The Mediterranean

Abstract

This essay demonstrates how unique geographic characteristics of the Mediterranean Sea dramatically shaped European colonial policy throughout the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. The Mediterranean Sea created critical trade routes made the colonization of Algeria, Tunisia, and Morocco not only politically useful for establishing and maintaining France’s power relative to other European nations but also economically vital for France’s industrial production. After the decline of the French colonial empire, national immigration policies were dictated by the desire to maintain France’s economic strength and political influence in the region by controlling its surroundings in the Mediterranean. While the Mediterranean once represented the possibility of expanded control and geopolitical power, it now represents just the opposite, a source of anarchy and chaos that is frequently seen as requiring strong border control.