11 of 11 events · 1895 – 2025
Island sovereign state off the coast of Southeast Africa, in the Indian Ocean
1895–1904
The Menalamba rebellion was an uprising in Madagascar by the Merina people that emerged in central Madagascar in response to the French capture of the royal palace in the capital city of Antananarivo in September 1895. It spread rapidly in 1896, threatening the capital, but French forces were successful in securing the surrender of many rebel groups in 1897.
September 1895
The Franco-Hova Wars, also known as the Franco-Malagasy Wars, were two French military interventions in Madagascar between 1883 and 1896 that overthrew the ruling monarchy of the Merina Kingdom, and resulted in Madagascar becoming a French colony. The term "Hova" referred to a social class within the Merina class structure.
1915–1917
The Sadiavahy rebellion was anti-colonial uprisings that broke out in southern and western Madagascar between 1915–1917. These revolts, though smaller than the Menalamba rebellion, expressed widespread resistance to the French colonial system, particularly its heavy taxation, forced labour and suppression of free speech and dissent.
5 May 1942 – 6 November 1942
The Battle of Madagascar (5 May – 6 November 1942) was an Allied campaign to capture the Vichy French−controlled island Madagascar during World War II. The seizure of the island by the British was to deny Madagascar's ports to the Imperial Japanese Navy and to prevent the loss or impairment of the Allied shipping routes to India, Australia and Southeast Asia. It began with Operation Ironclad, the seizure of the port of Diego-Suarez (now Antsiranana) near the northern tip of the island, on 5 May 1942.
March 1947 – February 1949
The Malagasy Uprising (French: Insurrection malgache; Malagasy: Tolom-bahoaka tamin' ny 1947) was a Malagasy nationalist rebellion against French colonial rule in Madagascar, lasting from March 1947 to February 1949. Starting in late 1945, Madagascar's first French National Assembly deputies, Joseph Raseta, Joseph Ravoahangy, and Jacques Rabemananjara of the Mouvement démocratique de la rénovation malgache (MDRM) political party, led an effort to achieve independence for Madagascar through legal channels.
1971–1972
The rotaka was a series of farmer and student protests in Madagascar between April 1971 and May 1972 that led to the collapse of the First Republic of Madagascar under President Philibert Tsiranana.
26 December 2004
On 26 December 2004, at 07:58:53 local time (UTC+7), a Mw 9.2–9.3 earthquake struck with its epicenter off the west coast of Aceh, in northern Sumatra, Indonesia. The undersea megathrust earthquake, known in the scientific community as the Sumatra–Andaman earthquake, was caused by a rupture along the fault boundary between the Burma plate and the Indian plate, and reached a maximum Mercalli intensity of IX in some areas.
2015
The 2015 Southeast Africa floods, partially related to Cyclone Bansi and Tropical Storm Chedza, killed at least 176 people in Malawi, 86 in Mozambique, and at least 46 in Madagascar over the course of a week while leaving hundreds more missing. Vice President of Malawi Saulos Chilima stated that over 200,000 Malawian people have been displaced by the flood.
5 February 2023
From February to late-December 2023, floods killed over 2,600 people in 15 countries across Africa.
25 September 2025 – 14 October 2025
The 2025 Malagasy protests were decentralized, Gen Z–led protests across Madagascar from September to October 2025, culminating in a coup d'état by the CAPSAT unit, which overthrew sitting President Andry Rajoelina and led to the establishment of the Council of the Presidency for the Re-Foundation of the Republic. The protests were triggered by frequent water and power outages in the capital city Antananarivo, and spread across Madagascar.
12 October 2025 – 14 October 2025
On 12 October 2025, CAPSAT, an elite unit of the Madagascar Armed Forces, overthrew the government of President Andry Rajoelina, the culmination of a protest movement which began in late September. The unit urged the rest of the military to join them and the capital Antananarivo was seized with little resistance.