Europeans in Algeria
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During the
the indigenous Jews obtained the French nationality, and they were also considered as pieds noirs.[citation needed
]
However, the indigenous
Muslims
remained a large majority of the territory's population throughout its history, and before the invasion and colonization of Algeria by France, Europeans were practically absent.
Gradually, dissatisfaction among the Muslim population with its lack of political rights (Muslims were denied French citizenship and the right to vote or to be elected) and economic status fueled calls for greater political autonomy and eventually independence from France. Tensions between the two population groups came to a head in 1954, when the first violent events of what was later called the Evian agreements
on 3 July 1962. This was the exodus for the pieds noirs.
On the eve and during Algerian independence in 1962, more than one million Pied-Noir settlers of French nationality immediately fled or were evacuated to mainland France. However, with continuing violence and discrimination by the Algerian state and people against the remaining settlers, most of the remainder of the population of 100,000 people (less than 1% of the population) who stayed after 1962, also fled during the 1960s. The Pieds-Noirs felt unable to return to their birthplace, Algeria, because of the violence and resentment felt against the former Pied-Noir settlers by the FLN.[3]
References
- ISBN 0-8153-4057-5.
- ISBN 0-8130-3096-X.
- ^ "Grappling with ghosts:In its post-colonial era, France rethinks its identity". Monday, 6 March 2006. In the Fray, Identity Magazine Group. Archived from the original on 10 November 2007. Retrieved 25 December 2007.