The celebration of coronation of Emperor Napoleon II was short lived, as the realities of the needs of the nation began to sink in. In his last days of King, Charles X had attempted to increase public opinion at home by launching an invasion of Algeria. The French military had obviously not innovated or changed much since the fall of Napoleon I, as for the invasion they relied on Napoleon’s contingency plan for the invasion ; which dated back to 1808. The first battle of the invasion at Sidi Ferruch had 34,000 French soldiers and 7,000 Janissaries, 19,000 troops from the beys of Constantine and Oran, along with roughly 17,000 Kabyles (ethnic Algerians). The French military would come out as victors in battle, thanks to the superior artillery and better organization.
Though with the French victory, a new problem quickly arose. Three weeks after the battle at Sidi Ferruch (June 12th, 1830) the capital of Algiers was captured. What followed would be the beginning of an embarrassment for the occupation force, as troops raped women, looted the populations houses, desecrated their mosques and destroyed cemeteries. In their reckless behavior, the French troops had seized roughly fifty million Francs from the treasury of Algeria at Casbah. As one observer in a newspaper reported « an inauspicious beginning to the mission to civilize the people of Algeria. »
The City of Algeria, captured by the French three weeks after the battle of Sidi Ferruch.
Emperor Napoleon II had hardly reigned for more than a month when the news of the atrocities reached the Imperial Household. The Emperor burst into an outrage that French troops would commit such barbaric acts, and immediately called for investigations into the crimes. In the eyes of the Emperor the national prestige of the nation had been deeply harmed. If the situation was not quickly turned around, it would be possible that Great Britain, Austria and Prussia could possibly see this as a reason to depose of the recently restored House of Bonaparte.
The liberal elements within the Assemblies opposed the invasion of Algeria, as in their eyes, France needed to turn its eyes inward instead of toward colonial expansion. Napoleon II, would find himself in a hard position, as elements of the government wanted to continue the occupation of Algeria even if French policy and behavior were complete failures while other elements wanted to completely withdraw from Algeria – which most in the nation assumed would be a national embarrassment. Like his father, Napoleon II worked best under pressure, and quickly had a compromise drawn together. The nation would continue its occupation of the coasts of Algeria, but would not move farther inland. In addition, a commission would be formed to establish state run factories throughout the nation once suitable locations and demand for supplies was determined.
French soldiers uniforms in 1830. Notice the red pants; the dye was exclusively from the coasts of Algeria that were French occupied.