French Settler Colonialism in Algeria and the Definition of Genocide
By Solenn Renault
France's colonization of Algeria started in 1830 with the invasion of Alger and lasted for 132 years until Algeria's independence in 1962. The initial process of colonization led to native population of Algeria being reduced by a third between 1830 and 1857 through starvation, illness and massacres.
However, the repression of Algerians and Algerian identity also manifested through political means, through the legal integration of Algeria as French territory, which stripped it of its independance and imposed a differenciated legal status on Muslim Algerians. Muslim Algerians were deprived of their rights to political representation and uprisings against France's colonial regime were heavily sanctioned, which included deportations. Economically, Muslim Algerians were incitated to go into agricultural work and were deprived of their land through disposessions. Algerian culture and identity was devalued in comparison to French history and identity through the banning of the Arabic language in education for years, the implementation of a lacking educational system. Finally, France tried "unveil" women both metaphorically and literally, through changing women's role from pre-colonial Algeria by declaring this regime as oppressive and trying to liberate women through their integration into a French identity.
When taking into accounts all those elements, it is imperative to examine whether France's actions fit the legal definition of genocide as it is defined by the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide of 1948, but also the definition of cultural genocide as Raphael Lemkin theorized it.
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