I know that in OTL most of the European population of French Algeria were of Spanish descent or were Jews that were given French citizenship. So, what would a Spanish Algeria acquired either at the end of the 1700s or the beginning of the 1800s end up looking like? Would Spain be able to get even more Spaniards to settle in Algeria? Would Spain be harsher with the Islamic population?
WI: Spanish Algeria?
- Thread starter Sevarics
- Start date
twovultures
Donor
At that point, they had a lot of colonies in the new world to emigrate to. I think they might have some problems establishing a settler colony in North Africa-Argentina was further, but there was more arable land and the people you were stealing it from did not have iron weapons, nor did they have the potential to be secretly supported by a massive rival empire.
I think you would see Algeria turned into a plantation for spices, olives, and wheat with a few Spanish overlords over the larger Arab population. Even then, the colony would have labor problems until modern medicine advances helps the native population boom and creates a greater labor surplus to exploit.
Now that isn't to say that a brutal Spanish conquest and slow depopulation/forced conversion of Arabs outside the Atlas mountains is impossible, I just don't see a Spain suffering from inflation and steadily eroding military power having the motive to carry out such a program.
"Most" is overstating it a bit. Pieds-noirs were a mixture of French, Spanish, Italian, Maltese, Alsatian and other origins.
AussieHawker
Banned
Maybe have instead of Spain involved in the HRE with their wars they instead continue on a reconquista of North Africa. A different dynasty then the Habsburgs would help that. A Aborted or significantly changed Protestant reformation would help as well.
If the Ottomans are more involved somewhere else then North Africa could fall by the wayside for a Iberian conquest of it. North Africa was very sparsely populated and pushing south and eastwards from the coast with lines of forts could ensure control. Plus the crown would prefer some settlement there as it is very close by and can be directly integrated into the nation.
By 1954, the non-Muslim population of Algeria consisted of around 400,000 people of Spanish Ancestry, making them the single largest ethnic group. However, as 78% of Algeria's non-Muslim population was born in the territory, the vast majority were French citizens.
Keep in mind that most of the immigrants were from Southern Spain, particularly from Alicante and Murcia provinces, but also from Andalusia. Earlier immigrants came from Valencia and Menorca. Prior to World War I, thousands of Spaniards from Southern Spain made their way to Algeria every year (10-25,000) as temporary farm migrants, with most eventually returning to Spain. However, enough settled permanently to form the nucleus of a culturally Spanish community in Western Algeria.
As for the assertion of Argentina being an option, unlike in the 16th and 17th centuries, very few Andalusians emigrated to South America during the 19th and 20th centuries. For instance Argentina's immigrants from Spain were overwhelmingly from Northern Spain, particularly Galicia during the same period. Cuba, which was much like Algeria for Galicians as many went to work on for short periods of time in sugarcane plantations before returning to Spain.
The Spanish-born population of Algeria already numbered 10,796 by 1841, rising to 144,530 in 1886. The Spaniards also were the last large European immigrants to arrive in Algeria with some 12,000 Republicans taken refuge in Algeria in 1939. Keep in mind that by the 1930s more Europeans were leaving Algeria than immigrating due to the better economic prospects in France.
Keep in mind that most of the immigrants were from Southern Spain, particularly from Alicante and Murcia provinces, but also from Andalusia. Earlier immigrants came from Valencia and Menorca. Prior to World War I, thousands of Spaniards from Southern Spain made their way to Algeria every year (10-25,000) as temporary farm migrants, with most eventually returning to Spain. However, enough settled permanently to form the nucleus of a culturally Spanish community in Western Algeria.
As for the assertion of Argentina being an option, unlike in the 16th and 17th centuries, very few Andalusians emigrated to South America during the 19th and 20th centuries. For instance Argentina's immigrants from Spain were overwhelmingly from Northern Spain, particularly Galicia during the same period. Cuba, which was much like Algeria for Galicians as many went to work on for short periods of time in sugarcane plantations before returning to Spain.
The Spanish-born population of Algeria already numbered 10,796 by 1841, rising to 144,530 in 1886. The Spaniards also were the last large European immigrants to arrive in Algeria with some 12,000 Republicans taken refuge in Algeria in 1939. Keep in mind that by the 1930s more Europeans were leaving Algeria than immigrating due to the better economic prospects in France.