In 1789 AD, the famous French Revolution took place, which changed the shape of the intellectual and cultural map, and even the political geography of the European continent. This outburst of enthusiasm and impulsiveness hates the "reactionary forces" on the European continent, the old empires that embraced the principle of "maintaining the status quo" as a defining international relations in the old continent.
Napoleon surveyed the borders with his forces and soldiers, and for twenty years he was able to occupy Belgium, the Netherlands, and large parts of Germany, Italy and Malta. He even went down with his forces to Egypt in order to occupy and control it to establish French imperialism in the Middle East.
But his wars, which lasted for more than twenty years, led to devastation, destruction, and killing, and led to the alliance of his enemies against him, such as the Austrians, Germans, English, Russians, Dutch, Belgians, and others.
They were able to eliminate and capture him by the British forces in the famous Battle of "Waterloo" in the summer of June 1815 AD.
Napoleon's page was turned when his opponents decided to exile him to the island of "St. Helena" located in the Atlantic Ocean, where he died in 1821 AD.
Vienna Conference 1815 AD
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But the elimination of Napoleon did not solve all the outstanding problems within the European continent, which began looking for peace, security and reconstruction, and for this reason the European powers, led by Russia, Britain, Austria and Germany, agreed to hold a conference in Austria shortly before and after Napoleon's surrender to discuss security and peace affairs, and to discuss the situation of France And the return of the royal government to it again, with the demarcation of borders between almost all countries of the continent.
However, the major European countries did not only discuss the French issue after the elimination of Napoleon Bonaparte and the general conditions in Europe and the balances of power in it. Rather, each country looked to the south of the Mediterranean, especially France and Britain, as Britain specifically won Malta and the Cape of Good Hope and the islands of Mauritius and Ceylon[1] .
Britain and France also competed over Ottoman North Africa from Egypt to Algeria, as each of them realized the extent of the weakness of the Ottoman Empire at that time and the challenges it faced, in addition to changing conditions in the southern Mediterranean, which was dominated by the Algerian navy, and the release of European Christian prisoners who fell into the hands of Ottomans and Algerians.
The Vienna Conference dealt with this issue, especially from the British side [2].
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In order to understand this issue, we must know that the Ottoman state of Algeria, since its entry into the possession of the Ottoman Empire in the sixteenth century AD, played an important role in Mediterranean affairs until the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries.
The Mediterranean Sea was then considered an Islamic sea.
And if the Christian countries wanted to pass through it, they had to obtain a license from the Ottoman Empire through an agreement concluded between the two parties, and if these countries rejected the conditions of the Ottomans, then the Ottoman Empire represented by the Algerian navy would confront these countries with armed force and prevent them from roaming and trading in the Mediterranean [3].
Since most European countries were not comparable to the strength of the Ottoman Navy, it was forced in many cases to bow to its terms and pay traffic fees, but it took advantage of the weak times of the Ottoman states in North Africa, especially in Algeria, to launch a lightning attack by France and Spain.
It was noted that these attacks were carried out at times of weakness for the Algerians and the decline of their fleets, as happened in the eighteenth century AD.
The Algerian Navy terrorizes England and Europe
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At the Vienna Conference, Britain presented the issue of Algeria, and demanded the need for collective action to confront what it called "the piracy of the Moroccans", by eliminating the government of the Deys (plural of Deys, who are the governors of the Ottoman Empire in Algeria), and imposing another government that respects international principles.
Whereas Britain and European countries are aware of the weakness of the Ottoman and Algerian navy, and are keen at the same time to protect the "status quo", including the status of the Ottoman Empire;
The British suggested imposing a new government in Algeria while keeping its dependence on the Ottoman Empire.
Britain raised the matter to those gathered at the Vienna Conference in 1814 and 1815 AD, in what resembles, very strangely, what it did towards the states of the Ottoman Empire that Britain occupied later, such as Egypt, large parts of Sudan, some Arab Gulf states, Palestine and Iraq, before the Ottomans’ property was divided after First World War.
The combined countries of Europe did not seem to want to enter into a clash with the Ottoman Empire, but England, which "began to see itself as a part of the Mediterranean countries after it took control of some of the islands in it, such as Malta and the Ionian Islands (relative to the Ionian Sea, which is one of the branches of the Mediterranean), and it had wrested Gibraltar, formerly of Spain, was not satisfied with that silence in front of the continuous campaigns of Algeria during the era of President (President) Hamidou against the Spanish and Portuguese ships, as the two countries were its allies.”[4]
("Raïs" is a military rank in the Ottoman Navy, "Raïs").
President Hamidou was known for his skill, ability, and courage, and he believed deeply in the importance of the Mediterranean being subject to Muslim sovereignty.
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And President Hamidou, or Muhammad bin Ali al-Jazaery, had reached the position of "Rais" of the sea for Algeria, which is the highest naval position, and Hamidou was known for his skill, ability and courage, and he believed deeply in the importance of the Mediterranean being subject to Muslim sovereignty.
For this reason, it was always attacking Italian, French, Spanish, English, and even American ships themselves. In the last third of the eighteenth century until the beginning of the nineteenth century, the American fleets in the Mediterranean submitted to the conditions of Algeria, especially the agreement of 1776 AD, until the year 1815 AD, which is the year The martyrdom of President Hamidou[5].
Thus, the Ottoman Algerian Navy continued to pose a real and great threat to the global imperialist powers that were looking for expansion at the time, including England.
Despite the lack of enthusiasm of most of those gathered at the Vienna Conference to attack Algeria militarily, England took it upon itself to carry out this task, and entrusted it to a military man named Lord Exmouth at the head of the English fleet to demand the prisoners who were taken by the Ottomans in the battles of the Ionian Sea (one of the branches of the Mediterranean) previously, Thus, it would have killed two birds with one stone, returning its captives from the Ottomans, destroying the Ottoman-Algerian navy, and opening the way for its commercial and military fleets to increase its influence in the Mediterranean.
Sneaky attack and massive destruction
When the Ottoman governor of Algeria at the time, Omar Pasha, heard of the progress of the English naval units, he arrested the English consul in Algeria and imprisoned him, and began to increase the defensive fortifications.
The Dutch fleet offered the participation of the British in their attack on Algeria, and the offer was approved, and these fleets moved from the north to the Mediterranean until they became in front of Algiers on August 26, 1816 AD.
On the morning of the next day, the commander, Lord Exmouth, sent to the governor of Algiers, Dey, asking him to release the English consul and release the European and Christian captives. It was customary at the time [6].
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But when the fleets advanced from the port of Algiers, they suddenly began heavy, continuous bombardment, which was an element of surprise for the Algerian artillery. The deception and widespread bombardment resulted in the almost complete destruction of the port, and the killing of a large number of soldiers and even the local population who came to watch.
It was not in the minds of any of the Algerian and Ottoman civilians and military to enter into a battle against the British and the Dutch before the official response came to them from the governor, Omar Pasha, and most of them thought that matters would be resolved through negotiation, as happened previously.
In order to inflict defeat, the British burned all the Algerian ships anchored in the port.
The American consul in Algeria at the time, "William Schaller," commented in his memoirs on the inaction of the governor Omar Pasha, and his failure to realize the deception of the English and the Dutch until it was too late, by saying: "The Dey (the governor) acted in a manner characterized by lack of determination and firmness and not befitting his personality, for he was not content with returning a messenger The British commander did not answer his warning, but at the same time he also allowed the combined fleet to choose the appropriate sites to bombard the city without thinking of his resistance.”[7]
The direct result of this crushing defeat was that Dey Omar Pasha found no alternative but to come down to the terms of the British without returning to the Sublime Porte in Istanbul.
The terms of the British agreed upon by the Ottoman governor represented an end to the enslavement of Europeans, the release of all European Christian prisoners in Algeria, who numbered about 1,200, and even the payment of compensation to those who paid sums of money to ransom the Christian prisoners.
The Algerian historian Mubarak Al-Maili noted that the British did not demand an end to "Algerian piracy" in the Mediterranean, as they had previously demanded at the Vienna Conference;
Because they wanted it to continue to hinder their French competitors in the Mediterranean [8].
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The English victory and the successful Dutch aid that compelled the Ottoman state of Tripoli to pay an annual tribute of $5,000 to the Netherlands represented a great event in England;
As the Ottoman and Algerian navy in particular, since the time of Barbarossa and Arouj in the sixteenth century, until President Hamidou in the first quarter of the nineteenth century, has always been one of the biggest and most terrifying challenges for the entire European West, and even for the United States of America from across the Atlantic, whose fleets were defeated by the Algerians in the Mediterranean. , and paid the annual royalty to the Ottoman Empire and the Eyalet of Algiers.
For this reason, Britain celebrated a celebration that it had not prepared before, or as reported by Consul William Schaller: “In England, the result of the Battle of Algiers was considered a brilliant victory that entitles Britain to the right to be recognized by all countries for its thanks, and on this occasion titles, medals, and pensions were distributed without account and in an unusual way in the kingdom, This is in national celebrations and festivals.”[9]
And while victory had its taste, joy, and national jubilation in England and the Netherlands, defeat had an impact on the hearts of the Algerians and the Ottomans.
A few months later, the soldiers rebelled against Omar Pasha and killed him, and decided to appoint a man who was stronger in strength and personality than him, and in this regard, Haji Ahmed Al-Sharif Al-Zahar, the captain of the nobles in Algeria at that period, says about Omar Pasha: “His state and his days were all calamities: locusts, high prices, and the calamity of Hamidou And the misfortune of the British.”[10]
After his death, the Ottoman soldiers chose "Al-Day Hussein" in his place, and Al-Day Hussein was a figure stronger than Omar Pasha, and he was the one who strengthened the city's defenses and walls, built its fleet, and stood in front of the threats and the French and English fleets in the Mediterranean, so that he stood firmly in front of a military naval campaign A joint English-French campaign in 1819 AD, and an English campaign in 1824 AD, but during his time Algeria fell prey to the French occupation, which lasted more than 130 years.
The truth is that these new developments in the southern Mediterranean prompted France to realize British ambitions in Algeria, which was the reason for accelerating its occupation in 1830 AD.
With all these developments and events, the Ottoman Empire in Istanbul lived in a state of weakness and retreat, and all it was able to do since the attack of the British and the Dutch was to supply Algeria with only three warships[11].
Researcher Arezki Choetam[12] believes that the Anglo-Dutch campaign was the reason for putting an end to the recovery that the Algerian navy experienced at the end of the eighteenth century and the beginning of the nineteenth century under the leadership of President Hamidou, and that this campaign was able to liberate a large number of Christian prisoners without charge. Which wasted a lot of money on Algeria, and was even a direct reason for ending the Ottoman rule in Algeria at the hands of the French later.
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Sources
[1] Salah Ahmed Haridi: From the French Revolution to the First World War, p. 111, p. 118.
[2] Mubarak Al-Maili: History of Algeria in the Old and the New, pp. 262, 263.
[3] Laila Al-Sabbagh: History of Modern and Contemporary Arabs, pp. 253, 254.
[4] Layla Al-Sabbagh: Previously, p. 254.
[5] Ali Tablat: President Hamidou, Admiral of the Algerian Navy, pg. 5 et seq.
[6] Mubarak Al-Maili: Previous 3/263.
[7] Memoirs of William Schaller, p. 156.
[8] Al-Maili: Previous p. 263, 264.
[9] Schaller's memoirs, p. 158.
[10] Memoirs of Ahmed Al-Sharif Al-Zahar, p. 127.
[11] Layla Al-Sabbagh: Previously, p. 255.
[12] Arezki Chouetam: The End of the Ottoman Rule in Algeria and the Factors of its Collapse, p. 158.