History of Algeria

1. By Helya Kargosha and Madeline Cooke History of Algeria

2. Setting of The Stranger • Algeria in the 1940’s • Occupied by the French since 1830 • In the book, the city Algiers, is a French territory • Where is Algeria anyway???

3. Maps of Algeria

4. Geography • Algeria is in North Africa between the countries of Tunisia and Morocco.  Its capital is Algiers, a coastal city. • It has a coast which faces the Mediterranean Sea. • Northern Algeria has a similar climate to that of Southern California. Summers are very dry and arid especially in the plateau areas. Temperatures are usually in the upper 70’s. (75-79 Fahrenheit) • The southern part of Algeria is part of the Sahara desert. Most of Algeria is desert- about ⅘. • Algeria also consists of plateaus and mountains. • According to the CIA website, Algeria is roughly 3.5 times the size of Texas.

5. Geography Here is an image of an Algerian beach. Notice the mountainous aspects that correspond with the actual beach.

6. Politics • Today: Multi-party system: the Prime Minister is the head of the government and the President is the head of state. Parliament consists of the Council of the Nation and the People’s National Assembly. This is after independence from the French. • In the 1940’s: (when The Stranger waspublished): France overtook Algeria in 1848, however fighting started in 1830. Many French, Italian, and Spanish people moved to Algeria and were called Pied-Noirs. • Operation Torch occurred in Algeria during WWII by the Americans and the British. At this time, many colonized countries of the world were going against their superpower and challenged them.

7. More Background • During World War I and World War II, Algerians were drafted to fight with the French. After World War II, Algerian leaders demanded Muslim equality in exchange for this service. Charles de Gaulle, the leader of France's provisional government after the war, agreed to grant French citizenship to select Muslims, which resulted in rising tensions between Algerians and their colonizers. Anti-French sentiment had been building for some time—the first anti-colonial group was formed in the 20’s, and another, the Algerian People's Party, in 1937.

8. Cont’d • Then in 1945, the independence movement began to gain momentum. In 1947, de Gaulle refused to relinquish French hold on the colony. The Algerian war for independence broke out in 1954, when the National Liberation Army (ALN) staged guerrilla attacks on French military and communication posts and called on all Muslims to join their struggle.

9. Social Issues • “But this doesn’t begin to address why Meursault's murder of an Arab seems to not matter to these people. The answer here is racism. And now for a brief and spicy history lesson: The French started "colonizing" (invading) Algeria in 1830. By the time we get to the 1940’s, Algiers, the city in which The Stranger takes place, is French territory. That’s it. We told you it would be brief. The point is, in Meursault’s world, the French are considered superior to the Arabs. Killing an Arab was a minor offense, but not obeying French and Christian customs was apparently punishable by death. That’s why Meursault’s trial is so important – and so interesting to watch. When Meursault himself says he’s been convinced of his own guilt, he’s probably not talking about murder at all.” -shmoop.com

10. Further Analysis • Algeria in the mid-1940’s • Both the time and place in the novel are significant to understand an imperative piece of background information about The Stranger: Meursault might "officially" be on trial for killing a man, but he’s really on trial for his character, and it is for this character that he is convicted.

11. Extra Fact • During the French rule, the only university in the country, in Algiers, was open only to French students • This was the university that Camus attended

12. El Fin.