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

Abstract

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 fact, he shows that Anglo-Dutch cooperation came about as a result of diplomatic efforts by small states in combination with the pressures of public opinion which had an impact on the dynamics of the new European order. The chapter not only stresses the role of non-state actors in this matter but also draws attention to the often overlooked Dutch involvement in imperial interventions in the Mediterranean at the beginning of the nineteenth century that were carried out under the banner of security.