I just did a report on this
French colonization of Algeria began on June 14, 1830 when French soldiers arrived in a coastal town, Sidi Ferruch.[1] The troops did not encounter significant resistance, and within 3 weeks, the occupation was officially declared on July 5, 1830.[1] After a year of occupation over 3,000 Europeans (mostly French) had arrived ready to start businesses and claim land.[1] In reaction to the French occupation, Amir Abd Al-Qadir was elected leader of the resistance movement. On November 27, 1832, Abd Al-Qadir declared that he reluctantly accepted the position, but saw serving in the position as a necessity in order to protect the country from the enemy (the French).[1] Abd Al-Qadir declared the war against the French as jihad, opposed to liberation.[1] Abd Al-Qadir's movement was unique from other independence movements because the main call to action was for Islam rather than nationalism.[1] Abd Al-Qadir fought the French for nearly two decades, but was defeated when the Tijaniyya Brotherhood agreed to submit to French rule as long as “they were allowed to exercise freely the rites of their religion, and the honor of their wives and daughters was respected”.[1] In 1847 Abd Al-Qadir was defeated and there were other resistance movements but none of them were as large nor as effective in comparison.[1] Due to the lack of effective large-scale organizing, Algerian Muslims “resorted to passive resistance or resignation, waiting for new opportunities,” which came about from international political changes due to World War I.[1] As World War I became a reality, officials discussed drafting young Algerians into the army to fight for the French, but there was some opposition.[1] European settlers were worried that if Algerians served in the army, then those same Algerians would want rewards for their service and claim political rights (Alghailani). Despite the opposition, the French government drafted young Algerians into the French army for World War I.[1]
Since many Algerians had fought as French soldiers during the First World War, just as the European settlers had suspected, Muslim Algerians wanted political rights after serving in the war. Muslim Algerians felt it was all the more unfair that their votes were not equal to the other Algerians (the settler population) especially after 1947 when the Algerian Assembly was created. This assembly was composed of 120 members. Muslim Algerians who represented about 9 million people could designate 50% of the Assembly members while 900,000 non-Muslim Algerians could designate the other half
Muslim mosque in Algeria
Religion in Algeria
When the French arrived in Algeria in 1830, they quickly took control of all Muslim establishments.[1] The French took the land in order to transfer wealth and power to the new French settlers.[1] In addition to taking property relating Muslim establishments, the French also took individuals’ property and by 1851, they had taken over 350,000 hectares of Algerian land.[1] For many Algerians, Islam was the only way to escape the control of French Imperialism.[1] In the 1920s and 30s, there was an Islamic revival led by the ulama, and this movement became the basis for opposition to French rule in Algeria.[1] Ultimately, French colonial policy failed because the ulama, especially Ibn Badis, utilized the Islamic institutions to spread their ideas of revolution.[1] For example, Ibn Badis used the “networks of schools, mosques, cultural clubs, and other institutions,” to educate others, which ultimately made the revolution possible.[1] Education became an even more effective tool for spreading their revolutionary ideals when Muslims became resistant to sending their children to French schools, especially their daughters Ultimately, this led to conflict between the French and the Muslims because there were effectively two different societies within one country.
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