Algeria under French Occupation

Compiled by: Syed Ali Shahbaz
On May 18 in 1830 AD, the French army invaded Algeria, following demand by the Algerian rulers for repayment of debts totaling seven million Francs. The Algerian people, inspired by Amir Abdul-Qader Jazaeri, fought against French colonial rule. Although the French occupied Algeria and plundered the wealth of this North African Muslim land, they were finally forced to leave in 1962 after killing more than a million people of Algeria.
French forces landed in Algeria, marking the start of military operations for seizure of this large Muslim land. In 1910, the French formally declared Algeria as an extension of France. The struggles of the Algerians against French colonial rule reached their peak after the termination of World War II. In 1962, French president, General Charles de Gaulle, was forced to grant Algeria full independence, but not until the French had killed more than a million people.
On May 27, in 1837 AD, the Treaty of Tafna was signed by Algerian freedom-fighters led by Sufi scholar Amir Abdul-Qader and France, which invaded Algeria in 1830 to supplant the declining power of the Ottomans – preoccupied with the western-supported rebellion in the Province of Yunanistan that led to the emergence of Greece as an independent country. As per the treaty, France had sovereignty in Oran and Algiers while the remaining two-third of the country was free.
In 1839, the French renewed attacks, but met with stiff resistance and by 1842 Abdul-Qader had the upper hand, until the arrival of fresh troops from France and mass massacres of the Muslim people. Following Morocco’s refusal to support him, Abdul-Qader surrendered to the French in 1847 and was sent to France as a prisoner. Years later, he was released, but not allowed to return to Algeria. He went to Syria where he died at the age of 75 years in Damascus, after writing a treatise on philosophy. Algeria became independent in 1961 after a post-World War 2 struggle during which the French killed more than one million Muslims.

Forty-five Thousand Algerian Muslims massacred by French army in a single day
On May 8 in 1945 AD, Algerian Muslims while celebrating in Setif, news of victory of the Allied forces in Europe over the Germans, and at the same time demanding the independence of their own country, were attacked by French occupation forces. In the resulting clashes, in addition to hundreds of Algerian deaths, some 103 French forces also lost their life. Five days later, the French military, including the notorious Foreign Legion, carried out summary executions of Algerians, while inaccessible Muslim villages were bombed by French aircraft, and the cruiser Duguay-Trouin standing off the coast in the Gulf of Bougie, shelled Kerrata. In jails, Algerian prisoners were lynched by French guards or randomly shot. As a result, over 12,000 Algerian men, women and children, were massacred by the French occupation forces. Some figures speak of as much as 45,000 deaths. This bloody incident intensified demands for Algerian independence and nine years later in 1954, the general uprising started against French colonial rule. Finally in 1962 after much bloodshed and the killing of at least one million Algerian Muslims, the French were forced to grant independence to Algeria.
On July 5, in 1962, Algeria gained independence following years of struggle against the French occupiers and the martyrdom of one million Algerians. The French had set foot in Algeria 1830, which led to intense struggle with Amir Abdul-Qader who resisted for 17 years, before his surrender. In early 20th Century, all of Algeria was dominated by France and the city of Algiers was the capital of French interim government during World War II, after which the Algerian people started their struggle for complete independence, under Ahmad bin Bella, who became the first president. Algeria covers an area of 2.38 million sq km and shares borders with Libya, Tunisia, Morocco, Niger, Mali, Mauritania, and Western Sahara.