Which European country controlled Madagascar and the Comoro Islands?

COMOROS ISLANDS
Portuguese explorers visited the archipelago in 1505. France first established colonial rule in the Comoros beginning in 1841. The first French colonists landed in Mayotte, and Andrian Tsouli, the King of Mayotte, signed the Treaty of April 1841, which ceded the island to French authorities. In 1886, Moh茅li was turned over to French protection by its Queen Salimba Mochimba. That same year, after consolidating his authority over all of Grand Comore, Sultan Said Ali agreed to French protection of his island, though he retained sovereignty until 1909. Also in 1909, Sultan Said Muhamed of Anjouan abdicated in favor of French rule of the island. The Comoros (or Les Comores) was officially made a French colony in 1912, and the islands were placed under the administration of the French colonial governor general of Madagascar in 1914. Agreement was reached with France in 1973 for Comoros to become independent in 1978. On July 6, 1975, however, the Comorian parliament passed a resolution declaring independence. The deputies of Mayotte, which stayed under French control, abstained. Referendums on all four of the islands excluding Mayotte showed strong support for independence. Ahmed Abdallah became the first president and proclaimed the Comoros' independence on September 5, 1975.

MADAGASCAR

Absolute French control over Madagascar was established by military force in 1895鈥?896, and in 1896 the French Parliament voted to annex Madagascar. The 103-year-old Merina monarchy ended with the royal family being sent into exile in Algeria. In 1947, with French prestige at low ebb, a nationalist uprising was suppressed after several months of bitter fighting with 8,000 persons killed. The French subsequently established reformed institutions in 1956 under the Loi Cadre (Overseas Reform Act), and Madagascar moved peacefully toward independence. The Malagasy Republic was proclaimed on October 14, 1958, as an autonomous state within the French Community. A period of provisional government ended with the adoption of a constitution in 1959 and full independence on June 26, 1960.

The French established rule over both in the late 1800s; in fact, the Comoros were placed under the government of the French Colony of Madagascar in the early 1900s. All the way up to WWII, France was the ruling power.