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The Villa Montfeld is an historic residence in the El Biar district of Algiers , Algeria , which serves as the residence of the Ambassador of the United States to Algeria . The villa was built in the mid-19th century and was reconstructed in a Moorish Revival style by the English architect Benjamin Bucknall between 1878 and 1895. In 1947 the villa was bought by the United States government for use as an ambassadorial residence. In 1981 Villa Montfeld hosted negotiations leading to the Algiers Accords , which ended the Iran hostage crisis .

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84-460: The original mansion at Montfeld was built by French investors after France's invasion in 1830. From the 1860s, it was owned by a succession of British expatriates including, from 1863, Anna Leigh Smith, daughter of Benjamin Leigh Smith , a wealthy politician . Anna, whose sister Barbara Bodichon was a noted artist and feminist , was responsible for the rebuilding of the villa, initially in

168-519: A Gothic Revival style. In 1878 she engaged the architect Benjamin Bucknall (1833-1895) to reconstruct the villa to a Moorish Revival design. Bucknall, who had wintered in Algiers in 1876-7 on account of his poor health, relocated permanently to the city in 1878. He died there in 1895, having established a successful architectural practice specialising in the building and reconstruction of villas in

252-509: A client state , is a state that is economically, politically, and militarily subordinated to a more powerful controlling state . Alternative terms for a client state are satellite state , associated state , and dominion , condominium , self-governing colony , and neo-colony , protectorate , vassal state , puppet state , and tributary state . Ancient states such as Persia and Parthia , Greek city-states , Ancient China and Ancient Rome sometimes created client states by making

336-738: A punitive expedition , the August 1816 bombardment of Algiers . The Dey was forced to sign the Barbary treaties , because the technological advantage of U.S., British, and French forces overwhelmed the Algerians' expertise at naval warfare . Following the conquest under the July monarchy , France referred to the Algerian territories as "French possessions in North Africa". This was disputed by

420-552: A base for conflict and piracy in the Mediterranean basin. In 1681, Louis XIV asked Admiral Abraham Duquesne to fight the Berber pirates . He also ordered a large-scale attack on Algiers between 1682 and 1683 on the pretext of assisting and rescuing enslaved Christians, usually Europeans taken as captives in raids. Again, Jean II d'Estrées bombarded Tripoli and Algiers from 1685 to 1688. An ambassador from Algiers visited

504-460: A favorable peace treaty the next year. The treaty of Tafna gained conditional recognition for Abd al Qadir's regime by defining the territory under its control and salvaged his prestige among the tribes just as the shaykhs were about to desert him. To provoke new hostilities, the French deliberately broke the treaty in 1839 by occupying Constantine . Abd al Qadir took up the holy war again, destroyed

588-572: A mixed system of "total domination and total colonization" whereby French military would wage total war against civilian populations while a colonial administration would provide rule of law and property rights to settlers within French occupied cities. Some governments and scholars have called France's conquest of Algeria a genocide . For example, Ben Kiernan , an Australian expert on Cambodian genocide wrote in Blood and Soil: A World History of Genocide and Extermination from Sparta to Darfur on

672-491: A move deeply unpopular by the French colonists. As a recognized jurisdiction of France, Algeria became a destination for hundreds of thousands of European immigrants. They were first known as colons , and later as pieds-noirs , a term applied primarily to ethnic Europeans born in Algeria. The indigenous Muslim population comprised the majority of the territory throughout its history. Gradually, dissatisfaction among

756-581: A mysterious man arrived in Kabiliya. He presented himself as Mohamed ben Abdallah (the name of the Prophet ), but is more commonly known as Sherif Boubaghla . He was probably a former lieutenant in the army of Emir Abdelkader , defeated for the last time by the French in 1847. Boubaghla refused to surrender at that battle, and retreated to Kabylia. From there he began a war against the French armies and their allies, often employing guerrilla tactics. Boubaghla

840-516: A policy of penetration." —Ben Kiernan, Blood and Soil When France recognized the Armenian genocide , Turkey accused France of having committed genocide against 15% of Algeria's population. On 1 December 1830, King Louis-Philippe named the Duc de Rovigo as head of military staff in Algeria. De Rovigo took control of Bône and initiated colonisation of the land. He was recalled in 1833 due to

924-576: A policy which was continued up until the 1st century BCE when it became the Roman Empire . Sometimes the client was not a former enemy but a pretender whom Rome helped, Herod the Great being a well-known example. The use of client states continued through the Middle Ages as the feudal system began to take hold. The number of tributary or vassal states varied over time but most notable were

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1008-583: A resourceful warrior. From his capital in Tlemcen , Abd al Qadir set about building a territorial Muslim state based on the communities of the interior but drawing its strength from the tribes and religious brotherhoods. By 1839, he controlled more than two-thirds of Algeria. His government maintained an army and a bureaucracy, collected taxes, supported education, undertook public works, and established agricultural and manufacturing cooperatives to stimulate economic activity. The French in Algiers viewed with concern

1092-506: A speech in 2017 acknowledging the inclusion, the American ambassador noted the “very important role” played by the villa in US diplomatic history. French Algeria French Algeria ( French : Alger until 1839, then Algérie afterwards; unofficially Algérie française , Arabic : الجزائر المستعمرة ), also known as Colonial Algeria , was the period of Algerian history when

1176-580: A sphere of influence, or Françafrique over its former African colonies , and to some degree former Belgian colonies in Africa (which were also French-speaking). The term is sometimes used pejoratively, to characterise the relationship with France as neocolonial. The former colonies provide oil and minerals important to the French economy , and in some, French companies have commercial interests. The Indian princely states were nominally sovereign entities in

1260-717: A status where the local rulers were British clients. Other instances include Africa (e.g. Northern Nigeria under Lord Lugard ), and the Unfederated Malay States ; the policy of indirect rule . The term has also been applied to states which are extremely economically dependent on a more powerful nation. The three Pacific Ocean countries associated with the United States under the Compact of Free Association (the Federated States of Micronesia ,

1344-582: Is for their part that civilization is situated." French forces deported and banished entire Algerian tribes. The Moorish families of Tlemcen were exiled to the Orient, and others were emigrated elsewhere. The tribes that were considered too troublesome were banned, and some took refuge in Tunisia, Morocco and Syria or were deported to New Caledonia or Guyana. Also, French forces also engaged in wholesale massacres of entire tribes. All 500 men, women and children of

1428-475: The Algerian War (1954-1962), the French used deliberate illegal methods against the Algerians, including (as described by Henri Alleg , who himself had been tortured, and historians such as Raphaëlle Branche) beatings, torture by electroshock, waterboarding , burns, and rape. Prisoners were also locked up without food in small cells, buried alive , and thrown from helicopters to their death or into

1512-563: The British Empire and in 1947, were given a choice to either accede to independent India or Pakistan or get independence (the Nizam of Hyderabad did opt for independence but his kingdom was annexed by Indian forces in 1948). Egyptian independence in 1922 ended its brief status as a British protectorate and Iraq was made a kingdom in 1932. But in both cases, the economic and military reality did not amount to full independence, but

1596-743: The Count of Villèle , an ultra-royalist , President of the council and the monarch's heir, opposed any military action. The Bourbon Restoration government finally decided to blockade Algiers for three years. Meanwhile, the Berber pirates were able to exploit the geography of the coast with ease. Before the failure of the blockade, the Restoration decided on 31 January 1830 to engage a military expedition against Algiers. Admiral Duperré commanded an armada of 600 ships that originated from Toulon , leading it to Algiers. Using Napoleon 's 1808 contingency plan for

1680-589: The First French Empire , while Napoleon I and the French Army occupied much of Europe , such states changed, and several new states were formed. The Italian republics were transformed into the Kingdom of Italy under Napoleon's direct rule in the north, and the Kingdom of Naples in the south, first under Joseph Bonaparte and later under Marshal Joachim Murat . A third state was created in

1764-989: The French Revolutionary Wars , these states were erected as " Républiques soeurs " (" sister republics "). They were established in Italy (the Cisalpine Republic in Northern Italy and the Parthenopean Republic in Southern Italy ), Greece ( Îles Ioniennes ), Switzerland (the Helvetic Republic and the Rhodanic Republic ), and Belgium and the Netherlands ( Batavian Republic ). During

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1848-517: The French army . One by one, the amir's strongholds fell to the French, and many of his ablest commanders were killed or captured so that by 1843 the Muslim state had collapsed. Abd al Qadir took refuge in 1841 with his ally, the sultan of Morocco , Abd ar Rahman II , and launched raids into Algeria. This alliance led the French Navy to bombard and briefly occupy Essaouira ( Mogador ) under

1932-715: The Khanate of Crimea , Wallachia , Moldavia , Transylvania , the Sharifate of Mecca , and the Sultanate of Aceh . Austria-Hungary tried to make Serbia a client state in order to form a Christian opposition to the Ottoman Empire , but after the 1903 May Coup , Serbia came under the influence of Russia , which was forming a pan- Eastern Orthodox opposition to the Latin Christianity represented by

2016-665: The Kingdom of Westphalia , which was controlled by Jérôme Bonaparte , the Emperor's youngest brother; and the Grand Duchy of Würzburg as was Poland, then the Duchy of Warsaw . During the French invasion of the Iberian Peninsula , Napoleon attempted to subjugate Portugal and Spain into a client Kingdom of Spain , but the French were eventually driven out of Iberia in a costly war. In the 20th century, France exercised

2100-467: The Marquesas Islands or elsewhere. In one word, annihilate everything that will not crawl beneath our feet like dogs. Whatever initial misgivings Louis Philippe's government may have had about occupying Algeria, the geopolitical realities of the situation created by the 1830 intervention argued strongly for reinforcing French presence there. France had reason for concern that Britain , which

2184-824: The Marshall Islands , and Palau ) have been called client states. In the late 19th century, the Empire of Japan gradually reduced Joseon Korea 's status to that of a client state. In the early 20th century, this was converted to direct rule . Manchukuo , in contrast, remained a puppet state throughout World War II. Soviet proxy, "satellite" , or client states included much of the Warsaw Pact member states whose policies were heavily influenced by Soviet military power and economic aid. Other nations with Marxist–Leninist governments were routinely criticised as being Soviet proxies as well, among them Cuba following

2268-462: The Mitidja Plain and envisioned the large-scale production there of cotton . As governor-general (1835–36), he used his office to make private investments in land and encouraged army officers and bureaucrats in his administration to do the same. This development created a vested interest among government officials in greater French involvement in Algeria. Commercial interests with influence in

2352-539: The Ottoman Empire , then led by Mahmud II but enjoyed relative independence. The Barbary Coast was the stronghold of Berber pirates, who carried out raids against European and American ships. Conflicts between the Barbary States and the newly independent United States of America culminated in the First (1801–05) and Second (1815) Barbary Wars. An Anglo-Dutch force, led by Admiral Lord Exmouth , carried out

2436-513: The Prince de Joinville on August 16, 1844. A French force was destroyed at the Battle of Sidi-Brahim in 1845. However, Abd al Qadir was obliged to surrender to the commander of Oran Province, General Louis de Lamoricière , at the end of 1847. Abd al Qadir was promised safe conduct to Egypt or Palestine if his followers laid down their arms and kept the peace. He accepted these conditions, but

2520-613: The Three Glorious Days of July 1830, and his cousin Louis-Philippe , the "citizen king ," was named to preside over a constitutional monarchy . The new government, composed of liberal opponents of the Algiers expedition, was reluctant to pursue the conquest begun by the old regime, but withdrawing from Algeria proved more difficult than conquering it. Alexis de Tocqueville 's views on Algeria were instrumental in its brutal and formal colonization. He advocated for

2604-533: The locust plagues of 1866 and 1868, as well as by a rigorous winter in 1867–68, which caused a famine followed by an epidemic of cholera . The French began their occupation of Algiers in 1830, starting with a landing in Algiers . As occupation turned into colonization, Kabylia remained the only region independent of the French government. Pressure on the region increased, and the will of her people to resist and defend Kabylia increased as well. In about 1849,

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2688-403: The Algerian population. Colonel Lucien de Montagnac stated that the purpose of the pacification was to "destroy everything that will not crawl beneath our feet like dogs" The scorched earth policy, decided by Governor General Thomas Robert Bugeaud , had devastating effects on the socio-economic and food balances of the country: "we fire little gunshot, we burn all douars, all villages, all huts;

2772-638: The Austro-Hungarian Empire. In 1914, Russia repeatedly warned Austria-Hungary against attacking Serbia. When it did attack, Russia mobilised its army. Russia also wanted Bulgaria and Montenegro as client states. At the time, Great Britain and Austria-Hungary both considered Serbia as a client state controlled by Russia. During the Revolutionary and Napoleonic eras (1789–1815), France conquered most of western Europe and established several client states. At first, during

2856-800: The Court in Versailles, and a treaty was signed in 1690 that provided peace throughout the 18th century. During the Directory regime of the First French Republic (1795–99), the Bacri and the Busnach, Jewish merchants of Algiers, provided large quantities of grain for Napoleon's soldiers who participated in the Italian campaign of 1796. But Bonaparte refused to pay the bill, claiming it

2940-537: The El Oufia tribe were killed in one night, while all 500 to 700 members of the Ouled Rhia tribe were killed by suffocation in a cave. The Siege of Laghouat is referred by Algerians as the year of the "Khalya ," Arabic for emptiness, which is commonly known to the inhabitants of Laghouat as the year that the city was emptied of its population. It is also commonly known as the year of Hessian sacks, referring to

3024-592: The French Christian troops and to belligerent calls for jihad from the marabouts . Despite the diplomatic rupture between Morocco and the Two Sicilies in 1830, and the naval warfare engaged against the Austrian Empire as well as with Spain , then headed by Ferdinand VII , Sultan Abderrahmane lent his support to the Algerian insurgency of Abd El-Kader . The latter fought for years against

3108-400: The French and their makhzen allies at Oran in 1832. In the same year, jihad was declared and to lead it tribal elders chose Muhyi ad Din's son, twenty-five-year-old Abd al Qadir . Abd al Qadir, who was recognized as Amir al-Muminin (commander of the faithful), quickly gained the support of tribes throughout Algeria. A devout and austere marabout, he was also a cunning political leader and

3192-452: The French army has set foot. Who wants the end wants the means, whatever may say our philanthropists. I personally warn all good soldiers whom I have the honour to lead that if they happen to bring me a living Arab, they will receive a beating with the flat of the saber.... This is how, my dear friend, we must make war against Arabs: kill all men over the age of fifteen, take all their women and children, load them onto naval vessels, send them to

3276-548: The French captured Constantine under Sylvain Charles Valée the following year, on 13 October 1837. Historians generally set the indigenous population of Algeria at 3 million in 1830. Although the Algerian population decreased at some point under French rule, most certainly between 1866 and 1872, the French military was not fully responsible for the extent of this decrease, as some of these deaths could be explained by

3360-504: The French conquest as genocide . Algeria was ruled as a colony from 1830 to 1848, and then as multiple departments, an integral part of France , with the implementing of the Constitution of French Second Republic on 4 November 1848, until Algerian independence in 1962. For a period between 1860 and 1870, the then-French emperor Napoleon III transformed Algeria into a client state , expanding freedoms, and limiting colonisation,

3444-457: The French conquest of Algeria : By 1875, the French conquest was complete. The war had killed approximately 825,000 indigenous Algerians since 1830. A long shadow of genocidal hatred persisted, provoking a French author to protest in 1882 that in Algeria, "we hear it repeated every day that we must expel the native and, if necessary, destroy him." As a French statistical journal urged five years later, "the system of extermination must give way to

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3528-476: The French during the Algerian War during the 1950s against Algerians include deliberate bombing and killing of unarmed civilians, rape, torture , executions through " death flights " or burial alive , thefts and pillaging. Up to 2 million Algerian civilians were also deported in internment camps. During the Pacification of Algeria (1835-1903) French forces engaged in a scorched earth policy against

3612-469: The French general Jacques Louis César Randon was caught but managed to escape later. On 26 December 1854, Boubaghla was killed; some sources claim it was due to treason of some of his allies. The resistance was left without a charismatic leader and a commander able to guide it efficiently. For this reason, during the first months of 1855, on a sanctuary built on top of the Azru Nethor peak, not far from

3696-563: The French settlements on the Mitidja Plain, and at one point advanced to the outskirts of Algiers itself. He struck where the French were weakest and retreated when they advanced against him in greater strength. The government moved from camp to camp with the amir and his army. Gradually, however, superior French resources and manpower and the defection of tribal chieftains took their toll. Reinforcements poured into Algeria after 1840 until Bugeaud had at his disposal 108,000 men, one-third of

3780-535: The French. Directing an army of 12,000 men, Abd El-Kader first organized the blockade of Oran. Algerian refugees were welcomed by the Moroccan population, while the Sultan recommended that the authorities of Tetuan assist them, by providing jobs in the administration or the military forces. The inhabitants of Tlemcen , near the Moroccan border, asked that they be placed under the Sultan's authority in order to escape

3864-807: The French. The war ended in 1962, with Algeria gaining independence following the Évian Accords in March 1962 and a self-determination referendum in July 1962. During its last years as part of France, Algeria was a founding member of the European Coal and Steel Community and the European Economic Community . Since the capture of Algiers in 1516 by the Ottoman admirals, brothers Ours and Hayreddin Barbarossa , Algeria had been

3948-479: The Italian Peninsula, the Kingdom of Etruria . The Batavian Republic was replaced by the Kingdom of Holland , ruled by Napoleon's third brother, Louis Bonaparte . A total of 35 German states, all of them allies of France, seceded from the Holy Roman Empire to create the Confederation of the Rhine , a client state created to provide a buffer between France and its two largest enemies to the east, Prussia and Austria . Two of those states were Napoleonic creations:

4032-425: The Moorish style. During World War II the villa was occupied by General Georges Catroux , appointed Governor-General of Algeria by Charles De Gaulle in 1943. Harold Macmillan , then serving as Minister Resident in the Mediterranean, recorded the Catroux's arrival; "Now a great event has taken place in the social life of Algiers. The famous Mme Catroux has arrived!! Catroux - I need hardly say - has managed to get

4116-429: The Muslim population, due to their lack of political and economic freedom, fueled calls for greater political autonomy , and eventually independence from France. The Sétif and Guelma massacre , in 1945, marked a point of no return in Franco-Algerian relations and led to the outbreak of the Algerian War which was characterised by the use guerrilla warfare by National Liberation Front , and crimes against humanity by

4200-423: The Ottoman Empire, which had not given up its claim. In 1839 Marshal General Jean-de-Dieu Soult , Duke of Dalmatia, first named these territories as "Algeria". The invasion of Algeria against the Regency of Algiers (Ottoman Algeria) was initiated in the last days of the Bourbon Restoration by Charles X , as an attempt to increase his popularity amongst the French people. He particularly hoped to appeal to

4284-457: The advantage on 19 June during the battle of Staouéli , and entered Algiers on 5 July after a three-week campaign. The dey agreed to surrender in exchange for his freedom and the offer to retain possession of his personal wealth. Five days later, he exiled himself with his family, departing on a French ship for the Italian peninsula . 2,500 janissaries also quit the Algerian territories, heading for Asia, on 11 July. The French army then recruited

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4368-436: The best villa in the city for himself." After the war, Villa Montfeld was purchased by the American Government for use as their ambassadorial residence, a function it continues to serve. In 1980-81, the villa was used by Warren Christopher , the US Deputy Secretary of State under Jimmy Carter , as his headquarters during the negotiation of the Algiers Accords . The accords, facilitated by the Algerian Government and signed on

4452-428: The coast in the Gulf of Bougie, shelled Kherrata. Vigilantes lynched prisoners taken from local jails or randomly shot Muslims not wearing white arm bands (as instructed by the army) out of hand. It is certain that the great majority of the Muslim victims had not been implicated in the original outbreak. The dead bodies in Guelma were buried in mass graves, but they were later dug up and burned in Héliopolis . During

4536-483: The country was a colony and later an integral part of France . French rule lasted until the end of the Algerian War which resulted in Algeria gaining independence on 5 July 1962. The French conquest of Algeria began in 1830 with the invasion of Algiers which toppled the Regency of Algiers , though Algeria was not fully conquered and pacified until 1903. It is estimated that by 1875, approximately 825,000 indigenous Algerians were killed. Various scholars describe

4620-406: The dey and claimed they could not pay it until France paid its debts to them. The dey had unsuccessfully negotiated with Pierre Deval , the French consul, to rectify this situation, and he suspected Deval of collaborating with the merchants against him, especially when the French government made no provisions in 1820 to pay the merchants. Deval's nephew Alexandre, the consul in Bône , further angered

4704-400: The dey by fortifying French storehouses in Bône and La Calle , contrary to the terms of prior agreements. After a contentious meeting in which Deval refused to provide satisfactory answers on 29 April 1827, the dey struck Deval with his fly whisk . Charles X used this slight against his diplomatic representative to first demand an apology from the dey, and then to initiate a blockade against

4788-405: The enemy flees across taking his flock." According to Olivier Le Cour Grandmaison , the colonization of Algeria led to the extermination of a third of the population from multiple causes (massacres, deportations, famines or epidemics) that were all interrelated. Returning from an investigation trip to Algeria, Tocqueville wrote that "we make war much more barbaric than the Arabs themselves [...] it

4872-399: The first zouaves (a title given to certain light infantry regiments) in October, followed by the spahis regiments, while France expropriated all the land properties belonging to the Turkish settlers , known as Beliks . In the western region of Oran , Sultan Abderrahmane of Morocco , the Commander of the Faithful , could not remain indifferent to the massacres committed by

4956-515: The government also began to recognize the prospects for profitable land speculation in expanding the French zone of occupation. They created large agricultural tracts, built factories and businesses, and hired local labor. Among others testimonies, Lieutenant-colonel Lucien de Montagnac wrote on 15 March 1843, in a letter to a friend: All populations who do not accept our conditions must be despoiled. Everything must be seized, devastated, without age or sex distinction: grass must not grow any more where

5040-404: The invaders. Abderrahmane named his nephew Prince Moulay Ali Caliph of Tlemcen, charged with the protection of the city. In retaliation France executed two Moroccans: Mohamed Beliano and Benkirane, as spies, while their goods were seized by the military governor of Oran, Pierre François Xavier Boyer . Hardly had the news of the capture of Algiers reached Paris than Charles X was deposed during

5124-499: The invasion of Algeria, General de Bourmont then landed 27 kilometres (17 mi) west of Algiers, at Sidi Ferruch on 14 June 1830, with 34,000 soldiers. In response to the French, the Algerian dey ordered an opposition consisting of 7,000 janissaries , 19,000 troops from the beys of Constantine and Oran , and about 17,000 Kabyles . The French established a strong beachhead and pushed toward Algiers, thanks in part to superior artillery and better organization. The French troops took

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5208-404: The last evening of Carter's Presidency on 19 January 1981, brought the end of the Iran hostage crisis . The Villa Montfeld is listed on the Register of Culturally Significant Property , an archive complied by the United States Department of State as a commemorative Millennium project to record the buildings of historic and architectural importance owned by the State Department worldwide. In

5292-509: The leaders of that state subservient, having to provide tribute and soldiers. Classical Athens , for example, forced weaker states into the Delian League and in some cases imposed democratic governments on them. Later, Philip II of Macedon similarly imposed the League of Corinth . One of the most prolific users of client states was Republican Rome which, instead of conquering and then absorbing into an empire, chose to make client states out of those it defeated (e.g. Demetrius of Pharos ),

5376-411: The many veterans of the Napoleonic Wars who lived in Paris. His intention was to bolster patriotic sentiment, and distract attention from ineptly handled domestic policies by "skirmishing against the dey." In the 1790s, France had contracted to purchase wheat for the French army from two merchants in Algiers, Messrs. Bacri and Boushnak, and was in arrears paying them. Bacri and Boushnak owed money to

5460-436: The marchers and the local French gendarmerie, when the latter tried to seize banners attacking colonial rule. After five days, the French colonial military and police suppressed the rebellion, and then carried out a series of reprisals against Muslim civilians. The army carried out summary executions of Muslim rural communities. Less accessible villages were bombed by French aircraft, and cruiser Duguay-Trouin , standing off

5544-461: The minister of war — who years earlier as general in Algeria had been badly defeated by Abd al Qadir — had him consigned in France in the Château d'Amboise . According to Ben Kiernan , colonization and genocidal massacres proceeded in tandem. Within the first three decades (1830–1860) of French conquest, between 500,000 and 1,000,000 Algerians, out of a total of 3 million, were killed due to war, massacres, disease and famine. Atrocities committed by

5628-402: The overtly violent nature of the repression. Wishing to avoid a conflict with Morocco, Louis-Philippe sent an extraordinary mission to the sultan, mixed with displays of military might, sending war ships to the Bay of Tangier . An ambassador was sent to Sultan Moulay Abderrahmane in February 1832, headed by the Count Charles-Edgar de Mornay and including the painter Eugène Delacroix . However

5712-414: The port of Algiers. France demanded that the dey send an ambassador to France to resolve the incident. When the dey responded with cannon fire directed toward one of the blockading ships, the French determined that more forceful action was required. Pierre Deval and other French residents of Algiers left for France, while the Minister of War , Clermont-Tonnerre , proposed a military expedition. However,

5796-718: The sea with concrete on their feet. Claude Bourdet had denounced these acts on 6 December 1951, in the magazine L'Observateur , rhetorically asking, "Is there a Gestapo in Algeria? ." D. Huf, in his seminal work on the subject, argued that the use of torture was one of the major factors in developing French opposition to the war. Huf argued, "Such tactics sat uncomfortably with France's revolutionary history, and brought unbearable comparisons with Nazi Germany . The French national psyche would not tolerate any parallels between their experiences of occupation and their colonial mastery of Algeria." General Paul Aussaresses admitted in 2000 that systematic torture techniques were used during

5880-402: The success of a Muslim government and the rapid growth of a viable territorial state that barred the extension of European settlement. Abd al Qadir fought running battles across Algeria with French forces, which included units of the Foreign Legion, organized in 1831 for Algerian service. Although his forces were defeated by the French under General Thomas Bugeaud in 1836, Abd al Qadir negotiated

5964-426: The sultan refused French demands that he evacuate Tlemcen . In 1834, France annexed as a colony the occupied areas of Algeria, which had an estimated Muslim population of about two million. Colonial administration in the occupied areas — the so-called régime du sabre (government of the sword) — was placed under a governor-general , a high-ranking army officer invested with civil and military jurisdiction, who

6048-416: The traditional submission as a slave to a husband. In fact, at that time Boubaghla left his first wife (Fatima Bent Sidi Aissa) and sent back to her owner a slave he had as a concubine (Halima Bent Messaoud). But on her side, Lalla Fadhma wasn't free: even if she was recognized as tamnafeqt ("woman who left her husband to get back to his family ," a Kabylia institution), the matrimonial tie with her husband

6132-529: The use of torture during the war. In June 2000, Bigeard declared that he was based in Sidi Ferruch , a torture center where Algerians were murdered. Bigeard qualified Louisette Ighilahriz 's revelations, published in the Le Monde newspaper on June 20, 2000, as "lies." An ALN activist, Louisette Ighilahriz had been tortured by General Massu. However, since General Massu's revelations, Bigeard has admitted

6216-425: The use of torture, although he denies having personally used it, and has declared, "You are striking the heart of an 84-year-old man." Bigeard also recognized that Larbi Ben M'Hidi was assassinated and that his death was disguised as a suicide. In 2018 France officially admitted that torture was systematic and routine. Client state List of forms of government In the field of international relations ,

6300-524: The village where Fadhma was born, there was a great council among combatants and important figures of the tribes in Kabylie. They decided to grant Lalla Fadhma, assisted by her brothers, the command of combat. The French faced other opposition as well in the area. The superior of a religious brotherhood, Muhyi ad Din , who had spent time in Ottoman jails for opposing the bey's rule, launched attacks against

6384-419: The war against the French. With her inspiring speeches, she convinced many men to fight as imseblen (volunteers ready to die as martyrs) and she herself, together with other women, participated in combat by providing cooking, medicines, and comfort to the fighting forces. Traditional sources tell that a strong bond was formed between Lalla Fadhma and Boubaghla. She saw this as a wedding of peers, rather than

6468-495: The war and justified it. He also recognized the assassination of lawyer Ali Boumendjel and the head of the FLN in Algiers, Larbi Ben M'Hidi , which had been disguised as suicides. Bigeard , who called FLN activists "savages ," claimed torture was a "necessary evil ." To the contrary, General Jacques Massu denounced it, following Aussaresses's revelations and, before his death, pronounced himself in favor of an official condemnation of

6552-641: The way the captured surviving men and boys were put alive in the hessian sacks and thrown into dug-up trenches. From 8 May to June 26, 1945, the French carried out the Sétif and Guelma massacre , in which between 6,000 and 80,000 Algerian Muslims were killed. Its initial outbreak occurred during a parade of about 5,000 people of the Muslim Algerian population of Sétif to celebrate the surrender of Nazi Germany in World War II; it ended in clashes between

6636-471: Was a relentless fighter, and very eloquent in Arabic. He was very religious, and some legends tell of his thaumaturgic skills. Boubaghla went often to Soumer to talk with high-ranking members of the religious community, and Lalla Fadhma was soon attracted by his strong personality. At the same time, the relentless combatant was attracted by a woman so resolutely willing to contribute, by any means possible, to

6720-585: Was excessive. In 1820, Louis XVIII paid back half of the Directory's debts. The Dey , who had loaned the Bacri 250,000 francs , requested the rest of the money from France. French Algeria (19th–20th centuries) Algerian War (1954–1962) 1990s– 2000s 2010s to present The Dey of Algiers was weak politically, economically, and militarily. Algeria was then part of the Barbary States , along with today's Tunisia; these depended on

6804-546: Was led by Ahmad ibn Muhammad , bey of Constantine . He initiated a radical overhaul of the Ottoman administration in his beylik by replacing Turkish officials with local leaders, making Arabic the official language, and attempting to reform finances according to the precepts of Islam . After the French failed in several attempts to gain some of the bey 's territories through negotiation, an ill-fated invasion force, led by Bertrand Clauzel , had to retreat from Constantine in 1836 in humiliation and defeat. However,

6888-479: Was pledged to maintain the territorial integrity of the Ottoman Empire, would move to fill the vacuum left by a French withdrawal. The French devised elaborate plans for settling the hinterland left by Ottoman provincial authorities in 1830, but their efforts at state-building were unsuccessful on account of lengthy armed resistance. The most successful local opposition immediately after the fall of Algiers

6972-412: Was responsible to the minister of war. Marshal Bugeaud , who became the first governor-general, headed the conquest. Soon after the conquest of Algiers, the soldier-politician Bertrand Clauzel and others formed a company to acquire agricultural land and, despite official discouragement, to subsidize its settlement by European farmers, triggering a land rush . Clauzel recognized the farming potential of

7056-414: Was still in place, and only her husband's will could free her. However he did not agree to this, even when offered large bribes. The love between Fadhma and Bou remained platonic, but there were public expressions of this feeling between the two. Fadhma was personally present at many fights in which Boubaghla was involved, particularly the battle of Tachekkirt won by Boubaghla forces (18–19 July 1854), where

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