[1] He quotes Tocqueville's 1841 comment on French conquest of Algeria: "In France I have often heard people I respect, but do not approve, deplore [the army] burning harvests, emptying granaries and seizing unarmed men, women and children.

"[3] According to LeCour Grandmaison, "De Tocqueville thought the conquest of Algeria was important for two reasons: first, his understanding of the international situation and France’s position in the world, and, second, changes in French society.

LeCour Grandmaison, distinguishes between the criticisms of colonial abuse and those of the principle of colonization itself, basing his arguments on Zola, Victor Hugo, Lamartine, Darwin, André Gide, Albert Londres, Jules Verne, Maupassant, Foucault, Barthes and Joseph Conrad.

[6] Following the views of Michel Foucault, LeCour Grandmaison spoke of a "state racism" under the French Third Republic, notable by the example of the 1881 Indigenous Code applied in Algeria.

", he replied: "No, if we can recognize "state racism" as the vote and implementation of discriminatory measures, grounded on a combination of racial, religious and cultural criteria, in those territories.

"[1] Olivier LeCour Grandmaison was one of a number of historians who criticized the 23 February 2005 law, instituted by the Union for a Popular Movement (UMP), which required that teachers promote "positive values" of French presence abroad, "in particular in North Africa".