became known as the First Franco-Hova War (*Hova* referring to the *andriana*). At the war's end, Madagascar ceded Antsiranana (Diégo Suarez) on the northern coast to France and paid 560,000 gold francs to the heirs of Joseph-François Lambert. Meanwhile, in Europe, diplomats partitioning the African continent worked out an agreement whereby Britain, in order to obtain the Sultanate of Zanzibar, ceded its rights over Heligoland to the German Empire and renounced all claims to Madagascar in favor of France. The agreement proved detrimental for the monarchy of Madagascar. Prime Minister Rainilaiarivory had succeeded in playing Great Britain and France against one another, but now France could meddle without fear of reprisals from Britain.[*citation needed*]

In 1895, a French flying-column landed in Mahajanga (Majunga) and marched by way of the Betsiboka River to the capital, Antananarivo, taking the city's defenders by surprise since they had expected an attack from the much closer eastern coast. Twenty French soldiers died in combat while 6,000 died of malaria and other diseases before the Second Franco-Hova War ended. In 1896, the Merina Kingdom was put under French protection as the Malagasy Protectorate and in 1897 the French Parliament voted to annex the island as a colony, effectively ending Merina sovereignty.

### World War I

Germany annexed the Island during it's campaign against the French in Africa. As that was happening, the former Madagascar queen Ranavalona III met with the Germans whom she asked to restore her as Queen of Madagascar. The Germans agreed if she allowed herself to become a German Puppet. Ranavalona III then agreed to do so.

### After the War

Ranavalona III was then crowned Queen of Madagascar and she ruled the country until her death in May 23, 1917 due to a severe embolism. She was succeeded by her niece and adopted Daughter Marie who married Vladimir Paley a Prince of Russia whom she had 8 Children with.

## Government

The Kingdom is ruled by the Maharajah/Maharani as a Constitutional Monarch who has ceremonial rule over the Military and People. The Government is under command of a Reichkommissar who is appointed into the position by the German Emperor and the Reichkommissar rules with a Prime Minister as his deputy.

The line of succession in Imerina used a system called *fanjakana arindra* ("organized government"), which was established by the Vazimba noblewomen who raised Andriamanelo, founder of Imerina. While the Vazimba had historically tended to favor rule by queens, the Hova favored male heirs, and the marriage between Andriamanelo's Vazimba and Hova parents had produced two sons and a daughter. To prevent conflict, the queen decided that Andriamanelo would inherit the crown upon his mother's death and would be succeeded not by his own child but by his younger brother. This system of succession was ordered by the queens to be followed for all time, and applied to families as well: in any instance where there was an elder child and a younger one, the parents would designate an elder child to assume authority within the family upon their death, and that authority would be handed to the designated younger child in the event of the death of the elder child. Ralambo was the first Merina sovereign to practice polygamy, and his second wife was the first to give him a son. While his younger son by his first wife was to rule, Ralambo sought to assuage the elder son by declaring that the crown could henceforth only be passed to a child born of the reigning sovereign and a princess from the elder son Andriantompokoindrindra's family line.

The practice of sanctifying deceased Merina sovereigns is believed to have originated with Ralambo.

Imerina was initially ruled under Andriamanelo from his mother's home village of Alasora. The capital was shifted by his son Ralambo to Ambohidrabiby, location of the former capital of his maternal grandfather King Rabiby. Andrianjaka moved his capital from Ambohidrabiby to Ambohimanga upon ascending to the throne around 1610. The Besakana, Masoandrotsiroa and Fitomiandalana houses at the Rova of Antananarivo were preserved and maintained over the centuries by successive generations of Merina sovereigns, imbuing the structures with deep symbolic and spiritual meaning. As Andrianjaka's residence, the Besakana was particularly significant: the original building was torn down and reconstructed in the same design by Andriamasinavalona around 1680, and again by Andrianampoinimerina in 1800, each of whom inhabited the building in turn as their personal residence. King Radama I likewise inhabited the building for much of his time at the Rova, and in 1820 he designated the building as the first site to house what came to be known as the Palace School, the first formal European-style school in Imerina.[*incomplete short citation*] Sovereigns were enthroned in this building and their mortal remains were displayed here before burial, rendering Besakana "the official state room for civil affairs... regarded as the throne of the kingdom.

## Military

### Army

The early Merina fighters under the first king of Imerina were equipped with iron-tipped spears, an innovation credited to Andriamanelo himself, who may have been the first among the Hova to use smithed iron in this way. After becoming a German Puppet State, Madagascar then got it's army trained by the Germans and made it a professional army. The Army of Madagascar consists of 100 Infantry Divisions, 90 Artillery Pieces and 70 Tanks.

### Navy

The Navy of Madagascar consists of 12 Submarines and 6 Destroyers used to defend the Island.

### Air Force

Air Force of Madagascar is near non existent.

## Foreign Relations

* Colonial Relations with the German Empire.
* Great Relations with South Germany and the Kingdom of Bengale
* Bad Relations with the Third French Republic.