French North Africa
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French North Africa (French: Afrique du Nord française; Arabic: شمال إفريقيا الفرنسية) is a term that is often applied to the three territories that were controlled by France in the Maghreb region of North Africa during the colonial era, comprising Algeria, Morocco, and Tunisia. In contrast to French West Africa and French Equatorial Africa, which existed as federations of French colonies, French North Africa was never more than a term of convenience to refer to the three separately-governed territories, which each had different forms of French administration.[1]
History
[edit]The decline and modernization of the Ottoman Empire (which, since the 16th century, had loosely administered Algeria and Tunisia) left the region vulnerable to other forces. In 1830, France invaded Algiers and began its conquest of Algeria, and after its formal annexation in 1848, France treated Algeria as an integral part of France (the métropole): Metropolitan France.[2]
The Mediterranean Maghreb was of particular interest to the French, who had long-viewed Morocco, Algeria, and Tunisia as the inheritors of the ancient civilizations of Phoenicia, Carthage, and Rome – and the region as an integral continuation of France's purported claims to Ancient Rome. French authorities were particularly interested in the archeological history of the Maghreb – with its vast Phoenician, Carthaginian, and Roman ruins of empires past.[3]
During subsequent decades, a substantial European settler population emerged in Algeria, known as the pieds-noirs. Seeking to expand their influence beyond Algeria, the French established protectorates to the east and the west of Algeria. The French protectorate of Tunisia was established in 1881, following a swift military invasion,[4] and the French protectorate in Morocco was established in 1912, following a prolonged military campaign and later Moroccan resistance during the Rif War. Both protectorates lasted until 1956, when they gained full independence, Tunisia on 20 March and Morocco on 7 April.
French administration in the Maghreb finally concluded with the Algerian War (1954–1962) and the March 1962 Évian Accords, which enabled the July 1962 Algerian independence referendum.[5] Algeria formally became independent the same month.
See also
[edit]- Algerian nationalism
- Moroccan nationalism
- Tunisian nationalism
- Army of Africa (France)
- Declaration of 1 November 1954
- Pacification of Algeria
- Proclamation of Independence of Morocco
- Tunisian national movement
- Italian North Africa
- British North Africa
References
[edit]- ^ Hoisington, William A. Jr. (1991). "The Mediterranean Committee and French North Africa, 1935–1940". The Historian. 53 (2): 255. doi:10.1111/j.1540-6563.1991.tb00806.x.
- ^ Fage, J. D.; Oliver, Roland Anthony (1985). The Cambridge History of Africa. Vol. 6. p. 159. ISBN 0-521-22803-4.
- ^ Hannoum, Abdelmajid. The Invention of the Maghreb: Between Africa and the Middle East. Cambridge University Press; 2021.
- ^ Watson, William E. (2003). Tricolor and Crescent: France and the Islamic World. p. 28. ISBN 0-275-97470-7.
- ^ Berstein, Serge (1993). The Republic of de Gaulle 1958–1969. p. 54. ISBN 0-521-25239-3.
Further reading
[edit]- Edwards, Albert (2009) [1913]. The Barbary Coast: Sketches of French North Africa. ISBN 978-1-163-29185-6.
- Gottmann, Jean (1943). Economic problems of French North Africa. OCLC 26508046.
- Liebesny, Herbert J. (1943). The Government of French North Africa. University of Pennsylvania Press. OCLC 904009.
- Thomas, Martin (2005). French Empire Between the Wars. Manchester University Press. ISBN 0-7190-6518-6.
- Wallerstein, Immanuel M. (1961). Africa: The Politics of Independence and Unity. OCLC 413201.
- History of North Africa
- French colonisation in Africa
- 1830 establishments in the French colonial empire
- 1830 establishments in Africa
- 1962 disestablishments in Africa
- 1962 disestablishments in the French colonial empire
- States and territories established in 1830
- States and territories disestablished in 1962