Figure 1.--This photo was taken in Algeria during the 1930s. In the cities we see many Algerian children wearing Western clothing. Herethe boy wears a fez which was an Ottoman style. In rural areas, Algerian children wore mostly traditional clothing.

The French began to colonize Algeria in 1830. Quite a number of French settlers moved to Algeria. People of French origin who were born in Algeria were called "pieds-noirs" (black feet). One siurce suggests that this was because the French troops stationed in Algeria wore black boots. A French reader disagrees, he says that in fact the origin of the term " Pieds noirs " was given to the French colonists because they were white people put their feet on the Black Continent. Many of the French emigrants to Algeria were poor. They saw economic opportunities in Algeria. HBC has little information on French colonial fashions in the 19th century, but believes that they were probably quite similar to fashions in metropolitan France, especially southern France. Available images on Algeria during the 20th century show boys wearing the same fashions that they would have in France, although the warmer Algerian climate may have made for some minor differences. All the French children in Algerian had shoes as in France itself. If you see barefooted children in old photographs, they were probably algerian rather than French children. While there was Algerian military resistance until the 1870s, the French presence lasted over 100 years. The War became a major political issue in France duringbthe late 1950s and early 60s. France finally granted Algeria independence in 1962 ( Accord de Genèvre ). After independence, practically all French nationals left the country as well as many Algerians which had cooperated most closely with the French. Algeria by the time of independence in 1962 had modern and clean cities. There were many prosperous farms. Despite the discovery of oil and gas, the country has declined economically.

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Created: 6:46 PM 9/27/2009
Last updated: 6:46 PM 9/27/2009