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Click
picture to enlarge
 France began colonizing
Algeria in 1830.
Humans have lived in the area
that is now Algeria for thousands of years. Here you see one
of the ancient cave paintings found in an area of southeast Algeria
that is now in the Sahara Desert. What do you see in this
painting? Paintings in this area show herds of cattle, and
animals like crocodiles and hippopotamuses. What do you think
can be learned from paintings like these?
The person in the photo here is Abd al-Qadir -- Ab-del
KAH-deer -- who is seen as a national hero in Algeria. He
led a rebellion against France after they began colonizing Algeria.
Colonization means trying to take over political control of a
country in order to send large numbers of people to settle, or
set up colonies, there. The French began colonizing Algeria
in 1830. Abd al-Qadir's rebellion lasted several years, but it
failed to keep France from taking over Algeria. Many Algerians
lost their land and homes to the French colonists. Later, Algerians
were allowed to become French citizens, but only if they gave
up their Muslim identities. Few were willing to do this. Who
can guess why? Algerians suffered greatly during French rule,
and in 1954 they began a long, bloody war against the French
for independence. About 141,000 Algerian rebels were killed,
compared to about 18,000 French soldiers. Thousands of French
and Algerian civilians were also killed. But in 1962, Algeria
won its independence. How do you think Algeria's history affected
its people?
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THOUGHT
QUESTIONS:
Would you like
to travel to Algeria? Why or why not?
Why do you
think European countries tried so hard to colonize Africa?
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FOR MORE
INFORMATION:
The CIA World Factbook
has stats on Algeria.
The Library of Congress has
a country study of Algeria.
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