Map Above showing Algeria in connection with the Medditerranean Sea and France
Greater France: A History of French Overseas Expansion
In the 1920s and 1930s. France and its overseas domains- 'Greater France', encompassed 11 million inhabitants; Paris controlled the second largest empire in the world. France's possession including Africa, and South America jungles, islands in Caribbean, the Indian Ocean and the Pacific, vast expanses of Saharan desert and Antartic ice, enormous colonies such as IndoChina and Madagascar, remote little-known outposts such as Wallis and Kerguelen, and toeholds in India and on the Red Sea.
By the early 1960s, most countries in French empirehad gained independence, though some had been forced to fight for their sovereignty. France had withdraw from its empire. The age of colonialism seemed to have come to an end, even if ties between France and its former colonies were not always severed. Nevertheless, only 130 years after France took over Algiers, less than a century after it annexed Cochinchina and the Congo, less than 50 years after it proclaimed a protectorate over Morocco, 'greater France' was no more.
The Conquest of Empire : Africa and Indian Ocean
15 years after defeat of Napoleon, France invade territories in Africa- Ageria and held protectorate of Tunisia and Morcco. Algeria, located directly across the Mediterranean from France's southern coast. It had been a sphere of French commercial activity since the early 1500s.
Nineteeth Century , the situation had changed. The conquest of Algeria in 1830s was more towards domestic political reason rather than economic reason. France debt of 7 to 8 million franc to the merchants remained outstanding. The dey of Algiers asked France to pay for their debt, but the French, with arrogant superior way, informed that they could not accept Algeirs's raising issue about their debt. The dey took offence , lost his temper and then destroyed the tradings post at the Bastion de France. This result a series blow to French Meditteranean commerce, the cost to be borne bh Mairseille traders.
Meanwhile , in France, there was resentment towards Restoration Monarch. King Charles X tried to adopt medorate government and sent armistice to Algiers. However, the Algerian ships fired their ship and thus gave an excuse to the king to change the moderate government to more autocratic government. France attacked and invade Algeria 1830s(40 Years). Monarchial rule of King Charles X was replace by July Monarchy of King Louis-Philippe.
To control the remaining area in Algeria, the France had to fight Emir Abd EL-Khader. El-Khader was in the process of extending his area of political influence when France invaded Algeria. In 1834, the Algerian agreed to recognize French sovereignty over Algeria. The 1840s show France campaigns to push back the frontiers of empire in North America. In December 1847, el-Khader surrender.
French continued their invansion and held millitary attack towards the Algerians. In 1871, Frane repressed the last major nationalist movement, led by el-Mokhrani, and extended control over the hold-out Kabyle region east of Algiers.
Conquest of Algeria gave France an immense domain in North Africa, a territory of 2.4 million square kilometres - although seven-eights of the country was desert. Algeria formed the most important site of French colonial activity.
