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    Algeria became a republic of France in 1830. The French viewed Algeria, which was under Ottoman Regency at that time, as a "decadent state" -- given over to slavery, piracy and tribal anarchy. French viewed such government as very disastrous, which could no longer control its own internal affairs and was a hazard to other countries in the region. The colonial viewpoint was to liberate the oppressed people from the "feudal" regime imposed on Algerians by the Turks. The French ejected the Turks, but established their own "feudal class", which later will lead to the drive for Algerian independence.

     France has also realized the vast potential of land use and large-scale cotton production in Algeria. These and other commercial interests led to an increased French interest in Algeria.
 

    As French moved into Algeria, they began to impose a new set of rules to "modernize" the country. First of all, the division and reorganization of lands has taken place. Tribal lands were compressed in the 1840’s to cantonal lands or territory that was considered as "sufficient" to support life of the tribe. The rest was opened for colonization. By 1847 as many as 110,000 Europeans had settled in Algeria.

   The European settlers were largely peasants and farmers. Pieds noirs, as they were called had an opportunity for the first time to own land. Other émigrés were criminals and political deportees, transported under sentence in large numbers to Algeria.

    The Ordinance of July 2, 1834 established a regular form of government in Algeria. Power was placed in the hands of a Governor General. Furthermore, the country was divided into three subdivisions: Algiers, Oran and Constantine. However, the French Revolution of 1848 and the creation of a Second Republic changed the way French did things in Algeria. A new military structure replaced the civilian establishment. Algeria was formally declared to be a part of France and was again divided into three departments, the government of which was placed into the hands of European settlers.

    The tension between the French and the Arabs started to grow. The French neglected the Arabs and in July of 1864, Senatus Consulte declared all Moslems to be French subjects, meaning the Muslims were not to be citizens. This way, the Arabs could keep their Muslim religion and the Koran law, and were subject to special police regulations, including the infamous code de l’indigenat. In order for Arabs to become full-blooded French citizens, they had to give up their personal status, which not many were willing to do.

    In 1850’s Napoleon III, the ruler of France at the time, decided to end the government-assisted colonization and give it to the hands of "lenders and speculators." Muslims were thus pushed off the lands they owned or were forced to become farmers, of what used to be, their own lands. This has led to the complete abandonment of Muslims by the French government. Along with this, the settlers planted those crops that had the highest market value, inspite of the needs of the native Algerian population. The highest market value was wine products, and wine industry brought the largest income to Algeria. However, 9/10 of the native population was forbidden to drink by their religious law. The resentment among Algerians grew stronger and led to their increased support of the Algerian Lobby, organization devoted to changing the status quo of Muslims, upon whom the French relied as an ever flowing source of cheap labor.

    Unfortunately farming was not even close to one of the biggest economic sectors of Algerian economy. Commercial and industrial sectors were being efficiently developed by the Europeans and for the Europeans. All of the plants and mines were in their hands, funded by their capital, managed and operated with their profits in mind. On top of that, almost all of Algeria's industries were concentrated in most densely European populated areas. This became one of Algeria's biggest economical problems. It was an efficient way to separate and exclude Muslims from direct participation in their nation’s economy and politics by limiting their drive to fight for better conditions. Being at the bottom of the ladder, Arabs had no influence on tradesmen and industrialists, who had a powerful voice in governmental policies, as well as denied effective methods of strike and boycott.

     And then there was the commercial sector. Processing and large-scale retailing were completely controlled by the French and Europeans. Muslims were left with small stores in the back of the country, which did not represent a profitable source of income to either party, and no one really cared to take over their miserable enterprises. Besides, the Muslim population did not represent the country’s major producer and consumer in terms of their income. It was Europe upon which the markets worked for. Therefore, it was profitable for the Europeans to keep up the status quo of the situation.

    There was little or almost no interest from the Europeans to change the status quo. It would have cost them money, educational system would had to be put in place, which would have created a greater push for equal rights, which in tern, would have taken away the European privileged situation. There was a drive from the French government to "assimilate" the Arabs to their "motherland" France.  However the ambiguous structure of French legislation made it yet even harder for any laws to be passed and furthermore, to reach and take root in Algeria. Moreover, the root of the problem lay in French not understanding Algeria at all. It was the Arabs that new best their land, their character and traditions who would be able to change their situation for the better, but who were completely disregarded and omitted from the governmental process. There were well-intentioned French men, who read the laws as Arabs being French citizens, to whom all the rights and privileges thereby were implied. But their numbers were so small in comparison to the general European views that their voices not only could not be heard, but also with time grew only weaker and weaker.

    W.W.I brought a temporary enthusiasm rendered to Moslem troops who fought for the French. However, all its dreams were shattered right after W.W.II, with the coming of Vichy regime and its strong racist theories. The French truly believed in their own superiority and in Muslim's incomprehension of French culture and civilization – opinions deeply enrooted in the French by their grandmothers and grandfathers. The original civilizing mission was ignored and pushed into the future, as the French and Europeans continued to enjoy their status among the suppressed minority.

References:

1)  Foreign Area Studies. American University. Edited by Harold Nelson. Algeria, a country  study. US Government Printing Office. Washington, DC. 1986

2)  Goutor, Jacques R. Algeria and France: 1830-1963. Ball State Monograph Number Three. Ball State University, Muncie, Indiana. 1965