Algeria: A History and Prospectus

Beginning in the early sixteenth century, Algeria was a province of the Ottoman Empire under the regency of Khair ad Din, a muslim privateer better known by the name of Barbarossa, or Red Beard, in the city of Algiers. His was the title of Belerbey (provincial governer) and he commanded some 2000 Ottoman soldiers. With these, he was able to subdue the coastal region.[1] During this period, privateering began to emerge as the main source of income for the Algerian state. Algeria and surrounding areas were responsible for piracy in the Mediterranean Sea, as well as the enslaving of captives[2]. Also, privateers of the Barbary States, as they were called, charged tribute to foreign merchant vessels actions which brought them into the first and second Barbary Wars with the United States of America. [3]

By 1800 the tribute amounted to some 20% of the US government annual revenues. Upon President Jefferson's inaugration in 1801, Jefferson refused a demand for tribute in the amount of $225,000. In 1801 the Barbary States declared war on the USA by cutting down the flagstaff in front of the US Consulate. Despite a treaty ending the first Barbary war in 1805, Algiers had resumed the taking of American ships and seamen by the year 1807. Unable to respond due to problems leading to the War of 1812, the USA would not respond until 1815, in the second Barbary War.[4]

Emboldened by the lack of action by the US, Barbary States recommenced the attacks on American merchant ships in the Mediteranean, and ransomed their crews. Busy with France and the United Kingdom, and lacking the resources to challenge the Barbary States, the US paid ransom for the return of captives once again. The Dey, as the leader of Algiers was known, then declared war on the US for failing to pay tribute, an action that went unanswered by the US.[5]

The War of 1812 concluded, the US set it's sight on the Barbary Coast. In 1815, a fleet of 10 ships was set against Algiers; by taking hundreds of prisoners in the attack, the US bargained a treaty and reparations from Algiers, ending the threat of piracy to the US vessels. The Dey repudiated the treaty shortly after, leading to the attack by an Anglo-Dutch fleet that forced a second treaty and ended the practice of enslaving Christians and opened the door for european encroachment.[6]

In 1830, France invaded and occupied the city of Algiers, citing a diplomatic incident invoving a �â'¬Å"fly-whisk attack�â'¬ï¿½ on the French consul by the Dey as the reason. French colonization then gradually penetrated southwards, and came to have a profound impact on the area and its populations. The conquest was, however, immediately met by a muslim jihad, led by Abd-al-Kader, which lasted several years. He finally surrendered to the the French general in the end of 1847. French colonists, most of whom were farmers and businessmen, eventually took control of land from muslim landholders by throwing them onto the free market. By then, Algeria had been attached to the Ministry of the Interior, endowed with a civil identity and an elected colonial assembly of delegations.[7]

In addition to being ruled by a foreign, non-Muslim power, and losing lands to the new colonists, the coming of the French saw the end of peace, science, education, and the cash economy.[8] Nonetheless, this period saw progress in health, some infrastructures, and the overall expansion of the economy of Algeria, as well as the formation of new social classes, which would help propel the country to independence.[9] A new generation of Muslim leadership emerged in Algeria at the time of World War I and grew to maturity during the 1920s and 1930s. Various groups were formed in opposition to French rule; the first being the North African Star (1925), the ineffective Army of National Liberation, and the most notable being the National Liberation Front and the National Algerian Movement.[10]

During World War II, Algerian troops fought on the Allied side, but when the victory celebrations in 1945 turned into demands for Algerian rights, the end of colonialism, and began to become violent, the French government under de Gaulle suppressed the protests. The massacres to come marked a turning point in Algerian history.[11]

It was on May 8th, when France celebrated the wars end, that deaths provoked a violent uprising by the Algerian population in and around Sétif. The army set villages on fire, and 1500 people were killed, according to official reports; other sources put the death toll as high as 40,000. Many nationalists started organizing for violent rebellion including use of terrorism.[12]

The revolt began on November 1, 1954, to gain rights denied them under French rule. The revolution, launched by a small group of nationalists who called themselves the National Liberation Front (FLN), used terrorist tactics, bombing and killing in over fifty separate actions that night.[13] Eventually, the conflict was concluded in 1962, with over 300,000 Algerian dead.[14] The Evian accords signed, giving Algeria independence, also gave colons equal legal protection with Algerians for a period of three years. After those three years, all Algerian residents were to become Algerian citizens, or become aliens, and face the loss of rights such a change entailed. The result was the exodus of one million pieds-noirs (european settlers) and harkis (muslim Algerians who fought for the French).[15] The Algerian War of Independence (1954�â'¬"62), was the turning point in the country's history. Although often Algerian killed Algerian, ultimately it would unite Algerians and ingrain the value of independence and anticolonialism into the hearts of the Algerians.[16]

In addition to the deaths directly attributed to the war, post-war infighting, starvation, disease, exposure and lynch trials of supposed traitors contributed to tens of thousands of deaths after the pullback of French troops, until the new Algerian government, led by Ahmed Ben Bella, formally elected the first president in 1962, was able to secure control. After providing that the only party to be allowed was the FLN, he was deposed in 1965 by Houari Boumedienne, who became president until 1978. Algeria remained a one party state until the 1990's.[17]

In 1989, a new constitution was adopted eliminating the word socialist, separated the FLN from the state, and gave Algerians the basic freedoms of expression, association, and meeting. It also allowed the formation of political groups other than the FLN. Parties that sprang up under the new constitution included the Berber Party, the Front of Socialist Forces, the Movement for Democracy in Algeria, and many other small parties, but the militant Islamic Salvation Front (FIS) was the most successful, winning in local and provincial elections in 1990 as well as in first stage of national elections held in 1991 despite the fact that party leaders were in jail.[18]

The surprising success for the fundamentalist FIS party in the 1991 balloting caused the army to revolt and reimpose martial law. The military then dominated control of the government and banned the FIS on the grounds that it was unconstitutional since political parties based on religion, race or regional identity were prohibited. The result was a significant number of Islamists arrested and tried by military courts, and close to 10,000 Algerians were sentenced to Saharan prison camps in 1992. The parties responded by banding together and becoming somewhat more radical, eventually leading to violence as the President was assasinated in June 1992. [19]

The military continued to dominate the government, eventually taking direct control of governance in 1994. In an attempt to appease the opposition, 5 senior leaders were even released from prison in September of 1994 and asked to help reconciliation efforts of the government towards the FIS. Unfortunately, increasing violence resulted, as splinter groups of the FIS formed, rejecting compromises, and began terrorist activities. Most radical was the GIA, Armed Islamic Group, which even kidnapped foreign ambassadors of Omani and Yemeni in 1994.[20]

Terrorism is only one of the problems that has been challenging modern Algeria. Large scale debt has forced Algeria to restructure its economy, which had devoted 96% of hydrocarbon export revenues to debt repayments in 1993. A drought in 1994 led to the starvation deaths of close to 1000 people monthly, and the lack of funds led to the decline of industrial output. Inflation was at 227% at one point, and agricultural losses were staggering. Also there is a severe housing shortage, since for nearly 40 years units needed exceeded the amount built by over 50%.[21]

In my opinion, the future of Algeria is going to hinge upon the economic success of Algeria. In my reading, it seems that a large amount of unrest can be attributed to the failure of the government to rise to the domestic challenges it has faced in the last decade. Terror and starvation, poor health and education do not instill a large amount of trust in a government where democracy is naught but a thin veneer. It may be necessary simply to allow the majority to rule and for Algeria to become an Islamist state, just to quell the violence and allow more of the focus of Algerian leaders to be on the health and welfare of it's people first. New industries must be created in a petroleum based economy, especially since the finite resources are expected to begin its' inexorable decline worldwide shortly after 2010 according to most projections.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Books:

Kraft, Joseph. The Struggle for Algeria (Doubleday, 1961)

Stora, Benjamin. Algeria 1830-2000 A Short History (Cornell University Press, 2001)

Web Sites:

Metz, Helen C. Algeria, �â'¬Å"AllRefer Reference�â'¬ï¿½ http://reference.allrefer.com

Author Unknown, Algerian War of Independence, �â'¬Å"Answers.com�â'¬ï¿½ http://www.answers.com

Author Unknown, History of Ottoman Algeria, �â'¬Å"Wikipedia �â'¬" The Free Encyclopedia,�â'¬ï¿½ http://en.wikipedia.org

Author Unknown, Rise of Islam in Algeria, �â'¬Å"Wikipedia �â'¬" The Free Encyclopedia,�â'¬ï¿½

http://en.wikipedia.org

Author Unknown, Barbary Wars, �â'¬Å"Wikipedia �â'¬" The Free Encyclopedia,�â'¬ï¿½

http://en.wikipedia.org

Author Unknown, First Barbary War, �â'¬Å"Wikipedia �â'¬" The Free Encyclopedia,�â'¬ï¿½ http://en.wikipedia.org

Author Unknown, Second Barbary War, �â'¬Å"Wikipedia �â'¬" The Free Encyclopedia,�â'¬ï¿½ http://en.wikipedia.org

[1] Author Unknown, History of Ottoman Algeria, �â'¬Å"Wikipedia �â'¬" The Free Encyclopedia,�â'¬ï¿½ http://en.wikipedia.org page 1

[2] Author Unknown, Rise of Islam in Algeria, �â'¬Å"Wikipedia �â'¬" The Free Encyclopedia,�â'¬ï¿½ http://en.wikipedia.org pages 5-6

[3] Author Unknown, First Barbary War, �â'¬Å"Wikipedia �â'¬" The Free Encyclopedia,�â'¬ï¿½ http://en.wikipedia.org page 1, Also Barbary Wars, �â'¬Å"Wikipedia�â'¬ï¿½ page 1

[4]ibid., pages 2-3

[5] Author Unknown, Second Barbary War, �â'¬Å"Wikipedia �â'¬" The Free Encyclopedia,�â'¬ï¿½ http://en.wikipedia.org page 1

[6] ibid., page 1

[7] Benjamin Stora, �â'¬Å"Introduction�â'¬ï¿½ , Algeria 1830-2000 A Short History (Cornell University Press, 2001) pp. 3-6

[8] Joseph Kraft, �â'¬Å"Native Grounds�â'¬ï¿½, The Struggle for Algeria (Doubleday, 1961) p. 18

[9] ibid, p. 18

[10] ibid, pp. 56-81

[11] Joseph Kraft, The Struggle, pp. 62-63

[12] ibid, pp. 62-65

[13] ibid, p 69

[14] Helen C Metz, Algeria, �â'¬Å"AllRefer Reference�â'¬ï¿½ http://reference.allrefer.com/ p. 4

[15] Author Unknown, Algerian War of Independence, �â'¬Å"Answers.com�â'¬ï¿½ http://www.answers.com pp

[16] Author Unknown, History of Algeria, �â'¬Å"Wikipedia,�â'¬ï¿½ page 2

[17] Unknown, Answers.com, p. 10

[18] Helen C Metz, Algeria, �â'¬Å"AllRefer Reference�â'¬ï¿½ http://reference.allrefer.com/ pp. 6-7

[19]Helen C Metz, Algeria, �â'¬Å"AllRefer Reference�â'¬ï¿½ http://reference.allrefer.com/ p. 9-10

[20] ibid, pp 11-12

[21] Helen C Metz, Algeria, �â'¬Å"AllRefer Reference�â'¬ï¿½ http://reference.allrefer.com/ pp. 17-19