Barbary pirate raids continued throughout the 18th century. But now the Mediterranean Sea has become the main arena of their actions again. After the capture of Gibraltar by the Anglo-Dutch squadron in 1704, the corsairs of Algeria and Tunisia could no longer freely enter the Atlantic Ocean. The pirates of Morocco continued to operate here, although, meeting an increasingly fierce rebuff in the vastness of the Atlantic, they no longer caused the same troubles. However, in the Mediterranean, merchant ships were still attacked by the Maghreb corsairs and the coasts of European countries were still suffering from their raids. Back in 1798, pirates from Tunisia plundered the city of Carloforte on the island of San Pietro (near Sardinia), capturing 550 women, 200 men and 150 children there.
Tribute to the pirate states of the Maghreb
As a result, the governments of European states gradually began to come to the conclusion that it was easier and cheaper to pay the rulers of the Maghreb than to organize expensive and ineffective punitive expeditions. Everyone began to pay: Spain (which set an example for everyone), France, the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies, Portugal, Tuscany, the Papal States, Sweden, Denmark, Hanover, Bremen, even the proud Great Britain. Some countries, such as the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies, were forced to pay this tribute annually. Others sent "gifts" when a new consul was appointed.
Problems arose with the merchant ships of the United States, which earlier (until 1776) "passed" as British. During the War of Independence, they were temporarily taken "under the wing" by the French, but since 1783, American ships turned out to be a desirable prey for the pirates of the Maghreb: they had no treaties with the United States, and the seizure of ships under the new flag became a pleasant bonus to those received from other countries " tribute ".
The first "prize" was the Betsy brig, captured on October 11, 1784 from Tenerife. Then the merchant ships Maria Boston and Dauphin were captured. For the captured sailors, dei Algeria demanded a million dollars (a fifth of the US budget!), The US government offered 60 thousand - and American diplomats were expelled from the country in disgrace.
The Libyan Pasha Yusuf Karamanli, who ruled in Tripoli, even demanded $ 1,600,000 one-time per contract and $ 18,000 annually, and in English guineas.
The Moroccans were more modest in their wishes, asking for $ 18,000, and a treaty with that country was signed in July 1787. With the rest of the countries, it was somehow possible to come to an agreement only in 1796.
But already in 1797, Yusuf from Tripoli began to demand an increase in tribute, otherwise threatening to "lift his foot off the tail of the Barbary tiger" (this is how the Libyans talked to the United States at the turn of the 18th-19th centuries). In 1800, he already demanded $ 250,000 in gift and $ 50,000 in annual tribute.
First US Barbary War
On May 10, 1801, a flagpole with a flag was solemnly felled outside the building of the American Consulate in Tripoli - this theatrical action became an act of declaring war. And recently elected President Thomas Jefferson went down in history as the first US leader to send a combat squadron to the Mediterranean: Captain Richard Dale led three frigates there (44-gun President, 36-gun Philadelphia, 32-gun Essex) and the 12-gun brig Enterprise (referred to as a schooner in some sources).
At the same time, it turned out that the pirate states of the Maghreb are already in a state of war with Sweden, whose ships were trying to blockade their ports, and the Americans tried to enter into an alliance with this country. But they did not succeed in fighting together with the "Vikings" properly: soon the Swedes made peace, content with the release of their compatriots for what seemed to them acceptable and ineffective ransom.
The Americans, too, were not eager to fight: Dale was given an amount of 10 thousand dollars, which he had to offer Yusuf in exchange for peace. It was only possible to agree on the ransom of the prisoners.
The only combat encounter that year was the battle of the brig Enterprise, commanded by Andrew Stereth, with the 14-gun pirate ship Tripoli. In doing so, both captains used "military trick".
The Enterprise approached the pirate ship, hoisting the British flag, and the captain of the corsairs greeted him with a salvo of onboard guns in response. The corsairs, in turn, lowered the flag twice, opening fire when trying to get close.
The victory remained with the Americans, but they did not know what to do with the captured ship, and even more so with its crew. Erase (like other captains) did not receive any instructions on this matter, which is further evidence that the Americans wanted to limit themselves to a demonstration of force and did not want a serious war at sea. He did not take responsibility for himself: he ordered to cut down the masts of the enemy's ship, throw all weapons into the sea, and allowed the pirates themselves to leave, raising a sail on a temporary mast.
In the United States, the news of this victory aroused great enthusiasm, Captain Erath received a signature sword from Congress, the brig's crew received a monthly salary, and the frigate Boston and the sloop George Washington were additionally sent to the Mediterranean.
However, all these ships could not come close to the coast - unlike the pirate shebeks, who freely roamed the shallow water.
As a result of the full-fledged blockade of Tripoli, the corsairs continued to receive food and other supplies by sea and even seized the American merchant ship Franklin, for whose sailors a ransom of $ 5,000 had to be paid. This was the end of the actions of the first American squadron off the coast of the Maghreb.
The next American squadron entered the Mediterranean Sea under the command of Richard Morris, who was in no hurry, visiting almost all major European ports and Malta on the way. He even went to Tunisia, where, not knowing the intricacies of local etiquette, he contrived to insult a local bey and was arrested on his orders. The American and Danish consuls had to jointly pay a ransom of 34 thousand dollars for it.
Meanwhile, the state of affairs in this region for the United States was by no means brilliant.
Sultan of Morocco Mulei Suleiman, threatening the United States with war, demanded 20 thousand dollars, which were paid to him.
The dei of Algeria was unhappy that the annual tribute was paid to him not in goods, but in American dollars (absolutely not respected by decent people): I had to apologize to him and promise to fix this "joint".
And the Morris squadron, which had long gone on a campaign, still did not reach the Libyan shores, aimlessly plowing the sea, and could not influence the situation in any way. Only a year later, she entered the battle: on June 2, 1803, the Americans, having landed on the coast, burned 10 enemy ships that were stationed in one of the bays 35 miles from Tripoli. Yusuf was not impressed by these feats: he demanded 250 thousand dollars at a time and 20 thousand in the form of an annual tribute, as well as compensation for military expenses.
Morris went to Malta with nothing. The US Congress accused him of incompetence and removed him from office, replacing him with John Rogers. And a new squadron was sent to the Mediterranean Sea, the command of which was entrusted to Commander Edward Preblu. It consisted of heavy frigates "Constitution" and "Philadelphia", 16-gun brigs "Argus" and "Sirena", 12-gun schooners "Nautilus" and "Vixen". These ships were joined by the brig "Enterprise", which had already won a victory over the Tripolitanian corsair ship.
The beginning of this expedition turned out to be very unsuccessful: the 44-gun frigate "Philadelphia", pursuing a Tripolitan ship entering the port, ran aground and was captured by the enemy, the captain and 300 of his subordinates were captured.
In order to prevent the inclusion of such a powerful ship in the enemy fleet, six months later, American sailors on a captured Barbary ship (ketch "Mastiko", renamed "Intrepid") entered the port, captured this frigate, but not being able to go to sea on it, burned it. The most striking thing is that the American saboteurs, taking advantage of the turmoil and confusion, managed, without losing a single person, to return safely. They were led by a young officer Stephen Decatur (who had previously captured this ketch).
This operation was then called by Admiral Nelson "the most daring and courageous act of the century."
Now the time has come for the assault on Tripoli. Taking a loan in the Kingdom of Naples, Preble was able to hire the bombardment ships that he lacked so much. On August 3, 1804, under cover of frigate salvos, bombarding ships (gunboats) tried to enter the harbor in order to suppress coastal batteries and destroy ships that were in the roadstead. The battle was extremely fierce, Preble himself was wounded, Stephen Decatur miraculously survived during the boarding fight, two gunboat captains were killed (including Decatur's younger brother). The city burned, the inhabitants fled into the desert, but they failed to capture it.
Prebl again entered into negotiations, offering Yusuf $ 80,000 for the prisoners and $ 10,000 as a gift, but the Tripolitan Pasha demanded $ 150,000. Preble increased the amount to 100 thousand and, having received a refusal, on September 4 tried to strike at Tripoli using a fire-ship, into which the captured Intrepid bombardment ketch was converted - as you remember, it was on it that a successful sabotage was previously committed, which ended with the burning of the frigate " Philadelphia". Alas, this time everything turned out completely differently, and the fire-ship exploded ahead of time from the nucleus fired by the coastal battery, all 10 crew members were killed.
Preble and the naval agent in the "Barbary States" William Eaton decided to "go from the other side": to use Yusuf's brother, Hamet (Ahmet), who at one time was expelled from Tripoli. With American money, an "army" of 500 people was collected for Hamet, which included Arabs, Greek mercenaries and 10 Americans, including Eaton, who was the true leader of this expedition.
In March 1805, they moved from Alexandria to the port of Derna and, having passed 620 km through the desert, captured it with the artillery support of three brigs. This assault is reminded of the words of the anthem of the United States Marine Corps:
From the palaces of Montezuma to the shores of Tripoli
We are fighting for our country
In the air, on land and at sea.
The Americans, of course, did not reach Tripoli, but they repulsed two assaults of the superior forces of Yusuf in Derna.
However, there is another version, according to which these lines recall the feat of Stephen Decatur's team, which managed to burn the frigate "Philadelphia" (which was described earlier). In this case, the mention of Tripoli is quite justified.
The appearance of the challenger worried Yusuf Karamanli very much. In June 1805, he made concessions, agreeing to take compensation from the Americans in the amount of 60 thousand dollars. The first US Barbary War was over.
Neither the Americans nor the Berbers were satisfied with the results of this military campaign.
Second Barbary War
Algerian corsairs already in 1807 resumed attacks on American ships. The reason was the delay in the supply of goods at the expense of the tribute established by the last contract. In 1812, the Algerian dei Haji Ali demanded the payment of tribute in cash, arbitrarily setting its amount - 27 thousand dollars. Despite the fact that the US consul managed to collect the required amount in 5 days, the day declared war on the United States.
The Americans had no time for him: in June of that year, they began the Second War of Independence (against Great Britain), which lasted until 1815. It was then, during the British siege of Baltimore, that Francis Scott Key wrote the poem "Defense of Fort McHenry", an excerpt from which, "The Star-Spangled Banner", became the anthem of the United States.
After the end of this war (February 1815), the US Congress approved a new military expedition against Algeria. Two squadrons were formed. The first, under the command of Commodore Stephen Decatur, who took an active part in the storming of Algeria in 1804, set off from New York on May 20.
It consisted of 3 frigates, 2 sloops, 3 brigs and 2 schooners. The 44-gun frigate "Guerre" became the flagship.
A second American squadron (under the command of Bainbridge), sailing from Boston on 3 July, arrived in the Mediterranean after the end of the war.
Already on June 17, Decatur's ships entered the first sea battle, during which the 46-gun Algerian frigate Mashuda was captured, and 406 Algerian sailors were taken prisoner. On June 19, the 22-gun Algerian brig Estedio, which had run aground, was captured.
On June 28, Decatur approached Algeria, negotiations with Dey began on the 30th. The Americans demanded a complete abolition of the tribute, the release of all American prisoners (in exchange for the Algerian ones) and the payment of compensation in the amount of 10 thousand dollars. The ruler of Algeria was forced to agree to these conditions.
After that, Decatur went to Tunisia, where he demanded (and received) $ 46,000 for two British ships that were "legally" seized by American privateers, but confiscated by local authorities. Then he visited Tripoli, where he was also meekly paid $ 25,000 in compensation.
On November 12, 1815, Decatur returned to New York. His triumph was overshadowed by the dey of Algeria's rejection of all agreements.
Final defeat of the pirate states of the Maghreb
The following year, the combined fleet of Britain and Holland approached Algeria. After a 9-hour bombardment (August 27, 1816), dey Omar surrendered and released all Christian slaves.
This surrender caused an explosion of discontent among his subjects, who openly accused him of cowardice. As a result, Omar was strangled to death in 1817.
The new rulers of Algeria, albeit on a smaller scale, continued pirate activities in the Mediterranean Sea, attempts to force the influence undertaken by European states in 1819, 1824, 1827. did not have much success.
But the situation still changed, Britain, France, Sardinia and Holland soon refused to pay tribute to Algeria, but Naples, Sweden, Denmark and Portugal continued to pay it.
In 1829, the Austrians struck Morocco: the fact is that, having annexed Venice, they refused to pay 25 thousand thalers of compensation for it. The Moroccans captured a Venetian ship that entered Rabat, the Austrians fired at Tetuan, Larash, Arzella in response and burned 2 brigs in Rabat. After that, the Moroccan authorities officially renounced financial claims to any Austrian possessions.
The problem of the Algerian pirates was finally resolved in the summer of 1830, when the French army captured Algeria.
In fact, the French still did not disdain to cooperate with Algeria, their trading posts were located at that time in La Calais, Annaba and Collot. Moreover, the trade balance was not in favor of the enlightened Europeans, and they received a number of goods (mainly food) on credit. This debt has been accumulating since the time of Napoleon Bonaparte, who did not pay for the wheat delivered to the soldiers of his Egyptian army. Subsequently, Algeria, also on credit, supplied France with grain, corned beef and leather. After the restoration of the monarchy, the new authorities decided to “forgive” their Algerian creditors and did not recognize the debts of revolutionary and Bonapartist France. The Algerians, as you know, strongly disagreed with such methods of doing business and continued to brazenly demand the return of debts.
On April 27, 1827, dei Hussein Pasha, during the reception of the Consul General Pierre Deval, again raised the issue of settlements on the debt, and, infuriated by the defiant behavior of the Frenchman, lightly hit him in the face with a fan (rather, even touched his face with it).
Then France still did not feel ready for war and the scandal was hushed up, but they did not forget: the incident was used to declare war on Algeria in 1830. The fact is that King Charles X and his government, headed by Count Polignac, were rapidly losing popularity, the situation in the country was heating up, and therefore it was decided to divert the attention of his subjects by organizing a "small victorious war." Thus, it was planned to achieve a solution to several problems at once: "raise the rating" of the monarch, get rid of accumulated debts and send part of the discontented population to Africa.
In May 1830, a huge French fleet (98 military and 352 transport ships) left Toulon and went to Algeria. He approached the shores of North Africa on June 13, a 30,000-strong army landed on the coast, the siege of the fortress lasted from June 19 to July 4.
Both the inhabitants of the city and its last ruler no longer resembled the former selfless defenders of Algeria. There were almost no people wishing to die heroically. The last day of independent Algeria, Hussein Pasha, capitulated. On July 5, 1830, he headed to Naples, leaving the country for good. The former dey died in Alexandria in 1838.
In its capital, the French captured 2,000 artillery pieces and a treasury, which numbered 48 million francs.
So, the war with Algeria really turned out to be "small and victorious", but it did not save Charles X: on July 27, fighting on the barricades began in Paris, and on August 2 he abdicated the throne.
Meanwhile, the French, who had already considered themselves victors, faced a new problem in Algeria: Emir Abd-al-Qader, who had arrived from Egypt, managed to unite more than 30 tribes and create his own state with the capital in Maskar in the north-west of the country.
Not having achieved great success in the fight against him, the French in 1834 concluded an armistice. It did not last long: hostilities resumed in 1835 and ended with the signing of a new armistice in 1837. In 1838, the war broke out with renewed vigor and continued until 1843, when the defeated Abd al Qader was forced to flee to Morocco. The ruler of this country, Sultan Abd al-Rahman, decided to provide him with military assistance, but his army was defeated in the battle of the Isli River. On December 22, 1847, Emir Abd-al-Qader was captured and sent to France. Here he lived until 1852, when Napoleon III allowed him to leave for Damascus. There he died in 1883.
In 1848, Algeria was officially declared a French territory and divided into prefectures ruled by a governor-general appointed by Paris.
In 1881, the French and the bey of Tunisia were forced to sign a treaty recognizing the French protectorate and agreeing to the "temporary occupation" of the country: the reason was the raids of idols (one of the tribes) on the "French" Algeria. This treaty caused indignation in the country and an uprising led by Sheikh Ali bin Khalifa, but the rebels had no chance of defeating the regular French army. On June 8, 1883, a convention was signed in La Marsa, which finally subordinated Tunisia to France.
In 1912 it was Morocco's turn. The independence of this country, in fact, was guaranteed by the Madrid Treaty of 1880, signed by the heads of 13 states: Great Britain, France, USA, Austria-Hungary, Germany, Italy, Spain and others, of a lower rank. But the geographical position of Morocco was very favorable, and the outlines of the coastline looked extremely pleasant in every way. The local Arabs also had one more "problem": at the end of the 19th century, rather large reserves of natural resources were discovered on their territory: phosphates, manganese, zinc, lead, tin, iron and copper. The great European powers, naturally, were racing to "help" the Moroccans in their development. The question was who exactly would "help". In 1904 Great Britain, Italy, Spain and France agreed on the division of spheres of influence in the Mediterranean: the British were interested in Egypt, Italy was given Libya, France and Spain were "allowed" to divide Morocco. But Kaiser Wilhelm II unexpectedly intervened in the "peaceful course of events", who on March 31, 1905 suddenly visited Tangier and declared about German interests. The fact is that 40 German firms already worked in Morocco, German investments in the economy of this country were very large, second only to those of the British and French. In the far-reaching plans of the military department of the German Empire, the outlines of plans for naval bases and coal stations of the German fleet were already clearly traced. In response to the indignant demarches of the French, the Kaiser, without hesitation, declared:
"Let the French ministers know what the risk is … The German army in front of Paris in three weeks, the revolution in 15 main cities of France and 7 billion francs in indemnity!"
The emerging crisis was resolved at the Algeciras Conference of 1906, and in 1907 the Spanish and French began to occupy Moroccan territory.
In 1911, an uprising began in Fez, suppressed by the French, which became an excuse for Wilhelm II to "flex his muscles" once again: the German gunboat Panther came to the Moroccan port of Agadir (the famous "Panther jump").
A big war almost began, but the French and Germans managed to come to an agreement: in exchange for Morocco, France ceded to Germany territory in the Congo - 230,000 square meters. km and with a population of 600 thousand people.
Now no one interfered with France, and on May 30, 1912, the Sultan of Morocco, Abd al-Hafid, was forced to sign a protectorate treaty. In northern Morocco, de facto power now belonged to the Spanish High Commissioner, while the rest of the country was ruled by the Resident General of France. Ahead were the Rif Wars (1921-1926), which will not bring glory to France or Spain. But about them, perhaps, another time.
The Maghreb states were under French rule until the middle of the 20th century: Tunisia and Morocco achieved independence in 1956, Algeria in 1962.
At the same time, the reverse process began - the "colonization" of France by immigrants from the former North African colonies. The modern French demographer Michele Tribalat in a 2015 paper argued that in 2011 at least 4.6 million people of North African origin lived in France - mainly in Paris, Marseille and Lyon. Of these, only about 470 thousand were born in the states of the Maghreb.
But that is another story.
