Fifty years ago, in 1962, the ‘Algerian war’, one of the longest and bloodiest anti-colonial conflicts, ended with the victory of the Algerian fighters against French imperialism. Algeria had been under French colonial rule for 132 years. It was the ‘flagship’ of the French colonial empire. A policy of racial segregation and massive land dispossession was to the detriment of indigenous people. The vast majority of Algerians were kept in poverty and suffered systematic wage discrimination, which guaranteed huge profits for French big business. The overwhelming majority of settlers were poor. By the 1950s, their average living standards were 20% lower than in France. Following World War Two nationalist militancy and struggles rose steadily throughout the country, in the context of pro-independence struggles erupting internationally. This coincided with unprecedented waves of workers’ strikes and an overwhelming desire for social change. In many cases, these disputes involved Algerian and French workers.
http://www.socialistparty.net/theory/1049-algerian-war-of-independence-1954-1962
1830 ALGIERS IS OCCUPIED BY FRANCE. 1839 ABD EL-KADER DECLARES WAR ON THE FRENCH AFTER THEIR MEDDLING IN THE ADMINISTRATION OF HIS TERRITORY. 1847 ABD EL-KADER SURRENDERS. FRANCE FINALLY SUBJUGATES ALGERIA. 1848 ALGERIA IS RECOGNIZED AS AN INTEGRAL PART OF FRANCE. THE COLONY IS OPENED TO EUROPEAN SETTLERS. 1871 COLONIZATION OF ALGERIA INCREASES IN RESPONSE TO THE LOSS OF THE ALSACE-LORRAINE REGION TO THE GERMAN EMPIRE. 1936 BLUM-VIOLLETTE REFORM IS BLOCKED BY FRENCH SETTLERS. 1937 THE PARTI DU PEUPLE ALGERIEN (PPA, ALGERIAN PEOPLE’S PARTY) IS FORMED BY THE VETERAN ALGERIAN NATIONALIST MESSALI HADJ. 1938 FERHAT ABBAS FORMS THE UNION POPULAIRE ALGÉRIENNE (UPA, ALGERIAN POPULAR UNION). 1940 WORLD WAR II -- FALL OF FRANCE. 1942 ALLIED LANDINGS IN ALGERIA AND MOROCCO. 1945 WORLD WAR II -- VICTORY IN EUROPE. INDEPENDENCE DEMONSTRATIONS IN SÉTIF TURN VIOLENT. FRENCH AUTHORITIES RESPOND WITH SEVERE REPRISALS LEADING TO THOUSANDS OF MUSLIM DEATHS. 1946
THE MOUVEMENT POUR LE TRIOMPHE DES LIBERTÉS
1947 THE ORGANIZATION SPÉCIALE (OS, SPECIAL ORGANIZATION) IS FORMED AS A PARAMILITARY ARM OF THE MTLD. 1947 SEPT- A NEW CONSTITUTION FOR ALGERIA IS ESTABLISHED. ALL ALGERIAN CITIZENS ARE OFFERED FRENCH CITIZENSHIP (OF EQUAL STATUES TO THOSE OF FRANCE). HOWEVER, WHEN AN ALGERIAN NATIONAL ASSEMBLY IS CONVENED IT IS SKEWED TO SETTLERS COMPARED TO INDIGENOUS ALGERIANS -- TWO POLITICALLY EQUAL 60-MEMBER COLLEGES ARE CREATED, ONE REPRESENTING THE 1.5 MILLION EUROPEAN SETTLERS, THE OTHER FOR 9 MILLION ALGERIAN MUSLIMS. 1949 ATTACK ON THE CENTRAL POST OFFICE OF ORAN BY THE ORGANIZATION SPÉCIALE (OS, SPECIAL ORGANIZATION). 1952 SEVERAL LEADERS OF THE ORGANIZATION SPÉCIALE (OS, SPECIAL ORGANIZATION) ARE ARRESTED BY FRENCH AUTHORITIES. AHMED BEN BELLA, HOWEVER, MANAGES TO ESCAPE TO CAIRO. 1954 THE COMITÉ RÉVOLUTIONAIRE D’UNITÉ ET D’ACTION (CRUA, REVOLUTIONARY COMMITTEE FOR UNITY AND ACTION) IS SET UP BY
http://www.socialistparty.net/theory/1049-algerian-war-of-independence-1954-1962
legitimized racist ideology human zoos political freedom suspended riots
Crops
CO
were burnt and granaries emptied and unarmed men, women and children were seized.
O
LON
IALIS
M
The unparalleled savagery deployed on Algerian soil by the authoritarian regime of Charles de Gaulle - who had taken power in France through a parliamentary coup in 1958 could not end the war. The offensive launched by the French troops in 1959 had almost finished the ALN, the armed wing of the FLN, as a fighting force. But the heavy price, politically
On 1 November 1954, the FLN launched a series of guerrilla type attacks in different parts of the territory, targeting the bases of the colonial power. ‘Front de Liberation 2.Exteneded Introduction of the Algerian War of Independence
Nationale’ was a nationalist organisation composed of radical activists who, fed up with the growing conservatism and reformism of the traditional nationalist forces, had decided to ‘light the fuse’ of a general revolt against French rule. The French army responded with systematic terror, involving burning down villages, creating makeshift concentration camps, summary executions and torture on a mass scale. This violence exposed the brutal face of French capitalism - the so-called France of ‘human rights’.
http://www.socialistparty.net/theory/1049-algerian-war-of-independence-1954-1962
!! !
! !
French Use of Vulgar Torture:
Troops threw Algerians in the sea from helicopters, which resulted in brutalized corpses, found in open waters and nicknamed “crevettes Bigeard�.
The controversy during the war: Systematic use of torture created a national controversy which has had lasting effects on French and Algerian society.
ALGERIAN W
Creating an ongoing public controversy. G.Aaboud
WAR=TORTURE this extensive use of extreme violence = death of innocent civilians
Gue iLLa waR RR
e h t d n a e r u t r o t t ic is d a s f o s t c a n i resulted ng i d lu c n i , l l a t s n i a ag e c n le io v l a t u r b t mos . n e r ld i h c d n a n e wom
Today, despite its rich oil reserves, most Algerians are blocked from any semblance of decent living conditions. For the majority of Algerians, whose country is buffeted by poverty, corruption and violence.
AT
E
B AT T L
Y MILITARY R IL I M