Algeria: Country to Colony

A detailed Summary of Algeria: Country to Colony

Throughout history, there have been invasions and occupations. Starting with Alexander The Great, the idea came about that with land came power. The mid 1800's brought about a resurgence of countries, mainly France and England, wanting more land. But unlike the past 400 years where the new land that was added was completely new land inhabited only by uncivilized savages, the land now being added was already inhabited with "civilized" people with their own government. This colonial period lasted for about one hundred to one hundred fifty years and left a lasting impact on the countries that were withdrawn from. Algeria, in North Africa, is one such country. Occupied by the French from 1830 to 1962 life during occupation cast a shadow over what life would be like in Algeria when France would no longer be there.

France invaded Algeria in 1830 under the pretense that the Algerian government had insulted the French consul in Algiers. In reality, the invasion was a ploy by the reinstated French monarchy to revive its domestic popularity. After the invasion of Algiers the French army was sent out to acquire the agricultural land from the Algerian people. When the Europeans began to colonize Algeria

been excluded or discouraged from pursuing by colonial policy. The homeless and socially displaced numbered in the hundreds of thousands, many suffered from illness and some 70 percent of the work force went unemployed. Distribution of goods was at a standstill. Departing colonists carried off or destroyed public records and utility plans, leaving public services in shambles. The months that followed were chaos. The people of Algeria rushed to lay claims to lands, bank accounts, business, automobiles, and houses left behind by the colonists. To take care of this problem, the government nationalized all property of the departed colonists. The people of Algeria, under influence of the government, moved in to run the newly state sponsored businesses. The businesses were then given the opportunity to have to workers elect representatives who would work in conjunction with the state appointed representatives. At the time the government thought this idea of self-management was a good one, but it proved to be a failure due to incompetence, graft, and theft among many of the representatives. Everyday life continued to be a struggle under the current government system, but in 1965 a military coup seized control of the country and life began to improve. Under various plans, dubbed the Three, Four, or Five-year plans, jobs were created and the social and political infrastructure began to take shape.

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Approximate Word count = 957
Approximate Pages = 4 (250 words per page double spaced)

Category: Foreign