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

principles of free access to ports and commerce, high seas control of ships and
passports, tributes and consular presents, and redemption or exchange of
captives —except for slight modifications—remained unaltered. When the
USA emerged as an independent state and entered the Mediterranean as a
trading rival after 1783, those principles were still in usage and the signatories
were still abiding by them. Therefore, for a better understanding of early
relations between Algiers and the United States, one may need to keep in mind
the principles which regulated the diplomatic conduct of Algiers with the rest
of the Christian powers.
By means of corsairing Algiers also succeeded in maintaining a balance
of military power, even though fragile, in the Mediterranean in spite of
implacable hatred and alliances of the Christian powers against it. At times of
war, corsairing acted both as a defensive as well as a retaliatory force; at times
of peace, it acted as a deterrent force which discouraged even the most
aggressive and heinous enemies from attacking it. Nevertheless, after three
hundred years or so of incessant defensive warfare against Christendom, the
Algerian fleet, and for different reasons, lost supremacy and entered into a
phase of decay. The fleet’s deteriorating conditions brought to the shores
Algiers an emerging opportunistic antagonist: the United States of America. By
then, in addition to the traditional bombardment of Algerian cities, the western
powers recurred to the use of ‘gunboat diplomacy’ as a new form of coercion
against Algiers to advance their many interests and in that matter, the
Americans were not at least. Ever since the United States was a constellation of
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