That is very interesting. I had no idea the French made this happen. Now that you mention it, I never really heard how so much of North Africa came to be French colonies -- it suppose it makes sense that the supression of piracy in this area could have had something to do with that. That's what I love about the FreeRepublic -- you learn something new all the time!
(On a related topic I've recently been reading An Army at Dawn, about the allied battles in North Africa early in WWII. Until I read the book, I had no idea that French troops caused thousands of allied dead and wounded at the start of our operations there -- goddamn French.)
(On a related topic I've recently been reading An Army at Dawn, about the allied battles in North Africa early in WWII. Until I read the book, I had no idea that French troops caused thousands of allied dead and wounded at the start of our operations there -- goddamn French.)Well, we did attack them. And, if I remember correctly, without a declaration of war.
How dare they shoot back!