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. It consisted of a small but influential
class of évolués, other
Algerians whose perception of themselves and their country had been shaped
by wartime
experiences, and a body of religious reformers and teachers. Some of these
people were members
of the few wealthy Muslim families that had managed to insinuate themselves
into the colonial system
in the 1890s and had with difficulty succeeded in obtaining for their sons
the French education so
coveted by progressive Algerians. Others were among the about 173,000 Algerians
who had served
in the French army during World War I or the several hundred thousand more
who had assisted the
French war effort by working in factories. In France they became aware of
a standard of living
higher than any they had known at home and of democratic political concepts,
taken for granted by
Frenchmen in France, which colons, soldiers, and bureaucrats had refused
to apply to the Muslim
majority in Algeria. Some Algerians also became acquainted with the pan-Arab
nationalism growing
in the Middle East.
Data as of December 1993
http://lcweb2.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/r?frd/cstdy:@field(DOCID+dz0032)