Editing Oran (section)

===Overview===
During the [[Roman Empire]], a small settlement called ''Unica Colonia'' existed in the area of the current Oran, but this settlement disappeared as the [[Maghreb]] was conquered by a succession of regional powers, beginning with the [[Vandals]] in [[Vandal conquest of Roman Africa|435]],<ref>{{Cite book |last=Syvänne |first=Ilkka |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=fHD7DwAAQBAJ&dq=435+vandals+peace&pg=PA35 |title=Military History of Late Rome 425–457 |date=19 September 2020 |publisher=Pen and Sword Military |isbn=978-1-4738-7217-2 |language=en |access-date=4 May 2023 |archive-date=4 May 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230504002915/https://books.google.com/books?id=fHD7DwAAQBAJ&dq=435+vandals+peace&pg=PA35 |url-status=live }}</ref> followed by the [[Berbers]] of the [[Mauro-Roman Kingdom]],<ref>{{cite book |last1=Wolfram |first1=Herwig |title=The Roman Empire and Its Germanic Peoples |date=November 1997 |publisher=University of California Press |isbn=978-0-520-24490-0 |page=170 |edition=Paperback |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=_7EwDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA170 |access-date=4 May 2023 |chapter=Seven - The Vandals: A Unique Case |archive-date=25 July 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240725012933/https://books.google.com/books?id=_7EwDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA170#v=onepage&q&f=false |url-status=live }}</ref> and finally the [[Umayyad Caliphate|Arabs]] around [[Muslim conquest of the Maghreb|the start of the 8th century]].<ref>{{cite magazine |last1=Schwartz |first1=Carl |title=Mission Stations of the British Society |magazine=The Scattered Nation and Jewish Christian |date=1 March 1867 |publisher=Elliot Stock |location=London |page=76 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=n9_NAAAAMAAJ&dq=%22Unica+Colonia%22+Roman+%22Oran%22&pg=PA76 |access-date=3 May 2023 |archive-date=9 October 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231009034018/https://books.google.com/books?id=n9_NAAAAMAAJ&dq=%22Unica+Colonia%22+Roman+%22Oran%22&pg=PA76 |url-status=live }}</ref>

Present-day Oran was founded in 903 by the {{Interlanguage link|Azdadja|fr}} and Ajissa [[Berbers]] of the [[Maghrawa]] confederation who lived in the area.<ref name="google.ca">{{cite book | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=45exFa6wDIIC&dq=founder+of+oran+azdaja&pg=PA169 | isbn=978-0-253-00146-7 | title=Jewish Culture and Society in North Africa | date=July 2011 | publisher=Indiana University Press | access-date=2023-03-21 | archive-date=2023-04-19 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230419003813/https://books.google.com/books?id=45exFa6wDIIC&dq=founder+of+oran+azdaja&pg=PA169 | url-status=live }}</ref> The city enjoyed a period of prosperity under the [[Almohad]] Caliph [[Abd al-Mu'min]] for a lengthy period of time when he built thirty vessels to connect it with Andalusia.<ref name="google.ca"/> It endured a long, prosperous reign under the zayyanid of Tlemcen and used its ports as a key outlet to Spain in particular.<ref>{{cite book | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=3SapTk5iGDkC&dq=zayyanid+oran&pg=PA289 | isbn=978-1-57607-919-5 | title=Cities of the Middle East and North Africa: A Historical Encyclopedia | year=2007 | publisher=Abc-Clio | access-date=2023-03-21 | archive-date=2023-04-19 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230419003812/https://books.google.com/books?id=3SapTk5iGDkC&dq=zayyanid+oran&pg=PA289 | url-status=live }}</ref> It was captured by the [[Crown of Castile|Castilians]] under [[Cardinal Cisneros]] in 1509, and Spanish sovereignty lasted until 1708 when the city was conquered by the [[Algerians]] during the siege of [[Siege of Oran (1707–1708)]]. Spain recaptured the city in 1732. However, its value as a trading post had decreased greatly, so during the reign of King [[Charles IV of Spain|Charles IV]] the city was [[Siege of Oran (1790–1792)|recaptured]] in 1790–1792 by a coalition of Algerian troops against Spain which resulted in victory for the bey of Oran despite the many attempts in 1563. The beylik lasted until 1831 when the city fell to the [[July Monarchy|French]].{{fact|date=January 2025}}

Under [[French Algeria|French rule]] during the 19th and 20th centuries, Oran was the capital of the [[Département of Oran]] (number 92). In July 1940, the [[Royal Navy|British navy]] [[Destruction of the French Fleet at Mers-el-Kebir|shelled French warships]] in the port after they refused a British ultimatum to surrender; this action was taken to ensure the fleet would not fall into German hands, as the [[Nazi Germany|Nazis]] had defeated France and occupied Paris. The action increased the hatred of the Vichy regime for [[United Kingdom|Britain]] but convinced the world that the British would fight alone against [[Nazi Germany]] and its allies. The [[Vichy France|Vichy government]] held Oran during [[World War II]] until its capture by the [[Allies of World War II|Allies]] in late 1942, during [[Operation Torch]].{{fact|date=January 2025}}

Also, during French rule, Jews were encouraged to modernize and take on jobs they had not before, including agriculture, while Muslims were forced out of the city and their ancestral fertile lands were confiscated and given to Colons.<ref name="EB">{{cite web | title=Algeria - French Rule, Colonization, and Occupation in Algeria | website=Encyclopedia Britannica | date=12 Aug 1998 | url=https://www.britannica.com/place/Algeria | access-date=22 Jun 2023 | archive-date=17 November 2017 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171117181437/https://www.britannica.com/place/Algeria | url-status=live }}</ref> Jews in the city were allowed to join the French Army starting 24 October 1870, while Muslims were forced to do [[military service]]. Algerian Jews were granted citizenship while Algerian Muslims were not. Jews would soon be targeted after the war for not supporting the struggle for independence against France.<ref name="jewishvirtuallibrary.org">{{cite web |title=Oran |url=http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/judaica/ejud_0002_0015_0_15167.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161113090003/http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/judaica/ejud_0002_0015_0_15167.html |archive-date=2016-11-13 |url-status=live |work=Jewish Virtual Library }}</ref>

Before the [[Algerian War]] of 1954–1962, Oran had one of the highest proportions of Europeans of any city in North Africa. In July 1962, after a ceasefire and accords with France, the [[FLN (Algeria)|FLN]] entered Oran and were shot at by Europeans. A mob attacked [[pied-noir]] neighborhoods in response to the incident and during the subsequent [[Oran massacre of 1962]] at least 95 and as many as 365 were killed;<ref>Benjamin Stora, ''Algeria, 1830–2000: A Short History'' (Cornell University Press, 2004) p105</ref> many others are reported to have "disappeared".<ref name="lexpress">{{cite web|url=http://www.lexpress.fr/actualite/monde/la-verite-sur-les-massacres-d-oran_460144.html|title=Algérie 1962: La vérité sur les massacres d'Oran|last=Thiolay|first=Boris|date=2006-09-13|work=[[L'Express (France)|L'Express]]|access-date=12 November 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120813004854/http://www.lexpress.fr/actualite/monde/la-verite-sur-les-massacres-d-oran_460144.html|archive-date=13 August 2012|url-status=live}}</ref> This triggered a larger exodus of Europeans to France, which was already underway. In 1962, most of the Europeans and [[Algerian Jews]] living in Oran were repatriated to France..<ref name="jewishvirtuallibrary.org"/>