Sacre Bleu! The Ottomans are gonna join the fight, I'm down for it!
In this country , it is good to kill an admiral from time to time
- Thread starter Antony444
- Start date
I doubt that OE has cabacities fight there. I am guessing Portugal.
Well he said that it was an ally of Ethiopia's, and their only ally is the Ottomans ever since the king of Ethiopia married the daughter of some extremely rich and powerful Ottoman industrial tycoon.
Even so the Ottoman won't move for free if they move at all. Hell it could escalade by attracting others powers into the war.
I mean, what other allies does Ethiopia have? Portugal is too weak to intervene and no one else will care enough.
A War of Murder and Vengeance (Madagascar 1916)
It went without saying that the Ethiopian Empire’s representatives hadn’t sailed to the island off Africa eastern coast because the goodness of their hearts compelled them so. The only nation of the ‘Dark Continent’ to not be under the rule of a colonial regime had not a ruler and power-breakers that naive calling the shots. Assuredly, the Ethiopians hated the Snakes, and dearly wished to avoid the creation of one or several Cape naval bases on Madagascar. Vast lands and the colony of Mozambique separated the Empire from Roosevelt’s warmongers, but the South Africans had proven beyond doubt they were certainly not afraid to think on a grand scale.
On the other hand, the spies from France and the other Great Powers knew the Ethiopian Imperial Army was a paper lion these days. The existing military formations had already great difficulty delivering half of the supplies their army truly needed. Supplying rifles, machine guns, boots and everything the Malagasy government was ready to spend their last coins with on a reasonable schedule was something that greatly stretched belief.
Fortunately, it appeared that if the diplomats speaking were Ethiopians, the weapons presented to the King and his ministers had been manufactured in the Ottoman Empire. And for ‘Ethiopian foreign observers’, the fifty or so middle-aged men who had landed with the diplomats were rather light-skinned. They also spoke in a tongue which looked quite similar to the dialects spoken near the Bosporus.
Constantinople had watched the situation, and decided that Madagascar and its two protectorates in the East Indies would make superb economic vassals if they weren’t conquered by the Cape beforehand. It was not the exact terms the diplomats employed, of course, and to save face the Ethiopian regime would be used as middle-men, but no one having a brain could ignore the truth: the Ethiopian navy was pitifully weak and it had not the strength nor the range to play blockade-running and naval skirmishing with the Cape cruisers.
Theodore Roosevelt and his senior officers thus had a series of unpleasant surprises on January 1916. The entrance of the Ethiopian Empire into the war had first been welcome with amusement and plenty of racist slurs, but the Cape invaders initially believed that the Ethiopian speeches would remain at the state of empty promises. But as more and more rifles and modern weapons found their way in the hands of their enemies, the Cape regimental commanders were forced to report a rise in the combativeness of Malagasy divisions.
The casualty lists remained enormously favourable to them, obviously. Despite numerous counterattacks, the expeditionary force had enlarged its conquest by three times and soon would be ready to launch its grand offensive to seize Antananarivo. Easily over one hundred thousand enemy soldiers and irregulars had been killed. The number of wounded, ill, and missing was far higher than that. In fact, many advisors of Theodore Roosevelt, including his chief of staff General Karel, proclaimed they had slaughtered more uniformed black people than there had been in existence one year ago.
They may very well be right. The Malagasy army of 1914, for all intent and purposes, had perished in the furious cauldron of fighting around Mahajanga, buying time for the civilians to flee. And once the shock of the first massacres had faded, once news of the atrocities committed in every village and town unlucky to be on the path of the ‘Bloody Riders’ spread, fear quickly faded and was replaced with a deep thirst of vengeance.
The government remained deeply unpopular to have invited this conflict upon the shores of Madagascar, but no one raised his voice to say the Cape soldiery was misunderstood and well-behaved. From the King to the five-year-old child, everyone was aware the invaders were monsters, and that defeat in this war would mean death if they were lucky, eternal slavery if they weren’t.
And so the carnage continued. Entire Malagasy were sent in the bloodbath to kill a tenth of their effectives, to delay day after day the thrust pointed at the capital of Madagascar, to cost the Cape soldiery more gold and resources, and to convince other countries to join the ranks of the enemies of Theodore Roosevelt.
By February, the former warlord of the East Indies had realised that the lightning campaign he and his strategists had planned for had bogged down. Victory estimates were pushed back day after day, and while the massacre of Malagasy soldiers was spectacular, there seemed to be end to the pool of reinforcements King Radama VII was conjuring on the battlefield.
The blockade was beginning to crumble. Submarines and destroyers flying no colours were present in ever increasing numbers, and not all were of ‘Ethiopian’ origin. Spanish and French Admirals, after the initial round of grumbling, had been ordered by their political masters to ensure that Madagascar became a synonym for ‘Cape Graveyard’. The French enclave on the island, which had suffered from post-Great War demobilisation efforts, saw in March more than five thousand soldiers arrive and parade before two-thirds of them went ‘on vacation’ in the south.
Unfortunately, while the Cape Army was racist, prone to genocidal actions most actions refused to ever consider, and eager to rape and murder everything challenging its ‘domination rights’, their tactical skills were far superior to the Malagasy conscripts, and the months of March and April 1916 were a long series of defeats and funerals for the subjects of Radama VII. No one could deny the hearts and the heads of the Malagasy men and women were burning with noble wrath, but no one could become a proper soldier in less than a week of training, and everywhere experienced ‘advisors’ were absent, the battles ended in massive routs and calamitous defeats.
The Kingdom of Madagascar’s society was simply completely unprepared to clean house and adopt the great reforms which should give them a chance against their enemy. And as the government was judged incompetent and even the Royal Guard had been depleted after the first half of 1916, dangerous whispers were uttered to the wrong ears...
It went without saying that the Ethiopian Empire’s representatives hadn’t sailed to the island off Africa eastern coast because the goodness of their hearts compelled them so. The only nation of the ‘Dark Continent’ to not be under the rule of a colonial regime had not a ruler and power-breakers that naive calling the shots. Assuredly, the Ethiopians hated the Snakes, and dearly wished to avoid the creation of one or several Cape naval bases on Madagascar. Vast lands and the colony of Mozambique separated the Empire from Roosevelt’s warmongers, but the South Africans had proven beyond doubt they were certainly not afraid to think on a grand scale.
On the other hand, the spies from France and the other Great Powers knew the Ethiopian Imperial Army was a paper lion these days. The existing military formations had already great difficulty delivering half of the supplies their army truly needed. Supplying rifles, machine guns, boots and everything the Malagasy government was ready to spend their last coins with on a reasonable schedule was something that greatly stretched belief.
Fortunately, it appeared that if the diplomats speaking were Ethiopians, the weapons presented to the King and his ministers had been manufactured in the Ottoman Empire. And for ‘Ethiopian foreign observers’, the fifty or so middle-aged men who had landed with the diplomats were rather light-skinned. They also spoke in a tongue which looked quite similar to the dialects spoken near the Bosporus.
Constantinople had watched the situation, and decided that Madagascar and its two protectorates in the East Indies would make superb economic vassals if they weren’t conquered by the Cape beforehand. It was not the exact terms the diplomats employed, of course, and to save face the Ethiopian regime would be used as middle-men, but no one having a brain could ignore the truth: the Ethiopian navy was pitifully weak and it had not the strength nor the range to play blockade-running and naval skirmishing with the Cape cruisers.
Theodore Roosevelt and his senior officers thus had a series of unpleasant surprises on January 1916. The entrance of the Ethiopian Empire into the war had first been welcome with amusement and plenty of racist slurs, but the Cape invaders initially believed that the Ethiopian speeches would remain at the state of empty promises. But as more and more rifles and modern weapons found their way in the hands of their enemies, the Cape regimental commanders were forced to report a rise in the combativeness of Malagasy divisions.
The casualty lists remained enormously favourable to them, obviously. Despite numerous counterattacks, the expeditionary force had enlarged its conquest by three times and soon would be ready to launch its grand offensive to seize Antananarivo. Easily over one hundred thousand enemy soldiers and irregulars had been killed. The number of wounded, ill, and missing was far higher than that. In fact, many advisors of Theodore Roosevelt, including his chief of staff General Karel, proclaimed they had slaughtered more uniformed black people than there had been in existence one year ago.
They may very well be right. The Malagasy army of 1914, for all intent and purposes, had perished in the furious cauldron of fighting around Mahajanga, buying time for the civilians to flee. And once the shock of the first massacres had faded, once news of the atrocities committed in every village and town unlucky to be on the path of the ‘Bloody Riders’ spread, fear quickly faded and was replaced with a deep thirst of vengeance.
The government remained deeply unpopular to have invited this conflict upon the shores of Madagascar, but no one raised his voice to say the Cape soldiery was misunderstood and well-behaved. From the King to the five-year-old child, everyone was aware the invaders were monsters, and that defeat in this war would mean death if they were lucky, eternal slavery if they weren’t.
And so the carnage continued. Entire Malagasy were sent in the bloodbath to kill a tenth of their effectives, to delay day after day the thrust pointed at the capital of Madagascar, to cost the Cape soldiery more gold and resources, and to convince other countries to join the ranks of the enemies of Theodore Roosevelt.
By February, the former warlord of the East Indies had realised that the lightning campaign he and his strategists had planned for had bogged down. Victory estimates were pushed back day after day, and while the massacre of Malagasy soldiers was spectacular, there seemed to be end to the pool of reinforcements King Radama VII was conjuring on the battlefield.
The blockade was beginning to crumble. Submarines and destroyers flying no colours were present in ever increasing numbers, and not all were of ‘Ethiopian’ origin. Spanish and French Admirals, after the initial round of grumbling, had been ordered by their political masters to ensure that Madagascar became a synonym for ‘Cape Graveyard’. The French enclave on the island, which had suffered from post-Great War demobilisation efforts, saw in March more than five thousand soldiers arrive and parade before two-thirds of them went ‘on vacation’ in the south.
Unfortunately, while the Cape Army was racist, prone to genocidal actions most actions refused to ever consider, and eager to rape and murder everything challenging its ‘domination rights’, their tactical skills were far superior to the Malagasy conscripts, and the months of March and April 1916 were a long series of defeats and funerals for the subjects of Radama VII. No one could deny the hearts and the heads of the Malagasy men and women were burning with noble wrath, but no one could become a proper soldier in less than a week of training, and everywhere experienced ‘advisors’ were absent, the battles ended in massive routs and calamitous defeats.
The Kingdom of Madagascar’s society was simply completely unprepared to clean house and adopt the great reforms which should give them a chance against their enemy. And as the government was judged incompetent and even the Royal Guard had been depleted after the first half of 1916, dangerous whispers were uttered to the wrong ears...
Worst case? Collectivist (very low probability) Since there is no military worth the name anymore, we can forget a military coup. I suppose the idea of a monarchy is still acceptable (Ethiopia more than Ottoman, if only because of proximity) There is of course the bloody républican revolution.
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probably a palace revolution to replace the King with one Prince who accepted to vassalize his country to Ethiopia and/or the Ottomans.
The question is:
- Will it work without destroying the governement at the same time (in this case Vietnam comparaison for the rest of the conflict are on the table) ?
Either way you can be sure than if the Cape is forced to leave (because of the risk of increase conflict with other countries like France, Spain and the Ottomans) or because they are starting to have too much lost they will raze to the ground everything (and everyone) they did conquered before leaving.
The question is:
- Will it work without destroying the governement at the same time (in this case Vietnam comparaison for the rest of the conflict are on the table) ?
Either way you can be sure than if the Cape is forced to leave (because of the risk of increase conflict with other countries like France, Spain and the Ottomans) or because they are starting to have too much lost they will raze to the ground everything (and everyone) they did conquered before leaving.
Coup and Gambles (Madagascar 1916)
The Cape forces could not be truly defeated as long as the current Malagasy Generals were in charge. This was this certainty rooted in the minds of the Ottoman ‘advisors’ which pushed them to inform their political masters at home that a coup against the Antananarivo regime was the best solution for all involved. The population and the armies of Madagascar would be governed by a more vigorous and less corrupt clique. The enemy would finally be thrown out of the great island. And the Ottomans would have friends and their own spokespeople in place for the post-war years.
Obviously, removing Radama VII was out of the question. The King was young, and four-fifths of the time, decisions taken about his kingdom were made without consulting him. Besides, if he was killed, the next men in the royal succession were a plethora of cousins which had only ambition and love of riches in common. No, giving the throne to one of them would only intensify the political incompetence at the top. It was far better to spread propaganda efforts against the ‘evil councillors’ who ‘spread lies and led the country to ruin’. The envoys of the Sublime Porte had a lot of experience on that front, and added to the fact there was more than a core of truth in their affirmations, by June 1916, the Malagasy government was truly one of the most unpopular gatherings to have ever existed in Madagascar’s existence.
On July 2, the coup went ahead. Many veteran soldiers recently promoted to the Royal Guard left their barracks and stormed out the houses of Antananarivo’s ministers. The Spanish and French mercenary and not-so-mercenary forces were concentrated on the frontlines, and were unable to intervene – though the incompetence of the failing Malagasy rulers would have made it an extremely unlikely scenario anyway.
It was over in less than ten hours, and the only reason it took that long was because the Prime Minister tried to escape with a small escort of bodyguards only to be caught and arrested when he tried to bribe his way across an Ottoman-bought company.
Radama VII named a new government the next day, one which was not going to let him govern more than the last group of men calling themselves his friends. Generals were demoted, political factions were decapitated as all their leaders and famous representatives were in prison or declared outlaws, and the Malagasy army was rapidly remodelled to assimilate lessons of the Great War and colonial bloodbaths.
On the other side, the Cape officers heard of these developments and didn’t like it at all. The messages of their supreme commander Theodore Roosevelt were remarkably devoid of cheerfulness and insisted on the necessity of gaining a decisive victory now. Unfortunately, so far they had won battles after battles, and this rare commodity escaped them. No matter how many thousands conscripts were slain, or how many potential slaves were captured, the Kingdom of Madagascar always managed to rebuild an army.
The harbour city of Mahajanga was definitely secure. Everything that was important on the north-western coast had been captured or destroyed. On the south-western coast, the towns and ports had been sacked, burned, or enslaved, when it was not three at the same time.
And yet ultimate victory was no closer for them than it had been on the day of the declaration of war. None of the Generals and superior officers would say it in their leader’s presence, but the harsh methods of subjugation which had brought so much plunder were now preventing any kind of treaty or cease-fire to be signed. There was so much hate and loathing in the Malagasy ranks directed at them that to truly force Antananarivo to surrender, the possibility of killing or enslaving nine-tenths of the black-skinned ‘inferiors’ was not something truly impossible.
And so the war continued, with the rivers of casualties of the Cape regulars rising week after week and month after month. Forests burned. Wells were poisoned. Landmines were a depressing and recurring spectacle, along with thousands of exploded and unexploded shells. The invaders lost ground, one kilometre here, one kilometre there. There was no great battle offered by the Malagasy anymore, though their casualties remained high, in the order of three-for-one in wounded and dead.
This was a strategy which could be qualified of ‘Fabian’, for the ancient dictator of the Roman Republic who had used it to such a devastating effect against Hannibal in the Second Punic War. But there was a major drawback. While it was undoubtedly military effective, it was anything but politically.
The total absence of opposition during the coup and the formation of the Ottoman-backed government had been so successful in the first months because the old status quo was awful and quick victory on the battlefield was promised. By September, the previous government was not seen that badly anymore, and victory was still awaited. Worse, the economy of Madagascar was disastrously weakened, and the only reason there was no bankruptcy was because no one really knew how deep in debt the Kingdom was, with so much of the coast in enemy hands and the former ministers having not kept up with the expenses. And the French and Spanish ‘advisors’ and ‘mercenaries’ may be patient, but the order-givers further north weren’t. This war was expensive, and the Malagasy citizens would not be able to pay it back.
There were only two options available. The first was to pack their weapons and leave, at the risk of leaving Ottomans or the Cape officials in control of Madagascar, which they would be able to use as a springboard for other wars in the next decades. The second was to mount another coup, one which would rid of them of the Ottoman influence ‘advising’ Radama VII. One way or another, Madagascar wasn’t going to be the same again...
The Cape forces could not be truly defeated as long as the current Malagasy Generals were in charge. This was this certainty rooted in the minds of the Ottoman ‘advisors’ which pushed them to inform their political masters at home that a coup against the Antananarivo regime was the best solution for all involved. The population and the armies of Madagascar would be governed by a more vigorous and less corrupt clique. The enemy would finally be thrown out of the great island. And the Ottomans would have friends and their own spokespeople in place for the post-war years.
Obviously, removing Radama VII was out of the question. The King was young, and four-fifths of the time, decisions taken about his kingdom were made without consulting him. Besides, if he was killed, the next men in the royal succession were a plethora of cousins which had only ambition and love of riches in common. No, giving the throne to one of them would only intensify the political incompetence at the top. It was far better to spread propaganda efforts against the ‘evil councillors’ who ‘spread lies and led the country to ruin’. The envoys of the Sublime Porte had a lot of experience on that front, and added to the fact there was more than a core of truth in their affirmations, by June 1916, the Malagasy government was truly one of the most unpopular gatherings to have ever existed in Madagascar’s existence.
On July 2, the coup went ahead. Many veteran soldiers recently promoted to the Royal Guard left their barracks and stormed out the houses of Antananarivo’s ministers. The Spanish and French mercenary and not-so-mercenary forces were concentrated on the frontlines, and were unable to intervene – though the incompetence of the failing Malagasy rulers would have made it an extremely unlikely scenario anyway.
It was over in less than ten hours, and the only reason it took that long was because the Prime Minister tried to escape with a small escort of bodyguards only to be caught and arrested when he tried to bribe his way across an Ottoman-bought company.
Radama VII named a new government the next day, one which was not going to let him govern more than the last group of men calling themselves his friends. Generals were demoted, political factions were decapitated as all their leaders and famous representatives were in prison or declared outlaws, and the Malagasy army was rapidly remodelled to assimilate lessons of the Great War and colonial bloodbaths.
On the other side, the Cape officers heard of these developments and didn’t like it at all. The messages of their supreme commander Theodore Roosevelt were remarkably devoid of cheerfulness and insisted on the necessity of gaining a decisive victory now. Unfortunately, so far they had won battles after battles, and this rare commodity escaped them. No matter how many thousands conscripts were slain, or how many potential slaves were captured, the Kingdom of Madagascar always managed to rebuild an army.
The harbour city of Mahajanga was definitely secure. Everything that was important on the north-western coast had been captured or destroyed. On the south-western coast, the towns and ports had been sacked, burned, or enslaved, when it was not three at the same time.
And yet ultimate victory was no closer for them than it had been on the day of the declaration of war. None of the Generals and superior officers would say it in their leader’s presence, but the harsh methods of subjugation which had brought so much plunder were now preventing any kind of treaty or cease-fire to be signed. There was so much hate and loathing in the Malagasy ranks directed at them that to truly force Antananarivo to surrender, the possibility of killing or enslaving nine-tenths of the black-skinned ‘inferiors’ was not something truly impossible.
And so the war continued, with the rivers of casualties of the Cape regulars rising week after week and month after month. Forests burned. Wells were poisoned. Landmines were a depressing and recurring spectacle, along with thousands of exploded and unexploded shells. The invaders lost ground, one kilometre here, one kilometre there. There was no great battle offered by the Malagasy anymore, though their casualties remained high, in the order of three-for-one in wounded and dead.
This was a strategy which could be qualified of ‘Fabian’, for the ancient dictator of the Roman Republic who had used it to such a devastating effect against Hannibal in the Second Punic War. But there was a major drawback. While it was undoubtedly military effective, it was anything but politically.
The total absence of opposition during the coup and the formation of the Ottoman-backed government had been so successful in the first months because the old status quo was awful and quick victory on the battlefield was promised. By September, the previous government was not seen that badly anymore, and victory was still awaited. Worse, the economy of Madagascar was disastrously weakened, and the only reason there was no bankruptcy was because no one really knew how deep in debt the Kingdom was, with so much of the coast in enemy hands and the former ministers having not kept up with the expenses. And the French and Spanish ‘advisors’ and ‘mercenaries’ may be patient, but the order-givers further north weren’t. This war was expensive, and the Malagasy citizens would not be able to pay it back.
There were only two options available. The first was to pack their weapons and leave, at the risk of leaving Ottomans or the Cape officials in control of Madagascar, which they would be able to use as a springboard for other wars in the next decades. The second was to mount another coup, one which would rid of them of the Ottoman influence ‘advising’ Radama VII. One way or another, Madagascar wasn’t going to be the same again...
Well whatever happens it look like Madagascar is going to become a puppet state (of French/Spain/Ottomans).
The only chance of "victory" for the Cape if it's the coup provoke a destruction of the central governement and anarchy start to reign because at that point I don't thik the other countries will want to intervene directly inVietnam Madagascar.
The only chance of "victory" for the Cape if it's the coup provoke a destruction of the central governement and anarchy start to reign because at that point I don't thik the other countries will want to intervene directly in
Yeah, sending a few thousand troops under some false pretences to help the locals be far more dangerous than they should be is fine. But direct intervention would not be popular when the potential gains beyond bragging rights are going to be inexistent.
And yes, the Cape's chance to successfully steamroll the Malagasy forces has suffered a drastic reduction in the last months.
The Roosevelt Dilemma (Madagascar 1916)
By October 1916, Theodore Roosevelt had a major problem on his hands. On the one hand, the war against Madagascar had not provoked the overt intervention of any Great Power, and his troops had not lost. Better, plenty of plunder, slaves and wealth had been taken for the glory of the Cape arms. Many barons of industry and influential arm-dealers had increased their fortunes several times over in less than a year.
On the other hand, there were certain realities that had to be faced. Contrary to what certain proverbs said, the looting wasn’t sufficient to pay for the war expenses. In fact, the more the conflict raged on, the more the military spending was going out of control. Artillery, supplies for tens of thousands of men, cruisers, transports, and many, many other things were not cheap, and the Cape production lines struggled to keep up the pace, with many unpleasant consequences for the South African economy. Worse, that no Great Power had declared war wasn’t synonym with looking at the Cape atrocities with a smile of approval. France and Spain were supporting thousands of mercenaries and ‘foreign military attachés’, Ethiopia was providing hundreds of young soldiers eager to kill the foremost white-skinned racists, and the Ottoman Empire had now sunk its fangs into the Malagasy economy and government.
The Cape was fighting on. But the tide of victories had stopped, the enemy was becoming stronger, and the people were getting impatient. They wanted their sons to go back home, not buried in mass graves or paraded before being executed and their mortal remains desecrated.
It was ironic, but the main backers of the Madagascar regime were sharing this opinion. The cost in blood and gold was far cheaper for the Sublime Porte than it was for the Cape, obviously, but it didn’t mean the ministers waiting near the Bosporus wanted a long and drawn-out conflict.
The goal was to make Madagascar one of their satellites, which would secure their influence and their trade interests in Eastern Africa and across the Indian Ocean. An average kingdom deeply in their debt was working in the Ottomans’ favour. The wrecked and bankrupt ruin certain western provinces had become was an achievement they wanted to avoid at all costs for the regions of the sizeable island which were not on the frontlines.
And on October 6, there was a coup attempt on Antananarivo.
It failed, and the officers leading it were arrested within the day. Their executions would be enacted within the week. But two pro-Ottoman Malagasy-born ministers lost their lives, and the outcome had been far closer to defeat than any member of the government had any intention to reveal to the journalists. To complicate the day-to-day affairs, a dozen or so of the mutineers were men who had formerly accepted the bribes and the generous promotions of the Sublime Porte.
This loss of prestige and influence was not unnoticed by the new elites of Madagascar, and generated many debates. But there weren’t many solutions to get out of this deplorable and deteriorating situation. The war had to end and it was to be a victory – the Cape enslaving the Malagasy people and controlling the island would generate no benefits for their masters waiting thousands of kilometres north. Otherwise there would be more coups, and sooner or later, one would be successful.
Something had to be done, and again, without informing King Radama VII. This something, in November, was opening secret negotiations with the Cape to find an end to this bloody waste of lives and money. On the other side of the table, the Cape diplomats sent by Theodore Roosevelt were all too willing to listen to the Ottomans and their subordinates. The Spanish and French, while not participating, did not try to present objections or threaten the parties involved.
But the talks rapidly unravelled into a stalemate. The initiative was an Ottoman one, but there were still several Malagasy men present, and all of them were convinced the first step to a conclusion of hostilities was the total expulsion of the invaders from their homeland.
It was something the Cape diplomats were not willing to acquiesce to, unless there were impressive ‘gifts’ to make the proposition sweeter. The positions of their forces around Mahajanga and the north-western coast were extremely solid and the Malagasy armies were in no state to dislodge them. Abandoning them for no gain would be particularly stupid and make the South Africans the laughingstock of the world.
The emissaries of King Radama VII, after months of slaughter, atrocities, and enslavement, refused to promise more than a single coin as war reparations to their sworn enemies.
The negotiations’ civility went out of the window, and it was only a moment of time before the ‘secret’ part was let loose to the news.
In the capital of Antananarivo, riots erupted at the news, the information their rulers were negotiating with the hated South Africans causing immense outrage, and on November 17, the population stormed the government’s meeting rooms. Most of the ministers who had not fled were arrested and dragged in the streets, subjected to countless indignities, and finally murdered.
For the Ottoman government and the people who had supported the ‘Ethiopian option’, this was the last straw. It was obvious Madagascar was not only a waste of money, but also a dangerous region where even the diplomatic immunity wasn’t respected: indeed three days after the government’s fall, it would be the turn of the Sublime Porte’s embassy to be sacked and its residents ‘judged’ after a parody of trial and sentenced to death.
The French, Spanish, Ottoman, and Ethiopian officers made common cause and tried to restore some order in the regions under their control, but the first attempts ceded under the weight of loathing the Malagasy felt for the foreigners who used their island as a battleground and their culture as puppets, and it didn’t matter anymore if they were South Africans or not. Many of the experts and advisors had to fight their way through the island to reach the French enclave and safety, and the General commanding the outpost had to request the intervention of a capital ship to intimidate the hostile crowds to not try their chance against the machine guns of his command.
In theory, after the removal of the Ottomans and all European and Asian influence, King Radama VII was the supreme commander of all military forces. In practise, every officer who had manifested a deep amount of distrust towards the ‘colonial puppet masters’ was elevated to high command instead of the Generals who had pursued the Fabian strategy.
And all of them, down to the last, were convinced the Cape soldiers were on the brink of collapse. After all, why would the genocidal monsters hiding under the dragon’s flag believe there was value in negotiating if there weren’t about to lose?
A major offensive was immediately ordered, but with all the confusion reigning, it took until the first of December to launch it.
It was the most terrible disaster ever suffered by the Malagasy forces since the fall of Mahajanga. Ten thousand men and women were killed or wounded so terribly their days in the military were over. The officers of the Cape proclaimed thirty thousand men and women had been captured, and in a parody of triumph all would be paraded collars around the neck at Mahajanga in front of a few selected war journalists.
The stalemate was broken. There was nothing left between Antananarivo and the Bloody Riders.
By October 1916, Theodore Roosevelt had a major problem on his hands. On the one hand, the war against Madagascar had not provoked the overt intervention of any Great Power, and his troops had not lost. Better, plenty of plunder, slaves and wealth had been taken for the glory of the Cape arms. Many barons of industry and influential arm-dealers had increased their fortunes several times over in less than a year.
On the other hand, there were certain realities that had to be faced. Contrary to what certain proverbs said, the looting wasn’t sufficient to pay for the war expenses. In fact, the more the conflict raged on, the more the military spending was going out of control. Artillery, supplies for tens of thousands of men, cruisers, transports, and many, many other things were not cheap, and the Cape production lines struggled to keep up the pace, with many unpleasant consequences for the South African economy. Worse, that no Great Power had declared war wasn’t synonym with looking at the Cape atrocities with a smile of approval. France and Spain were supporting thousands of mercenaries and ‘foreign military attachés’, Ethiopia was providing hundreds of young soldiers eager to kill the foremost white-skinned racists, and the Ottoman Empire had now sunk its fangs into the Malagasy economy and government.
The Cape was fighting on. But the tide of victories had stopped, the enemy was becoming stronger, and the people were getting impatient. They wanted their sons to go back home, not buried in mass graves or paraded before being executed and their mortal remains desecrated.
It was ironic, but the main backers of the Madagascar regime were sharing this opinion. The cost in blood and gold was far cheaper for the Sublime Porte than it was for the Cape, obviously, but it didn’t mean the ministers waiting near the Bosporus wanted a long and drawn-out conflict.
The goal was to make Madagascar one of their satellites, which would secure their influence and their trade interests in Eastern Africa and across the Indian Ocean. An average kingdom deeply in their debt was working in the Ottomans’ favour. The wrecked and bankrupt ruin certain western provinces had become was an achievement they wanted to avoid at all costs for the regions of the sizeable island which were not on the frontlines.
And on October 6, there was a coup attempt on Antananarivo.
It failed, and the officers leading it were arrested within the day. Their executions would be enacted within the week. But two pro-Ottoman Malagasy-born ministers lost their lives, and the outcome had been far closer to defeat than any member of the government had any intention to reveal to the journalists. To complicate the day-to-day affairs, a dozen or so of the mutineers were men who had formerly accepted the bribes and the generous promotions of the Sublime Porte.
This loss of prestige and influence was not unnoticed by the new elites of Madagascar, and generated many debates. But there weren’t many solutions to get out of this deplorable and deteriorating situation. The war had to end and it was to be a victory – the Cape enslaving the Malagasy people and controlling the island would generate no benefits for their masters waiting thousands of kilometres north. Otherwise there would be more coups, and sooner or later, one would be successful.
Something had to be done, and again, without informing King Radama VII. This something, in November, was opening secret negotiations with the Cape to find an end to this bloody waste of lives and money. On the other side of the table, the Cape diplomats sent by Theodore Roosevelt were all too willing to listen to the Ottomans and their subordinates. The Spanish and French, while not participating, did not try to present objections or threaten the parties involved.
But the talks rapidly unravelled into a stalemate. The initiative was an Ottoman one, but there were still several Malagasy men present, and all of them were convinced the first step to a conclusion of hostilities was the total expulsion of the invaders from their homeland.
It was something the Cape diplomats were not willing to acquiesce to, unless there were impressive ‘gifts’ to make the proposition sweeter. The positions of their forces around Mahajanga and the north-western coast were extremely solid and the Malagasy armies were in no state to dislodge them. Abandoning them for no gain would be particularly stupid and make the South Africans the laughingstock of the world.
The emissaries of King Radama VII, after months of slaughter, atrocities, and enslavement, refused to promise more than a single coin as war reparations to their sworn enemies.
The negotiations’ civility went out of the window, and it was only a moment of time before the ‘secret’ part was let loose to the news.
In the capital of Antananarivo, riots erupted at the news, the information their rulers were negotiating with the hated South Africans causing immense outrage, and on November 17, the population stormed the government’s meeting rooms. Most of the ministers who had not fled were arrested and dragged in the streets, subjected to countless indignities, and finally murdered.
For the Ottoman government and the people who had supported the ‘Ethiopian option’, this was the last straw. It was obvious Madagascar was not only a waste of money, but also a dangerous region where even the diplomatic immunity wasn’t respected: indeed three days after the government’s fall, it would be the turn of the Sublime Porte’s embassy to be sacked and its residents ‘judged’ after a parody of trial and sentenced to death.
The French, Spanish, Ottoman, and Ethiopian officers made common cause and tried to restore some order in the regions under their control, but the first attempts ceded under the weight of loathing the Malagasy felt for the foreigners who used their island as a battleground and their culture as puppets, and it didn’t matter anymore if they were South Africans or not. Many of the experts and advisors had to fight their way through the island to reach the French enclave and safety, and the General commanding the outpost had to request the intervention of a capital ship to intimidate the hostile crowds to not try their chance against the machine guns of his command.
In theory, after the removal of the Ottomans and all European and Asian influence, King Radama VII was the supreme commander of all military forces. In practise, every officer who had manifested a deep amount of distrust towards the ‘colonial puppet masters’ was elevated to high command instead of the Generals who had pursued the Fabian strategy.
And all of them, down to the last, were convinced the Cape soldiers were on the brink of collapse. After all, why would the genocidal monsters hiding under the dragon’s flag believe there was value in negotiating if there weren’t about to lose?
A major offensive was immediately ordered, but with all the confusion reigning, it took until the first of December to launch it.
It was the most terrible disaster ever suffered by the Malagasy forces since the fall of Mahajanga. Ten thousand men and women were killed or wounded so terribly their days in the military were over. The officers of the Cape proclaimed thirty thousand men and women had been captured, and in a parody of triumph all would be paraded collars around the neck at Mahajanga in front of a few selected war journalists.
The stalemate was broken. There was nothing left between Antananarivo and the Bloody Riders.