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French Colonization |
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The conquest of Algeria, begun in 1830 and completed completely only in 1870, had as a corollary the colonization of the country. The idea was essential, thanks to the propaganda of the "colonists", to make Algeria a colony of settlement. It appeared that it was the most effective means to consolidate the conquest. This conviction was to prevail in the French public opinion to the Second World war, although it had been extremely discussed until 1870. It explains why, in spite of some attempts at men favorable to a mode of protectorate, such Napoleon III and Jules ferry, the concern of supporting the colonists almost always carried it on the indigenous policy.
French colonization rested primarily, in Algeria, on the principle of "official colonization". The administration of the Fields got grounds by various processes of expropriation, of which the "quartering", which were connected with the repression of the tribes, and the assertion of the alleged rights of the French State on the public habous, the waste lands or without Master, the forests, etc. The Administration created then and arranged village centers. It conceded free individual batches with the immigrants of French nationality, under condition precedent of obligatory residence. Official colonization preferably addressed to the peasants south-east of France and to Europeans of Algeria. Some 700 French villages were thus founded which modified the aspect of the Algerian campaigns completely where the rural agglomerations, except in Kabylie, were extremely rare.
"Free" colonization, company without intervention nor assistance of the State, was a long time the least important. It then took, after 1900, the first place. It got its grounds near the official colonists and especially by purchases with the Moslems. A series of laws, which subjected the indigenous properties to the French right, facilitated the crumbling of the joint ownerships and their acquisition by Europeans. In 1914, the colonists had on the whole 2 123 288 ha; in 1934, of 2 462 537 ha, of which approximately 1 500 000 had been provided by official colonization. The quarter of the cultivated ground belonged to the rural colonists who accounted for approximately 2 p. 100 of the farming population.
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French Work in Algeria |
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The philosopher's stone of Europeans was the regeneration of agriculture. The traditional cereal cultures knew a strong increase, especially that of the corn which, until 1880, was the true plant of colonization. Then the new cultures and, among them, the vine came which transformed the agricultural economics. France hoped that the vine would populate the country of small French wine growers: by important appropriations, it supported the extension of it. Tell covered vines and the wine became the first income of Algeria. The agriculture, dedicated to the remunerative productions and directed towards export, enriched the country largely, including the natives.
Economic transformation of Algeria was the essential work of France. The country, little by little, was equipped with modern transportation routes: roads, railways, ports. The basic infrastructure was installation under the second Empire and was especially developed between 1900 and 1930, then after 1946, primarily thanks to public loans launched on the French money market by Algeria, when it had been equipped with the financial autonomy.
Equipped well for a colonial country, Algeria on the other hand only little was industrialized before 1945. The lack of fuel, the hesitations of the French contractors prevented the fast development of a modern industry of transformation but the situation improved largely after the Second World War. The most important progress was made in the mining.
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Algeria's Frenchmen |
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Urban colonization was always higher numbers some with rural colonization. The European cities, administrative centers then economic, attracted, in addition to the civils servant and commercial French, from Blancs abroad of any nationality: in 1872, 60 p. 100 of Europeans were townsmen and this proportion was constantly to increase. However the cities were true the melting Algerian pot. New people, composed as a majority of French but also of Europeans naturalized, especially after the automatic law of naturalization of 1889, constituted themselves little by little in Algeria, primarily starting from 1896, date on which the number of Europeans born in the colony overrode that of the immigrants.
Europeans were 109 000 in 1847, 272 000 in 1872, 578 000 in 1896, 829 000 in 1921. The rate/rhythm of increase bends since 1914. French immigration ceased almost completely and the foreigners came fewer: in 1954, one counted 984 000 Europeans. The foreigners, as a majority Spanish, but also Italian, Maltese, formed a long time an important percentage of this population: 42 p. 100 in 1872, 49 p. 100 in 1886. With automatic naturalization, the prevalence of French nationality continued: in 1901, 364 000 naturalized French including 72 000 recent and 189 000 foreigners; in 1921, 629 000 French and 196 000 foreigners, are 23,7 p. 100 only. The "foreign danger", denounced by the local politicians, was a historical phenomenon less important than the progressive fusion from Europeans abroad and the French, the "algerianization". Europeans of Algeria indicated themselves more readily, indeed, under the name of Algerians. Their Francization however did not cease being reinforced, and the claims separatists, which had turned to the riot in 1898, ceased about completely with the
appearance of Moslem nationalism.
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OAS |
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OAS was born in Madrid on February 11, 1961. Its founders, Pierre Lagaillarde and Jean-Jacques Susini, offer very quickly the head of it to the Salan General. This organization, born in fear and anger to lose French Algeria, gathered, after failure of the Alger's putsch, in April 1961, of the soldiers deserters refusing the abandonment's policy gaullist, old secret agents, of the monarchists, Pied-noir refusing the departure. Whereas the Generals Salan and Jouhaud order O.A.S. in Algeria, organization launches a military campaign in metropolis. Objective ? To make return From Gaulle on his self-determination's project of the Algerian populations.
But vis-a-vis with the determination of the "fifth column" (communist and gaullists) and the deterioration (already!) of the French people, the O.A.S. will continue a desperate combat. The patriots fight with the energy of despair: the OAS "will hold" Oran for two months, in spite of the efforts of the General Joseph Katz; its henchmen, the "deltas", will procèderont with executions of traitors into full Algiers; it will come even to end from the "secret agents" recruited on order from the Elysium... Until Jean-Jacques Susini decides to treat with the FLN to try to save the European presence... But too late, the very large majority of the French, for a long time was done with the idea that "French Algeria" was a lost cause.
The "lost soldiers" of the OAS will remain forever in our reports as patriots having tried until the last moment to save the French presence on what was and remains a ground which Europeans built with the force of their wrists
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Truth about Algeria's War |
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The official ideology in connection with the war of Algeria tends to make forget certain atrocities to put some forward others: for this reason we made a point of pointing out facts who are often ignored, in particular the genocide whose Europeans of Algeria were victims, but also Harkis. Estimative figures: 150.000 Harkis and the disappearance of 25.000 Black Feet after March 19, 1962 in Algeria, without counting the Peace of the brave men which cost in human lives: 460 victims in the business If Salah from the bad faith of Gaulle.
We let to you appreciate by yourselves all the horror of the murderers of the FLN and their accomplices in France, the Communists "carrying bags" then of Gaulle who refused to move a lash to defend the French nationals on their own ground, victims of the brutality of the torturers of Algerian nationalism.
On tortures of the FLN: http://www.algerie-francaise.org/tortures/
On the other horrors of the FLN: http://www.algerie-francaise.org/leflnafait/
On the massacre of the Street of Isly, where the French Army accepted the order to shoot at French disarmed, children and reprocessed included/understood: http://www.algerie-francaise.org/ailleret/
On the massacre of Oran, where 3000 French were massacred by Algerian crowd under the impassive glance of the French Army: http://www.algerie-francaise.org/katz/
On the abandonment of Harkis: http://www.algerie-francaise.org/messmer/
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