So what do you do when you are just broke. Do you become independent and go it alone with the thinking that if we build our way out of this, it will be our achievement alone and we will have built our own prosperity. Or do you just try to put a local black face on what the French were doing, in order that over time the economic benefits (there must have been some right) will more accrue to the locals. When the GDP per capita is less than $100 a year at independence, independent Malagasy reached out to France, hoping for as much help as possible. So slip on your smoking jacket, fill your pipe, take your first sip of your adult beverage and sit back in your most comfortable chair. Welcome to todays offering from The Philatelist.
This issue of stamps shows the new coats of arms of various cities around Madagascar, in this case Antsirabe. If you have ever wondered what the coat of arms should look like for a place that started as a leper colony, well now you know.
Todays stamp is issue A50, a 1.5 Franc stamp issued by Malagasy in 1964. It was a seven stamp issue in various denominations. According to the Scott catalog, the stamp is worth 25 cents whether it was mint or used.
The people of Madagascar are diverse. The coastal areas house a different people than those that reside in the central highlands. This was finessed prior to colonial status by having a Queen from the highlands marry a coastal chief who then acts as her Prime Minister. When the French came, the last Queen thought she was going to have to marry the French General who had conquered the place. Instead she left and moved to Paris, see https://the-philatelist.com/2018/02/27/madagascar-the-french-exile-the-last-queen-by-sedan-chair/ . After independence, it might have been expected to break down along tribal lines. Instead the divisions were based on the decision to stay close to France. Left leaners in the Capital and other big cities sought a firmer break with France and a more aggressive pursuit of socialism.
Highland President Philbert Tsiranana tried instead to get ever more aid from France. 5 years after independence, 75 % of the government budget was aid from France. During his 12 years as President, it amounted to 400 million dollars with another 150 million from the EEC. The aid was not well spent and the welfare of the people stayed low. They were not however starving as the country contained more cows than people. President Tsiranana began to spend ever more time in the south of France, unfortunately not an option open to the majority of the people. Has opposition grew, he had rebellious people banished to the island of Novo Lava. At the ten year point or independence a status report on how things were going was published. It criticized the government for mismanagement and it’s authors were then arrested. The French government lost faith in Tsiranana and thought he was becoming senile. When protest grew to being out of control, The French army refused to intervene and Tsirnana turned over power to the army. Now it was the leftist turn to mess things up.
Antsirabe is one of the cooler places in the highlands and has sources of fresh water and thermal springs. The town was founded in 1874 as a religious retreat by Norwegian Lutheran Missionaries. They then added a hospital to treat lepers and a leper colony quickly developed. The French administration and the Catholic Church discovered the cool weather and the area became an administrative center. The place is now more known for it’s intact colonial core and the pouse-pouse human pulled rickshaws used to get around than any remaining lepers.
Well, my drink is empty and if I arrange a pouse-pouse to get me home, I may have another. Come again tomorrow for another story that can be learned from stamp collecting.