The ideological origins of European Colonialism: The case of the campaign to delegitimise the regencies of North Africa During the Congress of Vienna

In the article, the author examines the ideological underpinnings of Europe’s transition to colonialism in the nineteenth century. The Congress of Vienna in 1814 represented a pivotal juncture in Europe’s transition towards a novel system of international relations, one that was predicated on a Western-centric theory of progress. The Muslim countries on the southern shores of the Mediterranean, specifically Algeria, Tunisia, and Tripoli, were excluded from this newly established system. Consequently, it permitted the abrogation of their sovereignty and interventionist policies towards them. The purpose of this article is to elucidate the historical origins of European colonialism and to challenge the pejorative stereotypes regarding Muslim countries and Islam that pervaded European politics and culture during the 18th and 19th centuries and were imperialistic in their character. The distinctive contribution of this study is to illustrate the intrinsic link between the ascendant Western-centric ideology that emerged in Europe following 1814 and the practice of coercive intervention in the domestic politics of North African countries, which ultimately resulted in the colonisation of the region. This study draws upon the works of European philosophers and political activists from the late 18th and early 19th centuries, along with printed publications from that era and documents from the Archive of the Foreign Policy of the Russian Empire. The article adopts a historiographical approach that draws upon the works of Edward Wadie Said, the seminal figure in the field of Orientalism, as well as those of contemporary scholars from Russia and the West who also contributed to the study of the origins of colonialism. The author posits that the Congress of Vienna constituted a pivotal moment in the relationship between Europe and the countries of North Africa. It was at this juncture that the legal status of the region’s countries was called into question, a process that ultimately led to their colonisation.