The History of Algeria 1830 to 1954

[algerien4]

For seven centuries, it was ruled by Carthage. Following that, it was ruled by the Romans, the Byzantines, the Arabs, the Spaniards, and the Turks.

The modern history of Algeria begins in 1830, with the conquest by the French. Until that time, it was part of the Ottoman empire. Though the French have always been quick to claim that until their arrival, Algerians were a barbaric and uncivilized people, recent historians have challenged this claim, and statements from notable figures of the time also cast doubt on it. "The Muslim society in North Africa was not uncivilized," said de Tocqueville in 1847, "it only had a backward and imperfect civilization." He also noted that "we have rendered Muslim society much more miserable and much more barbaric than it was before it became acquainted with us." Other colonizers noted that almost all the Arabs in Algeria knew how to read and write, and that in each village, there were two schools.

In 1832, there rose a resistance leader named 'Abd al Kader, who was then aged twenty-five. Over the next fifteen years, he was to wage war against the French occupiers. Though he had wide support in central and western Algeria, he was unable to overcome the resources of what was then a vast empire, and in 1847, he surrendered and was exiled to Damascus. In December 1848, France declared Algeria to be "an integral part of France," and transformed the country into French departments.

Colonialists in Algeria were known as "Pieds Noirs," or Black Feet. The name is attributable either to the polished black shoes worn by the French soldiers, or to the view of "metropolitan" Frenchmen that the colonizers had their feet burned black by the African sun. Their numbers grew steadily and rapidly, though there continued to be opposition to colonization in France herself. The first wave of immigrants were unemployed or underemployed Frenchmen. Then, after the 1870s, there were Spaniards, Alsatians, Italians, and Maltese. By 1917, only one-fifth of the non-Arab population was actually French. Under the French, Algeria grew into one of the region's leading producers of wine.

By the dawn of the 20th century, the French bureaucracy was firmly entrenched. Though the top-ranking officials were always French, lower-level civil servants such as tax colleectors, were often Muslims. While some were honorable older men, others had received their positions due to family ties, and were known as the "Beni-Oui-Oui." Corruption was also widespread, and bribes were so common that there was a cake known as the "cadi's ear," because it required large amounts of honey in order to sweeten the taste.

Another issue in the beginning of this century was the issue of citizenship. Muslims were considered "French subjects," but not "French citizens." This allowed them to remain subject to Islamic (vs. French) laws, but it also trapped many Muslims. Any Muslim wishing to attain French citizenship would be required to renounce his rights under Shari'a, which almost none of them would do as it was considered tantamount to apostacy. By 1936, after seventy-five years of being "assimilated" into the French government and French culture, no more than 2,500 Muslims were actually French citizens. Further adding to the citizenship conflict was the Cremieux Decrees of 1870, which had conferred automatic citizenship on all Jews in Algeria, who were then viewed as a priveleged minority by the Muslim majority. By the beginning of this century, the nationalistic movement had begun to take root. Some of the early Algerian nationalists were based in a religious movment, others in a liberal movement, and still others in radical revolutionary movements.

World War II came, and France's humiliating defeat by the Nazis in 1940 had a deep impression on the Muslim mind. With the arrival of English and American troops on Algerian soil in 1942, many Algerian nationalists soon became aware of FDR's anti-colonialist stance. At the same time, the Algerian people provided the French army with soldiers. Unfortunately, many of the Algerian soldiers returned home from the war to see that nothing had changed in their homeland. Disillusion, disappointment, and anger were the prevailing sentiments, and on 8 May 1945, VE Day, in the town of Setif, a demonstration by 8,000 Muslims turned into five bloody days of civil unrest throughout the country. Buildings were burned down, there were murders, rapes and beatings of pieds noirs. In the end, 103 European settlers had been murdered, and another 100 were injured. In retaliation, more than 40 Muslim villages were bombed, and as many as 6,000 Muslims were killed. In one instance, 219 villagers were killed at once. While the event was downplayed, even ignored in France herself, Setif was a turning point in the Algerian nationalism movement. Kateb Yacine, a poet, said, "My sense of humanity was affronted for the first time by the most atrocious sites... The shock which I felt at the pitiless butchery that caused the deaths of thousands of Muslims, I have never forgotten. From that moment my nationalism took definite form." The stage had been set for the

[Nonson]

Algerien4,

It is a terribly slanted piece. You did not mentioned that the French came looking for the genie in the bottle, but couldn't find it because the dastardly Muslims had spirited it away. Even more, the foolish Muslims incited the goodly Frenchmen to kill them en masse believing that they would be speedily sent to heaven. Which was, in their minds, far to be desired over the hell that was Muslim-dominated Algeria. Why are you trying to make the Muslims look good by posting lies like this. The French were the Good Guys and the Muslims were the Black-hearted Villians. Your plot stinks.

Nonson
03.10.01

[algerien4]

...

[Edited by algerien4 on 13th March 2001 at 17:26]

[Nonson]

Algerien4,

1,500,000 you say? I did not know that France had the A-bomb at that time. Surely if this *holocaust* had happened I would have heard about it. I think you are mixing stories. I did hear back then that the French had exterminated tens of thoudsands of rats because they feared a plague. You Muslims are quite inventive when it comes to fabrications.

Nonson
03.12.01

[algerien4]

..




[Edited by algerien4 on 13th March 2001 at 17:27]

[Nonson]

Algerien4,

It simply is not so. Most of the French troops in Algeria at that time were homosexuals, and they were madly in love with the little Algerian boys. They would never harm them. They may have wanted to kill that many competing women, but it never happened.

Another way of looking at it is that a handful of gay Frenchmen killed on the average of 200,000 muslims per year between 1954 and 1962. If we just round off the figures that comes to nearly 20,000 potential lovers per month. Or about a 1,000 per day, assuming that the gayer of the gay Frenchmen took time to sleep, eat, bath, get drunk, and make love to little muslim boys.

Now doesn't this fabricated story sound just absolutely rediculous? Sure it does.

Nonson
03.12.01

[mahendra]

Nonson,

I think you need to go to an asylum for treatment