Young Algerians

The Young Algerians (Jeunes Algériens in French) were a political group established in French Algeria in 1907. They were assimilationists, meaning that they wanted Algerian society to integrate with French colonial society. As such, they called for reforms that would give France's Algerian subjects the same rights as French citizens enjoyed.

History

The Young Algerians emerged from a new group of middle class Algerians who were integrated into the French economic system and had gone through the French education system. They were influenced by the Young Tunisians movement, and established a number of study circles. In 1908, they went to France to meet Prime Minister Clemenceau and set out their demands. They sent another delegation to France in 1912. They were also able to publish a number of journals including L'Islam and El-Hack.

Although the group was, for a time, at the forefront of the Algerian resistance to French colonial policy, it never gained much support either from the Algerians, who saw them as aloof and overly French, or from the colons, who feared and suspected them. This meant that they usually performed badly in elections. In an attempt to overcome this, the Young Algerians gained the support of the popular Khaled ibn Hashimi ibn Hajj Abd al Qadir, the grandson of Abd al Qadir, the resistance fighter of the 1830s.

The Young Algerians successfully used France's need to conscript its Algerian subjects for the First World War to extract a number of minor reforms from France in the immediate pre-war years. In 1917, when Clemenceau returned to power in France, a more serious attempt at reform was made but due to colon opposition, this was watered down and became the Jonnart Law passed in 1919. This reform was divisive, splitting the movement between Khaled, who demanded much more far reaching reform, and more moderate elements such as Benthai, who were largely content with the reforms as a step in the right direction.

Bibliography

• Ruedy, J., "Chérif Benhabylès and Ferhat Abbas: case studies in the contradictions of the Mission civilisatrice", Historical Reflections, 28/2 (2002), pp. 185-201.
• Ruedy, J., Modern Algeria: The Origins and Development of a Nation, (Bloomington, 2005), chapters 4 & 5.
• Zack, L, "Early origins of Islamic activism in Algeria: the case of Khaled in post-World War I Algiers", Journal of North African Studies, 11:2 (2006).