In April 1871, the Algeria Monitor announces that “a few bands of Kabyles, animated by hostile intentions, showed themselves between Sebaou and the Col des Beni-Aïcha, notably in the plain of Issers. The proximity of these bands of devastaters caused concern among the settlers Boudouaou A large number of these settlers, fearing that their personal security would be compromised, took refuge in neighboring centers, some even went to Algiers, where their stories helped to raise alarm. ” Expropriation, dispossession, deportation and insurrection: angry Kabylia, resistance in colonial Algeria.
From the expropriation of land to the “El Mokrani” revolt
From the beginning of colonial Algeria, in the 1830s, expropriations upset traditional economic and social balances and impoverished rural populations. The famine which occurred at the end of the 1860s aggravated this situation. “We are witnessing the construction of a sort of legislative millefeuille which makes it possible to legalize, sometimes a posteriori, the forms of land transfer. Throughout the 19th century, we [assiste à] the adoption of measures which range from royal ordinances to imperial senatus-consultes, to republican laws, including decrees and decrees which gradually pile up”, specifies historian Antonin Plarier. “These are all tools that make it possible to promote this extremely massive land transfer. From 1830 to 1917, 11.5 million hectares changed hands, from Algerian owners to European owners. To give an idea of comparison, it is a thousand times the city of Paris or three times Belgium.”
It was in this context that the so-called “El Mokrani” insurrection broke out in 1871. On March 16, 1871, Sheikh Mohammed El Mokrani launched the offensive on the Kabyle town of Bordj Bou Arreridj with the support of impoverished peasants and downgraded landowners. On April 8, 1871, Sheikh El Haddad, leader of the important Sufi brotherhood of Rahmaniyya, called for holy war. The alliance of these leaders, one military, the other religious, allows the insurrection to find relays in Algeria and as far as the gates of the Sahara. Nearly two thirds of the population rose up.
“[Auparavant]the revolts are sporadic, but [la révolte de] 1871 is a form of beginning of national awareness. It is not Abdelkader who [dirige] an army is made up of men, women, children, old people. It's the entire population. The popular awareness that will arise there [est] completely unprecedented in the history of Algeria”, explains anthropologist Tassadit Yacine.
Deportation and dispossession: violent repression
If this insurrection is notable for its scale, its repression is distinguished by its brutality and its long-term consequences: the warlords and hundreds of accused are deported to the penal colony in New Caledonia. The forced payment of the heavy war tribute and the massive seizure of land completed the ruin of Algerian societies. The arable land is now in the hands of the settlers.
These punitive measures accelerate the shift towards civilian rule – as opposed to military rule – which is driven by European elites and newly appointed colonial intermediaries. Traditional governance structures are being dismantled. The humiliation born from this repression fuels collective memory. Many poems depict the astonishment of a society disrupted in its economic and social structures. They will fuel the Algerian national movement of the 20th century.
“We find this revolt and the two heroes, El Mokrani and Sheikh El Haddad, in nationalist memory. In the majority of the writings of the Algerian People's Party (PPA) and the Movement for the Triumph of Democratic Liberties (MTLD), we found all the time [leur] name. They are a kind of fuel to mobilize and to say that we have never stopped opposing, resisting colonization. It is extremely important in the nationalist discourse”, underlines the historian Ali Guenoun, specialist in the history of Algerian nationalist movements.
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Refusing the expropriation of resources: rural illegalities and banditry
Those involved in colonization defend the so-called “protection” of natural spaces and accuse local populations of being responsible, through their livestock farming practices, for the decline of forest areas. However, colonization is at the same time based on an extractivist logic. Through this paradoxical discourse, it is about appropriating spaces, which are nevertheless essential to traditional subsistence economies. Forest rangers are sent to enforce a restrictive forest code and forest houses are built.
Through isolated acts or through the action of organized gangs, rural societies commit illegalities to challenge this colonial presence. Certain massifs are set on fire, weapons are stolen, lumberjack soldiers murdered… The bandits who join forces appear in this context as local counter-powers. By benefiting from the protection of local populations, they established a form of rivalry with the colonial authorities.
The course of history Listen later
Lecture listen 58 min
To find out more
Ali Guenoun has a doctorate in history from the University of Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne, specialist in contemporary Algeria.
Publications :
- The Kabyle Question in Algerian nationalism. 1949-1962Éditions du Croquant, 2021
- Chronology of the Berber movement. A fight and menÉditions Casbah, 1999
Antonin Plarier is a lecturer in contemporary history at Jean Moulin Lyon 3 University and an associate researcher at LARRHRA. His research focuses on the environmental history of colonial societies. His doctoral thesis focuses on the history of rural banditry in Algeria: “Rural banditry in Algeria during the colonial period (1871 – 1920s)”, under the direction of Sylvie Thénault, Paris 1 – Panthéon Sorbonne, defended in 2019.
Tassadit Yacine is an anthropologist, director of studies at EHESS and member of the Social Anthropology Laboratory (LAS). She is a specialist in the Berber world.
Publications :
- Pierre Bourdieu in Algeria (1956-1961). TestimonialsÉditions du Croquant, 2022
- (dir.) Kabylia 1871. The insurrection. Proceedings of the Béjaïa international conference (May 6 and 7, 2014)Koukou Éditions, 2019
- The return of Jugurtha. Amrouche in the struggle: from the racism of colonization, Passerelles Éditions, 2011
Sound references
Archives and film clips:
- Fiction “1854, Lalla Fatma N'Soumer, the rebel of Kabylie” by Sarah Mordy, broadcast in Gone with the storyFrance Inter, 2020
- Journalist and writer Jean Perrigault, “Algeria in 1848”, RTF, 1949
- Anonymous testimony from a descendant of a Jewish family from Algeria regarding the Crémieux decree, The Factory of History2000
- The Battle of Icherridene: June 1870directed by François Villiers, 1980
- “On the roads of Kabylie”, French news1947
Lecture :
- Poem “Le Châtiment” by Smaîl Azikiw, published in French in 1899, read by Sam Baquiast
Musique :
- Credits: “Gendèr” by Makoto San, 2020