TheEuropean enclaves in North Africa (technically 'semi-enclaves') were towns, fortifications and trading posts on the Mediterranean and Atlantic coasts of western North Africa (sometimes called also "Maghreb"), obtained by various European powers in the period before they had the military capacity to occupy the interior (i.e. before theFrench conquest of Algeria in 1830). The earliest medieval enclaves were established in the 11th century CE by the ItalianKingdom of Sicily andMaritime republics; Spain and Portugal were the main European powers involved; both France and, briefly, England also had a presence. Most of these enclaves had been evacuated by the late 18th century, and today only the Spanish possessions ofCeuta,Melilla, and thePlazas de soberanía remain.
The Norman Kingdom of Africa in the 12th centuryTheGenoese island ofTabarka in the 18th century
Around the year 1000, small colonies of merchants began to appear in North Africa from theRepublic of Amalfi and theRepublic of Pisa. In 1133, Pisa negotiated a commercial treaty with theAlmoravids, as did Genoa some five years later.[1] As Almoravid power weakened, the Maritime Republics grew bolder and Pisa attempted toseize the Balearic Islands in 1114[2] In 1134, just one year after signing a commercial treaty withBéjaïa, Genoa attacked the city before sending a combined fleet with Pisa to seizeAnnaba in 1136. The Pisans themselves raidedTabarka in 1140.[1] These Italian initiatives were particularly focused on gaining control of the lucrative coral trade. There are records of the coastal area of Marsacares (todayEl Kala)[3] being under the jurisdiction, at various times, of Pisa[4] and later, Genoa.[5]
The arrival of theNormans in Italy led to the Christian reconquest of Sicily (1061–1091).[6]Roger II of Sicily expanded his domains by takingDjerba in 1135.[7] There followed the seizure of a number of Tunisian coastal cities, leading to the formation of a short-lived entity that is sometimes known as the NormanKingdom of Africa.[8]
After theevacuation of Mahdia in 1160, the Normans ceased to control any places on the North African coast. In 1284 the new Aragonese ruler of Sicily,Frederick III, invaded Djerba once again and held it until 1333.[9][10] It was retaken for Sicily byManfredi Chiaramonte, who became lord of the island, and also seized theKerkennah Islands.[11] The Sicilian garrison abandoned the island in 1392, the year after Chiaramonte died.[12]
After this, the only Italian possessions in North Africa belonged toGenoa, which heldJijel (Algeria) as well asTabarka (Tunisia), retaining the latter from 1540 to 1742.[13]
The Portuguese presence in North Africa dates from the reign ofKing João I who led theconquest of Ceuta in 1415.[14] and continued untilEl Jadida was abandoned in 1769. The enclaves, mostly along the Atlantic coast ofMorocco, were known in Portugal as the "Algarve-Beyond-the-Sea" ('Algarve de Além-Mar'), orAfrican Algarve,[15] in contrast with "European Algarve".
The taking of Ceuta was recognised byPope Martin V as a crusade.[16] Possession of the city brought no economic benefits to Portugal however, as trade simply moved to other cities in the region. Accordingly, João's successorKing Duarte tried to takeTangier as well in 1437, but was unable to do so.[17] It was not until the reign of Duarte's sonAfonso V that Portugal was able to expand its possessions in North Africa, takingKsar es-Seghir in 1458[15] andArcila in 1471. He also retook Tangier, but could not hold it.[18] Afonso was known aso Africano (the African) because of his conquests, and he was the first Portuguese ruler to take the title 'King of Portugal and of the Algarves on this side and beyond the sea in Africa'.[19] In 1486 his successorJoao II seized and fortifiedEl Jadida (Mazagan) as the Portuguese continued their drive south towardsGuinea.[20] Two years later he accepted the submission of the governor ofSafi.[21][22]
The remaining Portuguese conquests in Morocco were secured by kingManuel I –Agadir,[23]Essaouira[24] andAzemmour.[25]El Jadida was retaken after an earlier loss,[26] and in 1508 direct rule was established overSafi.[27]Mehdya was taken in 1515, though it was lost soon after in 1541.[28] The old pirate base at Anfa, which the Portuguese had destroyed in 1468, before reoccupying and fortifying it in 1515, came to be known as "Casa Branca", hence, eventually,Casablanca.[29][30]
By the time ofJoao III, the Portuguese empire had expanded around the globe. In this context, retaining or perhaps expanding the possessions in Morocco held no economic attraction and seemed increasingly unsustainable in military terms.[31] In 1541 Agadir fell to theSaadi princeMoulay Muhammad,[32] and in the same year, Portugal also lost Safi and Azamor.[33] In 1550, they went on to lose Ksar es-Seghir and Arcila.[34]
In 1577Sebastian I of Portugal was able to reconquer Arcila, though it was taken by theSaadi rulerAlmanzor in 1589.[35] However Sebastian's disastrous crusade in Morocco cost him his life and brought an end to the age of Portuguese expansion. Indeed, it led to the extinction of the independent Portuguese state between 1580 and 1640.[36]
In 1640 Portugal regained its independence, but Ceuta opted to remain with Spain,[37] a situation that was officially acknowledged in theTreaty of Lisbon (1668). After this Portugal retained only three enclaves in North Africa – Tangier, Casablanca and El Jadida. Tangier was ceded to England in 1661 under theMarriage Treaty as part of the dowry ofCatherine of Braganza,[38] and Casablanca was abandoned after theLisbon earthquake of 1755.[30] Under siege byMuhammad III, El Jadida was evacuated on 10 March 1769, bringing an end to the Portuguese presence in North Africa.[39]
"Plazas fuertes" and possessions of Spain in 1519 in North Africa
After having secured theCanary Islands off the coast of Morocco in 1496, they took a number of bridgeheads on the African mainland, firstMelilla (1497), thenCazaza andMers El Kébir (1505). The between 1508 and 1510 they extended the areas under their control widely, taking inPeñón de Vélez de la Gomera (1508), and then major coastal cities –Oran (1509),Algiers (1510),Béjaïa (1510) as well asTripoli (1510) and surroundings in coastal Libya.[41] Spain however lacked the military means to extend its area of rule further. This limited success prompted the local Muslim rulers in North Africa to encourageOruç Reis to attack Spanish positions and stage raids on Andalucia, Valencia and Alicante. In 1516, the yearKing Ferdinand died, Oruçtook Algiers and expelled the Spanish.[42]
Ferdinand's successorEmperor Charles V intended to regain Algiers and end the threat of piracy posed by Oruç. Charles landed atOran, and Oruç was killed by Spanish forces atTlemcen in 1518.[43] However Charles was not able to retain control of the areas he had taken, and Oruç's brotherHayreddin Barbarossa secured the protection of theOttoman Empire by making Algiers its vassal.[44]
Melilla and the Peñón de Alhucemas in 1909.Remaining SpanishPlazas de soberanía in North Africa.
Spain's first Bourbon rulerPhilip V wished to re-establish Spanish supremacy on the Algerian coast, and in 1732 sent an expedition whichretook Oran and Mers El Kebir. The cities remained under Spanish rule until they were all but destroyed by anearthquake in 1790.[46] The Spanish evacuated it in early 1792 and it came under Ottoman rule once again.[47][48]
TheFranco-Ottoman alliance of 1536 set the scene for the earliest French possessions on the North African coast. In 1550 theDey ofAlgiers,Turgut Reis, granted the right to fish coral on the Massacares coast, nearAnnaba, to Tomasino Lenche (c.1510–1568), a merchant ofMarseille. The following year,Henry II of France granted him an identical monopoly (renewed in 1560 byCharles IX). SultanSelim II granted France a trading concession over the ports of Malfacarel, la Calla (El Kala),Collo, Cap Rose (Cap Rosa) and Bone (Annaba). In 1552 Lenche was given permission to build the first permanent French presence on the coast, the fortress known as the 'Bastion de France'.[50][51]
Tomasino Lenche completed the building of the Bastion de France in 1560 and founded the Magnificent Coral Company (la Magnifique Compagnie du Corail) for the commercial exploitation of the coast's resources.[52] From this base, it was not long before Tomasino had diversified into selling artillery, powder and other weapons to the Dey. The wealth of the Lenches attracted the envy of Algiers, however, which seized the Bastion in 1564. Lenche was able to re-establish himself there after a period, but in June 1604, the Bastion de France was torn down by soldiers fromAnnaba supported by galleys from Algiers sent by raïs Mourad.[53] The fortress was eventually returned to the Lenches after diplomatic intervention byHenry IV of France. Another Algerian attack was staged in 1615, but the following year captain Jacques Vinciguerra reasserted Lenche control. Eventually, in 1619, Tomaso II Lenche sold his rights to the bastion toCharles, Duke of Guise.[54]
View of the colony ofEl Kala (La Calle), 1788. At this time the Bastion had come under the control of the French Royal Africa Company and was no longer run as a private concession
After nearly a decade, on 19 September 1628,Sanson Napollon [it], heir to the Lenche fortunes, signed a commercial treaty with Algiers and revived the trading posts at Annaba, La Calle and the Bastion de France. As well as harvesting coral, he also opened a trading post dealing in wheat at Cap Rosa.[53] In 1631Louis XIII named Napollon governor of the Bastion, making it thereafter a property of the crown rather than of the Duke of Guise.[55] However Napollon was killed during a Genoese attack in 1633, and in 1637 an Algerian fleet underAli Bitchin seized and destroyed all the French and trading posts along the coast.[56]
In 1664,Louis XIV mounted an expedition (known as theDjidjelli expedition) to take the city of Jijel and use it as a base against piracy. The city was taken, but after holding it for just three months, the French retreated, abandoning it.[57] In 1682 and again in 1683Admiral Duquesne bombarded Algiers as part of France's campaigns against piracy,[58] and in 1684 the Dey of Algiers signed a new treaty withde Tourville. French possession of the Bastion de France was confirmed for 100 years, and previous rights in La Calle, Cap Rose, Annaba, and Béjaïa were restored.
The 1684 treaty also transferred these rights from Napollon to M. Denis Dussault, before, under another treaty signed in 1690, all rights in these concessions were assigned to the French Africa Company.[59] The French Africa Company promptly abandoned the Bastion and based its trade in la Calle, where it continued to operate until it was wound up in 1799. In 1807 the Dey of Algiers ceded all former French rights for trading posts and bases to the United Kingdom, and they were not restored to France until the Congress of Vienna. During the diplomatic crisis of 1827 between Algiers and France, the French abandoned la Calle, and the Algerians promptly destroyed it. These events were the prelude to theFrench conquest of Algeria in 1830.[60]
Tangier (1661–1684) was ceded to England by Portugal as part of the dowry forCatherine of Braganza when she marriedCharles II of England. However the enclave was expensive to defend and fortify against the attacks byMoulay Ismail and offered neither commercial nor military advantage to England. In February 1684 the English troops were transported home, the walls were torn down, and the mole in the harbour destroyed.[61][62]
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