Algerian War
The Algerian War (also known as the Algerian Revolution or the Algerian War of Independence)[nb 1] was a major armed conflict between France and the Algerian National Liberation Front (FLN) from 1954 to 1962, which led to Algeria winning its independence from France.[34] An important decolonization war, it was a complex conflict characterized by guerrilla warfare and war crimes. The conflict also became a civil war between the different communities and within the communities.[35] The war took place mainly on the territory of Algeria, with repercussions in metropolitan France.
Not to be confused with Algerian Civil War.
Effectively started by members of the National Liberation Front (FLN) on 1 November 1954, during the Toussaint Rouge ("Red All Saints' Day"), the conflict led to serious political crises in France, causing the fall of the Fourth Republic (1946–58), to be replaced by the Fifth Republic with a strengthened presidency. The brutality of the methods employed by the French forces failed to win hearts and minds in Algeria, alienated support in metropolitan France, and discredited French prestige abroad.[36][37] As the war dragged on, the French public slowly turned against it[38] and many of France's key allies, including the United States, switched from supporting France to abstaining in the UN debate on Algeria.[39] After major demonstrations in Algiers and several other cities in favor of independence (1960)[40][41] and a United Nations resolution recognizing the right to independence,[42] Charles de Gaulle, the first president of the Fifth Republic, decided to open a series of negotiations with the FLN. These concluded with the signing of the Évian Accords in March 1962. A referendum took place on 8 April 1962 and the French electorate approved the Évian Accords. The final result was 91% in favor of the ratification of this agreement[43] and on 1 July, the Accords were subject to a second referendum in Algeria, where 99.72% voted for independence and just 0.28% against.[44]
The planned French withdrawal led to a state crisis. This included various assassination attempts on de Gaulle as well as some attempts at military coups. Most of the former were carried out by the Organisation armée secrète (OAS), an underground organization formed mainly from French military personnel supporting a French Algeria, which committed a large number of bombings and murders both in Algeria and in the homeland to stop the planned independence.
The war caused the deaths of between 400,000 and 1,500,000 Algerians,[45][29][27] 25,600 French soldiers,[20]: 538 and 6,000 Europeans. War crimes committed during the war included massacres of civilians, rape, and torture; the French destroyed over 8,000 villages and relocated over 2 million Algerians to concentration camps.[46][47] Upon independence in 1962, 900,000 European-Algerians (Pieds-noirs) fled to France within a few months in fear of the FLN's revenge. The French government was unprepared to receive such a vast number of refugees, which caused turmoil in France. The majority of Algerian Muslims who had worked for the French were disarmed and left behind, as the agreement between French and Algerian authorities declared that no actions could be taken against them.[48] However, the Harkis in particular, having served as auxiliaries with the French army, were regarded as traitors and many were murdered by the FLN or by lynch mobs, often after being abducted and tortured.[20]: 537 [49] About 20,000 Harki families (around 90,000 people) managed to flee to France, some with help from their French officers acting against orders, and today they and their descendants form a significant part of the population of Algerians in France.
Strategy of internationalisation of the Algerian War led by the FLN
At the beginning of the war, on the Algerian side, it was necessary to compensate for military weakness with political and diplomatic struggle. In the asymmetric conflict between France and the FLN at this time, victory seemed extremely difficult.[89]
The Algerian revolution began with the insurrection of November 1, when the FLN organized a series of attacks against the French army and military infrastructure, and published a statement calling on Algerians to get involved in the revolution. This initial campaign had limited impact: the events remained largely unreported, especially by the French press (only two newspaper columns in Le Monde and one in l'Express), and the insurrection all but subsided. Nevertheless, François Mitterrand, the French Minister of the Interior, sent 600 soldiers to Algeria.
Furthermore, the FLN was weak militarily at the beginning of the war. It was created in 1954 and had few members, and its ally the ALN was also underdeveloped, having only 3,000 men badly equipped and trained, unable to compete with the French army. The nationalist forces also suffered from internal divisions.
As proclaimed in the statement of 1954, the FLN developed a strategy to avoid large-scale warfare and internationalize the conflict, appealing politically and diplomatically to influence French and world opinion.[90] This political aspect would reinforce the legitimacy of the FLN in Algeria, which was all the more necessary since Algeria, unlike other colonies, had been formally incorporated as a part of metropolitan France. The French counter-strategy aimed to keep the conflict internal and strictly French to maintain its image abroad. The FLN succeeded, and the conflict rapidly became international, embroiled with the tensions of the Cold War and the emergence of the Third World.
Firstly, the FLN exploited the tensions between the American-led Western Bloc and the Soviet-led Communist bloc. FLN sought material support from the Communists, goading the Americans to support of Algerian independence to keep the country on the western side. Furthermore, the FLN used the tensions within each bloc, including between France and the US and between the USSR and Mao's China. The US, which generally opposed colonisation, had every interest in pushing France to give Algeria its independence.[91]
Secondly, the FLN could count on Third World support. After World War II, many new states were created in the wave of decolonization: in 1945 there were 51 states in the UN, but by 1965 there were 117. This upturned the balance of power in the UN, with the recently decolonized countries now a majority with great influence. Most of the new states were part of the Third-World movement, proclaiming a third, non-aligned path in a bipolar world, and opposing colonialism in favor of national renewal and modernization.[92] They felt concerned in the Algerian conflict and supported the FLN on the international stage. For example, a few days after the first insurrection in 1954, Radio Yugoslavia (Third-Worldist) begun to vocally support the struggle of Algeria;[93] the 1955 Bandung conference internationally recognized the FLN as representing Algeria;[94] and Third-World countries brought up the Algerian conflict at the UN general assembly.[95] The French government grew more and more isolated.
After the Battle of Algiers greatly weakened the FLN, it was forced to accept more direct support from abroad. Financial and military support from China helped to rebuild the ALN to 20 000 men.[95] The USSR competed with China, and Khrushchev intensified moral support for the Algerian rebellion, which in turn pushed the USA to react.[95] In 1958, the Provisional Government of the Algerian Republic (PGAR) was created, naming official representatives to negotiate with France.[96] Tense negotiations lasted three years, eventually turning to Algeria's advantage. The PGAR was supported by the Third World and the communist bloc, while France had few allies. Under pressure from the UN, the USA, and a war-weary public, France eventually conceded in the Evian agreements. According to Matthew Connelly, this strategy of internationalization became a model for other revolutionary groups such as the Palestine Liberation Organization of Yasser Arafat, and the African National Congress of Nelson Mandela.[94]
L'Express newspaper of December 29, 1955, reading "Terrible facts that should be known", condemning the censorship of the Constantine massacres in August of the same year.
![Camp de Thol, one of the French concentration camps for Algerians used during the war.[146]](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/9/97/Photo_de_l%27infirmerie_et_des_locaux_disiplinaire_du_camp_de_Thol.jpg/120px-Photo_de_l%27infirmerie_et_des_locaux_disiplinaire_du_camp_de_Thol.jpg)
Marcel Bigeard's troops were accused of practicing "death flights", whose victims were called crevettes Bigeard (fr), "Bigeard shrimp".[147]
![Marcel Bigeard's troops were accused of practicing "death flights", whose victims were called crevettes Bigeard (fr), "Bigeard shrimp".[147]](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/e/ec/General_Marcel_Bigeard_young.jpg/94px-General_Marcel_Bigeard_young.jpg)
"Gégène", a device used by the French forces to generate electricity; electrodes would then be attached to the victim's body parts for electric torture
