Algerian Colonization

Following the end of the Napoleonic Wars, Algeria came under increasing pressure from Western powers and other countries became aware of Algerias inability to defend themselves from a large scale invasion. 1830, the French monarchy, seeking to distract its discontented subjects, decided to invade Algeria to expand their power further. Abd al-Qadir, a devout Sufi religious and political leader, became a symbol of Algerian independence, as he organized an effective resistance that lasted until 1847. Under French rule, local Algerian economies were disrupted, and Islamic institutions, schools, and charitable foundations were dismantled. Algeria itself was falling apart under french rule, and something needed to change if the country itself was going to survive. To make it even worse to become full French citizens, Algerian Muslims had to renounce Islamic religious law and live under the French civil code. The French were erasing old Algeria off the timeline. During the early twentieth century, Algerian nationalism began to spread, and by 1945, the political environment had become sharply polarized, any governmental decisions had a strong reverberation on the country as a whole.