Thread by @cbkwgl

There are very few events in the world which mark a tectonic shift in narrative - and generally, we don't know about most of them. Let me take one such - French Conquest of Algeria. Why is it special? It is probably the first time after Crusades

(ignore Russia's Caucasus and Central Asian exploits) that a Christian Country invaded a Muslim country and tried to annex it to it's home territory. Colonization of Muslim territories were there as like in Philippines or in Indonesia but it was just a distant army using locals

to run the show. Now, back to Algeria. Algeirs is one of the main seats of Barbary Pirates who feasted on European shipping - in fact, even as late as 1800, USA had to shell out 20% of it's annual income as protection money!!

One woulf expect French conquest of Algeirs was a consequence of piracy. But, no. It was a case of loan default which the king was trying to avoid. Remember the slaughter of Knights Templar? It was more about their robust banking system than their heresy.

Or the ejection of Jews by Henry of England, don't know the number. So, what's the thing with Algiers? In 1795, France bought wheat from two Algiers based Jewish traders and refused to pay up. The Jews, themselves were in debt to the Dey of Algiers and

declared they can't cough up money without France paying back. The Dey tried to negotiate with the French Ambassador, Deval whom he believed colluded with the merchants to stop the payment. Even till 1820, nothing was paid. This topic also came during Napoleon's reign but

he too refused to pay. As if this isn't enough, Deval's nephew fortified French store houses going against prior pacts. The discussions dragged on and in 1827, in a heated argument, the Dey hit Deval with his fly whisk. It has become a national insult now, and should be avenged!!

What of the refusal to payback the debts? Who cares? In fact, one can declare war and cancel out the debts, right? That's exactly what the French did. France put Algiers on blockade. Nothing happened - only the French traders suffered.

They tried to drag Egypt's Muhammad Ali into their fight but he refused. An invasion force was then commissioned. Anyways, the king is unpopular. Why not use the national insult to garner some popular support? What went against Algeria? Industrial revolution and Napoleonic Wars.

Their weaponry and tactics were no match to the French. In spite of that, they held ground. After a month of pitched battles, the French entered Algiers. The Dey ultimately negotiated surrender under the promise of a safe exile. Everything was well till then.

But, two things went against the peaceful surrender - colonial excesses and religion. Arrest, loot and desecration of religious structures became a norm. Amount to the tune of 50 million francs was looted in Algiers in the first two months.

The ruling Turkish authorities were ejected even without giving them a chance to settle their affairs. On one side, the Turks lost huge amounts of money and on the other side, Algiers was devoid of administrators whom the people trusted.

The whole of the Deylik erupted into rebellion and it took 75 years for the French to subdue the province. An estimate of 15%-35% of Algerians were killed during this brutal subjugation. On the other hand, the news of fall of Algiers didn't help the French king Charles much -

he himself was deposed but the invasion was still popular. After the dressing France got during the last days of Napoleon, this was naturally, a welcome change, morality of waging a war irrespective. The French commander of Algiers tried to march in support of the deposed king

but his troops refused. He had to flee into exile. And on the other had, the fight has only begun now. The Bey of Titteri tried to present a united front. French marched on his capital, Medea with 8000 and the city fell without a fight - the Bey simply retreated.

There is one another aspect why the French faced that stiff resistance - subsidizing settlement of European farmers after snatching it from the locals. Slowly, this became a business of the army and naturally increased the demand for French presence in Algeria.

The other Beys were watching all this. Naturally, when the French tried to negotiate with them, they refused. Even the areas they held were not secure enough. The new Bey at Medea was hated and a need arose to extract him and the French garrison from the town in 1831.

He was extracted, fine, but the army was harassed by the locals on it's return to Algiers - the retreat costed them 300 soldiers. Cities like Bone and Bougie changed hands many times till 1835. In 1834, the French declared conquest "complete".

In fact, there was resistance everywhere - Two wars were fought at Blida in 1830 and French lost both the times. The place was taken only by 1839. It took 18 months to suppress the guerilla resistance at Hadjout and the province was pacified only by 1837 - two years later.

Amidst all this, the Algerians got a charismatic religious leader, Abdul Qadir who entered the fight at Oran in 1832 and made him the king in Mascara. The French had to sign a pact with him - they recognized his rule, but he didn't recongize their's!!

And he is constantly expanding his influence. The first fight came in 1835 when the French tried to convert two tribes and Abdul Qadir forcibly intervened and sent them to the interior - away from French influence. This erupted into open war in due time and a French Army

which fought the Emir to a standstill was trapped in retreat and had to face massive casualties. Another invasion force was sent against him and Abdul Qadir simply retreated. They setup a base at Tlemcen which only saw hell fro Abdul Qadir.

Another troop was sent, and this time Abdul Qadir was defeated in a pitched battle, losing a thousand. He rarely fought a war after, fighting always as a guerilla.

Amidst all this, the French attacked another powerful holdout - Constantine. A French army of 8700 sent against Ahmed Bey, the Bey of Constantine was crushed in 1836. After a pitched war, the Fort of Cosntantine fell the next year, but the French Governor of Algeria was killed.

The Bey simply retreated and fought a guerilla war till 1848 when he gave up.

On the other hand, the French signed peace with Abdul Qadir which it breached in 1839. Though there were some reverses, the campaign was a general success for Abdul Qadir. He held ground till 1843 and was subdued only when the French initiated

indiscriminate slaughter and scorched earth policy against him. Even though his headquarters were raided and his warchest was captured, nothing much changed - he retreated into Morocco with the king supporting him - in 1844, Morocco was forced to stop supporting him through a war

and a string of pitched battles against Abdul Qadir's troops in 1845 broke his power. The French fared no better either - they were ambushed and they lost heavily in all the campaign and ultimately, Abdul Qadir was forced to surrender in 1847 at the promise of a safe exile.

But, French broke the terms again and deported him to France and was allowed to move to Damascus in 1852 after Ottoman pressure. In effect, that was the end of organized resistance - but there were flare ups like in 1871 when one third of Algeria rebelled.

In 1881, the French marched into the Sahara. The army was annihilated. A fresh army was sent in 1902 and the conquest of Algeria was complete by the next year. Was it because of French colonial mindset or was it because of religion,

the ultimate result was that the French took Algeria amidst much slaughter and frequent rebellions and were able to hold the territory for what? A maximum of less than 150 years from start to finish?