French conquest of Algeria The French conquest of Algeria took
place between 1830 and 1847. Using an 1827 diplomatic slight by
Hussein Dey, the ruler of the Ottoman Regency of Algiers,
against its consul as a pretext, France invaded and quickly
seized Algiers in 1830, and rapidly took control of other
coastal communities. Amid internal political strife in France,
decisions were repeatedly taken to retain control over the
territory, and additional military forces were brought in over
the following years to quell resistance in the interior of the
country. Algerian resistance forces were divided between forces
under Ahmed Bey at Constantine, primarily in the east, and
nationalist forces in Kabylie and the west. Treaties with the
nationalists under `Abd al-Qādir enabled the French to first
focus on the elimination of the remaining Ottoman threat,
achieved with the 1837 capture of Constantine. Al-Qādir
continued to give stiff resistance in the west. Finally driven
into Morocco in 1842 by large-scale and heavy-hand