Military history of Algeria
Horses, but few chariots which were largely obsolete, gave scouts, raiders, and rare armored riders an advantage in speed, momentum behind each forward blow during a charge, and height to reach over the shields of opposing infantry.
Roman auxiliaries performed this kind of attack while hiding the fact that a larger force of infantry encamped a few miles away.
A spearman or an axeman could stand in the basket for added height to strike at oncoming enemies more effectively, or a foot archer or slinger if they have shield-bearers in front.
The hot climate and the centuries of upheaval during and after the collapse of western Roman central authority meant the shortest-lived successor states did not have an opportunity to develop heavy cavalry along the lines of Byzantine cataphracts.
Larger, more organized expeditions southward encountered indigenous west African cultures, formed new trade links, drew maps which circulated farther north, and wrote down observations.
By the time of Ottoman Dynasty rule, black powder weapons had already become a common feature of warfare around the Mediterranean world.
Some armies would give slaves metal shields to cover the fighting men from enemy fire, but no weapons for fear of mutiny, and sent them back from the line to guard the commander if hand-to-hand combat broke out.
Island bases and coastal forts retained strategic significance and fighting and military planning reflected this reality.
Port cities were often guarded by a fort at each end, with wall-shielded docks ready for defending forces' fighters to board their ships and sally (military) forth, or to provide cover if enemy fire became too heavily concentrated.
Pirates continued to operate in small oar-driven boats without fixed masts to give them away while coming up on shore or alongside larger vessels.
The conquest of Algeria by the French faced long and bitter opposition, led from 1832 to 1847 by the Algerian resistance leader Abd-el-Kader.
The French Army used scorched-earth tactics and there were heavy losses amongst the indigenous Kabyle and Arab peoples (estimated to have numbered about 2 million in 1830).
In addition to indigenous troops, the French Army raised regiments of Zouaves and Chasseurs d' Afrique for service in Algeria.
In 1907, France began to investigate the possibility of conscripting Algerian subjects into the French military in order to reduce a disparity in manpower with Germany.
A mixed division from Algeria of Muslim tirailleurs and white (pieds-noirs) zouaves[3] was one of the first to be exposed to chemical warfare on the Western Front during the Second Battle of Ypres.
[1] While Algeria remained generally peaceful from 1919 to 1939, the French army conducted extensive campaigns to complete the occupation of both Morocco and Syria during this period.
Allied Forces led by Dwight D. Eisenhower landed on the northern beaches and advanced south against an army of 60,000 German troops.
Algerian troops particularly distinguished themselves as part of the French Expeditionary Corps under General Alphonse Juin, during the Italian campaign of 1943 and the Allied invasion of southern France in 1944.
The nationalist National Liberation Army (NLA) (see below) came to number about 150,000 lightly armed troops by 1962, serving both in Algeria and beyond its borders.
The bulk of actual fighting was carried out by varying numbers of "internal" irregular fighters who comprised six regional commands.
A reduced Foreign Legion and one regiment each of Spahis, Tirailleurs and Chasseurs d'Afrique remain in the modern French Army, The Sand War occurred along the Algerian-Moroccan border in October 1963, and was a Moroccan attempt to claim the Tindouf and the Bechar.
The conflict lasted from 1991 to 2002 when the Islamic Salvation Army surrendered to the government but minor skirmishes still continue in parts of the country.
In addition to generating a widespread sense of fear, these massacres and the ensuing flight of population have resulted in serious depopulation in the worst-affected areas.
