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The English meanwhile, also visited the islands in 1609, documenting their visit and providing the first official written account of a landing there. Pirates continued to frequent the region until the arrival of the French in the mid 18th century. Jean Moreau de Sechelles, minister for France during the reign of Louis XV, was responsible for giving the region its name. British settlers sought to take control of the island in the late 18th and early 19th centuries, fighting battles against the French who, under the leadership of Jean Baptiste Queau de Quincy, invariably surrendered to the might of the more dominant British forces. Full control was eventually handed over to Britain in 1812 with the surrender of Mauritius and later made official with the signing of the Treaty of Paris in 1814. The signing of a constitution in 1979 brought the country into a socialist one-party state system which was to last until 1992 when a new constitution was introduced. It was not, however, ratified on account of failing to receive the required 60 per cent of the voting figures. An amended constitution was introduced and approved the following year. | |
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