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

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Ireland, for example, became <strong>with</strong><strong>in</strong> sail<strong>in</strong>g reach. The <strong>Algeria</strong>n fleet could<br />

then <strong>in</strong>flict serious blows to its Christian enemies wherever and whenever it<br />

could meet them; hence the ‘terror’ of the <strong>Algeria</strong>n corsair which gripped<br />

Europe. 11 These new developments <strong>in</strong>teracted <strong>in</strong> such a way that no merchant<br />

ships could anymore sail <strong>in</strong> the Mediterranean <strong>with</strong>out protection aga<strong>in</strong>st<br />

corsairs’ attacks—Muslim and Christian alike. Only treaties of peace could<br />

secure free maritime passage for all antagonists, be they Muslim or Christian.<br />

1. 2. Foundations of Corsair<strong>in</strong>g Diplomacy<br />

As <strong>in</strong>dicated earlier, the Sublime Porte concluded a number of treaties,<br />

called also capitulations, <strong>with</strong> the European countries that granted them large<br />

legal and trad<strong>in</strong>g privileges. 12 By grant<strong>in</strong>g extraterritorial rights to foreigners<br />

resid<strong>in</strong>g <strong>in</strong> the <strong>Ottoman</strong> Empire, the capitulations were orig<strong>in</strong>ally meant to<br />

encourage trade, but progressively the Europeans used them to <strong>in</strong>filtrate the<br />

<strong>Ottoman</strong> Empire. Algiers disapproved of Constant<strong>in</strong>ople’s foreign policy<br />

which they considered had conceded too many privileges to foreigners. This<br />

was the case of the capitulations of 1536 <strong>with</strong> France which granted trad<strong>in</strong>g<br />

posts to France, particularly Bastion of France near Annaba. 13 Ultimately, the<br />

French used the Bastion as a spearhead for extend<strong>in</strong>g their <strong>in</strong>fluence <strong>in</strong> the<br />

11 Aga<strong>in</strong>, this is one of those terror legends that can be found <strong>in</strong> Delmasso, “La peur des corsaires<br />

barbaresques,” pp. 51-7.<br />

12 In <strong>in</strong>ternational law, capitulations—to be dist<strong>in</strong>guished from the military term ‘capitulation,’<br />

mean<strong>in</strong>g surrender—were treaties under which foreigners resid<strong>in</strong>g <strong>in</strong> the <strong>Ottoman</strong> Empire, <strong>in</strong>clud<strong>in</strong>g its<br />

prov<strong>in</strong>ces, were granted extraterritorial rights; i.e.: the European countries were permitted to exercise<br />

jurisdiction over their own nationals <strong>with</strong><strong>in</strong> boundaries of the <strong>Ottoman</strong> Empire. P. H. Coll<strong>in</strong>,<br />

Dictionary of Government and Politics (Middlesex, GB: Peter Coll<strong>in</strong> Publish<strong>in</strong>g, Ltd, 1988), p. 34.<br />

13 Jean Bérenger, “La politique française en méditerranée au XVIe siècle & l’alliance ottomane,” <strong>in</strong><br />

Michel Vergé-Franceschi and Anto<strong>in</strong>e-Marie Graziani, eds., La guerre de course en Méditerranée<br />

(1515-1830) (Paris: Presses de l’Université Paris IV-Sorbonne, 2000), pp. 12-13.<br />

113

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