General Trezeguet, Welcome back! The French lands are pleased to have you. Hello, Commander.
Am I in an official investigation? Investigation? Why would you say that?
Are you not coming back from Algeria victorious? There is no investigation. Come on guys, play the music, bring the dancers, let's celebrate our hero!
In fact, Commander, we did not win. Oh! Beautiful!
Are you listening, Francis? Write. You were telling me, why we were defeated, General?
Actually. . .
The Republic of France heading to fight primitive tribes, why would it lose? For charity? To prevent envy?
The problem is with Emir Abdelkader Al-Jazairi! One second! How is Abdelkader written?
Francis, shut up! Calm down, you. Who is this Emir Abdelkader?
A 20 year old young man. A young man of 20 years! We now lose to youngsters, General?
It's a dark page in your history! Don't underestimate him, General. He succeeded in uniting all tribes against us!
I lost my eye in the battle, Commander! I was coming down the mountain, running with my horse, aiming my gun, I shot. .
. Wait, I'm writing, talk slower. Where have your soldiers gone, General?
Commander, I had soldiers with me who ate rocks! If they were so tough, why were you defeated? Tough?
I'm telling you they ate rocks out of hunger. We were cut off from all supplies! Then what do I write down as the cause if defeat?
We write it intermittent fasting. Shut up, Francis! The honor of France is no joke!
I myself will lead the coming battle, play victory music. Can I take a sick leave? A disappointment.
"You're a cow, You're a dog! " Do you want something? Francis, come fight instead of him.
Hello my friend viewers, Welcome to another episode of ElDaheeh. If you go to the American state of Iowa, you will find a city called Elkader. This is a simplified abbreviation of the name Abdelkader.
The one who gave this city this name is Timothy Davis, the man who settled the city and built it in 1846. He named it by this name, after the brave man, the Algerian Emir Abdelkader, the Algerian warrior who was resisting French colonialism, and defended his homeland against the colonialists. Not only was his story a local legend, but it was a global story, spread in all the newspapers of the world at the time.
The stories of Emir Abelkader reminded the Americans of when they were trying to gain independence from Britain, and their courage as weak individuals before a great power. President Abraham Lincoln, when he was honored in 1860, described Emir Abdelkader saying "Abdelkader is a great Muslim and a humanitarian person. " The question is, my friend, who is Abdelkader that the US is very fond of?
In May 1807, born in the village of Guittena, south of the city of Oran, was Abdelkader Nasr al-Din, son of Sheikh Muhyi al-Din Bin Mustafa, Sheikh of the Qadiriyya tariqa, which is widely appreciated among all Algeria. Abdelkader had been a smart person since his childhood, which was evident while learning the Qur'an and religion, and also, philosophy, mathematics and history. In 1826, when he was 19 years old, he traveled with his father on a Hajj trip that lasts for months.
During the trip, he visited Arab capitals, such as Tunisia, for example, where he saw the modern development of the governor, Ahmed Bey, and Cairo where he saw Muhammad Ali's modern development, whom he was lucky to meet him in person. Only for Muhammad Ali personally warned him against the English and French. "Take care, Abdelkader, these people want to colonize the Arab region, Algeria, Abdelkader, is one of the most threatened areas.
Be careful, you understand. " This trip made the young man, Abdelkader, see the diverse world around him, and to know much more than the borders of Oran, to understand world and be more passionate about learning. Most importantly, to know more about the history of the Arab region.
Why am I telling you all this, my friend? To create a foundation for this coming moment. An incident that happened at the same time and can seem to be trivial, but it changed the history of Algeria forever!
When Hussein Dey, the Ottoman governor of Algeria, -listen, my friend- he slaps the French consul in the face three times! "Oh no, Abo Hmeed! 3 times, Abo Hmeed, that's a lot!
Sorry, Abo Hmeed, the French now seem right to occupy Algeria. This man was slapped 3 times! The truth, my friend, is that he didn't hit him with his hand, he hit him with the fan.
Do you know, my friend, this hand fan used by the ladies? This is what he hit him with! He didn't slap him with his hand, he did it with a fan.
Let me tell you that as trivial as this incident is, history will immortalize it. This incident was known as the "Fan incident", that happened after a verbal argument between the two. What happened will turn into a justification for the French fleet to move towards Algeria.
Indeed, on May 25th, 1830, the French fleet appeared on the Algerian coast, with a force of 100 warships and 40 thousand soldiers. "Wow, Abo Hmeed! " All this because of a fan?
what if it was an AC! " At first, the Ottoman army would try to resist the attack time after the other, but it fails, and on July 5th, the resistance is eliminated. With Algeria's despair, Hussein Dey signed the surrender treaty, and was then exiled and deported to Alexandria.
"Abo Hmeed, the exiles back then were very sweet, one goes to Alexandria and another goes to Malta, why? " In the beginning, my friend, the people of Algeria thought that the problem was with Hussein Dey only. "The man is the one who was impolite and hit the consul with a fan, that's why the French armies came to set him straight, we have nothing to do with it, What can we say frankly to Hussein Dey!
" The people of Algeria thought that the French's arrival in the capital was temporary. But the truth is that the French had much greater ambitions, which is the occupation of Algeria completely! The French army began to expand in order to capture Annaba and Oran.
The Ottoman rulers began to flee from Algeria. Whenever the French army wins, the rulers flee, this way by at the end of 1832, we see Algeria in complete chaos. Entire villages are destroyed, people fleeing, searching for shelter.
Those who are not afraid of the occupier are afraid of bandits! Suddenly, the people of Oran find themselves in western Algeria without a leader. "There is no leader to rule us!
" They went to Sheikh Muhyi al-Din bin Mustafa, who is the father of Abdelkader whom we are talking about, who already led the people of Algeria in skirmishes that disrupted the French advance to the south. "This is a good man, he can lead us. " However, Sheikh Muhyi al-Din refused to take on leadership.
When he rejected, they went to the Sultan of Morocco. They sent for him to come and rule Algeria, Initially, he agreed and sent his son, but he immediately received the French's threats, "Go back to your country. This Algeria in North Africa belongs to us, if you do not return, we will declare war on Morocco.
" Here, the Moroccan Sultan was forced to withdraw, leaving Algeria without a leader. Despite the slogans of the French army, that they were coming to spread civilization and teach uncivilized peoples how can they nice, civilized, and pretty like them. But as you and all of us know, this didn't happen.
The French army dealt very harshly with the people of Algeria. We see the commander of the French army, Pierre Boyer, nicknamed Boyer the Cruel saying clearly and frankly, "Sometimes, in order to spread civilization, we must resort to uncivilized actions. " It reminded me, my friend, of what Churchill said, Once again, the Algerian beg of Sheikh Muhyi al-Din to take on leadership, he refused their allegiance to him as a prince, and repeats his words to them: "I'm a man of science and religion, I'm not a fighter, but I will not let you go away with your hands empty.
I see my son Abdelkader as a leader for the future. " This surprising solution was greatly welcomed by the tribes of western Algeria, who saw with their own eyes the courage of Abdelkader in the skirmishes with the French and his ability to lead soldiers and achieve goals. At that time, everyone agreed that Abdelkader would become the prince of the Arabs and their new sultan in Algeria.
From the village of Guittena to his headquarters in the city of Mascara, the streets welcomed him with great joy. The next day, 10,000 fighters from the tribes around Oran arrive to pledge allegiance to him. The young man who is only 25 years old became a leader overnight.
He is the only one responsible for recovering Algeria from France. Let me tell you, my friend, that France's strength at that time politically was as strong as their national team now! This means, as it seems, it was not an easy matter.
Because some tribes, especially those in large cities, refused that he'd be in charge. They said sarcastically, "This is a young man who comes from a village which in our language means a child and a farmer, you want him to be our Commander? Who is this?
" My friend, not only did some people refuse, but there are people who sent forces to fight Abdelkader, and get rid of his leadership and end it as it was still beginning. But Abdelkader had a far-sighted ambition. "Not only will I resist the French, I will build this destroyed state.
" The first decision Abdelkader took was not to fight the French. "Isn't he the leader of occupied Algeria, Abo Hmeed? Surely he will resist the French.
" No, he decided to fight anyone who cooperated with France "We will cut feathers! " This is a strategy that will accompany Abdelkader all the time. I call it, my friend, the router disconnection plan!
He was always concerned that the French occupation would remain isolated, and cannot extend its roots inwards. In the end, it is an occupying entity that does not know the land or the region, so it needs people from inside to cooperate with. If we get rid of the people inside who cooperate with it, it'll remain trapped within the coastal cities.
Indeed, many tribes pledged allegiance to Abdelkader, for his authority to be all over the entire south of Oran. But what is difficult about Abdelkader's experience is that he wanted to gather people from the desert people whose fighting abilities were primitive and their goals and ambitions are very different from each other, who have never been under any authority other than the authority of the tribe, and fight with them all under one flag in front of an empire. "Abo Hmeed, even if he wanted to group them for coffee, he won't make it, How did this man do this?
" This man, my friend, didn't only unite them, he actually made them a country like what he saw in Tunisia and Muhammad Ali's experience in Egypt. The experience that originally began with building a professional army. And here, my friend, Abdelkader will decide to not confront the French army with volunteers, young men gathering at the time of battle and go home when the battle is over.
Therefore, he began establishing an independent, professional army, with its loyalty not to a particular tribe, but its loyalty to Algeria. An army that has modern regular appearance, uniforms, chain of command, military regulations, and salaries. The army forces begin to grow, and Abdelkader's attacks become more frequent.
Over time, his attacks will become stronger and cause France more losses. "Did the French let it pass, Abo Hmeed? did they increase chocolate filling, sleep in the oven, and make themselves croissants?
Never, they must respond! " In October 1833, under the leadership of General Desmichels, the French begin their first movements against Emir Abdelkader by punishing some tribes in southern Oran that were cooperating with him, but what General Desmichels didn't take into consideration was that Abdelkader had early reconnaissance units. "Spies, Abo Hmeed?
Just say it directly" These reconnaissance units made him prepare with a structured ambush for General Desmichels's forces, an ambush that destroys a force of 3,000 French soldiers. Also, he took prisoners from them. Here, the French will know that a new force has emerged that is more dangerous than the Ottoman governors, a force that not only fights them, but also defeats them and takes them captives.
This is not the only surprise, as Abdelkader's army intelligently noticed that the supplies of food, drink, and ammunition, coming to the French army by sea were very few during those days. This was due to political unrest in France. So he decides to completely boycott trade with the French.
It's a strategy he began by the necessity of punishing any Algerian who cooperates with the occupier. This decision was broadcasted to the people of Algeria. "Show me, you occupying Monsieur, where will you get food from?
" Here, the French in Algeria were surprised. The tribes that they thought were weak and dispersed, not only did they defeat them militarily, they also caused them to starve! In the face of this reality, the commander of the French forces in Oran, General Desmichels, offers a truce on Abdelkader more than once.
"I'm hungry, man, I want to order some supplies. " "No, no can do. " Abdelkader ignored him more than once, because he was in a stronger position.
When Abdelkader finally agreed, the Desmichels Treaty was signed, the treaty where this general recognizes the authority of Emir Abdelkader over southern Oran, "Oran is yours. I tried and saw for myself, it's yours, in whole country, I can't even buy some cheese. " The authority that Abdelkader obtained, my friend, is a very interesting authority.
It was a power that he took by force, no governor came and said, "Go ahead, take it. " An authority forcing France to appoint him as consul and its representative in Oran. But, my friend, if you don't know the French well, let me tell you.
France, my friend, acts like cats, treacherous. Abdelkader knew well that this was a trick, a fragile peace. "The enemy is right next to us, and the battle is coming and this treaty is hiding something!
" Abdelkader began to organize his state in the form of a modern state, which he saw on his Hajj trip. What are the specifications of the modern state? I'll tell you quickly, we will create entities and assign different responsibilities to them, put it on the stove for two minutes each side, let it cool, cut it up, distribute it to individuals, and everyone works.
These entities submitted weekly reports to the higher authority, detailed budgets, how much we spent and how much we received, for each entity alone. He also made an inventory of the salaries of soldiers, who devote their entire lives to the military. They have fixed training sessions throughout the week.
The number of permanent soldiers, not volunteers, a one point, they reached 60,000 soldiers. Not only that, he began to find foreign experts working on gunpowder factories and weapons factories. These factories will produce more than 20 cannons.
This allowed his influence to extend beyond the borders of Oran. Here, some cities start messaging him, and ask him about the membership of his country! "We want to participate, sir.
Take us, rule us, adopt us! " Also, Abdelkader paid attention to education as one of the most important factors for the establishment of a state. So he started establishing schools everywhere.
Every village under his rule had at least two schools, also, he made sure he published books, to the point that he sent representatives to Anatolia to make simplified copies of Ibn Arabi's books, for these books to be easily read by the general public. He imposed penalties on anyone who desecrates or cuts a book. When General Trezel comes after Desmichels, he understands that the issue is no longer rebellious tribes.
"We are almost facing a state, a nation, this is an entire country determined to adopt modern systems! " He then decides, "We must eliminate this state in its infancy, before it grows, and we don't know how to deal with it. " Here Trezel terminated the Treaty of Desmichels.
In June 1835, a campaign consisting of thousands of soldiers armed with cannons emerges in order to annihilate Abdelkader's state. At Macta, the two armies meet. Here the French army is surprised that Abdelkader and his army use very modern war plans, it shocks them, and makes their guns worthless!
Many Frenchmen were injured including General Trezel himself, who lost his eye in that battle, and the French power was completely destroyed, and what remained of it withdrew in a humiliating manner, and Emir Abdelkader won, who until now, Algerians commemorate him and immortalize his name. When the news of this humiliating defeat reached France, politicians there were shocked, and questions filled the French Parliament, how can a young man in his twenties leading primitive tribes defeat the French army this humiliating defeat? When they summoned the French leaders from Algeria, to hear their words, they found the leaders complaining of weak strength and lack of supplies, and the inconsistency of France's politics towards Algeria.
"What exactly do you want from them, why don't you support us with supplies? we need supplies, supply us, the soldiers are standing hungry in battle, and you know how war is! " Indeed, the French leadership responds and supplies forces, and appointed a new commander, General Clauzel, who moved his army towards Abdelkader.
When he arrived at the capital on December 6th, 1835, he found the city empty! At that time, Emir Abdelkader preferred to withdraw. Therefore, the French army burned the city, convinced that this way they limited his power and defeated him.
But they forgot his second weapon, which had no rifles or confrontations, the obligatory diet weapon. The starvation policy was one of Emir Abelkader's favorite policies, where he cut off all food supply routes to the French again, and employed rapid intervention forces, whose mission was to attack food storages in the cities under French control, troops would strike, scatter food, and flee into the forests or deserts. Here, the French are forced again to send to Emir Abdelkader, "Please, Mr Abdelkader, I haven't eaten anything for 3 days.
Please be kind to us. I'm not a beggar, I swear, I'm from the Champs-Élysées! " Indeed, a new peace treaty was signed on May 31st, 1837, a treaty called Tafna.
Not only does France recognize the Emir's authority in the treaty, it also draws a clear border for his country, with borders that include two thirds of Algeria. The French presence is limited to the coast only. Abdelkader takes advantage of this treaty and begins to modernize his state more and more.
Keep modernizing! How, my friend, can the modern state be modernized? In our case, it will be divided into 8 districts, over every province, you will place a successor to the prince, and alongside that, offices such as local councils, a Shura Council on the side, a tax system as well, we need it everywhere.
Here, Abdelkader exercises his authority as leader of the state. Let's start creating our diplomacy, we establish relations with England, America, and other countries. He also chose the city of Tagdemt as the permanent capital of the new state.
friend Algerian, please forgive any pronunciation errors in this episode. This city traces its historical roots back to the Roman era. Abdelkader supports it with forts and populates it with houses, he created streets, districts, and government departments.
He also took advantage of the Roman basements to use them as ammunition stores. He established a rifle factory producing 8 rifles a day, as well as another factory for cannons Abo Hmeed, where did he get the engineers and workers with experience working in these factories? " I'll tell you where from, my friend, from France.
. . "What!
How, Abo Hmeed? " Didn't they sign agreements? Emir sent his representatives to Europe to look for experts in the arms industry.
He presented them with attractive offers to cooperate with him. Indeed, experts from Spain and France itself responded to him. Secondly, let me tell you that Emir Abdelkader sent exploratory missions, to the Algeria mountains to explore new mines.
He succeeded in extracting lead, iron, and sulfur from it. In addition to all this, he did something similar to the Ministry of Economy, its mission was to manage the country's crop resources and store them properly. The group that runs the economy came up with a genius idea, "We will decentralizing-ly store grains.
" "What's so genius about this, Abo Hmeed? I could have thought of this! " my friend, this is a Voldemort-like idea.
This is a plan to divide what you have into parts, because if one of them is gone, the rest are there. Don't put all your eggs in one basket. You know all about the Horcruxes!
Thus, every city and village has a full storage of food. For if someone decides to cut off supplies in an area, other cities can provide, and if, God forbid, there was a siege of the city, it would have no problem with food or supplies, as the supplies don't come from one place anyway. Because there is a secret food storage place everywhere in Algeria.
This was Abdelkader's slogan: "The closest way to a man's victory is his stomach! " Let me tell you that these decentralized warehouses had a political goal. That is, each tribe paying its taxes in the form of grain and food wouldn't be giving them to a centralized state, that stored and controlled them, no, it's that your food, drink, and taxes that you paid exist under your control for the public interest.
"Keep it in the family" as we say. But, my friend, this state of prosperity created by Emir Abdelkader, was on a ticking bomb with French politics, that were being changed in a way that would turn everything upside down. Voices were emerging from France attacking Emir Abdelkader, and the treaty made with him was seen by the French that France had made too many concessions.
"What do you mean we went to occupy and only took the coasts? " France was annoyed it left all of Oran for Abdelkader, and a large part of western Algeria. They thought that they should have more space in the East, and that the treaty doesn't specify that at all.
Here, the French began to think and expand their influence in eastern Algeria. Of course, Abdelkader, as a political genius, was aware that the French certainly wanted the treaty to be annulled. Here, he began corresponding with the leaders of France with intense diplomacy to maintain peace, "let's play nice with each other".
In his letter to Louis Philippe, King of France, he said: "You came to the coasts of Africa not to make peoples a nation of slaves, but to implant among them the spirit of freedom that became the slogan of your nation, so is it by armed force or betraying oaths you will achieve that goal? " -"Are you for real? " -France said yes.
-What? -Oui, yes. France's desire for expansion was greater than Abdelkader's desire for peace.
They began to mobilize their military forces in clear violation of the treaty, and in a direct insult to Abdelkader. It is as if they were telling him, "You didn't gain this peace with your struggle, this was just a kindness from us to you. " At that time, Abdelkader emphasized his insistence and adherence to the borders of his state.
"Leave it as it is. " On November 18th, 1839, he holds a council of war and declares war on France, to which it will respond by canceling any recognition of the state of Emir Abdelkader, "Not only that, Algeria is an entirely French territory forever, we will not make any more concessions in our rights. " In April 1840, a great French army departed from the city of Algiers.
consisting of 30,000 fighters and heads to the city of Medea. Abdelkader's army was trying, in a tactical mistake, to confront that army. But he discovers that he was not ready yet.
He cannot face the tactics of a modern army with such intensity! "We used to kill 3, injure 5, burn a food warehouse, but things just got real, we are facing a modern army of a modern colonial state! " Here, Abdelkader withdrew from the city, and the French continued to expand.
They stormed Algerian cities one after the other. Until they stormed the Emir's capital and demolished its fortresses. You may think, my friend, that this is the end, the big cities fell into the hands of the French, the capital itself fell and ended.
But the truth is that Emir Abdelkader had a surprise, as he invented a strange and new technique, "You are searching for cities to destroy them? We will make you a city, and make it a mobile capital! " "What!
How, Abo Hmeed? " friend, a moving target is much more difficult than a fixed target. This is when the "Zmala/Smala" appear, "Zmala" is simply a group of residences that move in Algeria according to the circumstances of the war.
"There is an attack on us, so we move away and go to the desert, or we hide in the mountains and forests, if things are stable and security is stable. We are close to the cities, we move exactly as the army moves. " This is an idea that I find it very innovative, it's not just a few tents that are taken down and put down.
No, this is a city with a population of 20,000 people. It carries with it all the state property, a moving city! Gold, money, herds of cattle and sheep, and Chicken Ranch!
When the capital moves, it moves in a structured order, every tent knows its exact location. It has numbers, and each number knows exactly where it is. There are also streets, roads, markets, schools, and government departments.
A capital that has a police and a regulatory body, all of which is mobile. As for the army itself, it's not in the "Zmala," but it is close by to protect it, and to also remain light-weighted. Of course, the soldiers' movement is much easier than the institutions I was telling you about.
This method, of course, succeeded, in exhausting the French greatly. Emir Abdelkader's forces became very light and could no longer confront directly. It attacks the rear of the French forces, in the literary, literally, and military senses, and they hit the wings of army at different times, waging long and exhausting war of attrition against it while taking thousands of prisoners from them.
Let me tell you that Emir Abdelkader established a special system for captives, a national decree to treat them with dignity. Some historians see this as an impressive model that was far ahead of its time. The decree says that every Arab with a French prisoner is responsible for his good treatment.
If the prisoner complains that he has been subjected to ill-treatment of any kind, the Arab who has him will be punished. There is no such thing as a personal prisoner or someone working for you on a forced basis. You receive a reward because you captured a prisoner and handed him over to the specialized authorities who is responsible for organizing their affairs.
If the captives were women, they would be sent to a "Zmala" in order to be in the personal care of Abdelkader's mother, who cares about protecting them herself. This style of guerrilla warfare was extremely exhausting for the French. For example one of the French camps in Algeria, the Miliana camp, was going to subside under the pressure of Abdelkader.
In his book "The Life of Emir Abdelkader" British diplomat Charles Henry Churchill says, that Abdelkader's plan of lightning wars and using the weapon of starvation at the same time, had succeeded to the point that if we looked at one French camp, then among the 1,500 soldiers in the camp, half of them died in the attacks, 500 were injured, and 250 were moving skeletons that can't take out a weapon because their bodies were weak from hunger! What is this cardio war? This is a war that does not end with victory, it ends with a Free Day!
"Just stabilize this moving city, we don't know how to occupy it! " But, my friend, just how Emir improves his methods, the French are also improving their methods. When they discover secret food stores in cities, they also begin to depend on stealing it.
Suddenly, they no longer have to carry food and drink supplies! Because they know that if they went to any place, no matter how small, surely there is a warehouse in which there is food and drink. We will remain light, and just as decentralization was good for these cities, it has now become their weak point!
Then comes the strongest blow to Abdelkader, when, by pure coincidence, the French encounter the moving capital "Zmala". Duke of Aumale, son of the King of France, after seeing the capital by chance, he decided to attack it, even though he was not prepared nor had enough soldiers! He was lucky, my friend, because at that time, Emir Abdelkader and his army were not present near the Zmala.
Indeed, the attack succeeded and the French managed to seize all of Abdelkader's resources, Gold, money, livestock and Chicken Ranch! They also took the elders of Abdelkader's family as prisoners, more than 3 thousand prisoners! This attack was immortalized by the French painter Horace Vernet in his painting "The Capture of Smala".
As you see, a painting dominated by chaos and fear written on the faces of all the residents of the "Zmala", terror of civilians. At that time, Emir Abdelkader preferred to withdraw all his soldiers to Morocco until he regroups again. Of course, he has a good relationship with the Sultan of Morocco, Abd al-Rahman II.
But, my friend, as you know, France will not be silent. That's it, there's only one step left between them and Abdelkader's neck! Here, the French army declares war on Morocco.
"What? What do I have to do with it? " The two armies faced each other on August 14th, 1844.
At the same time, French ships were attacking coastal cities from the sea. When the Moroccan army loses, the Moroccan Sultan Abd al-Rahman is forced to sign the Tangier Agreement, clearly stating that the Sultan of Morocco won't only refrain from helping Abdelkader, but is also forced to hand him over if he falls into his hands! You may think, my friend, this is the end, and in fact, this is a little before the end, "What is the end, Abo Hmeed?
the man has no ally, capital, or state left, no money, not even the Chicken Ranch! " Let me tell you that Emir Abdelkader was determined to resist, and to keep going with the soldiers left and engage in great battles. He ambushed 600 French prisoners without a single bullet in the "Ain Temouchent" area.
When this happened, France sent one of its most powerful generals, the General Bugeaud, who has an army with him of 120 thousand soldiers! Their goal is one thing: to eliminate Abdelkader once and for all. "We don't want this man.
" Within two years, chases and skirmishes continued between Abdelkader and the French army. Let's agree that Abdelkader had lost the essential secret of his strength, the state he built, the capital, education, the economic system, and diplomatic relations, and most importantly, his food storages. At the same time, some tribes in Morocco were trying to rebel against the leadership of Sultan Abd al-Rahman and declared loyalty to Abdelkader.
Despite the definite outcasting Abdelkader, however, Sultan Abdul Rahman was worried about these movements. He also moved with a military force to chase Emir Abdelkader, the force that underwent quick battles with Abdelkader. Abdelkader then began to withdraw, realizing that this is the end of the dream, and that his project for an independent Algerian state which he started 15 years ago has come to an end, and that the people itself was tired of 15 years of battles.
Here, Abdelkader offers France his surrender as he wrote to them and asked for peace in exchange for sending him to a Muslim city, let it be Acre or Alexandria. In December 1847, in the Sidi Ibrahim region, Emir Abdelkader signed the Treaty of Lamoriciere where he surrendered and had immunity from General Lamoriciere and the promise of deportation to an Islamic city under the rule of the Ottoman authority. Two days later, Emir Abdelkader and his family moved to the city of Toulon in France.
At that time, the French newspaper Le Montieur wrote celebrating this event: "Today, France can keep Algeria forever! " Emir Abdelkader arrived to Toulon, there, he, his family, and those close to him were placed in one of the city's prisons, waiting, as they were promised, for them to move to an Islamic city. But the days pass, and the transfer does not happen, and offers began arriving to Emir Abdelkader.
"Forget about your condition, and stay with us in France! " King Philippe offers him French citizenship, and to live in a royal palace with guards, and to also receive a salary from the French government. "Oh Abo Hmeed, these Frenchmen turned out to be very kind, I love colonialism so much, they really like the man, and we want him to stay at any price!
" My friend, do you think they want him because of his pretty eyes? They were afraid that if he stayed in an Islamic city, he'd organize another force and return again to fight them! France was not willing to give him any opportunity.
But Abdelkader also refused to reside in France. Here, the prison phase in his life will transform from a temporary phase to a long phase. He spent it in a state of isolation, thinking, and writing.
During his imprisonment, he wrote his most famous books, such as "The Oneness of God", And "the remembrance of the wise and the warning of the heedless" and "the sharp pliers". That's all along with the poems he wrote. Things remain this way until 1848, when a revolution breaks out in France, and King Louis Philippe is overthrown.
The turmoil and problems had the French forget that there is someone named Abdelkader in prison. But when Napoleon III announced that he would stay in power, he went to Emir Abdelkader and told him, "Your remaining in prison is a betrayal of France's honor. " "Abo Hmeed, is this real?
" Honestly, my friend, as we all know, France had promised the man that it would transfer him to an Islamic city. So, his presence in prison is a betrayal of France's honor. The truth was that Napoleon was very impressed with the personality of Abdelkader.
He wrote him a very beautiful message. You must pause the video and read it. On October 28th, 1852, Emir Abdelkader was released and arrived in Paris, Only to find a public demonstration in France waiting for him!
Imagine, my friend, the view! Fans standing to see the hero who fought their country for 15 years, so that they can salute him! When Abdelkader met Napoleon III, He gave him a paper with a pledge that he would never return to Algeria again.
Here Napoleon says to Abdelkader: "Abdelkader, You don't need this paper. I know who I'm dealing with, I'm dealing with a person whose promise and word are very important to him. " Over the course of a whole week, farewell ceremonies were held for Abdelkader in multiple French cities, he was even given the military salute from the French soldiers of honour!
When Emir Abdelkader arrived in Istanbul, he found that Napoleon III ordered for him to receive an annual salary estimated at 4 thousand pounds sterling, a salary that Abdelkader was said to receive and he spent from it on the poor and in need. After that, Abdelkader moves and lives in Damascus. Along the road from Istanbul to Damascus, crowds came out to welcome him, in all the cities he passes through.
I want to tell you that when he arrives in Damascus, He finds a line longer than a mile made up of local people standing waiting for him! They welcomed him at the gates of the city. The legend of Abdelkader lived on in Damascus, as his religious lessons in the Umayyad Mosque were attended by thousands of people.
In May 1860, when a civil war occurs between the Drze and Christians in the Levant, a group of Drze advances to Damascus, to try and kill a group of defenseless Christians there. But Emir Abdelkader intervenes and protects the Christians in Damascus. He hides them in his palace, which was in the Al-Rabwa area, and in the homes of his Algerian family.
Abdelkader's efforts succeeded in saving more than 15,000 Christians from a bloody massacre. An act that the whole world will talk about and appreciate, and he received medals of honor from countries around the world, the Order of the Medjidie from the Ottoman Empire, the Order of the White Eagles from Russia, and the Savior's Cross from Greece. Queen Victoria also gifted him a golden rifle.
Abraham Lincoln, one of the most important US presidents in history, the man who united America, sent to Abdelkader gold pistols. He described him as "the great, courageous Muslim leader. " On May 23rd, 1883, at the age of 76, Emir Abdelkader departed from life.
But his biography remains eternal. After 83 years of his death, and about 120 years after his departure from Algeria, in 1966, the remains of Emir Abdelkader was be transferred from Damascus to Algeria in a solemn ceremony, he was buried in the Al-Alia cemetery in Algiers. Finally, to the country that he fought for its independence he goes back decades after his death.
Despite all these years, my friend, his name is still present. Not only in his country, but also in the country he fought, France! So much so that in 2022, one of the French cities decided to build a monument for him, in memory of his heroism, courage, nobility, and rare humanity.
In 2024, ElDaheeh decides to make an episode about him. Of course, my friend, it is our honor but we like the hype. Anyway my friend, last but not least, don't forget to watch the old episodes and the new ones, check the sources below, and subscribe if you're on YouTube.
"Abo Hmeed, sorry, I have a question, How is Napoleon, who appeared at the time of the French Revolution, and died at the beginning of the 1800s, was the one who honored Abdelkader during the mid 1800s? " Look, my friend, we have the original Bonaparte, Napoleon Bonaparte, which is number one, this is the first version, any napoleon after that is all a franchise. Napoleon II, Napoleon III, Napoleon Drma, Napoleon Cinema, Napoleon now.
