HISTORY Algeria, a country in North Africa, was invaded by the French in 1830 and lived under French rule for over 130 years. Algeria was viewed as a part of France rather than a separate entity. The motivation behind this invasion was for the spread of French culture and religion - the influence of Islam was limited and colonial policies classified Muslims as second-class citizens. Algerians were ranked "subjects" instead of "citizens" unless they stopped following Islamic laws. Algerian Muslim culture was viewed as "primitive" and "medieval". They were pressured to speak French, follow French customs, and participate in government and society as French citizens. The ones who could not spread French were excluded from certain sectors of jobs. The promotion of French culture resulted in the loss of Algerian culture. After more than a century of French rule, there were Algerians who thought of themselves as French as well as Algerian. In 1954, many Algerian Muslims couldn't even speak, read, or write in Arabic. French leaders thought their own culture as superior and said the spread of French culture a good thing. Emperor Napoléon III said, "We have not come to Algeria to oppress and exploit them, but to bring them the benefits of civilisation..." So the French thought forcing Algerians to become French was for the Algerians' own good. The Algerians appreciated the French political ideas of liberty and human rights but did not like the restrictions of colonialism. The French governed Algeria with brutal and harsh punishments. Ahmed Ben Bella recalled an incident that happened in school when he was fourteen. He had a French teacher that was excellent at teaching but the teacher's faith in his own religion was so strong that he believed all other religions were despicable. The teacher once said, "Your prophet Mohammed was nothing but an imposter!" This angered many people, but the Algerian nation "is not France, cannot be France, and does not wish to be France." (Sheikh Abdul-Hamid Ben Badis) After all, the Algerians were not treated fairly. Algeria eventually reached independence in 1962 after a long, hard war. Today, traces of French culture remain as an influence to Algerian culture. DESCRIPTION OF DRAWING This drawing I made is an attempt to convey what the French tried to do to the Algerians. Someone is trying to push a French mask onto an unwilling person - that shows the French attempting to spread their culture to hesitant (or resisting) Algerians. On the right, there is a crumpled up Algerian flag and Islam symbol. This shows the loss of Algerian culture as well as how the French viewed Algerian Muslims. The words are from the French perspective. NOTES >> This was a long time ago >> The words on drawing was the old French perspective, not mine >> Font from fontmeme.com, all art created in SVE >> Social studies project ^-^
