Napoleon III visits Algeria twice in the…

Napoleon III visits Algeria twice in the early 1860s.

He is profoundly impressed with the nobility and virtue of the tribal chieftains, who appeal to the emperor's romantic nature, and is shocked by the self-serving attitude of the colon leaders.

He determines to halt the expansion of European settlement beyond the coastal zone and to restrict contact between Muslims and the colons, whom he considers to have a corrupting influence on the indigenous population.

He envisions a grand design for preserving most of Algeria for the Muslims by founding a royaume arabe (Arab kingdom) with himself as the roi des Arabes (king of the Arabs).

He institutes the so-called politics of the grands chefs to deal with the Muslims directly through their traditional leaders.