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

3. Decline of Corsairing Diplomacy
As was previously shown, corsairing had originally been founded on a
religiously defensive basis. By late 18 th
century, however, it acquired an
increasingly important economic role. Religious safety and economic welfare
had become so closely interrelated that one may consider them as the two sides
of the same coin. After all, prizes and prisoners had always been an integral
part of wars, holy or not, throughout the history of humanity. 86 In Islamic
tradition, however, the capture of prizes was submitted to strict rules and the
prisoners were treated humanely. This contrasts sharply with the Crusades of
the Medieval Ages, for example, when blind religious fanaticism caused
indescribable atrocities at Antioch (Ma’arra), 87
or else the Inquisition and
Reconquista genocide against Muslims, or even the barbarous treatment
inflicted upon Algerian corsairs when they fell into European hands. 88
Therefore, Muslim corsairing, when placed within proper historical and
religious contexts, was a legitimate defensive reaction against Christian
aggressions. Prizes and prisoners were no more than a logical outcome of an
ongoing warfare between two antagonist powers.
In the long run, however, the corsairing activities of Algiers were going
to acquire such an economic importance that, by late 18 th century, the western
powers were going to built arguments presenting it as mere piracy. Those
arguments served as a disguise to legitimize combined military attacks against
86 Stark, Abolition of Privateering, pp. 13-9.
87 Maalouf, Les Croisades, p. 56-57.
88 Krieken, Corsaires et marchands, p. 17.
143