During the Pacification of Algeria (1835-1903) French forces engaged in a scorched earth policy against the Algerian population. Colonel Montagnac stated that the purpose of the pacification was to "destroy everything that will not crawl beneath our feet like dogs" The scorched earth policy, decided by Governor General Bugeaudhas, had devastating effects on the socio-economic and food balances of the country: "we fire little gunshot, we burn all douars, all villages, all huts; the enemy flees across taking his flock." According to Olivier Le Cour Grandmaison, the colonisation of Algeria lead to the extermination of a third of the population from multiple causes (massacres, deportations, famines or epidemics) that were all interrelated. Returning from an investigation trip to Algeria, Tocqueville wrote that "we make war much more barbaric than the Arabs themselves [...] it is for their part that civilization is situated."