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French Algeria
Main articles: Algerian War and French Algeria

Leading up to the fight for independence:

French colonization of Algeria began on June 14, 1830 when French soldiers arrived in a coastal town, Sidi Ferruch (Alghailani). The troops did not encounter significant resistance, and within 3 weeks, the occupation was officially declared on July 5, 1830 (Alghailani). After a year of occupation over 3,000 Europeans (mostly French) had arrived ready to start businesses and claim land (Alghailani). 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) (Alghailani). Abd Al-Qadir declared the war against the French as jihad, opposed to liberation (Alghailani). Abd Al-Qadir’s movement was unique from other independence movements because the main call to action was for Islam rather than nationalism (Alghailani). 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” (Alghailani). 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 (Alghailani). 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 (Alghailani).

Many Algerians had fought as French soldiers during the First World War. Thus Muslim Algerians felt all the more unfair that their votes were not equal to the other Algerians 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.

Religion in Algeria:

When the French arrived in Algeria in 1830, they quickly took control of all Muslim establishments (Alghailani). The French took the land in order to transfer wealth and power to the new French settlers (Alghailani). 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 (Alghailani). For many Algerians, Islam was the only way to escape the control of French Imperialism (Alghailani). 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 (Alghailani). Ultimately, French colonial policy failed because the ulama, especially Ibn Badis, utilized the Islamic institutions to spread their ideas of revolution (Alghailani). For example, Ibn Badis used the “networks of schools, mosques, cultural clubs, and other institutions,” to educate others, which ultimately made the revolution possible (Alghailani).

The fight for independence:

Moreover, a massacre occurred in Sétif May 8, 1945. It opposed Algerians who were demonstrating for their national claim to the French Army. After skirmishes with police, Algerians killed about 100 ethnic French. The French army retaliated harshly. Thousands of Algerians probably died. It triggered a radicalisation of Algerian nationalists and it can be considered the beginning of the Algerian War. The independence party was called Movement for the Triumph of Democratic Liberties (MTLD) and was headed by Messali Hadj (Connelly). With Hadj’s leadership, the party won multiple municipal offices (Connelly). But, in the 1948 elections the candidates were arrested by Interior Minister Jules Moch (Connelly). While the candidates were being arrested, the local authorities stuffed ballots for Muslim men, non-members of the independence party (Connelly).

In 1956, about 512,001 French soldiers were in Algeria. In 1958, during the Cold War, the rebels established a provisional government. This government had no legal claim to any territory, however they demanded diplomatic recognition (Connelly). No resolution was imaginable in the short term. An overwhelming majority of French politicians were opposed to the idea of independence while independence was gaining ground in Muslim Algerians' mind. France was mired and the Fourth Republic collapsed on this issue. In 1958, Charles de Gaulle's return to power was supposed to bring back Algeria in the bosom of France as thought French generals in Algeria. But pragmatism impelled De Gaulle to consent to independence in 1962 after an aborted military coup in Algeria. Algeria won independence in 1962 (Turshen).

Women in the fight for Independence and post independence:

Thousands of women took part in the war, even on deadly missions (Turshen). Women took part as “combatants, spies, fundraisers, and couriers, as well as nurses, launderers, and cooks” (Turshen). 3% of all fighters were women, which is roughly equivalent to 11,000 women (Turshen). This is a quote of three women who participated in the war: “We had visited the site and noted several possible targets. We had been told to place two bombs, but we were three, and at the last moment, since it was possible, we decided to plant three bombs. Samia and I carried three bombs from the Casbah to Bab el Oued, where they were primed...Each of us placed a bomb, and at the appointed time there were two explosions; one of the bombs was defective and didn’t go off.’ - Djamila B., Zohra D., and Samia, Algiers, September 1956” (Turshen).

Outcome of Independence:

While the women’s movement made significant gains post-independence, peace in the country did not last long. Shortly after gaining independence, the Algerian civil war began. The civil war erupted from anger about one party rule and ever increasing unemployment rates in Algeria. In October 1988 young Algerian men took to the streets and participated in week-long riots (Saleh).

The Algerian Independence movement also had a lasting impact on French thought about the relationship between the government and religion (Shepherd).

In addition, the Algerian war for independence inspired liberationists in South Africa (Drew). However, the liberationists were unsuccessful in implementing Alergian strategy into their independence movement (Drew).

Bibliography:

Alghailani, Said A. Islam and the French Decolonization of Algeria: The Role of the Algerian Ulama, 1919–1940, Indiana University, Ann Arbor, 2002.ProQuest, https://searchproquestcom.libproxy.berkeley.edu/docview/250903155?accountid=14496.

Connelly, Matthew. "Rethinking the Cold War and Decolonization: The Grand Strategy of the Algerian War for Independence." International Journal of Middle East Studies,vol. 33, no. 2, 2001, pp. 221-245. ProQuest, https://search-proquest-com.libproxy.berkeley.edu/docview/195594473?accountid=14496.

Drew, Allison. "Visions of Liberation: The Algerian War of Independence and its South 	African Reverberations." Review of African Political Economy, vol. 42, no. 143, 2015, pp. 22. ProQuest, https://search-proquest-com.libproxy.berkeley.edu/docview/1664330211?accountid=14496, doi: http://dx.doi.org.libproxy.berkeley.edu/10.1080/03056244.2014.100028.

Saleh, Heba, and Sarah Witt. "Timeline: Algeria’s 30 Turbulent Years." FT.Com, 2019. ProQuest, https://search-proquest-com.libproxy.berkeley.edu/docview/2187700772?accountid=14496.

Shepard, Todd. "Algerian Nationalism, Zionism, and French Laacite: A History of Ethnoreligious Nationalisms and Decolonization."International Journal of Middle East Studies, vol. 45, no. 3,2013, pp. 445-467. ProQuest, https://searchproquestcom.libproxy.berkeley.edu/docview/1413422364accountid=14496,doi : http://dx.doi.org.libproxy.berkeley.edu/10.1017/S0020743813000421.

Turshen, Meredeth. "Algerian Women in the Liberation Struggle and the Civil War: From Active Participants to Passive Victims?" Social Research, vol. 69, no. 3, 2002, pp. 889-911. ProQuest, https://search-proquest-com.libproxy.berkeley.edu/docview/209667669?accountid=14496.