the initial french conquest of algeria was relatively easy. french troops left toulon on may 25 1830, landed in algeria on june 14, and by july 5, algiers had capitulated. the french troops slaughtered civilians, looted, and destroyed mosques and cemeteries. in 1834, the dey was overthrown, and algeria became a colony of france. in 1848, france added the region to its own empire and divided it into three departments: alger, oran and constantine. the french thought that they would conquer the rest of the country in a matter of time, but they faced a strong resistance from algerians that could not be put down until 1857 with the bloody campaign of kabylie and the battle of icheridden. moreover, french became the official language.