|
Select Your Country |
|
(Beta version!) These links will be active soon :)>> Recommend wdbase.com >> About Us >> Privacy
|
HOME >> WORLD PROFILES >>
Algeria
Algerian Nationalism
Algeria
Algerian Nationalism
A new generation of Muslim leadership emerged in Algeria at
the time of World War I and grew to maturity during the 1920s and
1930s. It consisted of a small but influential class of
évolués, other Algerians whose perception of themselves
and their country had been shaped by wartime experiences, and a
body of religious reformers and teachers. Some of these people
were members of the few wealthy Muslim families that had managed
to insinuate themselves into the colonial system in the 1890s and
had with difficulty succeeded in obtaining for their sons the
French education so coveted by progressive Algerians. Others were
among the about 173,000 Algerians who had served in the French
army during World War I or the several hundred thousand more who
had assisted the French war effort by working in factories. In
France they became aware of a standard of living higher than any
they had known at home and of democratic political concepts,
taken for granted by Frenchmen in France, which colons, soldiers,
and bureaucrats had refused to apply to the Muslim majority in
Algeria. Some Algerians also became acquainted with the pan-Arab
nationalism growing in the Middle East.
Data as of December 1993
