French Colonialism in Algeria and Arab Tensions
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French Colonialism in Algeria and Arab Tensions and Pied Noir in Algeria Let's Go Back in Time…. Geography…(Sorry it’s boring) Location: -Between Morocco and Tunisia, divided by the Atlas Mountains Other Important Info: -Country’s agriculture hotspots are in the Coastal Plain and Algeria has a lot of natural gas, iron, coal, and oil located along it’s eastern border. Precolonial Era…(Slightly more interesting) ★ Algeria had amazing port cities since the era of the Phoenicians. ○ easily-defended harbors ○ cities once controlled by the.. Romans, Vandals, Ummayyids, Abbassids, and Fatimids before finally falling to the Ottoman Empire. ★ 19th century Morocco became independent ★ During Napoleonic Wars, Algeria developed the ”Barbary Coast” a shelter for pirates that attacked European ships ★ Treaty of Vienna (1815)- punishment for piracy ★ relations were TENSE France in Algeria TIMELINE! 1815:France maintained consul in Algiers July 5, 1830:Invasion time! <1832-4 and 1835-7> two wars occurred led by Abd al-Kader of Macara <1840-1> Third war by Abd.. resulted in French resorting to terror tactics(filled wells and demolished farms) 1844- Invasion of Morocco Sept. 10, 1844-Treaty of Tangier 1870-9:continuation of Berber uprising 1873: French in El Golea 1880-1:Flatter’s Expedition 1932:Last Resistance 1956:French Immigration Successful Algeria After WWI ★ 60,000 Algerians received French citizenship for service. ★ Development of Algerian Nationalist Movement ★ Algerian Migration to France for Work ○ 1926 Algerian People’s Party formation under Messali Hadj demanding higher wages and support for other worker interests (Banned by the French in 1937). Algeria During WWII ★ French Third Republic overthrown ○ Replaced by an unpopular Vichy Government ★ Allied invasion of N. Africa(1942-3) ... Vichy still in power ★ Algerian land disappearing as Europeans expanded farms. Vichy cabinet with Marshal Pétain and Pierre Laval center DISTURBING IMAGES WARNING Algeria During WWII Cont... ★ May 8, 1945 Uprising ○ 100 Europeans killed ★ Violence Spreads.. ○ Estimates of French: 1,000 to 1,300 dead ○ Estimates of Algerians: 45,00 dead Direction: ● Everyone will have a slip of paper depicting an event leading up to 1946(when The Stranger was written) ● On the count of 5 your group has 1 minute to BREAK TIME!!! arrange the slips of paper in order of events ● Immediately when you are done EVERY Review Game: SINGLE GROUP MEMBER must raise a hand (no if, ands, or buts) TimeLine Frenzy! ● BUUUUUT you must also be able to explain how the events affected the Stranger. Pied Noir in Algeria What the He ?! Definition: people of French or European ancestry born or living in French North Africa -aka Meursault! For Ms. Brewington Origin? Theories -Sailor working in the coal room -French Officials -Settler’s feet who worked in the swamp or vineyards 1945-Future well more like present... Whats Going on Now? ● adoption of Bicameral Legislature ○ Pied-Noir’s vote worth 7 times a native Algerian’s vote ● Front de Liberation Nationale formed ● War of Independence (1954-1962) ○ resulted in Independence for Algeria! Adios Pied-Noirs! Connection to The Stranger Connections ● Raymond got off for beating his (Arab) girlfriend since she cheated on him. Clearly, "character" is an important part of the law system of this time and place. ● Because the woman was a cheater—and an Arab—she deserved to get beaten in the eyes of the law. ● Because Meursault has poor character (he is remorseless and cold), he deserves to be sent to the guillotine. He [Raymond] asked if I thought she was cheating on him, and it seemed to me she was; if I thought she should be punished and what I would do in his place, and I said you can't ever be sure, but I understood his wanting to punish her. (1.3.11) Continuation ● in Meursault's world, the French are considered superior to the Arabs. Killing an Arab was a minor offense, but not obeying French and Christian customs was apparently punishable by death. […] drawing himself up to his full height and ask[ed] me if I believed in God. I said no. He sat down indignantly. He said it was impossible; all men believed in God, even those who turn their backs on him. That was his belief, and if he were ever to doubt it, his life would become meaningless. "Do you want my life to be meaningless?" He shouted. As far as I could see, it didn’t have anything to do with me, and I told him so. But from across the table he had already thrust the crucifix in my face and was screaming irrationally, "I am a Christian. I ask Him to forgive you your sins. How can you not believe that He suffered for you?" (2.1.11) "[buried] his mother with a crime in his heart"- Meursault is sentenced to the guillotine "in the name of the French people" in order to protect the national community against the most dangerous crime of all: patricide. More Quotes and Context ! ● If Meursault was the absurd hero on the first part, in the second he appears instead as a typical French settler whose power is based upon physical violence (he is a Frenchman who kills an Arab), military superiority (the revolver defeats the knife), and the discriminatory legal system (focusing on the deceased French mother rather than on the murdered Arab). I knew that I had shattered the harmony of the day, the exceptional silence of a beach where I'd been happy. Then I fired four more times at the motionless body where the bullets lodged without leaving a trace. And it was like knocking four quick times on the door of unhappiness. (1.6.43).