 After the fall of France in 1940, Madagascar became a crucial flashpoint in contention between the Free French movement and Vichy France.The island was also consequential in the Pacific theater of the war as Imperial Japanese naval forces operated unopposed off the island for some time.In 1942, the British and several other Allied forces launched an invasion of Madagascar, seeking to protect its position as an important juncture in Allied shipping and deny its use to the Axis.