Sam's Essay

Was Colonization Good or Bad for Algeria?
Sam DeFilippo

In 1927, the French overtook Algeria in order to gain economic benefits, spread their Christian religion, gain more world power, and spread their culture. Algeria was the perfect place for the French to achieve this, because they were located on the coast so it was able to export and trade, and Algeria has an abundance of oil. The French believed that they were being charitable to the Muslims by converting them to Christianity. More Christians meant power in the world, so the French were going to do everything they could to spread their religion to as many Muslim Algerians as possible. The more land the French conquered, the more power they would have, and the easier it would be to stop England from gaining power. The French also wanted to spread their culture, and they wanted everyone to be culturally French. The Algerians, however, did not feel as though France was trying to help them. Colonization was damaging to Algeria because the people lost their land and resources, their culture, and became violent towards the pied-noirs.

In order for the French government to re-establish their overseas empire, they would need to invade Algeria. Doing this would also help the French by gaining land and resources. "In 1957, many oil fields were opened, and an estimated 60 million barrels of oil a year were to be produced" (Miracle of the Sahara). This made the French want Algeria even more, an it also proved that Algeria was valuable. The French took the Algerian's land right from under their feet, and claimed it as their own. "Many of the highly efficient farms operated by French colons-often land expropriated from Moslems in the 19th century-are not devoted to producing the food that Algeria so desperately needs; instead, the produce wine-which Moslems do not drink" (Reluctant Rebel). When the French came into Algeria with the intent of "helping" they took the Algerian's land, and instead of helping them by growing food for them to eat, they produced wine, which they could export for themselves in order to benefit. This did nothing but harm to the Algerians, who had barely anything to begin with. Taking the Algerian's land was robbing them of one of the only things they had.

After gaining Algerian soil, the French began trying to convert Muslims to Christianity in order to spread their religion. "The French conquest, which began in 1827, was conceived in terms of a confrontation between Islamic and European civilization-and a demonstration of the latter's superiority" (Repa). The French came into Algeria with the intent to spread the Christian religion, but the Algerian's were more than unhappy that their culture was being taken away from them. Many restrictions were placed on Algerian's purely because they were Muslim. Although 95% of the Algerian population was Muslim, they were excluded from employment, housing and social services, and political and economic power (Maddock). "An Algerian Muslim could enlist in the French army and was permitted to shed his blood for the empire but he could not become a French citizen unless he was willing to give up his allegiance to the Shariah" (Ahmed). By forcing the Algerian's to give up their culture in order to remain a part of society, the French had an obvious dominance over the country.

Although the French were making great progress on their end, the Algerians were not thrilled about what was happening to their land and culture. To show their dissatisfaction, Algerian rebels who wanted Algerian independence began terrorist attacks against civilians. "These nationalists-turned-terrorists were fast transforming France's most prized colony into its greatest colonial hazard" (Revolt of the Fellagha). By attacking the pied-noirs, or French people born and raised in Algeria, the Algerians showed the French that they wanted control of their own country, and even the pied-noirs had to leave. "The rebels began to use terrorism

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