The loss of Alsace-Lorraine to Germany in…

The loss of Alsace-Lorraine to Germany in 1871 leads to pressure on the French government to make new land available in Algeria for about five thousand Alsatian and Lorrainer refugees who are resettled there

During the 1870s, both the amount of European-owned land and the number of settlers are doubled, and tens of thousands of unskilled Muslims, who have been uprooted from their land, wander into the cities or to colon farming areas in search of work.