French citizenship is made automatic in 1870…

French citizenship is made automatic in 1870 for Jewish natives of Algeria, a move that largely angers the Muslims, who begin to consider the Jews as the accomplices of the colonial power.

Nonetheless, this period sees progress in health, some infrastructures, and the overall expansion of the economy of Algeria, as well as the formation of new social classes, which, after exposure to ideas of equality and political liberty, will help propel the country to independence.

Native Algerian Muslims and Jews had been viewed as French subjects, but not French citizens, from 1856.

However, in 1865, Napoleon III had allowed them to apply for full French citizenship, a measure that few Muslims have taken, since it involves renouncing the right to be governed by sharia law in personal matters, and is considered a kind of apostasy.