Ottoman Algeria in Western Diplomatic History with ... - Bibliothèque

out by British and Dutch cruisers reduced the port and naval forces of Algiers
to rubble. 50 Consequently, the Algerian navy lost its deterrence power and
within a short period Algiers fell easy prey to European colonial designs.
2. The Lasting Principles of Corsairing Diplomacy
Among the lasting principles that regulated relations between Algiers
and the Christian countries and which crossed the hardships of time, warfare,
and diplomatic turbulences four stand out prominently: sovereignty, passports,
treaties and tributes, and enslaved captives. By late 18 th century, they were
solidly established, therefore clearly identifiable, but they were by no means
unalterable. As always, they were at stake and only a balance of power between
Algiers and the European countries, either individually or collectively, could
guarantee their observance. The pattern practically worked like this: when
those ‘strange bedfellows,’ Muslims and Christians alike, considered that
treaties, agreements, or merely custom had either not been respected,
jeopardized, or they simply wanted to alter the balance of power, they recurred
to the use of the language they had always excelled at: military expeditions and
corsairing and counter-corsairing. The outcome was also almost always the
same: treaties were re-negotiated; sometimes they were modified but most of
the time they were just re-conducted on the basis of previously negotiated ones.
As of late 18 th century, those major issues had long been settled and diplomatic
relations were maintained on a basis of strict respect of treaties and custom.
50 In 1816, in a seven-hour non-stop bombardment, a joint Anglo-Dutch expedition unleashed 400
cannons totalizing 47, 000 shots on the city of Algiers. Krieken, Corsaires et marchands, p. 129.
124