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(1954-1962)

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French minister of Interior, Francois Mitterand “ The only possible negotiation is war”

 

The Algerian War of Independence effectively ended colonial rule throughout the world. After France failed to subjugate the independence movement of their colonial subjects in Algeria, the European nations speedily acquiesced to offering statehood to their remaining colonies. At the beginning of the insurrection, French politicians and public felt that they held significant enough advantages to suppress independence. The French had a population, industrial, and military advantage. The Algerians rebel leadership was divided and about 11% of the population were of European origin and committed to colonial rule. By the end of the conflict, France itself had witnessed several major coups against the government, and had inaugurated major political changes, including the establishment of the Fifth Republic. 

Country

Population

France

44,000,000

Algeria

10,000,000

 

The Algerian War witnessed conflicts on several levels—guerilla strikes, terrorism, counter-terrorism, and riots between the French army and colonists in Algeria and the FLN (National Liberation Front) and other pro-independence Algerians. The estimates of the number of dead were between 1- 1.5 million. French army losses were some 18,000 dead and 65,000 wounded. Some 2 million Moslems were incarcerated in concentration camps during the conflict.

 

The main instigator of the struggle was the FLN, who had headquarters in Cairo, Egypt. The FLN’s main rival—with the same goal of Algerian independence- was the National Algerian Movement whose main supporters were Algerian workers in France. The FLN and MNA fought against each other both in France and Algeria for the full duration of the conflict.

 

The main goal of the Muslims of Algeria was the “restoration of the Algerian state, sovereign, democratic, and social, within the framework of the principles of Islam. The French felt Algeria was an integral part of France. The French committed significant resources—money, material, and men—to maintain their position. Moreover, some 11% of the Algerian population was irrevocably committed to France. Their fervor ultimately led to a dramatic showdown with the French government.

 

After several false truces, the FLN adopted militant, even terrorist tactics, to achieve independence. On the political front, the FLN worked to persuade—and to coerce—the Algerian masses to support the aims of the independence movement. Over time, the FLN systematically liquidated those representatives of the Muslim community acceptable to the French through whom a compromise or reforms within the system might be achieved.  The pro-French settlers responded with counter-terrorist campaigns, killing suspected FLN members. The FLN overtime successfully rallied diverse segments of the population—professional groups, labor unions, students’ and women’s’ organizations—to support independence.

 

French officials tried vainly to meet the less extreme Muslim demands. They introduced ambitious reform programs aimed at improving the economic conditions among the Muslim population. The FLN responded by broadening their attacks on military and government-related targets to massacres of civilians. The French responded by declaring martial law, and gave their army exceptional police powers, including the repression of civil liberties. In 1956 France, in part, attempted to seize the Suez Canal in retribution for the support of the FLN rendered by President Kemal Nasser of Egypt.

 

From 1954-1957, the Algerian rebels developed into a disciplined fighting force. Although estimates of their size are widely divergent, the range of committed rebel soldiers was 6,000 to more than 25,000. The rebels during this period applied classic guerrilla war techniques, specializing in ambushes and night raids and avoiding direct contact with superior French firepower. The guerrillas were able to merge successfully with the population in the countryside. They mutilated their victims. Gradually, the FLN, ALN gained control over certain regions of Algeria, imposing temporary military administrations capable of collecting taxes and food and recruit manpower. By 1957, the rebels carried out 800 shootings and bombings per month. During 1957, the FLN called a successful strike, showing its ability to strike at the heart of French Algeria and in rallying a mass response to its appeals among urban Muslims. The French responded by incarcerating as many as 2 million people in concentration camps where living conditions were generally poor.  Both sides committed acts of torture. By 1956 France had sent some 400,000 soldiers to Algeria to suppress the revolt. 

 

By 1958, the French army had achieved notable success in suppressing the FLN. However, French politicians increasingly questioned the tremendous cost of keeping Algeria as part of France. In 1958, an army junta under General Massu seized power in Algeria and successfully pressed the junta’s demands that de Gaulle be named president of France for the purposes of keeping French Algeria. 

 

In 1958-59 the French army won military control in Algeria; however, opposition to the conflict was growing among many segments of the population. The French public questioned the widespread usage of terrorism to suppress the Muslim population.  In September 1959, De Gaulle uttered the words “self-determination” for Algeria, reversing his previous positions. Both in 1959 and 1960, De Gaulle backed by most of the army and French population suppressed insurrections in Algeria that hoped to prevent self-determination. 

 

By 1962, some 1.4 million refugees left Algeria for France. Fewer than 30,000 Europeans chose to remain On July 1, 1962; some 6 million of a total Algerian electorate of 6.5 million cast their referendum on independence. The vote was nearly unanimous, and De Gaulle pronounced Algeria an independent country on July 3.