In African colonies, indirect rule worked better for the African's because they were able to keep their old traditions and not have to adapt to new ones. In the French colonies, African's had to convert to French in order to be considered French. If they were considered French, then they could run for politics and be considered as an equal to a French person.
French rule was harsh, and the uncontrollable ambitions aroused in a technically advanced community exercising power over a less advanced society. This was especially true for Algeria. The French had severely underestimated the unwillingness of the native population to live under infidel rule. French generals who arrived in Algiers did not anticipate fanatical, unprovoked resistance. They believed that the majority of Algerians hated the tyrannous rules of the past, and they naively expected that the natives would be happy to see the replacement of the previous regime which was the Ottoman Empire. They were shocked when this did not prove to be the case. This unanticipated reaction greatly affected French policies in the region.
The process of French colonization in Algeria was anything but the "laissez-faire- system. The French never made any attempts of equality or justice, and colonization was always meant to make the French masters of the country. It was a full-scale campaign of terror and intimidation designed to politically, economically, and physically crush the indigenous population and annihilate their culture and national identity by any means necessary. The French believed that it was crucial to import European moral and social values amongst the Algerian Muslims in order to enlighten them and render them able to overcome fanaticism and to appreciate the civilizing mission of France. For some reason at the time Europeans thought of themselves as the most civilized. According to traditional French colonial doctrine, this colonial penetration must transform the way of life of the natives.
