Radama II

Radama II , King of Madagascar was born in 1829 and died on May 11th, 1863.

September 12th, 1862, following the disappearance of his mother, the queen Ranavalona the 1st on August 18th, 1861, Prince Rakoto reaches the capacity under the name of Radama II. Officially, he is regarded as the son of Radama 1st, is died in 1828, more than one year before his birth. Actually, his/her true biological father was the Prime Minister Andriamihaja, who was also then the appointed companion of his mother. He is also recognized king de Madagascar by the signature of a treaty of friendship Free-Madagascan with Napoleon III and then, England and other powers European.

The advent of Radama II started by raising an immense hope among its subjects, of which much was tired of the years of deprivation marking the last period of the reign of Ranavalona which had to be denied many plots against its capacity. Strongly influenced by its mentor, the French Jean Laborde who benefitted from his advent to return from his exile réunionnais under French Consul, Radama II undertook at once to abolish the capital punishment and issues a general amnesty. It removes the " corvées" (namely the fanompoana , the work not remunerated on behalf of the State and of the community), reduced the duration of the military service and releases many prisoners. He proclaims the freedom of the worships and opens without restriction the doors of the kingdom on Europeans. He wanted to as abolish all the traditional habits and institutions, estimating as only those of Europeans carried the mark of the " civilization". All these reforms, of appearance very " libérales" are in fact in perfect shift with realities of the country and have other consequences only to cause anarchy, while causing disorders and to propagate the insecurity. Benefitting from his influence on the young sovereign, Jean Laborde made sign by this one a charter granting to Joseph Lambert, a French adventurer, an exclusive right of exploitation of all the northern part of Madagascar. For the Prime Minister Rainivoninahitriniony (or Raharo) and the other notable ones that Radama II even occurred to consult, such a decision is equivalent selling off with the Western financial powers (and beyond, at the French State of which the colonial ambitions were posted openly!) resources of half of the national territory, while compromising in an irreversible way independence of the country. They could thus only be opposed to it but the king, increasingly indifferent itself to the businesses of the kingdom (he preferred to spend his time to the recreations with the menamaso , his companions of orgy!) refused to reconsider its decision. Benefitting then from an open crisis with one of the chiefs menamaso , that the king proposed to regulate by a duel (" how in the civilized countries! " he added!), Ranivoninahitriniony solved to eliminate all the menamaso and, thereafter, on May 11th, 1863, the king himself which was strangled. For the government, there remained indeed only this solution to denounce the Lambert charter and to preserve the independence of the country.

This brutal disappearance of Radama II caused disorders (revolts burst, certain conduits by individuals claiming itself to be Radama II itself, having escaped miraculeusement with its assassination!) and in-depth the monarchical system merina shook. It became indeed manifest that one could not leave to the sovereign the possibility any more of leading the businesses of the kingdom according to his good pleasure. And more especially as actually, since Andrianampoinimerina, the official capacity merina rested on balance between the sovereign, representing also more narrowly the groups Andriana and the Prime Minister, representing the Hova. For the succession of Radama II, one thus put on the throne his widow (and cousin) who becomes the queen Rasoherina, marrying for the circumstance the Prime Minister. Henceforth, this union with significance before any policy and protocolar will be used as model with the following reigns.

Because of inconsistencies of Radama II and dramatic circumstances of its elimination, the memory of this one was honnie by the traditional historiography merina for which it was nothing any more but Radama nanjaka-tanany , that which does not have " reigned that with moitié". Moreover, the body even of the king was buried on the run in his property of Ilafy and one erased his name of the official list of the sovereigns. This vision is largely remained that of the modern nationalists for whom Radama II was before a whole treacherous king with his own country, a weak and influenceable, fundamentally inefficient sovereign and even, passably anarchist. But as it had served the French colonial ambitions, the colonial authors sought a long time to rehabilitate it, by making the " Prince of the Rebirth malgache".

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