Xavier Coppolani was a French

France

The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...

 military

Military of France

The French Armed Forces encompass the French Army, the French Navy, the French Air Force and the National Gendarmerie. The President of the Republic heads the armed forces, with the title "chef des armées" . The President is the supreme authority for military matters and is the sole official who...

 and colonial

Colonialism

Colonialism is the establishment, maintenance, acquisition and expansion of colonies in one territory by people from another territory. It is a process whereby the metropole claims sovereignty over the colony and the social structure, government, and economics of the colony are changed by...

 leader, who was instrumental in the colonial occupation

Military occupation

Military occupation occurs when the control and authority over a territory passes to a hostile army. The territory then becomes occupied territory.-Military occupation and the laws of war:...

 and creation of modern-day Mauritania

Mauritania

Mauritania is a country in the Maghreb and West Africa. It is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean in the west, by Western Sahara in the north, by Algeria in the northeast, by Mali in the east and southeast, and by Senegal in the southwest...

.

Born to Corsica

Corsica

Corsica is an island in the Mediterranean Sea. It is located west of Italy, southeast of the French mainland, and north of the island of Sardinia....

n parents in French-ruled Algeria

Algeria

Algeria , officially the People's Democratic Republic of Algeria , also formally referred to as the Democratic and Popular Republic of Algeria, is a country in the Maghreb region of Northwest Africa with Algiers as its capital.In terms of land area, it is the largest country in Africa and the Arab...

, he was transferred to Senegal

Senegal

Senegal , officially the Republic of Senegal , is a country in western Africa. It owes its name to the Sénégal River that borders it to the east and north...

 to lead the expansion of colonial rule north of the Senegal river

Sénégal River

The Sénégal River is a long river in West Africa that forms the border between Senegal and Mauritania.The Sénégal's headwaters are the Semefé and Bafing rivers which both originate in Guinea; they form a small part of the Guinean-Malian border before coming together at Bafoulabé in Mali...

, where Moorish

Moors

The description Moors has referred to several historic and modern populations of the Maghreb region who are predominately of Berber and Arab descent. They came to conquer and rule the Iberian Peninsula for nearly 800 years. At that time they were Muslim, although earlier the people had followed...

 tribe

Tribe

A tribe, viewed historically or developmentally, consists of a social group existing before the development of, or outside of, states.Many anthropologists use the term tribal society to refer to societies organized largely on the basis of kinship, especially corporate descent groups .Some theorists...

s held firm against French rule. Their tribal rivalries provided Coppolani with an opportunity, and in 1901, he drew up a plan for moving into the territory with a combination of military and political strategies.

Alliances were drawn up with two of the main marabout

Marabout

A marabout is a Muslim religious leader and teacher in West Africa, and in the Maghreb. The marabout is often a scholar of the Qur'an, or religious teacher. Others may be wandering holy men who survive on alms, Sufi Murshids , or leaders of religious communities...

s of the territory, Shaykh Sidya Baba and Shaykh Saad Bouh, local leaders of Qadiriyya

Qadiriyya

The Qadiriyya , are members of the Qadiri Sufi order...

 Sufi brotherhoods. They were promised a dominant role in the colonial administration and protection for their Zawiya tribes against the attacks of Hassane

Hassane

The Hassane is a name for the traditionally dominant warrior tribes of the Saharan-Moorish areas of present-day Mauritania, southern Morocco and Western Sahara...

 warriors. In return they would use their religious influence to persuade the local emir

Emir

Emir , meaning "commander", "general", or "prince"; also transliterated as Amir, Aamir or Ameer) is a title of high office, used throughout the Muslim world...

s to accept French rule. With military pressure applied, the strategy worked, and the emirate

Emirate

An emirate is a political territory that is ruled by a dynastic Muslim monarch styled emir.-Etymology:Etymologically emirate or amirate is the quality, dignity, office or territorial competence of any emir ....

s of Tagant

Tagant

Tagant is a region in south-central Mauritania named for the Tagant Plateau. Its capital is Tidjikdja. Other major cities/towns include Tichit and Rachid, Nbeika...

, Trarza

Emirate of Trarza

The Emirate of Trarza was a precolonial state in what is today southwest Mauritania, which has survived as a traditional confederation of semi-nomadic peoples to the present day. Its name is shared with the modern Region of Trarza. The population, a mixture of Berber tribes, were later conquered...

 and Brakna

Brakna

Brakna is a region in south-west Mauritania. Its capital is Aleg. Other major cities/towns include Bogué. The region borders the Mauritanian region of Tagant to the north-east, the Mauritanian regions of Assaba and Gorgol to the south-east, Senegal to the south-west and the Mauritanian region of...

 all accepted French rule in 1903-04. The last emirate, in the northern zone of Adrar

Adrar

Adrar, a Berber word meaning "mountain", is the name of several areas in Northwest Africa:* Adrar, Mauritania* Adrar Region, Mauritania* Adrar Plateau, Mauritania* Adrar, Algeria* Adrar Province, Algeria...

, proved combatative. It was also backed by a third influential Qadiriyya marabout, shaykh Ma al-'Aynayn

Ma al-'Aynayn

Mohamed Mustafa Ma al-'Aynayn was a religious and political leader who fought French and Spanish colonization in North Africa...

, himself in turn supported by the Sultan of Morocco

Morocco

Morocco , officially the Kingdom of Morocco , is a country located in North Africa. It has a population of more than 32 million and an area of 710,850 km², and also primarily administers the disputed region of the Western Sahara...

.

Coppolani was preparing to march on Adrar when he was assassinated in 1905, by a member of the shaykh's Gudfiyya

Gudfiyya

The Gudfiyya brotherhood was a small, militant religious organization created by the Sufi Qadiriyya shaykh Ma al-'Aynayn, in his battle against French and Spanish colonizers in the western Maghreb....

 brotherhood. The emirate was eventually defeated and forcibly incorporated into Mauritania in 1912, by General

General

A general officer is an officer of high military rank, usually in the army, and in some nations, the air force. The term is widely used by many nations of the world, and when a country uses a different term, there is an equivalent title given....

 Gouraud

Henri Gouraud (soldier)

Henri Joseph Eugène Gouraud was a French general, best known for his leadership of the French Fourth Army at the end of the World War I.-Early life:...

, but tribal revolts and raids persisted until 1934.