Young Algerians

Young Algerians

Algerian nationalist group. Formed shortly before World War I (1914–18), they were a loosely organized group of French-educated workers in the modernized French sector. The Young Algerians were “assimilationists,” willing to consider permanent union with France on the condition that native Algerians be given the full rights of French citizens. In the years following the war, such gradualist reformers found themselves opposed by radical nationalists demanding complete independence. See also Ferhat Abbas; Association of Algerian Reformist 'Ulama'; National Liberation Front.

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Young Algerians 

the members of Algerian nationalist organizations during the early 20th century.

Representatives of the bourgeois intelligentsia, the Young Algerians struggled against French colonial oppression in Algeria by agitating in the press, submitting petitions to the local authorities, and sending delegations to Paris. The majority of the Young Algerians demanded that Algerians be given equal rights with Europeans, specifically the political rights of French citizens. They also urged Algerians to acquire French language and culture. A minority of the Young Algerians, mainly those connected with the Muslim clergy, defended Arabic language and culture while calling for the creation of an independent Algerian-Tunisian state. After World War I, the followers of the ideas put forward by the Young Algerians made up the moderate wing of the national-liberation movement in Algeria.