Algiers Burning. The United Kingdom of the Netherlands and the Post-Napoleonic European Order of Peace and Security

This chapter zooms in on the bombardment of Algiers in 1816, carried out by a combined Anglo-Dutch fleet. This devastating cannonade forced Regent dey Omar Agha to issue a declaration forever renouncing ‘Christian slavery’. At the time, Dutch authors lauded this result as a victory of European significance, which finally abated the transnational threat posed by the Barbary corsairs. Therefore, the author argues that the bombardment of 1816 must be situated in the context of post-Napoleonic European security politics, which was not simply dominated by the Great Powers as is often assumed. In fa... Mehr ...