Ideological foundations of French colonial policy in the Maghreb countries in the XIX - first half of the XX centuries

The paper discusses the history of the colonial doctrine formation in France in the XIX - first half of the XX centuries. France, one of the largest colonial empires in the world, based its ideology in this sphere on the universalist egalitarian values of the revolution of 1789. It was the Maghreb countries - Algeria and Tunisia - that became test sites for two successively replaced ideological doctrines - assimilation and association. The paper explores the reasons why the French failed to implement virtually the principles of assimilation in Algeria. Intolerance and disregard for other cultures in this theory had catastrophic, irreversible consequences for Algerian society, tarnished the theory reputation and condemned its demise. By the outbreak of World War I, the association had become a proclaimed doctrine of French native politics instead of assimilation. The relevance of this research is due to the fact that the long-term consequences of French colonial policy remain a source of social, cultural and political tension between France and its former colonies. The novelty of the study is in the analysis of recent foreign research papers.