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• History of Christianization of Europe
• Soviet Union, Communist influence
• Map of European ethnic groups
• Map of Fascism in Europe (1922-75)
• History of Islamic conquest in Europe
• Religions & ethnic groups in Russia
• Detailed map of French colonization
• Detailed map of British colonization
• Napoleon's conquests & legacy

--MORE & NON-ENGLISH--



• Muhammad cartoon crisis in pictures
• Stalin's private summer home
• Ravenna: capital of Gothic empire
• Czar Nicholas II's Ukrainian palace
• European traditional costumes/dress
• Inside the Vatican, house of all wealth

--MORE & NON-ENGLISH--

• Islamic Mujahidin vs. Spain & El Cid
• Poland-Lithuania vs. Teutonic Order
• Nevskiy's Russia vs. German Crusaders
• Mussolini vs. Libyan Islamic fighters
• Qadafi: Europe will soon be Islamic
• Ivan the Terrible vs. Muslim Tatars 

--MORE & NON-ENGLISH--

• The Gypsies in history and today, Europe's public enemy
• History of Jihad in Chechnya
& Caucasus vs. Russians

• History of the Muslim Tatars in Russia
• Ethnic & religious history of Serbs, Croats, & Bosnians
• Breakaway states and independence movements in Europe
• The ancient Germanic Runic alphabet and Runestones
• Inside Bulgaria, 1st Slavic nation,
land of Thracian masters of gold

• Visual history of Yugoslavia
• 4,000-year-old white mummies of China, bringers of Buddhism 

--MORE & NON-ENGLISH--

 

Video: French colonialists vs. Islamic Algerian uprising
by James Mayfield (Chairman, European Heritage Library)

Print this Article    •    About the Author    •    Bibliography/Sources

This video is an excerpt from the Italian classic "Battle of Algiers", depicting the Islamic Algerian independence war against the French colonial occupants, one of the bloodiest independence wars in history.

For a brief historical walkthrough, as the Ottoman Islamic empire went into decline, most of its periphery territory was seized by the superior European military powers. France annexed Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia, Lebanon, and Syria, with the former three conquered throughout the 19th century, and the latter two as a reward for defeating the Turks in World War I. The conquest of Algeria was difficult. Mujahidin and Islamic rebels refused to accept foreign occupants -- let alone Christians -- in their land. After a bitter struggle, Algeria was subdued and remained a colony from 1830 to 1962. During World War II, North Africa was ruled mostly by the Germans and Italians. Where necessary, the Axis even encouraged Muslims to call the war against the Allies a Jihad, just as the Japanese did in Muslim Indonesia. After the war, Tunisia, Algeria, and Morocco remained French, and Libya went from Italian to British control. In the 1960s, the Muslims of Algeria (Berbers and Arabs) led an independence war that would rank was among the bloodiest conflicts in history, with millions dead. For many, the revolt was one of self-determination; for others, it was an Islamic Jihad to protect dar-al-Islam (the Muslim community) from the tresspass of the kafir (infidels). The revolution surely assumed an Islamic character, appropriate for such a religious culture as this, and the result is seen today in the struggle for power between a dictatorial regime and full Islamic-state-seeking movements. The anthem of the FLN (National Liberation Front), only one of the many freedom-fighting groups, was "Islam is our religion, Arabic our language, Algeria our fatherland." The independence war was such a humiliation that it contributed to the collapse of the so-called 4th French Republic, just as the useless wars in Angola and Mozambique led to the collapse of the Portuguese Fascist government.

 

 

________________________________________

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

James Mayfield is the owner and Chairman of the European Heritage Library. I am working for a doctorate in history, with a specific emphasis on Islamic and European histories. I am well versed in all world cultures, ethnicities, religions, languages, politics, and historical evolution in relation to and against each other.

 

BIBLIOGRAPHY/SOURCES USED:

The film "Battle of Algiers", directed by Gillo Pontecorvo, with the copyright now expired due to age.


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