French Conquest Research Articles

Feudalism on the Loango Coast?

Abstract Louis de Grandpré’s book Voyage à la Côte Occidentale d’Afrique, published in 1801, is well-known to historians of Africa working on the eighteenth-century Loango Coast, located in the Cabinda province of Angola and the Democratic Republic of the Congo. In describing the laws and customs of the African societies in this region, de Grandpré invites the reader to imagine these societies as “feudal” in character and draws on the semantics of “slavery” in doing so. This article proposes that we need to place this text in the context in which it was written, namely the French Revolution and the rise of Napoleon Bonaparte. We also need to consider why the author published this book in the first place, in order to understand how the terms “slave” and “slavery” function in this text. The article argues that Louis de Grandpré used the feudal/slavery nexus consciously in order to provide a legitimizing framework for a possible French conquest, hoping to prove his own loyalty and usefulness to Napoleon.

Le Moniteur Universel Newspaper about the French Conquest of Southern Italy in 1799

Le Moniteur Universel Newspaper about the French Conquest of Southern Italy in 1799

Decolonizing Memory: Algeria and the Politics of Testimony

Decolonizing Memory: Algeria and the Politics of Testimony

Рецепция ориенталистских картин О. Верне в художественной критике 1830–1840-х годов

Horace Vernet (1789–1863), one of the prominent French artists of his time, achieved his greatest success at the time of the July Monarchy (1830–1848), thanks to the patronage of King Louis-Philippe. Like many of his contemporaries, H. Vernet was fascinated by the exotic of the East. Fast every year one or more of his Orientalist paintings were exposed at the Salons. His battle canvases, commissioned by the King, recorded not only various stages of the French conquest of Algeria, but also the realities of life in North Africa. Vernet’s fascination for Eastern culture was reflected in his treatment of biblical subjects and genre scenes as well. This article is devoted to the study of perception of Vernet’s Orientalist paintings by art critics. It bases on the texts of critical reviews of the Salons. Well-known writers, poets, such as T. Gautier, P. Mérimée, Ch. Baudelaire and others functioned as critics. Many of them were warm supporters of romanticism, while classicism remained in demand, among others. The eclecticism inherent in the creative method of H. Vernet, which can be perceived as an expression of the «juste milieu» in the arts, was often met with disdain by reviewers of the Salons. At the same time, H. Vernet’s innovative techniques, including the Arabization of the Bible, ran into frank misunderstanding.

Tugu Ngejaman: Penanda Kuasa dan Pengingat Waktu di Yogyakarta

Tugu Ngejaman or Stadsklok is a monument to commemorate a century of the return of Java to the Dutch colonial rule in 1916. This story begins with the French conquest of the Netherlands in January 1795 which led to the conquest of Java in 1808-1811. But France finally lost the war against Russia in 1814, so the Netherlands negotiated with Britain over its colonies. The British and the Dutch managed to reach an agreement to cede Java to the Dutch, while the British took control of Malacca in 1816. In this paper, I trace the history of the establishment of the Ngejaman monument, the meaning of the Ngejaman monument for the Dutch population in Yogyakarta, and the reasons for maintaining the Ngejaman monument today. I use Walter Benjamin's perspective on aura to explore the relationship between monuments and history and the technological revolution. The data in this paper comes from archival documents and existing scholarly literature, interviews, as well as field observations that elucidate the Ngejaman monument and the activities of the surrounding community. This study finds that the construction of the Ngejaman monument was related to the markers of Dutch colonial power in Yogyakarta and the "revolution of time" in the modern society. However, the Yogyakarta City Government maintains the Ngejaman monument without providing a narrative about the history of the monument's establishment in Malioboro. The government ignores historical literacy in tourism development in the Special Region of Yogyakarta, even when the importance of preserving the Ngejaman monument lies in its being a marker of the introduction of time as a regulator of modern human activity in Yogyakarta and a reminder that liberation has not necessarily meant freedom for all.

Stories at War: Images of Algerian Women From Colonial Accounts to the Life Story of Fadhma Amrouche

This article aims to discuss and analyse a wide array of stories produced in nineteenth century French Algeria and told by different actors about native Algerian women. While some of these stories were written as true-to-life war testimonies about Algerian women told from multifarious angles and perspectives, others were produced in the form of phantasmagorical image-stories about native women as told by Orientalist artists and colonialist photographers. Moving away from these colonial male narratives, the article discusses in juxtaposition the story of the women of Algeria as told by French feminist Hubertine Auclert in her book Les Femmes arabes en Algérie, and a counter story to hers written by Fadhma Aït Mansour Amrouche, as the story of her life, Histoire de ma vie. Bringing these two contrasting sets of stories into discussion and scrutiny will enable us to evaluate the extent to which native women were central to the French conquest and to the French feminists’ agenda of ‘saving them’ from their barbaric people and ways of life. The article aims to discuss the intricacies of such missions and assess the extent to which native Algerian women were saved by their colonisers.

The historical geography of Azemmour: environment and empire on the Moroccan Atlantic coast

ABSTRACT This article examines the social history of the Moroccan city of Azemmour and its hinterland during the two decades straddling the establishment of the French Protectorate in 1912. The town’s unique geographic location–near the hubs of European expansion in Casablanca and Mazagan, along a major river, proximate to the coast but without a port – shaped its economic development during the period of rebellion and French conquest. Its physical and political geography foreclosed maritime trade activity but its isolation from the Mediterranean sea-lanes opened up other opportunities to townspeople and helped to create a micro-region with the town at its centre. The years before 1912 were marked by the rapid expansion of European influence in neighbouring regions; Azemmour remained on the margins of these processes. After 1912, French development projects overlooked traditional sources of income for Zemmouris, effectively relegating the town to the margins of the Moroccan economy.

Dubrovnik i aragonsko Napuljsko Kraljevstvo u 15. stoljeću: uloga obitelji Kotrulj

During the first half of the 15th century, the Republic of Dubrovnik sought to establish diplomatic and trade relations with the powerful state of Naples. Economic exchanges and political connections expanded, as evidenced by documents from both Dubrovnik and Naples, and also in a different way also by Ragusan merchant and diplomat Benedict Kotrulj, in his famous work Del arte dela mercatura. The government of Dubrovnik was well informed about the king of Aragon, Alfonso V, and communicated with him during the reign of Queen Joanna II. Alfonso’s first charter to Ragusans, on the freedom of trade and compensation for damages inflicted on them by pirates, was issued in 1428, followed by numerous new privileges and exemptions. During the reign of Alfonso and his successor, Ferrante, the people of Dubrovnik became the most privileged merchants in the Kingdom of Naples, surpassing the Venetians. After securing the throne, Alfonso embarked on the reconstruction of the Kingdom of Naples and elevated it militarily, economically and culturally. Among the many foreign traders and companies, the Ragusans secured their place in the kingdom. Moreover, since the beginning of Alfonso’s reign, Dubrovnik became a vital diplomatic and intelligence stronghold for the king in his endeavours to fulfil to his considerable political ambitions in the eastern Adriatic seaboard and throughout the Balkan Peninsula, especially in his anti-Ottoman campaigns. The king’s diplomacy also entailed relations with Dubrovnik’s enemies, such as Duke Stjepan Vukčić Kosača, but the Dubrovnik government tolerated this, because its advantageous position in the kingdom far outweighed any drawbacks. In trade and diplomacy between Dubrovnik and the Aragonese countries, the Kotrulj family of Ragusa enjoyed the most prominent position. In the first half of the 15th century, Jacob Kotrulj, in addition to his extensive mercantile activities in the Kingdom of Naples, obtained a high number of privileges for his republic. He was also the governor of the mint in Naples. His business was continued by son Benedict just as Alfonso ascended to the throne. He was very well situated in the Aragonese court of Naples, under the protection of both Alfonso and Ferrante. As a merchant, he exploited this to his advantage, overseeing a lucrative business in southern Italy and Catalonia between Ragusan, Florentine and Catalan merchants. In addition, as his father before him, he was the governor of the mint in Naples and L’Aquila. Although he was at odds with the Republic of Dubrovnik in a lengthy commercial dispute, his immunity as an envoy of Alfonso and then Ferrante kept him safe from litigation in his home city. The reigns of Alfonso and Ferrante in the Kingdom of Naples was marked by peace and economic and cultural progress. A number of humanists and scholars of the time gathered at Alfonso’s court, including Benedict Kotrulj, a merchant, diplomat and the author of several significant works. He, his family, and the entire Republic of Dubrovnik profited from Aragonese rule in the Kingdom. Their privileged status attracted many merchants from Dubrovnik to Naples and other cities in the kingdom. In the latter half of the 15th century, privileges in the Kingdom of Naples allowed the republic to overcome the crisis caused by Ottoman conquests in the Balkan hinterland. During that period, the people of Dubrovnik reach a settlement with the Ottoman Empire, gaining great privileges there and the status of mediators between the empire and the West, in the first instance the Kingdom of Naples. The benefits were also political, as Dubrovnik was one of the important strongholds of Aragonese policy in the eastern Adriatic seaboard and in the wider hinterland. The French conquest of Naples in 1395 ended the glorious period of the Aragonese government, initiated by Alfonso’s triumph in 1442, and even the people of Dubrovnik had to alter policies and seek new alliances in southern Italy.

Merchants and States: Private Trade and the Fall of Madras, 1746

Michael Pearson has argued that “rights for revenue” was an important element in the European way of organizing long-distance trade in the early modern period. The state provided indigenous merchant groups with commercial privileges and allowed them to influence political affairs. In return, the state received a part of the economic surplus. The East India Company and the British state shared such a relationship. However, as this article demonstrates, the East India Company was not an impersonal entity. It consisted of many layers of private entrepreneurs, who pursued their own private interests sheltered by the Company’s privileged position. One such group was the Company servants in Asia. The French conquest of Madras in 1746 and the following period of British sub-imperialism in India demonstrate that the state had traded off too many rights. Through the business papers of Willian Monson, a senior Company servant in Madras, the historian can describe the fall of Madras as a consequence of deteriorating relationships between private interests within the Company structure. Directors, shareholders, Company servants and private merchants in India fell out with each other. In this situation, the British state found it difficult to intervene.

Construction of the racialised and colonised other: global comparatives in imperial and colonial archaeology

Whereas Sarr and Savoy (2018) focus on artefacts taken from various African countries after 1885, Incidental archaeologists, considers “the first four decades of the French conquest and pacification of Algeria under the authority of the French military Government General” (p. 24). Throughout the volume, Effros presents a convincing argument in which the social history of military infrastructure lays the groundwork for the future of the French civilising mission. She is clear about the magnitude of the task that the book is engaged in; it provides links between early French archaeologists and epigraphers and their place within the development of the disciplines. It also considers the ways by which romanticised narratives, created by French officers, about the classical archaeology of Algeria led to irresponsible destruction of antiquity, violence against local resistant populations and classifications that became constitutive of colonial archaeological interest and practice.

The Impact of the French Colonial Law on the Development of Matrimonial Property Law in Vietnam

This article analyses the matrimonial property law in Vietnam during the French colonial period. From 1858 to 1954, France invaded Vietnam and applied similar regulations form their homeland to Vietnam. Vietnam has witnessed the term of the matrimonial property law form now onwards. Analysing and understanding the development of the matrimonial property law during French conquest is truly worth researching for Vietnam legal history. This research would be a great idea if it is compared between eastern family regulations and western family ones which were issued during French colonial time. Indeed, the best way to contribute for the improvement of matrimonial property law is to certainly understand its development process.

La météorologie comme facteur militaire et politique : le processus de prise de décision par les administrateurs français de la Corse (1553-1559)

Sur la base du matériel d’archives, jusqu’alors inédit, de la collection de Guillaume de Lamoignon – soit la correspondance officielle entre la cour française et ses correspondants étrangers et diplomatiques – qui est conservée actuellement à Moscou et concerne entre autres les documents de la conquête française de la Corse au cours des années 1550, l’histoire politique de l’administration française de l’île est considérée au travers du prisme des phénomènes naturels. Dans le contexte de la fin des Guerres d’Italie, la couronne française et ses représentants administratifs en Corse ont dû faire face à des problèmes difficiles, parce qu’ils n’avaient pas l’expérience de la défense du vaste territoire de l’île, contre la République de Gênes alliée à la maison de Habsbourg. En outre, l’une des difficultés principales, soulignée dans cet article, résidait dans l’accès par mer, qui dépendait de la saison, des conditions météorologiques et de l’état de la mer.

Naming the suffering of victims in the French conquest of Algeria

In 1845 a scandal broke out in France with regard to a particularly cruel and destructive act of repression at the close of General Bugeaud’s war of conquest in Algeria: the ‘smoking of Dahra’, in ...

Civilizing through Cork: Conservationism and la Mission Civilisatrice in French Colonial Algeria

The French occupation of Algeria began in 1830 and lasted over 130 years. In the decades following the initial conquest, French imperial agents emphasized the colonial enterprise's social and environmental aims. Claiming that centuries of misuse and abuse had decimated Algeria's environment, they presented the colonial project as an opportunity to adapt indigenous inhabitants to more sustainable uses of land. This civilizing mission helped elevate Algerian cork production into one of the colony's most profitable industries. In the process, it had a detrimental impact on Algerian forests and mobile pastoralists. This article uses cork as a case study to explore the meaning of the French civilizing ethic and its role in France's occupation of Algeria. It makes three main claims. First, it argues that the nineteenth-century French civilizing mission combined social and environmental values, perceptions, and concerns. Second, it demonstrates that this ethic was a guiding factor in the French conquest of Algeria. Finally, it posits that the Algerian cork industry succeeded in part because it purported to embody the French colonial mission's social and environmental ideals.

Napoleon in Italy: A Legacy of Institutional Reform?

The economic consequences of French conquest and rule in Italy remain unclear. Recent GDP estimates suggest that the early 1800s were characterized by a short-lived rebound, interrupting a long-run decline from the 1720s to the 1870s. We evaluate the extent to which French rule can help explain this rebound. Similarly, we study to what extent the economic policy of the post-1815 Restoration era can explain the return to a downward economic trajectory. Finally, we analyze the legacy of institutional reforms initiated during the Napoleonic era for modern economic growth in the late nineteenth century. Overall, our analysis draws a distinction between the short run and the long run. The evidence suggests that the short-run economic and social costs of French rule in Italy outweighed any economic gains. By improving the underlying institutional environment, however, Napoleon's economic legacy may have been beneficial to long-run development, but only after several decades and the establishment of further institutional reforms, pioneered by Piedmont from 1848 onward, and adopted throughout Italy after the political unification of the peninsula in 1861.

Французское завоевание Марокко (начало ХХ в.) в восприятии султанского двора и духовных элит

Французское завоевание Марокко (начало ХХ в.) в восприятии султанского двора и духовных элит

The Other Battle of Algiers

The Other Battle of Algiers

Fragment(s) of the Past: Archives, Conflicts, and Civic Rights in Algiers, 1830–1870

The first thirty years of the French conquest of Algeria witnessed the large-scale destruction of Algiers’s cultural heritage. Researching the processes by which this came about leads us to consider the conditions of production of two sources that refer to the period before the conquest: Les édifices religieux de l’ancien Alger (The Religious Edifices of Old Algiers), by Albert Devoulx, and the “Ottoman collection” of archives initially established by the same figure. This dual archaeology, based on the reconstitution of Devoulx’s activities during his lifetime, reveals a virulent struggle over civic rights and particularly over the appropriation of endowments established by the city’s religious institutions. The sources considered here were part and parcel of this struggle. By paying attention to the claims they set out and the interactions between them, it becomes possible to retrace the disappearance of the mosques of Algiers and to appreciate the true nature of these sources.

Pirates, Slavers, Brigands and Gangs: the French terminology of anticolonial rebellion, 1880–1920

During the most rapid period of French colonial expansion (roughly 1880–1914) the French faced regular, often violent, resistance to the expansion of their imperial dominion over people in Africa and Southeast Asia. This article examines the changing terminology that French soldiers, officers and administrators used to describe the anticolonial movements they were called upon to suppress during the course of French conquest and ‘pacification’ operations. This terminology is gleaned both from archival sources, as well as from the so-called ‘grey literature’ of books, letters and pamphlets published by members of the French military, which do not exist in traditional libraries and holdings like the Bibliotheque Nationale. Taken as a whole this analysis grants us insight into how the French thought about themselves, their anticolonial opponents, how these conceptions changed over time, and how these conceptions translated into action and methodology.

Dilemmas of desert survival in an age of imperialism: Mizabi merchants in Algeria from 1830 to 1850

ABSTRACTAlgiers under Ottoman rule contained an elaborate system of barrani (literally ‘foreigner’) corporations whose members were united by occupational specialisation and ethnic or racial identity. These corporations managed their affairs semi-autonomously under the leadership of one or several of their members while remaining vulnerable to political authorities who could threaten to withdraw occupational concessions. By the early nineteenth century, the Mizabi corporation was among the most prominent at Algiers, enjoying a quasi-monopoly over commercial enterprises such as flour mills, butcher shops, and public baths. The 1830 French conquest of Algiers confronted Mizabi merchants with an excruciating dilemma. The stakes were enormous for these Muslim sectarians who (1) played a central role in the survival of their Saharan home community, (2) served as key links in Algerian communication networks, and (3) made vital economic contributions to coastal cities. The Saharan community’s political submission to an alien power seemed unthinkable; starvation resulting from French threats to cut off caravan links to the Mizab was equally unthinkable. This study examines the background and impact of the 1838 and 1850 decrees reorganising the barrani corporations of French-controlled Algeria. Buffeted and torn by the dilemmas of political accommodation and Saharan survival, Mizabi merchants demonstrated remarkable resilience during a turbulent and transitional era.