French Colonialism in Algeria

Christian Farlin
 Algeria’s Pre-Colonial History (6000 BC-1815 AD)
Neolithic Civilization, characterized by animal domestication and subsistence agriculture, developed in The Figure 1: The Maghrib
Maghrib between 6000 and 2000 BC. The Maghrib, or Maghreb, is the region of North Africa west of Egypt as
shown in Figure 1. The overarching native population of North Africa became known as the Berbers, who
possessed unique cultural and linguistic attributes and lacked a written language (NationsOnline).

The multi-state Berber civilization formed uneasy alliances, fought against, and were controlled by various
nations in the Classical Period, which includes Carthage (800 BC), the Roman Empire (24 AD), the Umayyad
Dynasty (711 AD), the Abbasid Dynasty (750 AD), and the Fatimid Dynasty, who allowed the Berber Zirid
Dynasty to rule Algeria. The Zirid Dynasty (972-1148 AD), the first time a Berber dynasty centered significant
local power in Algeria, was characterized by constant conflict, political instability, and economical decline,
which opened Algeria to the arabization of Berbers by Arab bedouins from Egypt (~ 1150 AD). (NationsOnline).

After being conquered by the militaristic Muslim Almoravid and Almohad religious movements in 1106 AD
and 1151 AD respectively, Algeria was solely ruled by the Zayanaid Dynasty until the 16th century AD, where
Algeria under the Zayanaids became a tributary state of the Ottoman Empire. Many coastal cities became
autonomous municipal republics governed by merchant oligarchies, tribal chieftains, or privateers.
(NationsOnline)

By the 15th century AD, Algiers was the center of privateering. Privateer brothers Aruj and Khair ad Din
established their base of operations in Algiers (1516 AD), and annexed Algiers into the Ottoman Empire
(NewWorldEncyclopedia). Khair ad Din succeeded Aruj after the latter’s death in 1518 AD as the military
commander of Algiers–the capital city of Algeria-and was bestowed the title of provincial governor
(beylerbey) by the Ottoman Sultan. Under Khair ad Din’s regency, Algiers–later renamed Algeria–became the
center of Ottoman authority in the Maghrib. In 1710, the dey (a new leader) replaced pashas (governors). The
Ottoman Government ceased to have influence over Algiers, yet Algiers still was a part of the Ottoman Empire
(NationsOnline).

European maritime powers paid tribute to the rulers of privateering North African states, which included Figure 2: Khair ad Din, or
Algiers. In 1815, Spain, the Netherlands, Prussia (Germany), Denmark, Russia, and Naples (Italy) waged war Barbarossa Hayreddin
Pasha. The founder of
against Algiers due to expensive tributary fees and frequent raids on their merchant vessels (NationsOnline). modern Algeria.
In March 1815, the U.S. Congress authorized naval actions against the “Barbary States” due to privateering,
 French Colonization and Algerian Independence (1830-1962)

Similar to how the United States of America started the Mexican-American War, France invaded Algiers in 1830 on the
pretext that the Algerian dey offended the French consul–which extended to a slight against the French empire.
Although the conquest of Algiers was not technically completed till the early 19th century due to intense Algerian
resistance, France made Algiers a French colony named “French Algeria” in 1860 (NewWorldEncyclopedia).

However, fissures opened in the relationship between the Algerians and the French due to a large French settlement
and the confiscation of communally held land. Fissures within Algerians also opened because people of European
descent (called pieds noirs or colons) and Native Algerian Jews became full French citizens whereas the majority of
Muslim Algerians lacked French citizenship and the right to vote (NewWorldEncyclopedia).

Although skirmishes between the Algerian National Liberation Front (FLN) and French forces occurred in 1954, the
start of the Algerian War of Independence is generally associated with the FLN’s civilian massacre in Philippeville in
August 1955–which prompted French armed forces, police, and colon gangs to retaliate in an all-out war that ravaged
the nation (NewWorldEncyclopedia). Figure 3: Charles De Gaulle Figure 4: Ahmed Ben Bella

After a decade of urban and rural warfare, French General Charles De Gaulle initiated a referendum that allowed the
Algerians to determine the future of their nation. The Evian Accords also guaranteed the continuation of economic,
financial, and cultural relations–alongside implementing interim administrative until De Gaulle’s self-determination
referendum could be held. In July 1962, Algiers became an independent nation and renamed itself Algeria.
(NewWorldEncyclopedia).

However, the cost for independence was high, as between one to two million Algerians died during the war alongside
two to three million Algerian Muslims who became refugees or were forcibly relocated to government camps.
Additionally, Algeria’s countryside, agricultural infrastructure, and economy–dominated by the fleeing urban
European settlers–were obliterated. Nearly one million people of French descent in addition to Jewish Algerians and
Pro-French Algeria Muslims fleed the nation due to the dictatorial NFL government and the fracturing of society and
opening of rifts between socia class, ethnicity, race, and thought. Thousands of post-independence deaths occured due
to post-war infighting, armed chaos, and lynch trials of alleged traitors characterized the dictatorial FLN Algerian
Figure 5: The National Figure 6: Algerian
government helmed by Ahmed Ben Bella (NewWorldEncyclopedia). Liberation Front Logo Self-Determination
Referendum Ballot marked
“yes”.
 Contemporary Algeria (1962-Present)
President Ben Bella was overthrown by his defense minister Houari Boumédiène in 1965. Ben Bella’s socialist and dictatorial
government was replaced by a dictatorship that heavily relied on the military and reduced the role of the legislative party to a
symbolic one. An industrialization movement occurred alongside the nationalization of pre-existing industries, such as
Agriculture, and developing industries, such as Oil, which made Algeria wealthy–especially after the 1973 oil crisis. However,
Algeria’s economy became increasingly reliant on oil, meaning that the nation’s prosperity depended on one price-fluctuating
industry. (NewWorldEncyclopedia)

The repressive Algerian constitution of 1976 cemented the validity of the state’s control over the media and the outlawing of any
political parties besides the FLN. Corruption was widespread. The increase of urbanization–and with it a spike in literacy rates,
healthcare, and the birthrate–coincided with housing crises and the development of two conflicting protest movements: the left
wing Berber identity movements and the Islamic intégristes. Mass protests from both rival groups in autumn 1988 forced
President Chadli Bendjedid–the successor of President Boumédiènne, who died in 1978–to concede one-party rule and
announce elections for 1991. (NewWorldEncyclopedia).
Figure 7: Houari Boumédiène
The Algerian Civil War, an armed conflict between the Algerian government and various Islamist groups, began in December
1991 due to the first round results of the 1991 election–which revealed that the Islamic Salvation Front (ISF) would win. Due to
fears of the ISF ending democracy, the existing Algerian government banned the ISF and arrested thousands of its members,
which prompted Islamist guerrillas to begin an armed campaign against the government. The conflict ended in government
victory following the surrender of the Islamist Salvation Army and the 2002 defeat of the Armed Islamic Group. Most of the
war’s estimated 200,000 casualties were unprovoked massacres of civilians. Elections resumed in 1995, and Abdelaziz
Bouteflika was elected after a period of short-term military leaders on April 27,1999 (NewWorldEncyclopedia).

Unfortunately, Algeria still faces mounting economical, governmental, and social issues. Widespread mass protests have taken
place from 2019 to 2022 over accusations of governmental corruption, embezzlement, and human rights abuses (Fetouri).
Protests first occurred to prevent President Abdelaziz Bouteflika from running for a fifth term. Algerians still lacked confidence
in their government after the election of President Abdelmadjid Tebboune in December 2019, as “only 23 percent of voters cast
their ballots in the local elections, while between 34 and 36 per cent turned out for the legislative contest” (Fetouri).

Additionally, the 2014 oil price drop reveals that Algeria’s 1990s Civil War-esque economic model of relying on oil is both Figure 8: Abdelaziz Bouteflika
unstable and unsustainable. Algeria also faces high unemployment alongside its unwillingness to diversify its economy–as oil
accounts for 20% of Algeria’s GDP–and rising tensions with Morocco (International Crisis Group).
 Algeria Discussion Questions
1. Why was Algeria the pinnacle of privateering? Was it due to the backing of
the Ottoman Empire, geographical location, or maritime forces?
2. Why did fissures between the Berber and Arabic (Muslim) populations
open and widen over time? Did French colonialism and the Algerian War
for Independence escalate or stymy tensions between the two ethnic
groups? Figure 9: Algerian Montrealers protest against
President Abdelaziz Bouteflika on Sun., March 3, 2019.

3. Why is Algeria’s economy primarily dependent on oil? Did devastating

wars hinder the development of other industries?
4. Why did the Bendjedid Administration believe that the Islamic Salvation
Front’s successful election would cause the downfall of democracy? Is it
due to ethnic conflict that originated in French colonization?
5. Why was Algeria’s democracy replaced by dictatorships shortly after Figure 10: Algeria GDP per capita. Algeria’s GDP per
capita, last recorded at 3913.65 US dollars in 2021, is
Algeria’s independence? Could it be tied to the combination of devastated equivalent to 31 percent of the world's average.

industries and increasing ethnic conflicts following the Algerian War for
Independence?
 Algeria True/False Questions

1. Khair ad Din is credited as the founder of modern Algeria

(T/F).
2. Muslim Algerians recieved full citizenship under French rule
whereas European and Jewish settlers did not (T/F).
3. President Ben Bella’s Administration helmed a democratic
government (T/F).
4. Algeria’s history is characterized by translucent
administrations that peacefully transitioned power to their
succeeding democratically-elected administrations (T/F). Figure 11: Map of Algeria

5. Algeria’s dependence on oil ties the nation’s prosperity with

oil prices internationally (T/F).
 Works Cited–Textual Sources
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2022.

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January 2022.
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International Crisis Group. “Breaking Algeria’s Economic Paralysis”. Crisisgroup.org. Published 19 November 2018.
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https://www.nationsonline.org/oneworld/History/Algeria-history.htm. Accessed 16 September 2022.
 Works Cited–Figure Sources 1-6
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https://www.nationsonline.org/oneworld/History/Algeria-history.htm. Accessed 16 September 2022.

2 Qsiyer, Kamal. “Dynamics of the Maghreb’s Geopolitics in 2014”. Studies.aljazeera.net. Published 27 January 2015.
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3 Marcel, Jean-Marie. “Charles de Gaulle”. Elysee.fr. https://www.elysee.fr/en/charles-de-gaulle. Accessed 16 September 2022.

4 “Ben Bella, Ahmed”. Geography.name. https://geography.name/ben-bella-ahmed/. Accessed 16 September 2022.

5 “National Liberation Front (Algeria)”. En.wikipedia.org.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Liberation_Front_%28Algeria%29. Accessed 16 September 2022.

6 Bellisari, Andrew H. “The Evian Accords: An Uncertain Peace”. Origins.osu.edu.

https://origins.osu.edu/milestones/march-2017-evian-accords-uncertain-peace?language_content_entity=en.
Accessed 16 September 2022.
 Works Cited–Figure Sources 7-11
7 Takieddine. “HOUARI BOUMEDIENE ALGÉRIE”. Pinterest.com. https://www.pinterest.com/pin/708965166311750998/.
Accessed 16 September 2022.

8 Gauthier-Villars, David and Malsin, Jared. “Abdelaziz Bouteflika, Algeria’s Longtime President, Dies at Age 84”. WSJ.com.
Published 17 September 2021.
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16 September 2022.

9 CTV Montreal. “Algerian Montrealers Protest President's Campaign For Fifth Term”. Montreal.ctvnews.ca. Published 3 March
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