SS11 (20th Century World History) 2018

Algeria, annexed to France since 1834 and divided into administrative départements, was considered to be an inalienable part of French national territory. But after the end of the Second World War, the country witnessed a series of demonstrations by nationalists calling for independence. The existence of a powerful minority of European colonists (1 million out of a total of 9 million inhabitants in 1954) who were opposed to the creation of an Islamic Algerian Republic prevented the emergence of any easy solution.

In 1954, Algeria was rocked by a series of thirty terrorist attacks. This was the first action by the National Liberation Front (FLN). The FLN and its armed wing, the National Liberation Army (ALN), became increasingly radical, using guerrilla methods and terrorism to achieve their ends.

From 1956 onwards, the government in France, which had originally advocated a policy of negotiation, stepped up its military action in Algeria, sending a contingent of more than 400 000 conscript soldiers. France was militarily the stronger party, but it remained unable to restore order. Support for the FLN among the Algerian population continued to grow.

The conflict took on an increasingly international dimension. Relations with Arab states became more and more tense, and the diplomatic offensives mounted by African and Asian countries forced the French Government to justify its Algerian policy to the United Nations General Assembly.

In France, the government was in a state of paralysis and was facing worsening financial difficulties. Rioting in Algiers by supporters of French Algeria in 1958 led to the return to power of General de Gaulle. He was seen as the only man capable of avoiding civil war and restoring national unity.

By 1958, General de Gaulle began to realise that nothing would be possible without negotiating with the nationalist movement. In 1959 he recognised the Algerians’ right to self-determination. In a decisive address, de Gaulle offered the Algerian people a choice between three possible solutions: secession, francisation (meaning integration or assimilation) or association.

On 8 January 1961, 75 % of the French electorate voted in favour of the self-determination of the Algerian people in a referendum. Public opinion, which had initially favoured war, now chose the path of peace.

But those who had fought for French Algeria felt betrayed. Their anger led to political crises, uprisings and power grabs. Back in January 1960, militants had staged a week of riots, known as the ‘week of barricades’.

France agreed to withdraw its troops after three years and secured trade cooperation with Algeria, thereby protecting its economic interests, particularly with regard to the area’s oil reserves. On 1 July 1962, 99.7 % of Algerians voted in favour of their country’s independence.

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Over the summer of 1962, hundreds of thousands of pieds-noirs, people of European origin living in Algeria, left the country and returned to France.