French Algeria became the prototype for a pattern of French colonial rule which has been described as "quasi-apartheid". Napoleon III oversaw an 1865 decree that allowed Arab and Berber Algerians to request French citizenship—but only if they "renounced their Muslim religion and culture": by 1913, only 1,557 Muslims had been granted French citizenship. Despite periodic attempts at partial reform, the situation of the "Code de l'indigénat" persisted until the French Fourth Republic, which began in 1946, but although Muslim Algerians were accorded the rights of citizenship, the system of discrimination was maintained in more informal ways. This "internal system of apartheid" met with considerable resistance from the Muslims affected by it, and is cited as one of the causes of the 1954 insurrection.