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

With the last Muslims expelled from Spain, converted to Christianity in
a wave of Inquisition terror, or virtually exterminated at the hands of
Reconquista troops, 27 the Spanish rulers could now concentrate on overseas
expansion. The discoveries of Christopher Columbus brought them gold and
glory but also offered them an opportunity for spreading Christianity beyond
the Iberian Peninsula. Exulting under New World robbed treasures, Spain set
out on a policy of forcible Christianization and genocide against the natives of
the conquered empires. 28 Simultaneously, it pushed colonial expansion to the
shores of North Africa and indulged in pillage and genocide as shown in the
barbarities committed against Muslim population following the fall of Algerian
ports and cities early in the 16 th century. In method and policy the natives of the
American continent and Muslims of North Africa became the target of the
same conquest and extermination policies. 29
In North Africa, however, the
outcome was disappointing for the Spaniards. Despite warfare systematic
destruction and massacres, raids and kidnappings, and numerous plagues, the
Algerian population “did not dwindle as did the Indian population in North
America that was subsequently transferred or destroyed.” 30
In total disregard of the various motivations underlying the Spanish
conquest of the North African coast—religious, ideological, and political—
27 Lane-Poole, The Moors, pp. 169-71; Grammont, Histoire d’Alger, p. 2.
28 Ramsay Muir, The Expansion of Europe: The Culmination of Modern History, 2 nd edition (London:
Constable and Company, 1917), pp. 17-20.
29 For comparison with English conquests see Leland Conley Barrows, “Turks, Moors, and Englishmen
in the Age of Discovery,” H-W-Civ, H-Net Reviews, October, 2000. (Accessed 19 May 2008).
http://www.h-net.org/reviews/showrev.cgi?path=32574973114426
30 Nabil Matar, “Britain and Barbary, 1589–1689,” in Daniel J. Vitus, ed. Piracy, Slavery, and
Redemption: Barbary Captivity Narratives from Early Modern England (New York: Columbia
University Press, 2001), p. 9.
28