themistocles
05-11-2005, 11:33 PM
I wrote this on another bulletin board but thought it was interesting enough to cut and paste here...
King Charles X of France, in a desperate gamble to win some support at home, invades Algeria in 1830. Most everyone in France hates Charles X and thus disapproves of the action, but when Charles is overthrown and initial victory is apparent in Algeria, the French hold on to the conquest.
In 1832, the famous Muslim warrior-scholar Abd al Kader (immensely important figure in Islamic history, by the way) declared a Jihad on the invading French and fought a very brutal guerrilla war. The guerrillas would hide in the Atlas Mountains near Oran, come down and ambush unsuspecting Frenchmen, and high tail it back to the mountains.
In 1837, Abd al Kader and French General Thomas Bugeaud agreed to conduct peace talks. The French wanted to keep their gains and end the fighting and were willing to cede to Kader Western Algeria in exchange for peace. Kader upped the stakes by promising peace if he could also have three thousand state of the art rifles. With peace, no more certain than the assurances of Kader, Bugeaud amazingly agreed and gave Kader and his army three thousand rifles, all of top quality. It was known that Kader was also securing an arms deal with the Brits at the same time.
Not surprisingly, with their new set of weapons, Kader reneged on his promises towards peace and commanded an army of 50,000, which bogged the French down.
Another funny and less tragic anecdote is the attempted acquisition of Morrocco by European powers after 1900. France had the leg up and pretty much was assured the nation. Because the Germans and British also wanted it, the Germans offered a plan that was both (rather intentionally) comical and obtuse (rather typical of German foreign policy at the time) where the British would recieve "strategic" Morocco, the Germans "economic" Morocco, and the French "picturesque" Morocco.
Oh, those wacky French! :p
King Charles X of France, in a desperate gamble to win some support at home, invades Algeria in 1830. Most everyone in France hates Charles X and thus disapproves of the action, but when Charles is overthrown and initial victory is apparent in Algeria, the French hold on to the conquest.
In 1832, the famous Muslim warrior-scholar Abd al Kader (immensely important figure in Islamic history, by the way) declared a Jihad on the invading French and fought a very brutal guerrilla war. The guerrillas would hide in the Atlas Mountains near Oran, come down and ambush unsuspecting Frenchmen, and high tail it back to the mountains.
In 1837, Abd al Kader and French General Thomas Bugeaud agreed to conduct peace talks. The French wanted to keep their gains and end the fighting and were willing to cede to Kader Western Algeria in exchange for peace. Kader upped the stakes by promising peace if he could also have three thousand state of the art rifles. With peace, no more certain than the assurances of Kader, Bugeaud amazingly agreed and gave Kader and his army three thousand rifles, all of top quality. It was known that Kader was also securing an arms deal with the Brits at the same time.
Not surprisingly, with their new set of weapons, Kader reneged on his promises towards peace and commanded an army of 50,000, which bogged the French down.
Another funny and less tragic anecdote is the attempted acquisition of Morrocco by European powers after 1900. France had the leg up and pretty much was assured the nation. Because the Germans and British also wanted it, the Germans offered a plan that was both (rather intentionally) comical and obtuse (rather typical of German foreign policy at the time) where the British would recieve "strategic" Morocco, the Germans "economic" Morocco, and the French "picturesque" Morocco.
Oh, those wacky French! :p