Algeria (Algerie)

Research Status: Moderate Last Updated: 2026-02-10 Diary Coverage: Multiple references

Overview

Algeria, France's largest colonial possession in North Africa, appears in Marie Bashkirtseff's diary in connection with travel, politics, and the broader French colonial world. Algeria had been under French control since 1830 and by Marie's time was considered an integral part of France (not merely a colony), with departments administered from Paris. The territory attracted European settlers, military personnel, and travelers drawn by the exotic landscape and warm climate.

Historical Context (1870s-1880s)

French Algeria

• Conquest: France invaded Algeria in 1830; full control established by the 1850s
• Status: Three departments (Alger, Oran, Constantine) considered part of metropolitan France
• Settlers: Growing European population (colons), including French, Spanish, Italian, and Maltese
• Indigenous population: Arab and Berber peoples under colonial administration
• Military: French army presence, including the famous Foreign Legion based at Sidi Bel Abbes

Social and Cultural Context

Algeria in the 1870s-1880s:

• A destination for French military service and colonial careers
• Increasingly popular with tourists and health-seekers (the warm, dry climate)
• Exotic appeal: Orientalist painters like Delacroix and Fromentin had popularized Algerian subjects
• Connected to France by regular steamship service from Marseille

Significance for Marie

• French colonial world: Part of the broader French empire that shaped Marie's political context
• Travel destination: Algiers and the coast attracted visitors from Marie's social circle
• Exotic other: Algeria represented the Orient in French imagination
• Political discussions: Colonial policy was a topic of conversation in the salons Marie frequented

Related Entries

• #Paris - The metropole governing Algeria
• #Algiers - The capital city
• #Alger - French name for Algiers