Napoleon III visualizes three distinct Algerias: a…

Napoleon III visualizes three distinct Algerias: a French colony, an Arab country, and a military camp, each with a distinct form of local government.

The second decree, issued in 1865, is designed to recognize the differences in cultural background of the French and the Muslims.

As French nationals, Muslims can serve on equal terms in the French armed forces and civil service and can migrate to metropolitan France.

They are also granted the protection of French law while retaining the right to adhere to Islamic law in litigation concerning their personal status, but if Muslims wish to become full citizens, they have to accept the full jurisdiction of the French legal code, including laws affecting marriage and inheritance, and reject the competence of the religious courts.

In effect, this means that a Muslim has to renounce his religion in order to become a French citizen.

This condition is bitterly resented by Muslims, for whom the only road to political equality becomes apostasy.

Over the next century, fewer than three thousand Muslims will choose to cross the barrier and become French citizens.