| Siege of Oran (1790–1792) | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 Oran in 1750 | |||||||
| |||||||
| Belligerents | |||||||
 Regency of Algiers |  Spanish Empire | ||||||
| Commanders and leaders | |||||||
| Mohammed el Kebir | Juan de Courten | ||||||
| Strength | |||||||
| 30,000 men | Unknown | ||||||
| Casualties and losses | |||||||
| Unknown | Heavy | ||||||
The siege of Oran was a military campaign launched by the Regency of Algiers, led by Muhammad el Kebir, against the Spanish garrison of Oran. The Algerians occupied the city after a siege that lasted from 1790 to 1792, ending the Spanish occupation that lasted for 300 years.
In 1785, the Spanish began negotiations with Algiers and were willing to cede Oran and Mers el-Kebir if they would be allowed to retain their trading posts in return for Algiers to cease their attacks on Spanish vessels. [1] [2] The Algerians were happy with these terms; however, the Spanish population was outraged with these terms, forcing their government to delay carrying them out. The death of Charles III of Spain and the breakout of the French Revolution forced the Spanish to forget about Oran. The Dey of Algiers was becoming impatient with their false promises and began blockading Oran in 1789. [3]
In October 1790, [4] Muhammad Bey began the siege of Oran with an army of 30,000 men. [5] The Bey considered using mining explosives against the city walls; however, a violent earthquake struck Oran and devastated the town, destroying most of the city and killing more than 2,000 of its inhabitants. [6] [7] [8] The Algerians used this opportunity and launched a swift assault into the city, but the Spanish garrison resisted fiercely and repelled the assault. The Algerians then began besieging the city more closely. [9] The Spanish began opening negotiations in August or September 1791. Both sides agreed to a treaty which confirmed the earlier terms. In early 1792, the Spanish evacuated the town along with their belongings, and in March, the Algerians occupied the city. [10] [11]
The Algerians began repopulating the city with Arabs and Jews, which remained under their control for 40 years. [12] The Ottoman sultan sent his praises, when the city returned under Muslim control, which ended the Spanish control that lasted three hundred years. [13]
The Barbary Wars were a series of two wars fought by the United States, Sweden, and the Kingdom of Sicily against the Barbary states and Morocco of North Africa in the early 19th century. Sweden had been at war with the Tripolitans since 1800 and was joined by the newly independent US. The First Barbary War extended from 10 May 1801 to 10 June 1805, with the Second Barbary War lasting only three days, ending on 19 June 1815. The Barbary Wars were the first major American war fought entirely outside the New World, and in the Arab World.
The Barbary pirates, Barbary corsairs, or Ottoman corsairs were mainly Muslim pirates and privateers who operated from the Barbary states. This area was known in Europe as the Barbary Coast, in reference to the Berbers. Slaves in Barbary could be of many ethnicities, and of many different religions, such as Christian, Jewish, or Muslim. Their predation extended throughout the Mediterranean, south along West Africa's Atlantic seaboard and into the North Atlantic as far north as Iceland, but they primarily operated in the western Mediterranean. In addition to seizing merchant ships, they engaged in razzias, raids on European coastal towns and villages, mainly in Italy, France, Spain, and Portugal, but also in the British Isles, the Netherlands, and Iceland.
The Regency of Algiers was a largely independent tributary state of the Ottoman Empire during the early modern period, located on the Barbary Coast of North Africa from 1516 to 1830. Founded by the corsair brothers Aruj and Hayreddin Barbarossa, the Regency was a formidable and infamous pirate base. First ruled by Ottoman regents, it later became a sovereign military republic that plundered and waged maritime holy war against European Christian powers.
Aruj Barbarossa, known as Oruç Reis to the Turks, was an Ottoman corsair who became Sultan of Algiers. The elder brother of the famous Ottoman admiral Hayreddin Barbarossa, he was born on the Ottoman island of Midilli and died in battle against the Spanish at Tlemcen.
Salah Rais was the 7th King of Algiers, an Ottoman privateer and admiral. He is alternatively referred to as Sala Reis, Salih Rais, Salek Rais and Cale Arraez in several European sources, particularly in Spain, France and Italy.
The 1541 Algiers expedition occurred when Charles V of the Holy Roman Empire and king of Spain attempted to lead an amphibious attack against the Regency of Algiers, in modern Algeria. Inadequate planning, particularly against unfavourable weather, led to the failure of the expedition.
The capture of Peñón of Algiers was accomplished when the beylerbey of Algiers, Hayreddin Barbarossa captured the fortress called Peñón of Algiers, on a small islet facing the Algerian city of Algiers from the Habsburg Spaniards.
Between April and June 1563 the Regency of Algiers launched a major military campaign to retake the Spanish military-bases of Oran and Mers el Kébir on the North African coast, occupied by Spain since 1505. The sieges of Oran and Mers El Kébir of 1563 represented a major Hispano-Algerian episode in the larger Ottoman-Habsburg wars of the Mediterranean. The Kingdom of Algiers, the Principalities of Kabyle, and other vassal tribes combined forces as one army under Hasan Pasha, son of Hayreddin Barbarossa, and Jafar Catania. The Spanish commander brothers, Alonso de Córdoba Count of Alcaudete and Martín de Córdoba, managed to hold the strongholds of Oran and Mers El Kébir, respectively, until the relief fleet of Francisco de Mendoza arrived to successfully defeat the offensive.
The 2nd Bombardment of Algiers took place between 12 and 21 July 1784. A joint Spanish-Neapolitan-Maltese-Portuguese fleet commanded by the Spanish Admiral Antonio Barceló bombarded the city, which was the main base of the Barbary corsairs, with the aim of forcing them to interrupt their activities. The second bombardment followed a similarly failed expedition the preceding year.
The Expedition of Mostaganem occurred in 1558, when Spanish forces attempted to capture the city of Mostaganem. The expedition was supposed to be a decisive step in the conquest of the Ottoman base of Algiers, but it ended in failure, and has been called a "disaster".
Hamidou ben Ali, known as Raïs Hamidou, or Amidon in American literature, born around 1770, and died on June 17, 1815, near Cape Gata off the coast of southern Spain, was an Algerian corsair. He captured up to 200 ships during his career. Hamidou ensured the prosperity of the Deylik of Algiers, and gave it its last glory before the French invasion. His biography is relatively well known because the French archivist Albert Devoulx found documents that told of this charismatic character.
Hamdan ben Othman Khodja (1773–1842) was an Algerian dignitary and scholar. He wrote the book "Le Miroir" in which he denounced the encroachments by French soldiers in Algiers, thus becoming the first essayist on this subject.
Haji Ali ben Khrelil was Dey of the Deylik of Algiers from 1809 - 1815.
The bombardment of Algiers in 1683 was a French naval operation against the Regency of Algiers during the French-Algerian War 1681–88. It led to the rescue of more than 100 French prisoners, in some cases after decades of captivity, but the great majority of Christian captives in Algiers were not liberated.
The French-Algerian War of 1681–1688 was part of a wider campaign by France against the Barbary Pirates in the 1680s.
Ibrahim ben Ramdan, also known as Baba Ibrahim, or simply Ibrahim III was the Dey (king) of Algiers from 1732 to 1745.
Mustapha Bouchelaghem, also known as Bey Bouchelaghem was the Bey of the Western Beylik from 1686 to 1734/37.
The siege of Oran was a battle between the Spanish Empire and the Regency of Algiers. It was started by Mustapha Bouchelaghem, the Bey of Mascara. The Algerian victory in the battle led to the city being reconquered by the Algerians for 24 years (1708–1732), before Spanish forces reconquered the town in 1732.
In 1622 The Dutch Republic and The Regency of Algiers concluded a peace treaty. The Algerians failed to respect the treaty. Following this the Dutch set out a punitive expedition to punish the Algerians.