Algeria started as independent groups of natives under Ottoman control located in North Africa, East of Morocco. The people lived for years operating well under their own rules, culture, and pirating ways. The French were attracted by the Algerians' control of the Mediterranean Sea and the trading opportunities it had. Expanding on their empire, the French wanted to gain this influential power and ease of trading in the Mediterranean. After their successful conquest, France considered their newly obtained colony as an extension of their own country, and without consideration of the natives, they proceeded to change the daily lives of native Algerians forever. Through the process of colonization, the French drastically influenced the social, political and economic structures of Algeria by assimilating the native population.
From the beginning of colonization, the French disliked the native Algerians’ Islamic religion and they tried to eliminate it all together. The french thought they could do so by introducing more French culture into their society. By doing so, French culture was thoroughly integrated and it made Islamic culture almost obsolete. Though the other French settlers approved of the assimilation of the Algerians and them being granted citizenship, most disagreed with any action attempting to give equal rights to the Muslims. By the end of the nineteenth century, the people of the Muslim majority were considered second-class citizens in comparison to those of the European minority. This was because of colonial policies passed by the French. Other laws also looked down upon Muslim Algerians. They were defined as "subjects" and unless they agreed to cease following Islamic laws, they would not be considered citizens (A...
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...become the better type of person. Thanks to the French's assimilation, the idea of the better type of person was being French. This idea forever changed the views of native Algerians.
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The French occupation is a confrontation between exported modernity and an old regime: the French revolutionaries and their dominance over the Ottoman social order that is markedly different in contrast; and, al-Jabarti reports on how it transfers cross-culturally. Levels of contestation, open and/or secretive acceptances give way to losses and gains driven by high emotion – even for this writer. He “describes very carefully every step in the negotiation of the organization of society, from administration to inheritance, from property to charity or from justice to deliberation.”
Algerian education was started by the French, since they were allowed to study in France. Education advanced Algerian jobs, markets, trade, and life in general. This boosted the life of Algerians; although, there were negatives, like: famine, disease, poverty. Even though the education boosted trade, and jobs, and market the people who were receiving that money were the French. Algerians did not receive that money, so they became poor, and because of the poverty not a lot of people could afford food which led to famine. Disease quickly arrived after famine, causing death, which took out roughly one third of the Algerian population. Imperialization impacted Algerians government, culture, and even population. Although Algeria did suffer greatly because of the french, they also had some positive effects. Either way, imperialization had many positive and negative effects on Algeria, that shaped it to be what it is today (DiPiazza
However, French lost its territory to the Spanish and the British, but most of France’s colonial wealth were extracted from their colonies in Africa, especially from its vast wealth of gold and diamond. “Like the Spanish the French preferred to rule their colonies under a direct rule, which urge more metropole culture spread upon colonized land. While Spanish colonial cities have plazas, the French colonial cities have Paris grid town planning and architecture that often remind one of France. They also introduced education system using French language, to help further brainwash and spread their own value” (Quora). “The French also wanted to spread their “French value” to its subject as part of their “civilizing” mission, to bless the barbaric of indigenous Africans and Asians with enlightenment (admittedly they were less successful than Americans, but did manage to spread the French language all over Africa)” (Quora). While Africa became more “France”, this failed in Indochina because the locals find French difficult to learn. The Africa colonization was pure and simple, to benefit the metropole at most while limiting the development of industry as to make Africa reliant on European
Europe, in the late 1800’s, was starting for a land grab in the African continent. Around 1878, most of Africa was unexplored, but by 1914, most of Africa, with the lucky exception of Liberia and Ethiopia, was carved up between European powers. There were countless motivations that spurred the European powers to carve Africa, like economical, political, and socio–cultural, and there were countless attitudes towards this expansion into Africa, some of approval and some of condemnation.
de Gaulle and the Granting of Independence to Algeria Charles de Gaulle played a vital role in the decolonisation of Algeria. There were a number of factors that lead up to independence of Algeria for example the FLN. The FLN were the foundation of the nationalist movement, after seeing France occupied by Germany in the Second World War the Algerians realised that the French were not unbeatable, and set about to over throw the French and reclaim their country, which was occupied by both colons and the French army. In order to try and gain independence the FLN resorted to terrorism starting in 1954, attacking European settlements, their tactics were responded to with a massive show of force by the French Army. They had previously been defeated in Indo-China in 1940, Vietnam in 1954 and the Suez in 1956.
The relationship between France and Muslims is one that’s never been that good, which was initially caused by French colonialism in North Africa. France viewed the Muslim/Arab population as an inferior race that was uncivilized. “Those who do not share the French value are not only different but inferior – less evolved, if capable at all of evolution” (Scott 173). France colonizers went to Algeria in an effort to civilize the people, which resulted in the racist treatment of them and the horrific rape and abuse of their women. In addition colonial France saw the veil as dangerous, which at times it could be, because it could transport bombs and weapons to
The beginning of colonization also marks the beginning of decolonization. From the day the colonists start exploiting the colonized people and belittling the colonized people for the colonists' self-aggrandizement, the colonized ones have been prepared to use violence at any moment to end the colonists' exploitation (Fanon, 3).Decolonization is violent, there is a necessity for violence. This is a point that is repeated again and again throughout The Battle of Algiers and The Wretched of the Earth. Here, the focus will be on The Battle of Algiers to discuss the violence of
Before 1954, Algeria was not considered to be a French colony - rather it was seen as an integral part of France. The region was composed of departments, like those of the mainland. There were over a million white French nationals living in Algeria at the time and around eight million Muslims.3 This was a greater proportion of French nationals than in the other major North African colonies of France - Morocco, and Tunisia.4 Although there were benefits to remaining with France, the colonial administration was heavily weighed against the Muslims - particularly with regards to voting rights. In 1936, for instance, the Popular Front Government of Blum introduced legislation to the Assembly proposing to extend French citizenship to over twenty thousand Algerian Muslims.5 The initiative failed when all the European mayors of Algerian towns resigned in protest.
In the mid-1800’s Africa south of the Sahara contained more than seven hundred different ethnic groups. Most were organized into communities based on ties of tradition and family. Occasionally, a powerful group formed a state that was strong enough to conquer neighboring groups and form an empire. Europeans had already moved into North Africa. The once-powerful Ottoman Empire had become too weak to prevent local rulers from taking control in Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia, and Egypt. These countries were no match for the Europeans bent on conquest.
Although imperialism helped the colonized people by improving the economy and the lives of the people, for the most part imperialism hurt the colonized people because the people were forced to grow cash crops which led to death by starvation.
As the 20th century approached, more and more countries grew desperate for land, resulting in an imperialistic activity known as the Scramble for Africa. The European imperialists were motivated by three main factors; economic, political, and social. These factors made countries compete for power and eventually led to the scramble for African territory. Although economic expansion at times was a positive outcome of European imperialism in Africa, these positive effects are outweighed by negative outcomes such as loss of culture and independence.
Throughout history, imperialism has led countries to extend their rule over weaker countries and then colonized those countries to expand their own power. Imperialism allows the ruling countries to use the weaker countries for their resources. Colonizing other countries would then lead to growth and a better reputation for the dominating country. There are many examples of imperialism throughout European history. When many European countries “scrambled” for Africa, it seemed as though Africa had no say in anything. During the 19th century, Europe found a way to use Africa for their own growth and power. Using Africa for their resources, the Europeans colonized Africa without a second thought. European imperialism in Africa had a negative impact because of social disarray, cultural loss, and death it caused.
Throughout history, imperialism by one nation on another has had many negative influences on the nation being colonized. The legacy of European imperialism in Africa in the 19th century was negative. Imperialism negatively affected Africa politically, economically, and culturally.
Embittered by his experience in the French Army, where Africans and Arabs answered to white superiors and West Indians occupied an ambiguous middle ground, he gravitated to radical politics, Sartrean existentialism and the philosophy of black consciousness known as négritude (Djemai). Négritude is the affirmation or consciousness of the value of black or African culture, heritage, and identity (dictionary). Fanon also fell under the influence of Tosquelles, an innovative practitioner of group therapy. Applying Tosquelles 's methods at a hospital in a suburb of Algiers, where Fanon arrived in 1953, he earned the trust of Arab patients whom French psychiatrists had treated with a mixture of pity and contempt (Macey). In Fanon 's new home, Macey reminds us, one million Europeans ruled over some nine million Arabs and Berbers, largely illiterate and cruelly exploited. After the Algerian National Liberation Front launched a revolution in 1954, the French Army used Gestapo tactics to restore order. Suspects were given electric shocks to the testicles, raped with bottles and often beaten to death. Entire villages were destroyed in retaliation for the death of a single soldier. While secretly aiding the rebels, Fanon cared for victims and perpetrators alike, producing case notes that shed invaluable light on the psychic traumas of colonial war
European Culture vs. African: France occupied Africa and brought in the language and educational system, but the cultural traditions of marriage, living, and the place of woman is still under African traditions.