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Comoros French Colonization
France's presence in the western Indian Ocean dates to
the
early seventeenth century. The French established a
settlement in
southern Madagascar in 1634 and occupied the islands of
Reunion
and Rodrigues; in 1715 France claimed Mauritius ( Île de
France),
and in 1756 Seychelles. When France ceded Mauritius,
Rodrigues,
and Seychelles to Britain in 1814, it lost its Indian
Ocean
ports; Reunion, which remained French, did not offer a
suitable
natural harbor. In 1840 France acquired the island of
Nosy-Be off
the northwestern coast of Madagascar, but its potential as
a port
was limited. In 1841 the governor of Réunion, Admiral de
Hell,
negotiated with Andrian Souli, the Malagasy ruler of
Mayotte, to
cede Mayotte to France. Mahoré offered a suitable site for
port
facilities, and its acquisition was justified by de Hell
on the
grounds that if France did not act, Britain would occupy
the
island.
Although France had established a foothold in Comoros,
the
acquisition of the other islands proceeded fitfully. At
times the
French were spurred on by the threat of British
intervention,
especially on Nzwani, and other times, by the constant
anarchy
resulting from the sultans' wars upon each other. In the
1880s,
Germany's growing influence on the East African coast
added to
the concerns of the French. Not until 1908, however, did
the four
Comoro Islands become part of France's colony of
Madagascar and
not until 1912 did the last sultan abdicate. Then, a
colonial
administration took over the islands and established a
capital at
Dzaoudzi on Mahoré. Treaties of protectorate status marked
a
transition point between independence and annexation; such
treaties were signed with the rulers of Njazidja, Nzwani,
and
Mwali in 1886.
The effects of French colonialism were mixed, at best.
Colonial rule brought an end to the institution of
slavery, but
economic and social differences between former slaves and
free
persons and their descendants persisted. Health standards
improved with the introduction of modern medicine, and the
population increased about 50 percent between 1900 and
1960.
France continued to dominate the economy. Food crop
cultivation
was neglected as French sociétés (companies)
established
cash crop plantations in the coastal regions. The result
was an
economy dependent on the exporting of vanilla,
ylang-ylang,
cloves, cocoa, copra, and other tropical crops. Most
profits
obtained from exports were diverted to France rather than
invested in the infrastructure of the islands. Development
was
further limited by the colonial government's practice of
concentrating public services on Madagascar. One
consequence of
this policy was the migration of large numbers of Comorans
to
Madagascar, where their presence would be a long-term
source of
tension between Comoros and its giant island neighbor. The
Shirazi elite continued to play a prominent role as large
landowners and civil servants. On the eve of independence,
Comoros remained poor and undeveloped, having only one
secondary
school and practically nothing in the way of national
media.
Isolated from important trade routes by the opening of the
Suez
Canal in 1869, having few natural resources, and largely
neglected by France, the islands were poorly equipped for
independence.
In 1946 the Comoro Islands became an overseas
department of
France with representation in the French National
Assembly. The
following year, the islands' administrative ties to
Madagascar
were severed; Comoros established its own customs regime
in 1952.
A Governing Council was elected in August 1957 on the four
islands in conformity with the loi-cadre (enabling
law) of
June 23, 1956. A constitution providing for internal
self-government was promulgated in 1961, following a 1958
referendum in which Comorans voted overwhelmingly to
remain a
part of France. This government consisted of a territorial
assembly having, in 1975, thirty-nine members, and a
Governing
Council of six to nine ministers responsible to it.
Data as of August 1994
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