The war of Algeria is held 1954 with 1962 and leads to the independence of the Algérie, French colony of 1830 with 1848, then integral part of the territory of the République.
This “war” is especially, on the military level, a Guérilla. The Doctrines of the revolutionary war, implementing the psychological weapon is rejected by the command. She opposes the French Army in all her diversity, making cohabit commandos of troops of elites (Parachutistes, legionaries), gripping forces of the order (mobile guards, CRS), called Contingent and back-up troops Indigène S (Harkis, Moghazni S) with the independence troops of the Armée with national release (ALN), armed wing of the Front of national release (FLN) of politico-administrative framing (CNRA and the CEC). Militarily gained by the France in 1959 (Operation Binoculars), it is politically gained by the independence movement in 1962.
It doubles of a Civil war and ideological within the two communities, giving place to successive waves of attacks, assassinations and massacres on two banks of the the Mediterranean. Algerian side, it results by a power struggle which see stinging the victory of the FLN over the rival Algerian parties, in particular MNA (Algerian National movement) and in a repression campaign against the harkis supporting the Status quo fastening of Algeria to the French Republic. In addition, it causes French side the confrontation between a hostile active minority with its continuation (pacifist movement), one second favorable to the revolution (the “Porteurs bags”), and a third rejoined with the Slogan of “French Algeria” (Front French Algeria, Jeune Nation, OAS).
This war is completed at the same time on the proclamation of the independence of the Algérie the July 5th 1962 following the Référendum of Autodétermination of July 1st envisaged by the Accords of Evian of the March 18th 1962, on the birth of the Algerian République the September 25th and on the repatriation of the million alive French in Algeria.
Divergences of legal qualification and policy issues
The war of Algeria is also named, according to the points of view and the times, war of Algerian independence , national liberation war , Algerian revolution or events of Algeria .
In right, only the Guerre those can make which have the legal personality of International law (partly because a declaration of war is a treaty and that it is necessary to have legal capacity to sign it). To refuse to juridically qualify the events of Algeria of war thus amounts refusing to recognize the character of State in Algeria before at 1962.
Starting from this legal reality, two positions are opposed:
- the French position was that for a long time to refuse the qualification of war. The term of war was thus employed by the French authorities only very tardily, by a vote of the National Assembly in 1998, and by a speech in June 1999 of the president of the Republic Jacques Chirac. Previously, the expression devoted in the French political discourse was events of Algeria .
- the Algerian position, on the contrary, estimates that the facts were such as Algeria was a Sovereign state, while at the same time the quality of State had not been recognized to him in right, before with colonization. The right having to be only the expression of the policy, it must thus be subjected to it; thus, the war of independence would not have made it possible to find the sovereignty of the Algerian State, but to find it.
With the official recognition of the war by the French political community, the first position is on the way to disappear, more especially as the expression war of Algeria was already used by the French historians and journalists for a long time and that the general public also recognizes this expression.
Nevertheless, if France recognized the war, only the individual acts made by the soldiers were also recognized officially. Organized character of the repression of the Algerians (tortures…) by the soldiers in the name of the French State, it has, never recognized. To note that the qualification of the Accords of Evian concerns the same problems.
Algerian side, on August 20th, 2006, at the time of the fiftieth birthday of the Congress of Soummam, the president Abdelaziz Bouteflika recognized in a message that: “ Our national liberation war was carried out by men and women whom the dash liberator generally carried to an high level of moral rise, but it comprises remote regions following the example all processes of violent and fast transformation of the human society ”. It is the first time that the Algerian State recognizes the existence of facts publicly up to that point taboos and occulted by the official story.
Socio-economic context
In Algeria, since the years 1930, nearly 1 million Pieds-Noirs have the best arable lands and refuse to share the capacity with 8,5 million “Moslem French” ( sic ), Arab Berbères and , with the very low standard of living: any reform seems impossible.
Political context
French side
End of the war of Indo-China and decolonization of the French empire.
This conflict lies within the scope of the process of Décolonisation which is held after the end of the Second world war. For the France, that concerns inter alia the Indo-China (Guerre of Indo-China), the Guinea, the Algérie, Madagascar, the Morocco, the Tunisia, the French equatorial Africa and the French Western Africa. The case of Algeria is different from the others in the sense that it belonged officially to the French territory, with a million citizens (the “Pieds-Noirs”) who lived there, often since several generations and nearly nine million not-citizens called “natives”. Algeria - under French administration since 1830 - was regarded as belonging to the national territory. From 1954 to 1962, Algeria counted: three departments in 1954, four at the end of 1955, twelve in June 1956 and fifteen departments as from 1958 (cf List of the French departments of Algeria).
The drama of the war of Algeria was that Algeria was a colony of settlement, in contrast with the colonies of exploitation of Africa and Indo-China whose loss involved less human consequences.
First steps of this war, the Massacre of Sétif, on May 8th, 1945 whereas in Europe one celebrates the victory of Allied against the Nazism, made between 10.000 and 20.000 died according to various historical work - the Algerian nationalists having spoken immediately about 45.000 victims, and the United States themselves of 40.000 died following demonstrations. The French Army which received the order to restore the order makes it without care for the civil population. The navy and aviation are thus engaged to bombard the civil populations.
In his report/ratio, the general Duval, project superintendent of repression, was prophetic: I give you peace for ten years, with you of you to be used for about it to reconcile the two communities . And nine years later, the insurrection of the All Saints' day 1954 will mark the beginning of the war of Algeria.
The impossibility of the reforms under IVe Republic
The leading cause of the release of this war lies in the blocking of all the reforms, due to the fragile balance of power under the IV {{E}} République, and to the been obstinated opposition of the mass of Pied-noir and their hostile representatives to any reform in favor of the Moslems.
Whereas tens of thousands of Algerians, estimated at 68 000 combatants, took part in the release of France and that several intellectuals assert the equal rights, the Moslem Algerians at the time are regarded as second-class citizens, while at the same time the mode of the Indigénat in theory in 1945 is repealed.
In 1947, the application of the new statute of Algeria was almost openly distorted by the administration, which made stop “the bad” candidates and coarsely faked the results in favor of the intransigents, so much so that some were elected that and there by more than 100% of the registered voters.
During the twelve months which preceded release of November 1st, it is not less than 53 attacks which were made.
Algerian side
The Face of national release
See also: Face of national release (Algeria), Face of national release
The fight for the equal rights is for a long time committed by intellectuals, and in particular by the movement of the Ouléma S. the recourse to the combat is initiated by the “Face of national release” (FLN), an Algerian nationalist organization based in Algeria and outside. The FLN begins its actions in 1954, only two years before the Tunisia and the Morocco obtain their total independence by the negotiation (Tunisia and Morocco were not colonies but Protectorat S). Some French politicians of extreme left called the “carriers of bag”, supported this movement (sending of weapons and money).
Since 1954, the combat armed for independence with Algeria by the FLN results in exactions against the civil populations of European and indigenous origin like by a Guérilla, maquis and confrontations with the French Army , which also includes/understands units of back-up troops Musulman S called “Harki S” (cf Harkis during the war of Algeria).
Minority at the beginning, the FLN uses terror (death threats for the “traitors”) to control the Moslem civil populations, which are very thus early taken for targets in attacks or massacres as at El Halia, in August 1955, and to cause among Europeans of repressions which will draw aside the two communities definitively. The historian Omar Carlier notes that “from 1955 to 1958, several thousands of men fell, and more still were wounded, in France and Algeria, in the confrontation between the Algerian National movement (MNA) and the FLN”, however that others still died in the combat which opposed the Algerian Communist party (PCA) and the FLN. ”.
The reprisals of the army are extremely hard: one could thus note the quasi-systematic recourse to the Torture for operations of information anti-terrorists (prevention of the attacks), in particular at the time of the battle of Algiers (1957).
The call to the Algerian people
November 1st, 1954, the General secretary of the Face of national release diffuses an intended radiophonic call with the Algerian people and writing in order to to inform on the major reasons which pushed to act by making a statement on program FLN, the direction of action, cogency of sights of which the goal remains national independence within the North-African framework. . It describes its action like directed only against colonialism, only enemy blind man, who always refused to grant least freedom by means of peaceful fight. . The FLN thus require that them French authorities once and for all recognize with the people that they subjugate the right to have themselves without what he announces the continuation of the fight by all the means until the realization of goal restoration of the sovereign, democratic and social State Algerian within the framework of the Islamic principles.
Chronology of the war of Algeria
See also: Chronology of the War of Algeria
Chronology of the War of Algeria. -->
August 1st
Assessment
Human account
The human account was a long time difficult to establish, because of official story recognized by the two countries.
French losses
The figures concerning the Frenchwomen and French of metropolis and Algeria, the “French Moslem” and the legionaries are the best known ones: OJ of the August 4th and 7th 1986: 23196 deceased including 371 navy, 1047 of the Air force and 487 gendarmes. After cease fire, 360 other soldiers died.
For the Christian civilians and Jews the total of 2788 is killed and 875 missings until the cease-fire. He is necessary to add to it, after cease fire, 3018 removals including 1.282 found (declaration of Broglie of November 24th, 1964, confirmed by Santini letter of November 9th, 1994). In 2005, the commission of historian charged to make all the light on this painful problem found in Nantes 600 other disappearances; others discovered are possible. Moslem civilians of 1954 to March 19th, 1962: 16.378 killed by the FLN. 13.296 missings.
Losses of the Algerian population
The Algerian human losses are very difficult to evaluate, because the sources are divergent. The de Gaulle general spoke about 145 000 victims in November 1959, and of 200 000 in November 1960. According to Djemila Amrane (Algerian files), cumulated total of 132.290 soldiers of the ALN and 204.458 civilians of the FLN, of which on the whole 152.863 were killed, value which corresponds appreciably to the evaluation of the 2nd Office.
Algerian side, the FLN counts in 1964 1 500 000 victims of this war. Historians are leaning on the question: Guy Pervillé was based on demographic data - in particular censuses of 1954 and 1966 - to conclude with a minimum from 400 000 unquestionable deaths. Xavier Yacono, in a article published in 1983, always estimates starting from the censuses the Algerian losses at 250 000 dead approximately. The FLN puts forward of sound with dimensions that the demographic data do not give an account of the massacres in the douars and that these figures correspond can be more dead in the cities where Algerian was indeed listed and registered with the civil statue. It is not specified here by which and in which circumstances died these victims. In the same way, a few thousands of dead directly related to the conflict, are to be counted: in Morocco and in Tunisia, in the frontier conflicts (Sakhiet); in France, because of terrorism OAS, of the settlings of score, police repression (Charonne or the October 17th, 1961), and of the execution of condemned to death. One notes of 1956, when the FLN decided to carry the war in metropolis, until the end of 1961 dates from the last known official statistic 3291 killed, 7077 wounded Moslems, 112 killed and 587 wounded not Moslems, 50 killed police officers and 326 wounded.
As for the number of Harkis massacred after the cease-fire, the estimates vary between 30 000 and 150 000 people, historians agreeing to narrow the scale between 60 and 70 000 harkis massacred by the combatants of the 25e hour under the eye of the FLN and the French Army which have the same heavy responsibility in this tragedy.
In addition, the Torture during the war of Algeria was practiced by the French Army in proportions which according to the historian Pierre Vidal-Naquet would relate to hundreds of thousands of Algerian. What obviously is not without leaving after-effects and a major traumatism.
Conclusion
Expensive as men, money and destruction, the war of Algeria remained a moral and psychological traumatism durable for the two countries.
It is sadly famous for the multiple practices of Violence maintained on both sides, and a long time denied official memories. Against the suspects and the prisoners, the French Army employs the Torture, whose police practice in Algeria preexists besides to the war, as well as the collective summary executions of prisoners (“wood drudgeries”).
To prevent the populations from helping the FLN, it also concentrates, under deplorable conditions, two million civilians of the rural areas in “camps of regrouping”. Repression has also its prolongation in metropolis and as far as full Paris, with the bloody repression of the peaceful demonstrations of October 17th, 1961 and of February 8th, 1962 by the prefect Papon. In addition to the Torture during the war of Algeria, the army does not hesitate to bombard with the napalm of the civil villages. On its side, FLN has recourse to the legitimate combat and the massacre of rivals. OAS practiced a blind wave of terror and burned ground, assassinating to the indigenous cleaning ladies of Europeans, setting fire to the library of Algiers or multiplying the car bomb attacks. Against it, the capacity gaullist engaged the “secret agents” with the often expeditious methods. Lastly, after the Agreements of Evian, the OAS multiplies the provocations, by discounting indigenous reprisals on the French civilians who would force the army to intervene and to break the cease-fire. Calculation does not pay. After independence the French Army refuses to intervene while tens of thousands of Harkis are massacred (Moslem combatants at the sides of France, that it disarmed itself and gave up with the hands of the Algerian nationalists, even driven back if they had arrived to France), and that Europeans of Oran pay hard; July 5th, 1962, of the months of terror maintained in the city by the OAS.
Appendices
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