“Total exterminations” and “mass massacres” at the beginning of the occupation of Algeria (1830 – 1849): Targeted violence or a combination of circumstances?

Abstract

The early years of occupation were marked by uncertainty about the future of the colony. From the initial violence of the capture of Algiers in 1830 to the massacres of El Oufia in 1832, the mass executions by smoke, the razzias and the extermination of the Zaatcha, Algeria appeared to be a laboratory for colonial experiments. Extermination, destruction and breaking down the social fabric through razzias, subjugation through violence or attempts to pacify the population, but in the end, the outcome was disastrous: Large-scale massacres bordering on extermination. French narratives had long marginalized the acts of violence, which were considered commonplace even by progressive forces who had come to accept them as a necessary means of domination.

This study aims to examine violence from the perspective of colonial strategy, in order to answer the following question: were the mass killings targeted acts of violence or the result of a convergence of circumstances? By relying on a critical analysis of the impressions of both the perpetrators and witnesses of the violence, a descriptive analysis of the scenes of violence and their circumstances, and a comparative method that cross-references the various testimonies with the findings of recent studies based on archival documents, we aim to explain the underlying causes and consequences of a colonial event that has long remained confined to the margins of French history.

To carry out this research, we drew on old printed sources such as Montagnac: «  Lettres d’un soldat », Ancien capitaine des Zouaves : «  Les grottes de Dahara, récit historique », Plée Léon : « Abdel-Kader, nos soldats, nos généraux et la guerre d'Afrique » among others. We also relied on recent studies such as those by Hosni Kitouni: « le désordre colonial » and « Histoire, mémoire et colonisation », by Olivier Le Cour Grandmaison : « Coloniser, exterminer : sur la guerre et l’État colonial », by Settar Ouatmani : Zaatcha en 1849 , histoire d’une révolte » and others.

At the end of the study, we concluded that the scenes of mass killings or full-scale extermination during the first twenty years of occupation alone, as discussed in this article, are sufficient to paint a grim picture of total war. Some did it just to satisfy their egos, receive praise or promotions, while others did it to avenge their wounded pride, as in the case of the Ouffia. The more rational ones justified it by the imperative of colonization. From simple violence to full-scale extermination, the objective remained clear: the exploitation of a people.