ALGERIA

Today’s country takes us to the largest nation on the African continent, Algeria. The people that live in Algeria are genetically tied to the ancient Berbers and make up 99% of the population whether it is the one quarter who identify as indigenous or the remainder who are mixed Arab/Berber and identify as Amizagh. The Berbers are prominent in many North African countries including neighboring Morocco and Tunisia and their language and culture date back to the Egyptian Empire. Berbers were nomadic, practiced subsistence agriculture and were prominent in various trades like metalwork, pottery and weaving. Their creations were highly valued and traded, especially during the height of the Roman Empire.

Algeria is 2.38 million square kilometers in size and besides being the largest country on its continent, it is the 10th largest in the world. Over 85% of Algeria is the Sahara Desert with its most prosperous and historical regions being along the Mediterranean Sea with its slightly more humid climate and milder weather that is perfect for farming. While Berber is the native and most spoken language, Arab and French are also commonly spoken inside the country. Despite the coast being a little over 10% of the country’s size, 90% of Algeria’s citizens live along it. The current population of Algeria is around 47 million. Algiers, which is located on the Mediterranean, is the largest city with 3.06 million people and is the capital of the nation. Algeria is one of the richest countries in Africa due to its massive commodity wealth in oil and natural gas. The country is considered in the upper middle compared to other nations, but it does have a wide disparity in wealth like many First World industrialized nations. Algeria is a Muslim nation and 99% of its citizens practice the Sunni form of that religion. Algeria is officially called the People’s Republic of Algeria. And despite that title, it practices its own version of democracy. The executive has a lot of power over the government, which has led to many rights violations in the past. The military will often act to repress and tamp down protestors violently if necessary. Algeria falls into a similar pattern to many of its “Western” neighbors by having a semi-authoritarian system guiding many aspects of life inside the nation. One interesting tidbit about Algeria. Algiers is famous for a UNESCO heritage site called the Casbah, a word that many people probably first heard in a CLASH song. It is often considered one of the best designed cities in the world during antiquity due to its large dense population living comfortably together and was often the model for many ancient cities during the Roman Empire. Due to Phoenician, Roman and Ottoman influence, the city has added specific details like ramparts which the Ottomans installed in the 16th Century.

ALGERIAN FLAG

Because the Berbers are historically a nomadic people known more for their artistic creations and agricultural proficiency, they have been conquered many times in their history. According to historical records, seven foreign civilizations have conquered the region. In order:
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The Phoenicians
The Romans
The Vandals/Alans
The Byzantines (Eastern Roman Empire)
The Umayyad/Abbasid Caliphates
The Ottomans
The French

For Bible historians, the Phoenicians were the Canaanites in the Holy Book. They traded and conquered mostly along the Mediterranean Sea. They were the first civilization to have a light impact on the nomadic Berbers. Once the Greek and then the Roman Empire began to expand, the northern part of Algeria fell under Roman control. Roman ruins litter the landscape of Algeria including probably the best-preserved known as Tipaza. When the Roman Empire began to collapse in the 400s, a Germanic Barbarian tribe known as the Vandals took control of the Algerian region and established a short lived 100-year-old Empire which also included the islands of Sicily, Sardinia, and Corsica in partnership with the Indo-Iranian tribe known as the Alans. The Vandals looted along the Mediterranean for decades and infamously participated in the sacking of Rome. The Vandal Empire came undone mostly due to demographic changes. The initial Vandal Kings murdered the upstart Catholic population but eventually, later kings became tolerant of them. Eventually, Justinian, the Byzantine King who reassembled a massive chunk of the fallen Western Roman Empire declared war after Helderic who tolerated the rising Catholic population was overthrown by the Arian faction within his Royal Family. He was eventually executed in 533. Belisarius, the commander of Justinian’s army, landed ten miles from the Vandal capital of Carthage and defeated their pieced together army. The Battle of Tricamarum was the final nail in the short-lived Vandal kingdom which came to an end in 533 AD. The Byzantines ruled the Algerian region with a light hand taking control of the prosperous coastal cities while allowing the Berbers to run the interior of the country. This all ended when the Umayyad Caliphate took control of the area around 698 AD.

The Caliphate would change Algeria more than any other conqueror. Due to high taxation and many Berbers being forced into slavery, the Berbers revolted against the Umayyad Caliphate in 740. Even though many Berbers began to practice Islam, a very specific class system was established where their population was considered second class citizens as well as disagreements over foundational aspects of the religion. The Berber revolt had an incredible impact on African, Middle Eastern and European history. It led to two significant developments. The Umayyad and its predecessor, the Abbasid Caliphates never regained control of the Maghreb (Modern Day Morocco). As the Caliphate pushed north of the Pyrenees into modern day France, the Berber revolt led to the diversion of forces which allowed Charlemagne of the Franks to push the Muslims back into Spain. While the Abbasids did regain control over the Algerian region, the area of Morocco was lost forever as it split into various kingdoms. After the revolt, the Berbers ruled the region with various dynasties over the next 800 years with the most famous being the Zirids. Bringing the region into the modern day, the Spanish at the beginning of their empire conquered a few cities along the Algerian coast in the 1500s but the Ottomans expelled the Spanish in 1518 and established a regency which lasted until 1830 when it fell to the conquering French.

Most people are aware of Algeria because of the over 100-year colonization of the territory by their neighbor across the Mediterranean. Algeria was a source of commodities for the French which allowed them to continue their empire. King Charles X of France began the war against Algeria in 1827 after a diplomatic incident between the two countries. Controlled by the Ottoman Turks at the time, Algeria was blockaded and eventually surrendered to the French on July 5, 1830. The colony of Algeria is one of the most brutal on record. After the French were conquered by the Germans during WW II, many Algerians helped the French win back their nation as part of the Allies. After the war ended, the French went back on its promise of independence and began brutalizing the Algerians. The dual Setif and Geulma massacres killed anywhere between 15,000 to 20,000 people. This led to the creation of the brutal Algerian National Liberation Front (FLN) which engaged in terrorist attacks and eventually started a brutal six-year war with the French. One of the best documentaries ever made, THE BATTLE OF ALGIERS (1966) gives wonderful historical account of this era. One of the best fictional movies is called OUTSIDE THE LAW (2010 which involves three brothers wrapped up in the events of that timeframe. The Algerians eventually won the war and declared independence on July 1, 1962. The French recognized Algeria as an independent country two years later.

Next week, Yemen. A country that is playing a part in the current geo-political rift.