After obtaining its status as a French department, optimism reigned in Martinique. This was seen as the opportunity for rapid development of the island, real equality between citizens born in metropolitan France and islanders, and the disappearance of the many problems that plagued the island. And these difficulties were numerous.
Indeed, Martinique had recently emerged from a period of four centuries during which it functioned solely as a colony, with its economy entirely reliant on the export of agricultural products such as coffee, cocoa, cane sugar, rum, and bananas to the metropolis. However, competition from neighboring islands, along with colonies in Africa competing in the same markets and the introduction of European beet sugar, would have a profound effect on transatlantic trade.
Furthermore, the shift towards new economic sectors was not adequately prepared for, and no alternative pathways were visible at that time.
By 1959, the majority of the workforce in Martinique remained agricultural laborers.
The population was still mostly undereducated. Often, once the school certificate was obtained, few could pursue higher education.
The population largely lacked education. Often, after obtaining their school certificates, very few were able to pursue higher education. From a young age, the children of agricultural workers assisted their parents in the banana fields. The prospects for these young individuals were bleak, and it was uncommon, if not nearly impossible, for the child of a laborer to gain access to higher education.
Affected by the agricultural crisis resulting from Europe opening up to other markets, Martinique is undergoing one of the most severe economic crises in its history. The export of Martinican pineapples to the metropolis has been significantly curtailed, and cane sugar faces intense competition from that produced from European beets. Consequently, many planters are compelled to reduce their workforce, leaving numerous families without any means of income.
Unemployment is high on the island. The hoped-for economic development is still not visible 15 years after the change of status.
In 1958, France decided to question its colonies to find out whether they wished to either continue to be French or obtain their independence. This is the case with many colonies in Africa, which decided to break with France and become independent states.
In the Caribbean, too, many islands had obtained their independence from the British Crown and the Spanish Monarchy. Cuba, "stripped of its Spanish chains" for several decades, led by Fidel Castro, stood up to the omnipotent American neighbor.
In Martinique, the question does not arise. The majority of the population was strongly attached to what they called the "motherland". Moreover, the establishment of the time did not hesitate to brandish the situation of Haiti, a former French colony, which was then constantly in political upheaval with very repressive powers towards the population.
Aimé Césaire, an educated young man who returned to the island, brings his new ideas: the pride of being a black man through the concept of "negritude", the possibility of being able to take his destiny in his hands. He defends the idea of the island's autonomy, namely to remain attached to France while having more power locally.
More radical, many young people who do not see the fruits of departmentalization aspire to independence and a complete break with the colonial heritage. They took a dim view of the pervasiveness and violence of the armed forces during the protests and the fact that the colonial economic model had persisted even after departmentalization.
So, social movements were very common at the time. In 1948, 3 farm workers were killed in Carbet following a shootout with the gendarmerie. The same year, the Béké (a descendant of the former rich landowner settlers in Martinique), Guy de Fabrique, was killed by strikers at the Leyritz plantation. Strikes are increasing on the island.
In 1953, a state workers' strike allowed them to obtain 40% more salary than metropolitan state workers because of the costs associated with the island status.
There are many strikes in the sugar cane plantations due to the crisis in the sector. They lead more and more to abandon the countryside for the city, which then becomes the witness of major conflicts.
Social crisis of 1959
It is in this context that a banal traffic accident occurred, which will lead to a social movement of magnitude and with important consequences.
December 20, 1959, at the Place de la Savane in the heart of the city of Fort-de-France. A metropolitan motorist overturned a black Martinican's scooter. A brawl ensued and one of the witnesses of the scene called the CRS. The incident turned into a riot between the white metropolitan police and residents of working-class neighborhoods. The riot takes place during the holidays when the prefect had just left the island, and Martinique was waiting for his successor.
A telegram sent to mainland France on the night of December 20 to 21 deplored that a traffic accident led to a riot. The CRS opposed a crowd of 300 young people. Calm was restored at 1 am.
The next day, the demonstrators remained grouped but the authorities could not prevent scenes of panic. Metropolitan officials wanted to leave Martinique. Three young people from Martinique were killed in still unclear circumstances but were attributed to the police. Edmond Eloi (20), Christian Marajo (15, opposite photo) and Julien Betzi (19) are the three young victims of these riots, which also left 10 injured. Only 200 gendarmes were still active. On the third day, the situation stabilized.
A curfew was decided in the city of Fort-de-France prohibiting all public gatherings after 9 p.m. Many personalities (Bishop, deputies, including Aimé Césaire, President of the General Council) called for calm. The members of the Communist Party demanded a change of status and encouraged young people to mobilize.
In Paris, on December 23, Jacques Soustelle, the Minister-Delegate after the Prime Minister, asked the Minister of the Armed Forces to send the De Grasse vessel to Fort-à-France to "bring back the calm in people's minds" and proposed sending two mobile gendarmerie squadrons.
The next day, during a meeting of the General Council, the elected Communists demanded a revision of the departmental statute and a major institutional change, although they reaffirmed their attachment to France. The crisis then became political.
Christmas night took place peacefully. The police were placed in strategic places (airport, power plants, SARA (the local oil refinery), telecommunications) to intervene in the event of a problem.
From Christmas, calm returned definitively.
On December 28, a report made by the Prefecture states that “certain elements of the population were only waiting for an opportunity to take the CRS to task”. The Compagnies Républicaines de Sécurité (Republican Security Companies in French), abbreviated CRS, are the general reserve of the French National Police. They are primarily involved in general security missions, but the task for which they are best known is crowd and riot control. The reasons and circumstances of the three deaths remain unknown, although they have been attributed to the police, who allegedly shot at the protesters.
In Paris, Jacques Soustelle met the Martinican parliamentarians and took important measures:
- Maintaining the Le Grasse vessel in the bay of Fort de France
- the entry ban for foreign workers
- An increase of the minimum wage of 5%.
Conclusion
By re-reading the events of 1959, one can wonder about the reasons that made a "banal" traffic accident lead to a social conflict of such magnitude. It must be said that the departmentalization did not have the expected effects. Martinique found itself idle in the face of the sugar crisis, and the sending of officials from North Africa created tensions locally.
The outcomes of this social crisis will be announced on January 11, 1960, by the cabinet of the Minister-Delegate who had consulted the new prefect in place. The CRS have now been substituted with gendarmes. Vice-Rector Alain Plénel, who previously criticized the government's actions in Martinique and was subsequently returned to mainland France, made his return to the island. A law enforcement strategy was currently implemented, and young Martinicans who received training in metropolitan France were under surveillance due to suspicions of their alignment with communist ideologies that supported decolonization and independence.
These various measures permanently sealed the return to calm on the island at last ... until February 1974.