Le parti social-démocrate allemand face à la guerre d’Algérie (1958-1962)

Abstract

The SDP leaders gave priority to Franco-German relations over the Algerian question, even after their 1958 Congress, when the pro-NLF minority could no longer be regarded as insignificant. They hardened their words but did not alter their approach and basically kept looking at the Algerian war from a German angle. The Fraktion concerned itself with the Foreign Legion, the inspection of German ships by the French navy, the presence of Algerians in the FRG. For a minority group around Hans-Jürgen Wischnewski, Willi Eichler, Peter Blachstein, Hellmut Kalbitzer etc., who considered decolonisation as a modern form of the emancipation of mankind, the Algerian war had symbolical value. They thus committed themselves to providing logistic backing, information as well as political support for the NLF. Hans-Jürgen Wischnewski is likely to have played a significant part in the evolution of the Auwärtiges Amt’s policy. As an opposition Member of Parliament, he was able to take responsibility for actions government officials could not undertake. The SDP could thus pride itself on having contributed to the working out of the new German Third World policy, in accordance with the Bad Godesberg programme. All Social Democrats however were disappointed by the turn of events in Algeria after independence.