History of Martinique

The Carib Indians called Martinique; Madinina – Island of Flowers. Martinique is the largest of the Windward Islands and apart from a few short spells under the British, has been French since it was colonized. Christopher Columbus sighted Martinique in 1493, but did not land until his fourth voyage in 1502. The Carib Indians opposed the settlements of Europeans until 1635, but Napoleon was incensed by Martinique, as his beloved Josephine grew up in Martinique. A strange quirk fate links Josephine and Martinique to the Battle of Trafalgar. In 1902 Martinique put itself once

more on the map. At that time, a little town called St. Pierre, with a population of 30000, was known as the Paris of the Caribbean and was the commercial, cultural and social center of Martinique. The volcano Mt. Pele gave plenty of warning and minor rumbling began early in April in 1902. However a new Governor at that time could not cope with the huge responsibility of evacuating Martinique’s most important city and the fear of suffering financial loss and ignorance, the people of St. Pierre stayed regardless of the volcano activities. A committee was formed to monitor the volcano and to assure the people that there was no danger despite the people that have already died in the previous torrent of volcanic effluent. On the 8th of May at eight in the morning disaster struck. The side of the volcano facing St. Pierre glowed red and burst open, releasing a giant fireball of superheated gas that flowed down over the city, releasing more energy than an atomic bomb. All that remained were smoking ruins and an estimated 30.000 people burned to death, leaving only two survivors in the town. Today ruins are still present from this disaster and a museum shows the history of St. Pierre and the eruption of Mount Pele. Today an estimated 430000 people are living in Martinique today.