Choléra, quarantaines et forces navales françaises en Algérie (1834-1837) : De la difficulté d’imposer un ordre sanitaire en phase de conquête coloniale et de tension épidémique

Résumé 0

While the cholera arrived from East submerges Europe and the Mediterranean Sea, the French naval forces can be regarded as essential actors of the sanitary police of the seas, tasked in particular with the control of the maritime traffic, and simultaneously as potential vectors of this contagious disease through the numerous patrols they carry out in zones of high epidemic risk to assert French power and sovereignty.Using this dilemma as starting point, and underlining the contingencies peculiar to the forms of organization and the missions of the French naval forces, this paper examines to what extent the French Navy, through its commitment in the quarantine plans, participates in the setup of the French sovereignty on the Algerian territory as well as in the evolutions of the principles and procedures of the sanitary defense of its coast between 1834 and 1837.