Algeria

Abstract

The Algerian war began on 1 November 1954 with attacks by Algerian nationalists on French citizens. The nationalists, grouped by the Front de Libération Nationale (FLN), wished to end the French rule of their country which had begun in 1830. Part of the French response to these events consisted of a rather half-hearted programme of reforms that were instituted in January 1955. The other part of the French response was repression. The French minister of the interior, François Mitterrand, ordered firm action against the rebels. In 1955 a state of emergency was instituted, reservists were called up and the general elections, scheduled for January 1956, were cancelled in Algeria. An FLN massacre of Europeans around Philippeville was followed by savage reprisals. In 1956, special powers were voted for Algeria. In September of that year, the FLN switched its attention from the countryside and launched what became known as ‘the battle of Algiers’ by bombing civilian targets in the city. At the beginning of 1957, colonel Massu, a hero of the Second World War, began to restore order in Algiers. He broke a general strike in February 1957, obtained information about the FLN with the aid of torture, and captured the main leader of rebellion in September. The FLN retreated once again to the countryside and the mountains, but in September 1957 the ‘Morice Line’ of barbed wire designed to cut off the FLN from their bases in Tunisia was completed.KeywordsArmy OfficerSocial EliteFrench EconomyFrench CitizenResistance LeaderThese keywords were added by machine and not by the authors. This process is experimental and the keywords may be updated as the learning algorithm improves.