How did France establish control over Algeria after capturing Algiers in 1830?

Following the capture of Algiers in 1830, France established control over Algeria through a prolonged and brutal process of military conquest, land confiscation, and administrative restructuring.

• Military Conquest: The French military campaign was arduous and costly, initially focusing on coastal cities like Oran and Bejaïa. Resistance was led by the Sufi leader Abdelkader, who forced France into an all-out war. Under commanders such as Thomas-Robert Bugeaud, the French employed "counterinsurgency" tactics, including the use of mobile columns that devastated crops and livestock, eventually forcing Abdelkader’s surrender in 1847.12
• Land Confiscation: A large-scale program of seizing cultivable land was central to securing colonial rule. Laws such as the sénatus-consulte of 1863 broke up tribal lands, allowing settlers to acquire vast areas previously protected under tribal law. This displacement forced many Algerian peasants onto marginal lands, contributing to long-term environmental degradation.32
• Administrative Control: For decades, Algeria remained under military administration, with officers organized into Arab Bureaus managing local affairs. Following the rise of the Third Republic in 1870, the territory was increasingly integrated into the French administrative model, granting significant political and economic power to the European settler population (colons).3