The fall of the Second Empire and the government decrees of 24 October 1870 put an end to “government by the sword” and restored civilian rule in Algeria. The tribes rebelled in 1871 because of this new environment, the political, religious and economic consequences it had on them, and the news of the French defeat in the war against Prussia. The uprising under bachaga Mokrani in Kabylia was echoed across the country. The subsequent harsh repression further widened the gap between two communities living side by side but never really together. That is when the colonial history of French Algeria really started. The country was treated like France and almost became the exclusive property of an increasing number of settlers allowed everything while the colonized people were subjected to extraordinary oppressive legal provisions, formalised in the Code de l’indigénat in 1881.
With the end of “government by the sword” the Army turned towards the unexplored desert between North Africa and the colonies of Black Africa. The massacre of the Flatters mission in the Hoggar desert (1881) and the uprising under marabout Bouamama in South Oran (1881-82) lead to a speeding up of the conquest in Southern Algeria. The success of the Foureau-Lamy mission and Laperrine’s victories then helped establish French rule over the Tuaregs and in the Sahara.
Colomb-Béchar, anonyme, 1914 coll. AFF/CNC.
Young visitors’ itinerary
Emīr ʿAbd al-Qādir (1808-1883)
Emīr ʿAbd al-Qādir, a symbol of Algerian resistance, demonstrated both political and military leadership during his struggle against the French for the independence of his country
