History
Though discovered by Columbus on his last New World voyage in 1502, the Lesser Antilles' third largest island wound up being settled in 1635 by French colonizers instead. Starting from a small encampment on the northwest side that would later become St-Pierre , the French made their way to Fort-de-France and completed their island take-over eight years later by massacring the remaining Caribs. By this time, the French had begun importing slaves and sugarcane, and their efforts drew British interest near the end of the 1700s. An almost two-century power struggle ensued, with the French losing Martinique to the British over a century later, then getting it back as part of the Paris Treaty in 1763, only to lose it again 1794. The tug-o'-war ended for good in 1815, when the British returned the island on Vienna Treaty orders. Martinique's return to the motherland was bittersweet, as France continued to endorse slavery well after neighbouring British islands had abolished the practice in 1833. It didn't help matters that Emperor Napoleon had married the daughter of a local plantation-owner, Josephine Beauharnais - it's said he continued to endorse slavery as a favour to his in-laws. A dogged anti-slavery campaign by French cabinet minister Victor Schoelcher saw the practice's end in 1848. The twentieth century started off with a bang, on May 8, 1902, when a sudden eruption of Mont-Pelee , the volcano at its northern reaches, destroyed St-Pierre and all its inhabitants. The latter part of the century was marked by social unrest caused by pro-independence factions seeking sovereignty from France that turned violent more than once; in an effort to quell the movement, Martinique received greater overseas department status and powers in 1982-83.
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