There came Spaniards, Italians and Maltese in their thousands; so much so that by 1917 only one in five of the non-Muslim population was said to be of French origin. As Anatole France muttered angrily: "We have despoiled, pursued and hunted down the Arabs in order to populate Algeria with Italians and Spaniards."

Horne, Alistair, A Savage War of Peace- Alge…, loc. 88