The French wanted to "pacify" Algeria of the Muslim Algerians fighting for reform. During the Pacification, led by General Thomas Bugeaud in the 1830's, the military was ordered to burn people alive, suffocate people who were hiding in caves, burn and steal villagers property, food, and animal stock, and rape women. They went to extensive measures to scare the Algerians and prevent them from fighting for change. The French did not hesitate to take what they wanted, and they ruled savagely. They immediately took action in migrating Europeans into Algeria, and this meant moving Algerians from their homes when necessary. General Thomas Bugeaud, who later became Governor of Algeria in 1840, was ordered to control the immigration for European settlers. He was oppressive when he encouraged his troops to take cruel and unnecessary actions against Algerians. Emir 'Abd al-Qadir led Algerian resistance movements, but the French quickly defeated them. The French also ruled unfairly by not giving Algerians rights the immigrants from Europe had or letting them vote. Even after Algerians were allowed to elect representatives in the parliament, they were attacked by French military when they elected the same amount of representatives as the Europeans. The colons, French or European settlers, were paid seven times more than a Muslim Algerian, and they controlled all aspects of economic development and politics. The Algerians were discriminated against because they were not given rights, and they were tortured and killed during the Pacification by the French military in Algeria. The French government's actions towards the Algerians caused even more tension between Algeria and France, which led to later fighting and a reason for Algerians to want independence.
Many Algerians first tried to protest against the government peacefully to get the reforms they wanted. They wanted to be treated as equals to the European settlers, and they wanted the same rights.
