Barbary Coast

Political diversity

Barbary was not always a unified political entity. From the 16th century onward, it was divided into four political entities—from west to east—the Alawi Sultanate, the Regency of Algiers, the Regency of Tunis, and the Regency of Tripoli. Major rulers and petty monarchs during the times of the Barbary states' plundering parties included the sultan of Morocco, the dey of Algiers, bey of Tunis, and pasha of Tripoli, respectively.

The slave trade

The slave trade was not just an economic lifeline to the Barbary States, but was often justified as a form of jihad against Christian states. Although mainly captives from sea piracy and coastal raiding around the Mediterranean, there were also Atlantic raids as far as Iceland.

The Ottoman Eastern Mediterranean was the scene of intense piracy. As late as the 18th century, piracy continued to be a "consistent threat to maritime traffic in the Aegean". Slaving came to an end in the early years in the 1830s after the French conquest of Algeria.

Naval capabilities

In 1625, the pirate fleet of Algiers, by far the largest, numbered 100 ships of various sizes, carrying 8,000 to 10,000 men. The corsair industry alone accounted for 25 percent of the workforce of the city, not counting other activities of the port. The fleet only averaged 25 ships in the 1680s, but these were larger vessels than had been used since the 1620s, so the fleet still employed some 7,000 men. In addition, 2,500 men manned the pirate fleet of Tripoli, 3,000 in Tunis, and several thousand more in the various minor pirate bases such as Bona, Susa, Bizerta, and Salé. The corsairs were not solely natives of the cities where they were based; while many were Arabs and Berbers, there were also Turks, Greeks, Albanians, Syrians, and renegade Italians, especially Corsicans, among their number.Gregory Hanlon. "The Twilight Of A Military Tradition: Italian Aristocrats And European Conflicts, 1560-1800." Routledge: 1997. Pages 27–28.

Conflict with Western powers

Spain

When the fall of Granada completed the Reconquista in Iberia, Ferdinand II launched campaigns to curb Barbary piracy, taking North African cities including Melilla, and Charles V installed his vassal Muley Hacen in Tunis, though much of the Mediterranean remained under Ottoman influence until the Battle of Lepanto in 1571. In the 17th century, Barbary pirates, now including expelled Moriscos adopted European naval tactics most notably in the Republic of Salé whose 'Moriscos' exploited their familiarity with Spanish shores to raid the Spanish Levante in the 17th century. From 1617 onward, pirate raids targeted the northwest of Spain (Galicia), prompting the formation of a Spanish fleet around 1621 to defend against Barbary corsairs and the Dutch, albeit with limited success.

United States

The United States fought the Barbary Wars from 1801 to 1805 with some of the Barbary states which led up to the Battle of Derna, the first overseas military land action of the United States and the inspiration for the opening line of the Marines' Hymn "From the halls of Montezuma to the shores of Tripoli...". The Second Barbary War ended with an agreement that American ships had free passage without the need to pay tribute.

References

References

1. Ben Rejeb, Lotfi. (2012). "'The general belief of the world': Barbary as genre and discourse in Mediterranean history". European Review of History: Revue européenne d'histoire.
2. Hinz, Almut. (2006). "Die "Seeräuberei der Barbareskenstaaten" im Lichte des europäischen und islamischen Völkerrechts". Verfassung und Recht in Übersee / Law and Politics in Africa, Asia and Latin America.
3. (1939). "The Department of State bulletin".
4. "Barbary {{!}} historical region, Africa".
5. Murray, Hugh. (1841). "The Encyclopædia of Geography: Comprising a Complete Description of the Earth, Physical, Statistical, Civil, and Political". Lea and Blanchard.
6. {{cite EB1911
7. Graf, Tobias P.. (2017). "The Sultan's Renegades: Christian-European Converts to Islam and the Making of the Ottoman Elite, 1575–1610". Oxford University Press.
8. Malcolm, Noel. (2015). "Agents of Empire: Knights, Corsairs, Jesuits and Spies in the Sixteenth-century Mediterranean World". Oxford University Press.
9. [https://web.archive.org/web/20110725220038/http://researchnews.osu.edu/archive/whtslav.htm "When Europeans Were Slaves: Research Suggests White Slavery Was Much More Common Than Previously Believed"], Ohio State University
10. Bradford, Ernle. (1968). "Sultan's Admiral. the Life of Barbarossa". Harcourt Brace World.
11. Ginio, Eyal. (2001). "Piracy and Redemption in the Aegean Sea during the First Half of the Eighteenth Century.". Turcica.
12. Ellis, Chris. "Research Guides: Battle Studies, Country Studies, & Staff Rides: Barbary Wars & the Battle of Tripoli".
13. Sessions, Jennifer E.. (2011). "By Sword and Plow: France and the Conquest of Algeria". Cornell University Press.
14. [https://arrecaballo.es/edad-moderna/el-imperio-espanol/guerra-en-el-norte-de-africa/ Guerra en el norte de África]
15. [http://studylib.es/doc/5013081/2.1.--crueldades-del-rey-muley-has%C3%A1n-de-t%C3%BAnez--acercamiento CORSARIOS O REYES. De la saga de los Barbarroja a Miguel de Cervantes.]
16. [https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/14701847.2018.1438072 After Lepanto: Turkish and Barbary corsairs on the coasts of Galicia in the seventeenth century]
17. U.S. Department of State.. (November 2, 2024). "Barbary Wars".
18. [https://www.history.navy.mil/content/history/museums/nmusn/explore/photography/forgotten-wars-19th-century/barbary-war-1801-1805/marines-derna.html U.S. Marines attacked Derna, Tripoli], [[Naval History and Heritage Command]]
19. "The Second Barbary War: The Algerine War".