1. ALGERIA VS
KENYA
By: Kristie Cordeiro

2. Algeria before colonization
• By the 5th Century B.C.
were identified as Berbers
by the Greek
• Islam and Arabic reached
Algeria in the 8th century
• Became a province in the
Ottoman Empire for 300
years

3. Algeria before colonization
• Base of piracy in the Mediterranean and slavery of
Christians
• Islam was the dominant religion
• Arabic was the dominant language
• Highly fertile soil

4. French Interest
• Desire to increase trade
• Spread French culture and
religion
• Respond to diplomatic tensions
with Algeria’s ruler
• French army invaded Algeria in
1830

5. Citizens and Subjects
• French citizens: small farmers who were able to ascend to a
status they could not reach in mainland France
• Colonial policies turned Muslims into second class citizens
• By the 19th century those who followed Islamic Laws were seen as
“subjects”
• By 1936: out of 4.5 million, only 2,500 Muslim Algerians chose
to become citizens

6. Citizens and Subjects
• Settlers bought the most fertile areas for a low price
• Most Algerians were farmers on small plots of land
• Many faced poverty and malnutrion
• Moved to Algerian cities to work for settler farms
“[W]e have not come to
Algeria to oppress and
exploit them, but to bring
them the benefits of
civilization…” – Emporer
Napoleon III

7. Assimilation
• “Process by which one culture becomes more like another
culture”
• By 1954 there were almost one million Europeans in
Algeria
• 80% were born there
“The Muslim native is French; nevertheless he shall continue to be governed under
Muslim law… He may, on application, be granted the rights of French citizenship; in
this case, he shall be governed under the civil and political laws of France” – Senate
decree

8. Assimilation
• French politicians supported Algerian assimilation,
but strongly opposed increase of Muslim rights
• Encouraged Algerians to speak French, limited the
influence of Islam and taught them French
curriculum
• Labeled Arabic as a foreign language
• Limited pilgrimages to Mecca

9. Resistance to colonialism
• Islam allowed for an
imposition of identity and
cultural pride
• Algerians fought alongside
the French during WWI and
WWII
• Some remained in Europe
• Some studied at European
universities
• Inspired by inequality and
political ideologies 
demanded change
• In the 1920s and 30s
Algerian nationalist groups
began to form

10. Nationalist leaders and groups
• May 8 1945: demonstrations to show the link between the
end of fascism and the desire to end colonialism
• Demonstration turned into a violent revolt
• Resulted in the deaths of thousands of settlers and Algerians
• Many Algerians joined the nationalist cause
“ [The Muslim Algerian Nation]… has its culture, its tradition and
its characteristics, good or bad like every other nation of the earth.
And… we state that this Algerian nation is not France, cannot be
France, and does not wish to be France.” – Sheikh Abdul-hamid
Ben Badis

11. • National Liberation Front (FLN)
• Terrorist attacks targeting European population
• ALN – guerilla units
• Nearly all nationalist movements joined the FLN
• Algerian National Movement
• Supported by France
• Rival of FLN
• Support of Algerian expatriates in France
• Café Wars in French soil
• FLN came out as the strongest movement
“Colonialism… demands the simultaneous
existence of two societies, one oppressing the
other…” – Ferhat Abbas

12. Frantz Fanon
• Afro-french psychiatrist and revolutionary
• Joined the FLN in November of 1954
• Defended the right to use violence to fight
for independence
“human beings who are not
considered as such shall not be
bound by principles that apply to
humanity, in their attitude towards the
colonizer”

13. Algerian War
• 1954: France lost the war against Vietnam, and faced
uprisings in Tunisia and Morocco
• FLN led one of the most violent struggles for violence in
the 20th century
• Fought between Algerian militants and the French army,
white settlers and Algerians recruited by France
• Lasted 8 years: 1954-1962
• Focus on urban areas  Algiers

14. FLN
• FLN targeted Europeans in
Algeria with bombs and terrorist
attacks
• Psychological effects
• FLN attacks on police and on
the population led the French
military to torture, execute and
imprison thousands of Algerians
• By the end of 1950s two million
Algerians had been placed in
detention camps  stop FLN
• One million Algerian casualties
• Thousands of French military and
settlers died

15. Independence
• French military methods were highly successful but were
highly criticized internationally
• By the end of 1950s public opinion was against France
• March 1962 the French military negotiated a cease fire with the
FLN

16. • Charles De Gaulle
• “soon came to realize that
Algerian independence was
inevitable”
• July 3 1962 – France
recognizes Algeria’s
independence
September 1962, Ahmed
Ben Bella elected the first
president of Algeria

17. Learn more!

18. Kenya before colonization
• Arabs who settled with the Bantu
people introduced Islam and Arabic
to the Swahili culture
• During 17th century, Swahili area
came under control of Omani Arabs
• Increased slave trade
• City of Mombasa  important port
city
• Diplomatic relations with Ming Dynasty 
Zheng He
• Welcomed Vasco da Gama

19. British interest
• Under British rule for 68 years
• Arrival of the Imperial British East Africa
Company
• Initial focus on Uganda
• Railroad through Kenya to connect Uganda with
the Indian Ocean
• Authorities encouraged Europeans to live in
Kenya  demand for railroad travel
• Some of the most fertile land in all East Africa
• Cash crops: tea and coffee
• WWI
• 400,000 mobilized in Carrier troops
• WWII
• Military base
• 98,000 men on military duty

20. Segregation
• Indirect rule  local leaders enforced
colonial authority
• Laws:
• Heavy taxes and confiscation of fertile lands
• gave settlers privileges and eliminated
competition from Africans and Indians
• prohibited African and Indian farmers from
growing tea and coffee
• Segregated housing, bathrooms, hotels,
restaurants
• Political and economic privileges were based
on race
• Most of the fertile land belonged to
Europeans
• Africans became farm laborers
• Some Africans were relocated to reserves

21. Resistance to colonialism
• Violent resistance against:
• Levy taxes, draft African men for
the military, force communities off
their lands
• African political organizations
began to form in 1920s
• Groups were divided among ethnic
lines  few saw themselves as
Kenyan
• After WWII a revolt began
among the Kikuyu, Kenya’s
largest ethnic group

22. Mau Mau revolts
• 1952-1960
• Mau Mau group of Kikuyu against
British forces and anti-Mau Mau Kikuyu
• Mau Mau fighters attacked government
supporters  set on fire
• British began punishing whole villages
for the deaths and torturing Mau Mau
suspects
• Home Guard: Kikuyu loyal to the
government
• Raped and abused villagers in areas
patroled
• More than 11,000 Africans were killed

23. Mau Mau revolts
• British were successful at ending the conflict
• 1960: British acknowledged things wouldn’t return to the
way they were  time for independence
• European settlers fiercely opposed it
• Negotiation for independence lasted for 3 years
• Maintain close relationship between the two
• December 12 1963: Independence
• Jomo Kenyatta became first prime minister

24. • Internationalist
• Algeria:
• France had recently lost the war against Vietnam and face uprisings in Tunisia and Morocco
which led nationalists to believe that defeating the French was feasible
• After the defeat of fascist Germany, Algerians raised awareness to the comparison between
fascism and imperialism
• Kenya:
• After defeating the Axis alliance, who desired to expand their empires, Britain chose to maintain
economic ties to Kenya, but allow its independence
• Nationalist
• Algeria:
• Decolonization of Algeria was the result of efforts of resistance movements such as the FLN, who
battled against French oppression
Kenya:
• Decolonization of Kenya was the result of efforts of resistance movements such as the Mau Mau
Kikuyu, who battled against House Guard and British oppression
• Metropolitanist
• Kenya:
• After British containment of the Mau Mau, they could still maintain control over the region, but
instead they chose to construct diplomatic relations with an independent country where they would
keep close economic relationship
• Algeria:
• Failed attempts of French assimilation led to dissatisfaction and oppression, contributing to a
feeling of intense nationalism

25. Nationalism (benedict and fanon)
• Fanon  “Nationalism is
paradoxical to liberation”
• Kenya:
• Many different ethnic groups
came together in order to fight for
independence
• Kikuyu Mau Mau and Home Guard
• Benedict Anderson 
imagined communities
• Kenya:

26. Kemper
• “nationalism is a local response
employing local cultural forms
to new circumstances”
• Algeria:
• With the increase of French
repression, the Muslim Algerians,
with the influence of the FLN,
experienced a sense of community
• Muslim Algerians developed a
sense of community with the
increase of French repression and
subsequent influence of the FLN

27. A. G. Hopkins
• Decolonization is a
process of globalization
• Algeria:
• After French defeat in
Vietnam and uprisings in
Tunisia and Morocco
convinced the nationalists
were convinced that
France could be
challenged and defeated

28. Gayatri Spivak
• “The subaltern has no voice”
• Both Algerians and Kenyans were able to
fight for imperial freedom through violent
guerrilla demonstrations

29. World System

30. World System
• Algeria:
• France  core
• Periphery during
colonialism
• Remained a periphery
• Kenya:
• Britain  core
• Periphery during
colonialism
• Export relations between
the two countries
continued after
independence

31. Relevance
• Similarities:
• both settler colonies
• Use of guerilla tactics
• Kenya in rural areas
• Algeria in
• Differences:
• France aimed at assimilating the
Algerians into the French culture
• Britain aimed at segregating the natives
and the settlers for economic interests
• Algerian resistance movements were
largely urban
• Kenya resistance movements were
largely rural