CASE

STUDY
History
for the IB Diploma

The Algerian War

Additional case study for Causes, Practices and Effects of Wars

Jean Bottaro
Series editor: Allan Todd

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knowledge and research worldwide.

Our IB Diploma resources aim to:

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Contents
The Algerian War: Introduction 2

Unit 1 Origins and causes of the Algerian War 3

What were the main long-term causes of the war? 4
What were the main short-term causes of the war? 9

Unit 2 Nature and practice of the Algerian War 15

What was the nature of the Algerian War? 16
What were the main events of the war? 17
What strategies, tactics and technology were used? 22
How were civilians involved in the war? 25
What was the role of resistance and revolution? 27
What was the reaction to the war in France? 28

Unit 3 Effects and results of the Algerian War 31

What were the political results of the war? 32
What were the economic and social effects of the war? 35
How did the war affect Algeria’s position in the world? 39

Exam practice 42
Paper 1 exam practice 42
Paper 2 exam practice 53

Further information and acknowledgements 58

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 The Algerian War
Introduction
Algeria was one of the few African countries to achieve independence through
violent revolution. The Algerian War, fought between Algerian nationalists and
France, is a classic example of the success of a guerrilla movement against a
well-resourced colonial army.

During the course of the 19th century, nearly all of Africa came under the
control of European colonial powers, with only Ethiopia and Liberia retaining
their independent status. In the process of colonisation, African people lost
their land and independence, and the colonies were ruled in the economic
Maghreb The countries of north- interests of the colonial powers, exploited as a source of raw materials and
west Africa – Morocco, Algeria and food supplies, and as a market for manufactured goods. Colonial rule at its best
Tunisia – were collectively called the was paternalistic and discriminatory, and at its worst cruel and oppressive. The
Maghreb, an Arabic word meaning ‘the French empire in Africa was substantial, covering French West Africa, French
land of the setting sun’, or ‘the west’. Equatorial Africa, the island of Madagascar and the Maghreb in North Africa,
which included Algeria.

2 Africa remained under European control until after the Second World War,
when the rise of nationalist movements, as well as the decline of the European
colonial powers, led to decolonisation and independence. For most African
countries, the path to independence was a peaceful one, following constitutional
negotiations between the nationalist leaders and European governments.
However, for countries like Algeria, with large numbers of European settlers
who were reluctant to accept majority rule, the process involved lengthy wars
of liberation. In Algeria, the French army and 1 million settlers fought an eight-
year war against Algerian nationalists in an unsuccessful effort to retain French
control. In what became one of the most savage and bitter wars of independence,
over 20,000 French and at least 1 million Algerians died. This was the Algerian
War, which lasted from 1954 until 1962.

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1 Origins and causes of the Algerian War

Timeline
1830 French occupation of Algiers
Key questions
1832 Abd al-Qadir declares jihad against the
• What were the main long-term causes of the war?
French
• What were the main short-term causes of the war?
1847 Abd al-Qadir defeated and exiled, but
resistance continues

Overview 1881 Algeria becomes integral part of France

• In 1830, France invaded Algeria, forcibly driving many Algerians

1914–18 173,000 Algerians fight in French army
off the best farmland. during First World War
• The French wanted Algeria as a colony for European settlement, 1926 formation in Paris of Étoile Nord-Africaine
as a source of food supplies and cash crops, and as a market for
manufactured goods. 1931 Abdul-Hamid Ben Badis forms Association
• Resistance to the French conquest continued until the 1870s. des Ulema
• By 1880, there were 300,000 European immigrants (or colons),
1933 Messali Hadj becomes leader of Étoile
who became known as pieds noirs. They came to have a powerful
Nord-Africaine
influence in French politics. 3
• In 1881, Algeria became part of metropolitan France. 1936 Popular Front government in France
• Algerian nationalism took root after the First World War with the proposes Violette Plan reforms
formation of several movements, some seeking independence
and others wanting more rights while still retaining links 1937 formation of Parti du Peuple Algérien (PPA)
with France. 1939 rejection of Violette Plan by colons and
• The colons opposed any reforms that would give more rights to Algerian nationalists; outbreak of Second
Muslim Algerians, and rejected the French government’s Violette
World War
Plan in 1939.
• During the Second World War, Algeria was controlled by a Vichy 1940 establishment of Vichy government in
administration, until it joined the Free French after an invasion France and pro-Vichy administration
by Allied forces in 1942. in Algeria
• The experiences of the war, new attitudes towards colonialism
and the reluctance of the French to make changes led to the 1941 Atlantic Charter calls for self-determination
emergence of a more assertive form of nationalism after the 1942 Allied landings in Algiers; Algerian
Second World War. administration joins Free French
• The French government was determined to maintain control
of Algeria. 1943 Ferhat Abbas and others draw up
• There was significant political, social and economic inequality Manifeste du Peuple Algérien
between the 1 million colons and the 9 million Muslims in
1945 violent clashes at Sétif; harsh repression
post-war Algeria.
• The first violent clash involving Algerian nationalists, at Sétif in 1946 Abbas forms Union Démocratique pour
May 1945, provoked a harsh response from the French authorities. le Manifeste Algérien (UDMA)
• Algerian nationalists formed the Front de Libération Nationale
(FLN), which was committed to armed struggle to liberate Algeria. 1947 formation of Organisation Spéciale
• When FLN guerrillas attacked targets in Algeria on 1 November (forerunner of the FLN)
1954, the Algerian War began. 1954 formation of Front de Libération
Nationale (FLN); start of the Algerian War

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 The Algerian War

Algeria is the largest country in Africa,

Spain Mediterranean
but much of the land area is desert; over
Sea
90% of the population lives in the northern Atlantic
region, between the Atlas Mountains and Ocean Oran Algiers
the Mediterranean Sea, where nearly all Constantine

ains
the arable farmlands, cities, towns and
transport routes are situated
Morocco unt
M o
t las Tunisia
A

Algeria
Libya
Mauritania Sahara Desert

Mali

km
0 500 Niger
0 500
miles

4 What were the main long-term causes of

the war?
The origins of the war: the French conquest of Algeria
At the beginning of the 19th century, Algeria was part of the Ottoman (or Turkish)
Empire, which at the time extended over much of the Middle East and North
Africa. However, Turkish control of its North African provinces was nominal
only, and the Turkish ruler, or dey, administered Algeria with little direct control
from Istanbul. Turkish authority was confined mainly to the coastal regions
of Algeria, while the Berber and Arab communities to the south remained
virtually independent. Although there were frequent raids and warfare between
these nomadic and semi-nomadic communities, they had certain things in
common – such as the Arabic language, the Islamic religion and some shared
cultural practices.

Algeria exported grain and olive oil to France, but disputes over payments for
shipments of grain led to strained relations between the two. The ‘Barbary
pirates’, who operated from strongholds on the Algerian coast to attack
European shipping in the Mediterranean, were another source of tension. In 1830,
the French used the activities of the Barbary pirates as a pretext for invading
Algeria. Later French governments supported the colonisation of Algeria for
economic reasons – it was valuable as a colony for European settlement, a
source of food supplies and cash crops, and a market for manufactured goods
scorched earth policy A military from French factories.
strategy of destroying buildings,
farmland, infrastructure and all The French blockaded the port of Algiers and then landed troops to occupy the
resources so that your enemy cannot city, but the conquest of the rest of Algeria was not as easy. Algerians fought a
use them. long and bloody war of resistance. The French army conquered the coastal plain
– destroying crops, livestock and villages in a scorched earth policy, and moving

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 1 Origins and causes of the Algerian War

the farmers living there to remote, less fertile areas. It was a brutal conquest,
which destroyed the livelihoods of hundreds of thousands of Algerians. Tens of Fact
thousands of French troops, and many more Algerians, were killed in the process. In 1831, the French king Louis
Philippe established the Légion
It was not until the 1870s that France secured control of the coastal and Etrangère, or Foreign Legion, an
mountain regions. After this, the colonial powers turned their attention to army of mercenaries to assist French
the Saharan region to the south, using 100,000 troops to maintain rule over its colonial expansion in Africa. The first
sparse, scattered and partly nomadic population. The southern areas remained headquarters of this tightly disciplined
under military control until the 1940s. professional force were at Sidi bel
Abbès in Algeria, but it also operated
After the conquest of Algeria, France extended its control over the rest of the in Morocco and other French colonies,
Maghreb. Tunisia became a French protectorate in 1881 and Morocco in 1912. as well as fighting for France in both
Although both were now part of the French Empire, these two territories were World Wars. The headquarters of the
theoretically under the control of their Arab rulers – the Sultan of Morocco and Foreign Legion are now in France, the
the Bey of Tunisia. Neither Morocco nor Tunisia became colonies of European last Foreign Legion troops having left
settlement to the same extent as Algeria. Algeria in 1968.

Algerian resistance to French colonisation

There was fierce and sustained opposition to the imposition of French rule Question
in Algeria. Historian Kevin Shillington describes it as one of Africa’s hardest-
fought and most protracted wars of resistance to European colonial conquest Why did the French colonise Algeria?
in the 19th century. An early struggle against the French occupation was led by
Abd al-Qadir, who managed to unite the scattered and warring Arab and Berber
clans in a jihad, or holy war, against the French invaders and their attempts
to impose an alien culture, religion and legal system upon Algeria. Although
al-Qadir was captured and exiled in 1847, resistance continued for another
Abd al-Qadir (1807–83) Al- 5
30 years. It was only in 1879 that the French finally secured control of the area
Qadir united the Arabs and Berbers
between the coast and the mountains.
into an alliance to resist the French
conquest of Algeria. After his
A French settler having his shoes shined alongside Algerian Arab men at a coffee house
surrender in 1847, he spent four years
in Oran, Algeria; this photograph was taken around 1890
in prison in France before going into
exile in Syria. He was later awarded
France’s highest award, the Légion
d’Honneur, by Napoleon III for
rescuing 12,000 Christians from their
attackers in anti-Christian riots in
Syria in 1860. Independent Algeria
adopted Abd al-Qadir’s green and
white standard as its national flag.

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 The Algerian War

Algeria as a French colony

The ruthless expulsion of the Algerian population left the coastal region open
for European settlement. However, the rate of immigration was not as fast as the
French government had hoped. There was a marked increase in the numbers of
settlers after 1878, when an outbreak of phylloxera – a vine disease – destroyed
French vineyards and many small wine growers from the south of France moved
to Algeria, which was known to be suitable for viticulture. By the beginning of
the 20th century, wine had become Algeria’s main export, and the production
of Algerian wine later exceeded that of France itself.

By 1880, there were an estimated 300,000 immigrant settlers in Algeria, only

pieds noirs Literally translated, 50% of whom were French. The rest were from Spain, Italy, Malta and elsewhere.
pieds noirs means ‘black feet’. There Many of the small farmers did not remain on the land, but drifted to the towns
are various explanations for the and cities, and a few wealthy individuals and companies bought up much of the
origin of the term. Some say that it land. By the end of the 19th century, most of the arable land was in the hands of
was invented by the Arabs to describe Europeans, many of whom were absentee landowners living in the towns. Their
the French soldiers, who wore black farms were worked by the dispossessed Algerian peasants, who were poorly
boots. An alternative explanation paid and highly taxed. The settlers, the colons (or colonists), were known as
is that it described the colour of pieds noirs. They came to have a very powerful influence in French politics, and
the feet of wine growers in Algeria, no French government was prepared to risk unpopularity by alienating them, as
tramping grapes to make wine. The historians Roland Oliver and Anthony Atmore explain in Source A.
most accepted explanation seems to
be that it was a reference to the fact
that French Algerians had their roots
in Africa.
6 Source A
Unlike colonists in other parts of the world, the French settlers in
Algeria, especially the wealthy ones, were able to keep close touch
with their homeland across the Mediterranean. They came to have an
influence on French politics out of all proportion to their numbers or
Question real importance.
Why was the situation of the colons in
Oliver, R. and Atmore, A. 2004. Africa since 1800. Cambridge, UK.
Algeria different from that of colonists
Cambridge University Press (5th edition). p. 58.
elsewhere?

In 1881, the French government took steps to make Algeria part of France
metropolitan In this context, itself, by creating three départements, centred on the cities of Algiers, Oran
relating to the home area of a country, and Constantine, which had growing populations of European settlers. These
rather than its territories overseas. départements were now considered to be part of metropolitan France, although
the southern part of Algeria remained under military control. Some historians
interpret the move to integrate Algeria into France as an attempt by the French
government to compensate for lost prestige and territory in the Franco–Prussian
War (1870–71), when France was forced to cede the provinces of Alsace and
Lorraine to Prussia. Under French rule, the cities and towns of Algeria grew
rapidly, not only as a result of European immigration but also due to the influx
of impoverished Algerians moving to the cities in a bid for survival, after being
driven off their lands.

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 1 Origins and causes of the Algerian War

Paris

France
Marseilles Italy
Rome
At l antic
Ocean Madrid
Spain
Algiers Tunis
Constantine
Mediterranean
Oran Sea
Tunisia
Morocco
Marrakech

Algeria

N
Question
What were the implications of Algeria
km 7
0 500 being considered part of metropolitan
0
miles
500 France rather than a French colony?

A map showing western Europe and north-west Africa

There was a marked contrast between the vineyards, olive groves and green
fields of commercial crops, where French settlers prospered, and the areas to
Theory of knowledge
which Algerians had been forced to move to make way for them, which were
over-grazed, dry and prone to erosion. Muslim inhabitants of Algeria were History and ethics
considered to be French subjects but not French citizens, and they were treated Colonialism is often seen simply as
as alien and inferior. Their language, Arabic, was replaced by French as the a process of political conquest and
official language, and French law replaced Islamic law. Muslims had no political economic domination. But it also
rights, were highly taxed and were subject to strict regulations that limited involved cultural imperialism and
their freedom of movement. psychological oppression. Colonial
powers imposed their own languages
The rise of the nationalist movement and customs, and indigenous
The Algerian nationalist movement had its origins in the First World War, when knowledge systems were regarded
173,000 Algerians fought in the French army and thousands more helped the as primitive and inferior. Discuss the
war effort by working in French factories. They were exposed to the workings of ethical implications of colonialism,
democracy, which were taken for granted in France but were not applied to the taking into account its political,
Muslim majority in Algeria. After the war, poverty and unemployment drove economic, cultural and psychological
thousands more Algerians to seek work in France, where wages were low and aspects.
working and living conditions poor.

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 The Algerian War

During the 1920s and 1930s, three strands of Algerian nationalism developed.
Messali Hadj (1898–1974) The most revolutionary of them started among migrant workers in France.
Hadj came from a working-class A young Algerian nationalist, Messali Hadj, emerged as leader of a movement
background and had little formal called the Étoile Nord-Africaine (North African Star), which aimed to protect the
education. He served in the French rights of these migrant workers. It soon had thousands of members. As well as
army during the First World War and demanding better working conditions in France, they also had political goals
then worked in France, where he for Algeria: freedom of the press, establishment of Arabic schools, confiscation
briefly joined the Communist Party. of large estates, a parliament elected by universal suffrage, and independence
After his return to Algeria he was for Algeria. Many of them took these ideas back home on their return. When
imprisoned and exiled several times, Messali Hadj returned to Algeria in 1937, he formed the Party of the Algerian
and became the best known and most People (Parti du Peuple Algérien, or PPA), which tried to mobilise urban workers
outspoken of the early nationalist and peasant farmers, but was soon banned by the French authorities.
leaders. Many of his socialist ideas
influenced the FLN, which ruled post- Another group was led by the moderate Ferhat Abbas, who wanted equality
independence Algeria. for Muslim Algerians as French citizens, a goal that was consistent with the
French policy of ‘assimilation’. He called for agricultural reforms and the
abolition of special privileges for the pieds noirs. Many of the moderate liberals
who supported his ideas were in favour of maintaining links with France, but
Ferhat Abbas (1899–1985) wanted more rights for Muslim Algerians.
Abbas came from a middle-class
background and trained as a The third group that helped to inspire the birth of Algerian nationalism was a
pharmacist. He was a strong supporter religious movement called the Association des Ulema, led by Abdul-Hamid Ben
of assimilation, and in his youth spoke Badis (see page 9). Conservative in outlook, Ben Badis believed that Algerian
French more easily than he did Arabic. nationalism could only succeed with a return to the principles of Islam.
His support for moderate policies and Although the Ulema movement was significant in stirring up a sense of religious
continuing links with France changed and national consciousness among Algerians, it did not play a practical political
8 after the Second World War in the face role in the growth of resistance.
of the uncompromising attitude of the
pieds noirs towards reform, and the The pieds noirs rejected any kind of reform, even those suggested by moderates
harsh repression of protest. such as Abbas. Liberals in the French government who supported reform were
confronted by the stubborn opposition of the pieds noirs and their powerful
political allies in France. However, when a Popular Front government led by
the socialist Léon Blum came to power in 1936, it was more sympathetic to
assimilation This was a policy the notion of reform. The result was the 1939 Violette Plan, named after the
used in many French colonies. The French minister of state responsible for it. He proposed the extension of French
idea was that once Africans or Asians citizenship with full political rights to certain categories of Algerian Muslims,
adopted the French language, culture, including army officers, elected officials, university graduates and professionals.
customs and traditions, they would Abbas and other moderates welcomed the plan as a step towards achieving
be assimilated as French citizens with their aims, but Messali Hadj rejected it as a new ‘instrument of colonialism’
all the rights and privileges that this designed ‘to split the Algerian people by separating the élite from the masses’.
involved. In practice, though, there Although the plan would have granted immediate French citizenship to only
were many obstacles. By 1936, only about 21,000 Algerians, with a provision to add a few thousand each year, the
2500 Muslim Algerians had qualified pieds noirs rejected it and created so many objections and obstacles that it was
for French citizenship. never implemented. Disillusioned by its failure, Abbas moved his support from
the concept of assimilation to the goal of a Muslim Algeria, associated with
France but sustaining its own culture, language and traditions.

Algeria during the Second World War

When the Second World War broke out in Europe in 1939, it involved the
overseas empires of the European colonial powers as well. Over 80,000 African
troops were sent from French West Africa to help to defend France against the
German invasion. Many Algerians also volunteered to fight for France. However,
when France surrendered to Nazi Germany in 1940, the colonial officials in

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 1 Origins and causes of the Algerian War

North Africa and West Africa declared their loyalty to the collaborationist Vichy
government. The pieds noirs were generally sympathetic to the new pro-Vichy Abdul-Hamid Ben Badis
administration, but it increased difficulties for Muslims in Algeria, and posed (1889–1940) Ben Badis wanted
a threat to the Algerian Jewish population when it enforced the harsh anti- to save Algerian culture from being
Semitic laws that became a feature of wartime France. eclipsed by French cultural and moral
values. In 1930, he founded the
During the war, North Africa became an important area of conflict between the Association des Ulema, a group of
Allied and Axis armies, and between 1940 and 1943 there was fierce fighting Islamic scholars with different and
in Ethiopia, Libya and Tunisia. To help the Allied armies, the United States and sometimes opposing viewpoints, but
Britain landed troops in Morocco and Algeria in 1942. At this stage, the colonial with a common purpose of reforming
authorities in Algeria abandoned their support for the Vichy government, and Islamic practice in Algeria. Ben Badis
switched their support to the Free French (see page 10). Using Algeria as a base, was seen as Algeria’s foremost Islamic
the Allied forces proceeded to defeat the Axis armies in North Africa, and then scholar and is still regarded as a
fight against them in Italy, where many Algerians served with distinction. national hero in Algeria.

In 1943, Ferhat Abbas and other nationalist leaders drew up a document called
the Manifeste du Peuple Algérien (Manifesto of the Algerian People), calling for a
constitution that would guarantee equality for all Algerians, land reform, the
recognition of Arabic as an official language, the participation of Muslims in
government and the liberation of political prisoners. The Free French leader
de Gaulle and the newly appointed governor of Algeria, Georges Catroux,
recognised the need for some sort of reform, but they were not prepared to
concede to these demands. They proposed instead a reform package based on
the Violette Plan. Even moderates rejected this proposal as inadequate. Ferhat
Abbas, Messali Hadj and other leaders joined together to form the Friends of the
Manifesto and Liberty (Amis du Manifeste et de la Liberté, or AML) to work for
independence. Large numbers of supporters of the banned PPA joined the AML, 9
which established a newspaper – Égalité – that soon had 500,000 subscribers.

By 1945, there was growing unrest, aggravated by food shortages and

unemployment. The AML organised demonstrations in many towns to demand
the release from jail of Messali Hadj, and independence for Algeria. As the end Vichy government During the
of the war approached, there were increasing tensions and unrest. Second World War, the northern
part of France was under German
What were the main short-term causes of occupation. The southern part,
with its capital at Vichy, was ruled
the war? by a French government in
collaboration with the Nazis. The
The impact of the Second World War on Africa right-wing Vichy government, led
The Second World War had a significant impact on Africa and on attitudes by Marshal Pétain, imprisoned or
towards colonialism. African soldiers who had been part of the Allied struggle interned over 200,000 people,
to ‘make the world safe for democracy’ returned home questioning why the deported 76,000 Jews, and sent
ideals for which they had been fighting did not extend to the colonies. They 650,000 French workers to Germany.
were no longer willing to accept colonial rule, and many former soldiers played
leading roles in the independence struggles. During the war, the Allied leaders
Franklin D. Roosevelt and Winston Churchill had drawn up a document called
the Atlantic Charter, in which they pledged their support for self-determination. self-determination The right
In addition to this, after the horrors of Nazi race policies had been exposed in of all people to choose their own
the death camps, world opinion became increasingly critical of racism and of form of government. This became
colonialism, which was based on assumptions of racial superiority. Another a key demand of African and Asian
factor that contributed to the changing world order was the newly formed independence movements after the
United Nations (UN), which proclaimed its commitment to upholding human Second World War.
rights and promoting self-determination.

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 The Algerian War

Question All of these factors led to the growth of a more assertive spirit of nationalism
in Algeria. Nationalists had seen France defeated and occupied by Nazi
How was Algeria affected by the Germany, and they were influenced by the new ideas questioning the legitimacy
Second World War? of colonialism in the post-war world, and specifically by their impact on
Africa. They were more determined than ever to push for independence rather
than reform.
Free French Led by General Charles
de Gaulle, the Free French group The war also affected the colonial powers. The success of the Japanese armies
rejected the Vichy government as not in defeating the French, British and Dutch in Southeast Asia destroyed the
representing the French people, and myth of ‘white supremacy’. The European powers were seriously weakened by
the war, both economically and politically. This caused changes in attitudes
formed a government in exile. The
towards their colonial empires. But while the British were prepared to grant
French colonies in Equatorial Africa
independence to India and other colonies, the French chose another approach.
declared their support for the ‘Free
French’ government in exile, and for
a while Brazzaville became the capital French colonial policy after the Second World War
of ‘Free France’. At one time, more After 1945, the French government was determined to recover as much of its
than half the soldiers in the Free pre-war colonial empire as possible. This was partly for economic reasons and
French army came from the French partly an attempt to restore some of the international prestige that had been
African colonies. lost as a result of the Nazi defeat and occupation of France during the war.
In contrast, therefore, to other European colonial powers, France fought two
bitter – and unsuccessful – wars to maintain control of its colonies in Indochina
and Algeria.

French determination to retain control of Algeria was based on a combination

of factors: the notion that Algeria was part of France itself, rather than a colony;
the heavy investments that had been made in Algerian mining and agriculture;
10
and the presence of a million French settlers throughout the country. The
disproportionately powerful influence of the pro-pied noir lobby in France also
ensured that any French support for reform or change in Algeria was crushed,
as historian Martin Meredith explains:

Source B
In the turbulent postwar era, as a succession of French governments
struggled to survive amid strikes, inflation, austerity and a debilitating
war in Indo-China, none was willing to risk antagonising the pied
noir population and their supporters for the sake of reform in Algeria.
Activity Moderate Algerian nationalists were consequently given short shrift.

Compare and contrast the views Meredith, M. 2005. The State of Africa: A History of Fifty Years of
expressed in this source with the Independence. Johannesburg, South Africa. Jonathan Ball Publishers. p. 45.
views in Source A on page 6.

There were additional economic and strategic factors that influenced French
policy. In the 1950s, vast oil and natural gas deposits were discovered in the
Algerian Sahara, and the potential of the previously undervalued desert regions

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 1 Origins and causes of the Algerian War

began to emerge. According to historian Ivan Hrbek, France’s political decisions

were considerably influenced by the dream of having an independent oil
supply. Benjamin Stora, a leading French historian of the Algerian War, believes
that the desire of the French government to use the Sahara for its first nuclear
experiments was another factor that influenced French policy.

Algeria after the Second World War

The population of Algeria in the post-war years was about 9 million – 1 million
pieds noirs and 8 million Muslim Algerians. Both groups sent deputies to the
National Assembly in Paris, but each group had 15 representatives, which meant
that Muslim Algerians were grossly under-represented. The pieds noirs could
also rely on the support of other political groups in France, as well as influential
interest groups in commerce, banking and the press. This gave them a powerful
position in French politics. They also dominated the political sphere in Algeria
itself: in the upper levels of the administration, Muslims held only eight out
of more than 800 higher-level posts. The pieds noirs largely directed Algerian
commerce and agriculture as well: they owned 30% of the arable land, including
the most fertile areas, and controlled the export trade in wine, citrus fruit, olives
and vegetables. In 1954, 79% of pieds noirs had been born in Algeria, and so had
a vested interest in ensuring continued European control. Many of them felt that
they were not French but Algerian, and so did not want to live in France, but at the
same time they wanted to preserve their privileged position in colonial Algeria.

However, Benjamin Stora points out that the pieds noirs were not a
homogeneous group. They were not all wealthy landowners: many were
government employees, industrial workers, artisans or merchants. Over 70% 11
of them had an income and standard of living that was 15–20% lower than the
average for people living in metropolitan France. However, according to Stora,
they were ‘unanimous in defending their privileges, which made the most
insignificant French government employee superior to any Arab’, and they were
united in their ‘shared fear of the Muslim majority’. These attitudes informed
their strong opposition to any demands for reform or equality in Algeria.

The majority of Muslim Algerians were poor, illiterate and unemployed. Many
of those in urban areas lived in slums on the outskirts of the big cities like
Algiers. There was great rural poverty, too, as well as dwindling food resources.
The increasing area of land under vines, producing wines for export, meant
that less land was available for food production to support the rapidly growing
population. To escape rural unemployment and poverty, more and more
Algerians moved to the cities or to France to find work. By the mid 1950s, about
300,000 Algerians – one in every seven adult men – were working in France.

Muslim Algerians were treated as an inferior race, and were subject to

discrimination and prejudice. The authorities allowed the use of the Arabic
language only in religious schools. Although they had representation in the
Algerian Assembly (where half of the representatives were European and half
were Muslim), many historians, including Hrbek, Meredith, Horne and Stora,
state quite categorically that the administration rigged the elections to ensure
that only moderate Muslims who supported colonial rule were elected.

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 The Algerian War

There was a huge social and economic gap between the two communities,
which was reflected in the great inequality in the distribution of income in
1955, as shown in the table below.

Population Percentage of national

income
Millions %
Non-Muslims 1.0 10 47
Muslims – rural 5.3 55 18
Muslims – non-rural 3.4 35 35

From Mazrui, A. 2003. General History of Africa: Volume 8: Africa since 1935. Cape
Town, South Africa. New Africa Books/UNESCO. p. 134.

Historical interpretation Post-war protests and repression

The Algerian historian Mahfoud The first encounter between Algerian nationalists and French authorities took
Kaddache describes the French place on 8 May 1945 – VE Day – when France was celebrating the Allied victory
reaction after Sétif as a ‘war of over Nazi Germany. In the town of Sétif, the police clashed with marchers who
reprisals’, and the French historian were carrying flags and banners bearing the green and white colours of the
Benjamin Stora refers to it as a Algerian nationalist movement. The violence spread, and over 100 Europeans
‘massacre’. British historian Alistair were killed in attacks. The harsh response by the pieds noirs and the French
Horne believes that ‘the shots fired at authorities resulted in the deaths of at least 15,000 Algerians, although some
Sétif represented the first volley of the historians put the figure much higher, and Algerian nationalists claimed that
Algerian War’. 45,000 died.
12
Villages were bombed by the air force and navy, and civilians were rounded up
and shot. The AML was outlawed and over 5000 Muslims, including moderate
leaders like Abbas, were arrested. Many moderate Algerians were outraged by
the French reaction.

Source c
Kateb Yacine, an Algerian liberal poet, recalls the effect that the French
reaction had on him.

It was at Sétif that my sense of humanity was affronted for the

first time by the most atrocious sights. I was sixteen years old. The
shock which I felt at the pitiless butchery that caused the deaths of
thousands of Muslims, I have never forgotten. From that moment my
Question nationalism took definite form.
Why was the Sétif massacre a turning
Quoted in Horne, A. 2006. A Savage War of Peace: Algeria 1954–1962.
point in relations between the
New York, USA. New York Review Books. p. 27.
Algerians and the French?

© Cambridge University Press 2011

 1 Origins and causes of the Algerian War

The harsh repression resulted in a heightened sense of nationalism, and

several new movements were formed. Abbas formed the Union Démocratique
pour le Manifeste Algérien (UDMA) and called for a free, secular and republican
Algeria, loosely federated with France, while Messali Hadj repeated his demand
for complete independence, with no links to France.

In 1947, militant leaders formed the Organisation Spéciale, dedicated to armed

struggle to win independence for Algeria. Among the founder members was
Ahmed Ben Bella, who was to become the first leader of an independent
Algeria (see page 34). However, during this period, the attention of the French
government was focused on the situation in Indochina, where the Viet Minh
were waging a war of resistance, and it failed to recognise the significance of
the growth of Algerian nationalism.

In an attempt to diffuse the tense situation, the French government introduced Theory of knowledge
some reforms, despite opposition from the pieds noirs. The reforms recognised
Arabic as an official language along with French, and made provision for How history is taught
elected local councils. The government also created an Algerian Assembly, to Read the article entitled ‘Colonial
which Muslims and Europeans could each elect 60 representatives. This meant
abuses haunt France’, written at the
that 90% of the population had the same representation as 10%. In addition,
time of the 60th anniversary of the
Europeans had a universal franchise, while Muslims had to qualify to vote.
Sétif massacre, on this website:
In the subsequent elections and those that followed in 1951, the pieds noirs
manipulated the election results to exclude critical Muslim representatives. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/
This happened to such an extent that the term élection algérienne was cynically europe/4552473.stm
used as a term for a rigged election.
Explain briefly how the law passed in
These developments did not satisfy the emergent nationalist movement. In Cairo
France in 2005 would affect the way
13
in 1954, Ben Bella and others formed the Front de Libération Nationale (FLN), the Algerian War is taught in French
which planned an armed uprising to rid Algeria of French control. While some schools, and why historians are
of the leaders in Cairo focused on developing external support and acquiring concerned about this.
arms and funds, others began to build up a military network in Algeria.

The outbreak of war in 1954

The uprising began on 1 November 1954, when small groups of FLN guerrillas
attacked military and government installations, police posts, the radio station
and telephone exchange, and French warehouses in different parts of Algeria.
According to Meredith, they had strict instructions to avoid European civilian
casualties. In a radio broadcast from Cairo, FLN leaders called on Algerians to
join in the struggle for an independent Algeria.

In Paris, the French government was still reeling from the unexpected loss of
Indochina only six months earlier – the result of a humiliating defeat by the
Viet Minh at Dien Bien Phu – and was determined that this outcome would
not be repeated in Algeria. The French prime minister, Pierre Mendès France,
declared in the French National Assembly: ‘The Algerian departments are part
of the French Republic. They have been French for a long time, and they are
irrevocably French … Between them and metropolitan France there can be no
conceivable secession.’ The French were prepared to go to war to retain control
of Algeria. The result was nearly eight years of bitter fighting.

© Cambridge University Press 2011

 The Algerian War

End of unit activities

1 Research and debate: work in groups of four. Each student should research
the role played by one of the historical figures listed below, and then debate
whose role was most important in developing a sense of resistance, identity
or nationalism among Algerians:
• Abd al-Qadir
• Abdul Hamid Ben Badis
• Messali Hadj
• Ferhat Abbas
2 Design a spider diagram to illustrate the reasons why France wanted to
maintain control of Algeria after the Second World War.
3 Draw up a table to summarise the role played by each of these movements
in Algeria. Use the table below as a guide.

Movement Circumstances under which it was What it wanted for Algeria

formed
Étoile Nord-Africaine

Association des Ulema

Parti du Peuple Algérien

Union Démocratique pour le Manifeste

Algérien
14
Organisation Spéciale

Front de Libération Nationale

4 Write a feature for a newspaper in 1950, contrasting the lifestyles of pieds

noirs and Muslim Algerians after the Second World War.
5 ‘The French government, not the pied noir community, should be blamed for
the outbreak of the Algerian War.’
Divide into two groups. One group should work out an argument to support
the statement above, and the other an argument to oppose it.
6 Design a spider diagram to summarise the long-term and short-term causes
of the Algerian War.

© Cambridge University Press 2011

2 Nature and practice of the Algerian War

Timeline
Key questions 1954 Nov FLN attacks across Algeria
• What was the nature of the Algerian War? 1955 Aug widespread massacres and reprisals at
• What were the main events of the war? Philippeville
• What strategies, tactics and technology were used?
1956 Mar independence for Morocco and Tunisia
• How were civilians involved in the war?
• What was the role of resistance and revolution? Aug conference of FLN leaders in
• What was the reaction to the war in France? Soummam Valley, Kabylia
Oct France hijacks aircraft carrying Ben
Overview Bella and other FLN leaders

• The Algerian War was a war of national liberation, and also a

1957 Jan start of Battle of Algiers
civil war that created deep divisions in French and Algerian 1958 Feb French air force bombs refugee camp at
societies. Sakiet, Tunisia
• Algerian nationalists in the FLN wanted independence from
France, but the pieds noirs backed by the French army wanted to Mar–May Battle of the Morice Line
prevent this. Sep formation of Provisional Government
• The war began in 1954 with FLN guerrilla attacks on civilian targets,
for Algeria (GPRA) led by Ferhat Abbas 15
followed by harsh reprisals from the French army. The scale of the
war escalated until there was fighting throughout Algeria. Dec de Gaulle becomes president of France
• The most intensely fought clash was the 1957 Battle of Algiers,
during which the French public first became aware of the use of
1959 Jul (until Mar 1960) 80,000 Algerians
torture by the army. forcibly resettled
• Backed by the French army and pieds noirs, who believed he Sep de Gaulle proclaims Algeria’s right to
would follow policies to win the war for France, Charles de Gaulle self-determination
became president of France in 1958.
• De Gaulle’s decision to recognise Algeria’s right to self- 1960 Jan ‘Barricades Week’ protest by 2000
determination and to negotiate with the FLN caused a right-wing armed colons in Algiers
backlash from the pieds noirs and sections of the army.
Sep publication of the ‘Manifesto of the
• The French had the advantage of modern weapons, air and naval
121’ by French intellectuals opposed to
power, and overwhelming numbers; they almost succeeded in
destroying the military capability of the FLN inside Algeria. the war
• The FLN used classic guerrilla tactics and had the support of the Dec UN recognises Algeria’s right to
local population, as well as sympathy from the international independence
community.
• Algerian civilians played a crucial role in supporting the FLN 1961 Jan formation of extremist Organisation
at the risk of ruthless French reprisals, which forcibly removed de l’Armée Secrète (OAS)
2 million villagers and placed them in internment camps.
Apr attempted coup by generals in Algiers
• The French decision to end the war and withdraw from Algeria
was influenced by growing criticism of the war at home, lack of Oct massacre in Paris of 200 anti-OAS
success in crushing nationalist resistance, and changing views Algerian protestors
on France’s role as a colonial power.
• Pied noir extremists and mutinous army generals established 1962 Feb Charonne metro station massacre
the OAS to wage a war of terror and prevent an Algerian victory. Mar Evian Accords – ceasefire in Algeria
• The war ended with the signing of the Evian Accords in March
1962. Jul official French recognition of Algerian
independence

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 The Algerian War

Front de Libération Nationale What was the nature of the Algerian War?
(FLN) A nationalist political At its simplest level, the Algerian War was a war of national liberation: Algerians
movement formed in Cairo in fighting for political independence from a colonial power that was reluctant to
1954, with the aim of achieving recognise their country’s sovereignty. In this struggle, resistance and revolution
independence for Algeria. The Armée played vital roles in motivating the Algerian population. This war of liberation
de Libération Nationale (ALN) was was a classic guerrilla war. The nationalist movement, the guerrillas of the Front
the armed wing of the FLN. Most de Libération Nationale (FLN), never numbered more than 40,000 in Algeria at
historians, however, simply refer any one time, but they were supported and supplied by the civilian population,
to both collectively as the FLN. and able to escape across the border to safe havens in Tunisia and Morocco.
They were fighting against regular French forces, which at the height of the
war numbered 500,000 troops. During the war, between 1954 and 1962, over
2 million French soldiers served in Algeria, many of them conscripts.

However, this view of the war overlooks a complex range of other struggles.
harkis These were Algerian soldiers One-tenth of the population of Algeria were white settlers, the pieds noirs,
who fought in the French army during who did not want independence from France. They waged war against Muslim
the Algerian War – some for economic Algerians, and against the French government itself when the latter finally
reasons, and some to avenge family agreed to negotiate with the Algerians. They were assisted in this by mutinous
members killed by the FLN. After the French army generals, who staged an abortive coup to seize power. Some right-
war, the French disarmed them and left wing generals went on to form a violent vigilante army, the Organisation de
them to their fate in Algeria, despite l’Armée Secrète (OAS), with extremists amongst the pieds noirs. In the words of
their pleas to be taken to France. As Nigerian historian E. A. Ayandele, the war was ‘bitter, bloody and racist’.
many as 150,000 of them were killed
following independence, sometimes There were also complex divisions within Algerian and French societies.
in circumstances of extreme cruelty. In Algeria, the FLN fought bitterly against the harkis – those Algerians who
16 About 50,000 of them reached France, supported the French and were regarded as traitors to their own people. In
another complexity, not all pieds noirs supported the war against their fellow
where they lived in poor conditions in
Algerians, and there were some among them who worked for the FLN. In
refugee camps for many years. In 2001,
France, there were fierce ideological and political battles between supporters
they and their descendants filed a
of the pieds noirs and liberals critical of their government’s policies. In Paris,
lawsuit against the French government
hundreds of demonstrators died in protests against the war and OAS violence
for crimes against humanity, and in
that were brutally suppressed by the police.
the same year President Jacques Chirac
publicly paid tribute to them. The Algerian War was one of extraordinary brutality, and all sides were guilty
of committing atrocities. FLN guerrillas murdered French civilians and Muslims
suspected of supporting them, and mutilated their bodies. French army
reprisals against the Algerian
civilian population were savage.
The use of torture by the French
army during the Battle of Algiers
in 1957 provoked outrage, both
internationally and at home
in France. Critics likened their
actions to the methods used
by the Gestapo during the Nazi
occupation of France. In the final
stages of the war, the OAS targeted
the French as well as Algerians in
vicious attacks.

French police guarding a group of

suspects in Algiers, April 1956

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 2 Nature and practice of the Algerian War

The tragedy of the war and its impact on Algerian civilians, as well as on young
French conscripts, is symbolised in this memory of a young French soldier about
his time in Kabylia, a poor rural area of Algeria where the fighting between the
French and the FLN was particularly bitter.

Source A
An incident related by Georges Mattei, who served in Algeria in 1956. As a
young boy during the Second World War and the Nazi occupation of France,
he had lived with his uncle, who was a member of the French Resistance
against the Nazis.

You have to remember that I am Corsican and that there is a physical

resemblance between people from Kabylia and Corsica. One day
my unit was sent to a village. We put the older people, women and
children on one side, then the young men on the other whom we
started to interrogate about the FLN. I was put on guard duty on
the outskirts of the village with two other soldiers. Suddenly in the
distance I saw an old man walking towards us, and you know in
appearance he was just like my grandad. The two other soldiers were Theory of knowledge
immediately aggressive with him – but I stepped in and asked him
what he wanted. He told me he was worried about his son. He had Historical evidence and
heard that he had been picked up by the French army and he had emotion
some bread and cakes for him. ‘He is about your age’ he told me. I A personal account such as the one
17
went away to see if we were still holding his son. After about twenty in Source A can evoke a powerful
minutes I realised that we had taken him away that morning and shot emotional response. Why does a
him … I felt like a Nazi. primary source often have a more
emotive impact than a secondary
Quoted in Evans, M. ‘French Resistance and the Algerian War’. History source? What value and what
Today. 30 June 1991. Volume 41, issue 7. http://www.historytoday.com/ limitations do primary sources
martin-evans/french-resistance-and-algerian-war.
have as historical evidence?

The war was fought against the background of the Cold War. Egypt’s success
at the end of the Suez Crisis in 1956 meant that arms could be supplied to the
FLN from the Soviet Union and China through Egypt. French military strategists
sometimes liked to emphasise a dangerous link between the Algerian nationalist
movement and the advance of communism in the Third World. However, the
Cold War did not play a significant role in the Algerian War, and although the
FLN supported socialist economic policies, it had no intention of coming under
Soviet domination.

What were the main events of the war?

The beginning of the war, 1954
After the FLN attacks on 1 November 1954, the French authorities believed that
they were dealing with a few isolated incidents rather than a general uprising.
Nevertheless, the French government quickly sent paratroop regiments to
Algeria, and made hundreds of security police available to root out resistance.

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 The Algerian War

There were mass arrests, and hundreds of Muslims were imprisoned, including
moderate leaders who did not support the concept of an armed struggle. Within
two weeks, the FLN network in Algiers had been broken up. The army sent
expeditions into the Aurès Mountains to search for guerrilla strongholds, and
ruthlessly destroyed villages, looking for any signs of support for the guerrillas.
By the end of the year, it appeared as if all resistance had been crushed and life
seemingly returned to normal for the pieds noirs.

Violent attacks and savage reprisals, 1955–56

collective punishment Also The FLN renewed its attacks early in 1955, this time targeting Muslim officials
known as ‘collective responsibility’, who worked for the French administration in Algeria. Hundreds were tortured
this involves punishing a whole and murdered, and their bodies mutilated. French reprisals were harsh – they
community for the actions of a few. implemented collective punishment against whole villages and interned
thousands of suspects.

In August 1955, the FLN stepped up its campaign, this time targeting European
civilians. In the city of Philippeville and the surrounding area, 71 pieds noirs
were killed, many of them attacked in their homes or dragged from their
cars. French reprisals were once again severe, and pied noir vigilante groups
randomly executed Muslims. Official French figures put the numbers killed at
1273, but the FLN claimed that they had proof of 12,000 casualties. In the words
of historian Martin Meredith, Algeria ‘descended into an inferno of violence,
an endless cycle of repression and revenge’. After the harsh repression that
followed the Philippeville killings, moderate Algerians like Ferhat Abbas came
to the conclusion that compromise was no longer possible. Abbas declared his
support for the FLN, saying that he was withdrawing from ‘ineffectual politics’
18
and supporting the liberation struggle. In August 1956, the FLN organised its first
congress, which was held in secret in the Soummam valley in Kabylia, Algeria,
and was attended by 200 delegates. They developed a framework for a future
independent state and discussed plans to accelerate the guerrilla campaign
to put European civilians, officials and police ‘in constant fear for their lives’,
according to historians Martin Alexander and J. F. V. Keiger.

Determined to maintain control of Algeria at all costs, the French government

reassessed its policies towards neighbouring Morocco and Tunisia. Nationalist
movements in these French protectorates were demanding independence,
too. Neither had been the focus of French settlement and investment to the
same extent that Algeria had, and they were not considered to be an integral
part of France itself. The smaller settler populations – numbering 400,000 and
250,000 respectively – did not have the same influence on French politics that
the Algerian colons had. Despite the opposition of European settlers, France
recognised the independence of Morocco and Tunisia in March 1956. From then
onwards, FLN guerrillas were able to seek sanctuary across the borders of these
two countries.

The French government now focused its resources on crushing the uprising
in Algeria. The period of military service for French conscripts was increased
to 27 months, and more troops were stationed in Algeria. In October 1956, the
Question army forced a Moroccan civilian aircraft carrying the FLN leader Ahmed Ben
What advantages did the French Bella to land in Algeria. Ben Bella was subsequently imprisoned without trial
have over the Algerians when the for five years. The kidnapping of Ben Bella provoked international criticism of
war started? France, and crucially caused Morocco and Tunisia to become more committed
to support for the FLN.

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 2 Nature and practice of the Algerian War

The battle of Algiers, 1957

In 1957, the focus of the war shifted to Algiers. The FLN called for a general strike,
which was so well supported that it affected commerce and manufacturing
throughout Algeria. FLN urban commandos also placed bombs in bars and
cafés used by off-duty officials, soldiers and police, as well as by the pied noir
community. To counter this increase in the number of attacks on civilian targets,
the French authorities handed over control of the city to the military. French
troops sealed off Muslim areas behind barbed-wire barricades and conducted Theory of knowledge
house-to-house searches in the Casbah, the crowded Muslim heart of the old
city. Thousands of suspects were arrested and taken to detention centres,
where many were brutally tortured. Over 3000 Algerians died in custody during
History and ethics
this period. The use of torture has become an issue
of contemporary concern in the 21st
Historian Guy Arnold believes that although the extensive use of torture by century. Why do you think this is? Can
the French may have given them information to help the army win battles, in the use of torture ever be justified?
the process they lost the struggle to win the ‘hearts and minds’ of the Algerian Who should be held accountable for
people. News about what was happening leaked out, despite secrecy and it – those who give the orders or those
censorship. Some French officials resigned in protest, and there were growing who commit acts of physical violence?
concerns in France itself about the nature of French actions in Algeria.

However, from the immediate French perspective, these brutal tactics were
successful. FLN bomb factories and arms stores were destroyed, and the number
of attacks dropped substantially. The September arrest of Saadi Yacef, the main
FLN leader in Algiers, effectively ended the Battle of Algiers. Over 24,000 people
had been arrested and many thousands had died.
19
A still from the 1966 film Battle of Algiers, showing French troops marching into
Algiers to the cheers of colonial sympathisers

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 The Algerian War

In an attempt to cut off the FLN guerrillas from reinforcements and supplies,
Fact the French army constructed an electrically charged wire barricade along the
Maurice Audin, a young mathematics border between Algeria and Tunisia. Despite this, guerrilla operations continued,
lecturer at the University of Algiers though on a smaller scale.
and a member of the Algerian
Communist Party, was one of many Political changes in France and hope of freedom for
people who disappeared during the Algeria, 1958–59
Battle of Algiers. The army claimed
Throughout its duration, the Algerian War dominated French domestic politics,
that he had been shot while trying
and caused the fall of six prime ministers and the collapse of the Fourth Republic.
to escape, but the French historian
Opinion in France was divided between those who were horrified by French
Pierre Vidal-Naquet believes that he actions in Algeria and favoured a negotiated settlement with the nationalists,
died while being tortured. His body and right-wing groups who supported the pieds noirs and wanted to escalate
has never been found. In 2007, on the the war until a French victory was secured. A series of weak governments in
50th anniversary of his disappearance, Paris was unwilling to risk losing support, and so handed over more power and
his widow wrote to President Sarkozy responsibility to the generals in Algeria. Suspicious of the intentions of the
of France, asking that the mystery of French government, the pieds noirs formed a Committee of Public Safety with
her husband’s death be investigated. army leaders in Algeria.
In 2009, his daughter, Michèle Audin,
also a mathematician, publicly The French army became increasingly impatient with the way the government
declined to accept France’s highest was conducting the war, and placed their hopes on France’s wartime hero – the
award – the Légion d’Honneur – for leader of the Free French, Charles de Gaulle. Senior officers in Algeria demanded
her work, because of the lack of the return of de Gaulle, whom they hoped would win the war for France. He
response by the government to became prime minister and then president, instituting the Fifth Republic to
her mother’s letter. replace the unpopular Fourth Republic, which had been crippled by a series of
weak governments as well as the humiliation of defeat in Indochina.

20 De Gaulle had a difficult task ahead: according to historians Roland Oliver and
Anthony Atmore, he was faced with ‘right-wing generals, embattled settlers,
and reactionary administrators’. However, contrary to the expectations of the
army generals, de Gaulle did not share their view that Algeria should remain
French at all costs. He believed, along with most people in France by that time,
that it was futile to try to maintain control of Algeria by force. He realised that
there were other, more important, issues for France to deal with – such as its
role in Europe and its relationship with the emerging ‘Third World’.

De Gaulle’s government made a final attempt to win over Algerians to support a

continuing link with France. This was the 1958 Constantine Plan, which aimed
to industrialise the Algerian economy and create employment. However, the
plan failed in its attempt to weaken support for the nationalist movement,
which in September 1958 formed a government-in-exile, the Gouvernement
Provisoire de la République Algérienne (GPRA), under the leadership of Ferhat
Abbas, with offices in Tunis and Cairo. This government was recognised by all
the Arab and communist states.

In 1959, de Gaulle decided to negotiate. He recognised the right of Algerians to

self-determination, and offered three options: total secession, integration with
France, or a degree of self-government in association with France. He made it clear
that he believed that secession would bring poverty, political chaos, widespread
killing and communist dictatorship. However, he announced that a referendum
would be held on the issue within four years after peace was restored.

The right-wing backlash in Algeria, 1960–61

The pieds noirs believed that in conceding the right of Algerians to determine
their own future, the government – especially de Gaulle ­– was betraying them.

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 2 Nature and practice of the Algerian War

They were incensed when de Gaulle referred for the first time to Algérie algérienne
(Algerian Algeria), discarding the myth of Algérie française (French Algeria) that
France had claimed for more than a century. In January 1960, extremists among
the pied noir community attempted to seize power in Algeria, expecting the
army to join them. They set up barricades in the street in what became known
as ‘Barricades Week’, but the attempted uprising failed without support from
the army.

When de Gaulle visited Algeria in December 1960, he was faced with Fact
demonstrations and riots by the pieds noirs in Algiers and Oran. The Muslim
There were at least 30 plots to
community used the opportunity of his visit to demonstrate its support for the
assassinate Charles de Gaulle, nearly
FLN, leaving no doubt that the FLN was more than a minority terrorist group, as
all of them resulting from his decision
many French had chosen to believe.
to grant independence to Algeria,
and most of them planned by the
In April 1961, four right-wing army generals (including General Salan, former
OAS. The most famous of these was
commander-in-chief of the French army in Algeria) made an unsuccessful
attempt to seize power in Algeria to prevent the French government from
the Petit-Clamart ambush of August
proceeding with plans to grant independence. The coup failed after four days, 1962 in Paris, when de Gaulle survived
but dissident army officers joined with pied noir extremists to establish a secret a barrage of machine-gun fire. This
organisation, the Organisation de l’Armée Secrète, or OAS, which used terrorist incident became the subject of a 1969
tactics in a desperate attempt to prevent a settlement that would result in an novel by Frederick Forsyth, The Day
independent Algeria with a Muslim majority government. They targeted the of the Jackal, which was made into a
French army and made indiscriminate attacks on the Muslim population, hoping popular film. The architect of the plot,
to provoke FLN reprisals that would force the army to intervene to restore order. an air-force officer named Jean-Marie
In this way, they hoped to destroy de Gaulle’s policy. Bastien-Thiry, was sentenced to death
and executed by firing squad. De
Months of terror and violence followed, and the gulf between the Muslim Gaulle survived all the assassination 21
and European population widened. The bombings and terror campaign of the attempts and died of a heart attack at
OAS extended to metropolitan France, where several attempts were made to the age of 80.
assassinate de Gaulle.

The end of the war and victory for the nationalist

movement, 1962
Negotiations between the French government and representatives of the FLN
were protracted and broke down on several occasions. One obstacle was the
French government’s bid to retain control of the Sahara region, with its recently
discovered oil reserves. Understandably, the FLN refused to consider this.

As the peace talks progressed, and the OAS made frantic efforts to derail
them, levels of violence in Algeria increased. Attacks against civilians included
planting booby-trapped cars in Muslim neighbourhoods, and holding up banks
and businesses in an effort to get funds. Violence also escalated in metropolitan
France, where the OAS planted explosive devices – in a two-week period in
January, there were nearly 50 such explosions in the Paris region alone.

Finally, on 18 March 1962, the two sides reached an agreement at Evian in

France. They announced a ceasefire and a referendum to decide on the future of
Algeria. The agreement was approved by 90% of French voters in a referendum
held in April, and by 99.7% of voters in a referendum in Algeria on 1 July.
However, the Evian Accords did not bring an end to the violence in Algeria, and
a further 150,000 European and Muslim Algerians died in the months before
independence. On 3 July 1962, Algeria became independent, and the government
in exile returned to Algiers. More than a million pieds noirs left Algeria in a
mass exodus, abandoning their homes, farms and businesses.

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 The Algerian War

What strategies, tactics and technology

were used?
The French
France started off with 56,000 troops in Algeria at the beginning of the war. By
1956–57, this number had grown substantially, with 80,000 alone patrolling the
border with Tunisia and a further 300,000 trying to protect railways, farms and
urban centres from attacks by FLN guerrilla groups. By 1960, the number had
grown to half a million troops. The closeness of Algeria to France meant that it
was relatively easy for France to send reinforcements and supplies, in contrast
to the situation it had faced in Indochina.

The French had enormous advantages in terms of numbers and superior

technology, and their army adopted several strategies to defeat the guerrillas:

• The French ‘regrouped’ Algerian villages in an attempt to destroy the network

of civilian support for the FLN. An estimated 2 million peasant farmers and
their families (25% of the population) were forced to leave their homes
and move to what were, in effect, refugee camps. They were removed from
their land and were not provided with any means of support. According to
historian Ivan Hrbek, the ‘regrouped villages became concentration camps
and their inhabitants became vagrants’. To escape this situation, a quarter
of a million Algerians fled across the borders to Tunisia and Morocco, where
many of them were recruited into the FLN.
• Together with this, the French army used a strategy that they called
22 quadrillage, which involved dividing the countryside into grids, which army
units would then systematically patrol to seek out guerrilla bands. This
required a large number of French troops.
• They also erected a wire barrier on the Tunisian and Moroccan borders to
try to stop the supply of arms and guerrillas from neighbouring countries.
In 1957, they built a continuous electrically charged wire barricade – the
Morice Line – along the border between Algeria and Tunisia, in an attempt
to isolate FLN guerrillas from the outside world. It included minefields, belts
of barbed wire, electrified fences, floodlights,
watchtowers and tripwires. In isolated areas,
the line was supported by batteries of cannons
that would fire automatically when set off by
radar. A similar line was built along the border
with Morocco.
• French air power gave France what seemed
like an overwhelming advantage. They used
700 planes and 200 helicopters for aerial
reconnaissance and for transporting paratroops
and reinforcements to where they were most
needed. They also used their air power to
demonstrate French military prowess and
superior technology, hoping that this would give
them a psychological advantage by creating fear
and awe in the minds of peasant villagers.

Algerian labourers building the Morice Line

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 2 Nature and practice of the Algerian War

• The French navy patrolled the coast, imposing a blockade to prevent

arms and ammunition from reaching the coast of Morocco and Tunisia,
from where they would be transported overland to camps near the Algerian
border. The navy successfully intercepted many boats carrying weapons
to Tunisia and Morocco, several of them from Yugoslavia. The blockade
made it increasingly difficult for the FLN to restock its ammunition and
medical supplies.
• The French also employed psychological strategies, using a combination of
disinformation, indoctrination and propaganda to try to turn people against
the FLN. By these means, they hoped to isolate the FLN from the majority of
the civilian population.
• They also employed counter-intelligence strategies by reversing the loyalties
of captured FLN operatives, so that after being interrogated they worked
for French intelligence. During the Battle of Algiers the French sent former
FLN activists into the Casbah, disguised as municipal workers, to spread
false rumours, plant forged documents and provoke distrust. According to
historians Alexander and Keiger, these detainees were ‘persuaded’ to change
sides by torture or by threats against their families. As a result of this tactic,
suspicion and confusion caused many activists to turn on each other.
• On the civilian front, the French authorities placed suspected Algerian
nationalists under house arrest. Thousands more were detained without
trial in detention camps.

The Algerians
The ALN forces of the FLN numbered between 20,000 and 30,000 in the early
stages of the war. As they could not match the French in numbers or military
23
technology, they used guerrilla tactics, together with efforts to gain outside
support for their cause:

• They operated in small groups, attacking French convoys, bridges, factories,

railways and other facilities. They targeted installations that were symbolic
of the colonial regime – such as electricity generating stations, post offices
and petrol depots.
• They planted explosives and booby traps in cities and towns, and the
surrounding areas. Their strategy was widespread guerrilla action, using
raids, ambushes and sabotage to make Algeria ungovernable.
• The FLN used the classic insurgent strategy of taking control of rural areas,
especially in the more remote and less defensible regions. They had the
advantage of knowing the terrain and blending in with the local population.
• The support of the civilian population was crucial to the FLN. Sympathetic
local inhabitants would hide them, play along when they disguised
themselves as villagers and farm labourers, and misinform the French
troops and authorities.
• Life was difficult for the FLN guerrillas when the French sealed off the border,
cutting off access to weapons, ammunition, supplies and reinforcements
from camps in Tunisia. They were always short of weapons and, critically,
of medical supplies. They developed special strategies to try to penetrate
the Morice Line: they used explosive devices to breach the fence, and then
tried to hold the surrounding area for long enough to allow a large number
of guerrillas, weapons and ammunition through before the French could
reseal the border.

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 The Algerian War

• Another FLN strategy was a diplomatic offensive aimed at gaining

international support, both material and moral. This was one of the
decisions taken at the secret meeting of FLN leaders held at Soummam in
August 1956. The Arab, Asian and communist countries supported the FLN
at the UN, and the more progressive Arab governments assisted with arms
and financial aid. The FLN had the moral support of most Muslim countries
and independent Africa, as well as active support from Egypt, Tunisia and
Morocco. Algerian leaders in exile played an important role in raising support
for the FLN abroad, with Ferhat Abbas becoming a skilled propagandist for
the Algerian nationalist movement.
• Yugoslavia was an important model for the FLN – it had also experienced
guerrilla war, and was supporting socialist policies without coming under
the dominance of the Soviet Union.

Historians believe that it was in the international arena that France lost the
war. Two events in particular had a significant impact in turning world opinion
against France. One was the hijacking of the plane carrying FLN leaders,
including Ben Bella, in October 1956; the other was the French bombing of
the Tunisian village of Sakiet-Sidi-Yousef in February 1958, which killed over
200 refugees.

Source B
Some years ago the expert commentator on Algerian politics, Yahia
24 Zoubir, persuasively suggested how the skilled use by the FLN of
opportunities to draw worldwide political and media attention to their
cause damaged the credibility of the rival cause of French Algeria. The
propaganda work of the FLN cadres based outside Algeria succeeded
Question between 1957 and 1961 in bringing about the condemnation of France
by the Non-Aligned Movement, as well as at the United Nations and
Why did the French lose the war?
from liberal quarters in the United States. French brutality, atrocities
and repression of the rights of Algerians to popular self-determination
were debated and attacked in highly public places, tarnishing and
Theory of knowledge weakening France’s claim to epitomize ‘Western civilization’ and carry
the banner for the ‘Rights of Man’.
History and learning
The Algerian War was viewed Alexander M. and Keiger, J.F.V. 2002. France and the Algerian War. London,
afterwards as a prototype of a UK. Frank Cass. p. 19. Referencing Zoubir, Y.H. ‘The United States, the Soviet
modern war of liberation. It served Union and the Decolonization of the Maghreb, 1945–62’. Middle Eastern
as a model and inspiration to Studies 31/1 (Jan 1995). pp. 58–84.
nationalist movements in other parts
of Africa. More recently, historians
and politicians have drawn parallels The FLN strategy of enlisting international sympathy and support proved to be
between it and subsequent guerrilla highly effective.
wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. Does a
study of the past help us to understand Despite their superiority in technology and numbers, the French in effect lost
the present? Should politicians be able the war beyond Algeria’s borders. By the end of 1959 they had virtually defeated
to learn lessons from history? Should the FLN inside Algeria, but other factors proved to be more important. These
history be a compulsory subject for included international criticism of their conduct of the war, a growing anti-
anyone choosing politics as a career? war movement back home and their failure to win international approval to
maintain French control of Algeria.

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 2 Nature and practice of the Algerian War

How were civilians involved in the war?

The Algerian War was not fought on remote battlefields, but in the cities, villages
and countryside of Algeria, and so the civilian population played a significant
role. Right from the start of the conflict, ordinary citizens’ lives were affected
either by FLN attacks or the reprisals that followed them.

Unlike the French, with their superior technology and the availability of
reinforcements from France, the FLN relied on the support of the civilian
population. Often at the risk of provoking harsh reprisals, Algerian civilians
helped guerrillas to operate and survive by passing on information, hiding
weapons and giving other means of support. The value of this support
is explained by the Argentinian writer Adolfo Gilly in his introduction to
the English translation of Frantz Fanon’s book on the Algerian War, A Dying
Colonialism, originally published in France in 1959 as L‘An Cinq de la Révolution
Algérienne (see also page 27).

Source c
The guerrillas in the mountains, the army of liberation, did not defeat
the French army militarily: it was the whole population supported by
the guerrilla army which defeated and destroyed the imperialist enemy
as a social force. For each Algerian soldier who died, says Fanon, ten
civilians died. This indicates the mass character of the struggle. But it 25
also indicates the complete impotence of an army, of modern weapons, Discussion point
and of all the tactics of powerful nations when it comes to defeating an Analyse the language used in Source C
embattled people with infinite initiative and inexhaustible heroism, a and discuss how the choice of words
people capable of constant surprises and enormous tenacity. contributes to bias. How does the
fact that the language is biased
Gilly, A. Introduction to A Dying Colonialism. Fanon, Frantz. 1965. New York, affect the reliability and usefulness
USA. Grove Press. pp. 5–6. of the source?

Before the war, Algerian women – traditionally working inside the home – had
always remained more cut off from French culture and influence than men.
So, when the war started, it was the women who provided the nucleus of anti-
colonial militancy, according to Alistair Horne. Some Algerian women played
a more active role in the struggle, secretly carrying weapons as well as acting
as spies in the French administration. The bombs aimed at civilian targets that
started the Battle of Algiers were placed by three young women working for
the FLN leader Saadi Yacef. A number of the doctors who treated wounded FLN
operatives in makeshift hospitals were Muslim women. As the war dragged
on, more young women volunteered to act as nurses in these ‘hospitals’,
where mortality rates were extremely high due to a lack of drugs and medical
equipment. Others became more actively involved in guerrilla activities.
Many of these women had to overcome the opposition of their conservative
communities to become involved. For some of them, the war was a liberating
experience, where they could work on equal terms with men. According to
Fanon, women used the haik, or veil, as a weapon of war, either wearing it as a
symbol of resistance towards the French, or discarding it when they wanted to
mingle with pied noir crowds on missions for the FLN.

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 The Algerian War

An Algerian woman votes in the 1958 election for the first National Assembly of the
26 new French Fifth Republic

The French army’s efforts to clear the countryside of FLN operatives involved
the forced removal of 2 million peasant farmers, inadvertently drawing many
Algerian civilians into the war. To escape the dire situation in the refugee camps
that were set up, a quarter of a million Algerians fled across the borders to
Fact Tunisia and Morocco, where many of them were recruited into FLN guerrilla
The Algerian Jewish community had groups. Algerian emigration to France doubled during this period, too, and by
moved to Algeria many centuries the end of the war half a million Algerians were working in France. Most of
before French colonisation. the emigrants were men between the ages of 20 and 40. Their main reasons
Throughout the colonial era, there for leaving were the relocation of the rural population and the high rates of
were very few instances of anti- unemployment in Algeria as a whole.
Semitism towards them from Muslims.
When the war started in 1954, there Historians point out that there was considerable diversity within the pied
were strong pressures on the Jewish noir community. They were certainly not all fanatical racists who wanted to
community from both the Algerians maintain European supremacy at the expense of the Muslim population. Some
and the French. This posed difficult of them sympathised with or actively supported the FLN. Their actions ranged
dilemmas for many of them. Alistair from giving medical assistance, providing information, transporting arms or
messages, and giving financial aid, to more active forms of involvement. Many
Horne relates the story of one family,
of these pieds noirs were arrested and tortured. Fanon and Horne mention in
which symbolises the problems facing
particular the support for the FLN from Algerian Jews, who made up one-fifth
many Algerian Jews: the father of the
of the non-Muslim population of Algeria.
Lévy family of Algiers was assassinated
by the OAS as a suspected FLN
supporter; his son was killed by
The writings of Frantz Fanon (1925­–61)
the FLN on suspicion of belonging Fanon was a philosopher, writer and revolutionary who became well known
to the OAS. for his work on the psychological impact of colonialism and the Algerian War.
His writings about the Algerian War created worldwide awareness of France’s

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 2 Nature and practice of the Algerian War

wartime conduct. They also focused the attention of French intellectuals such
as Jean-Paul Sartre. Of African heritage, Fanon was born in Martinique, a Jean-Paul Sartre (1905–80)
French colony in the Caribbean. During the Second World War, he served with A French philosopher, novelist,
de Gaulle’s Free French forces in Algeria, where he became disillusioned by his playwright and political activist,
experience of white racism. After the war, he studied medicine in France and Sartre was one of the most outspoken
qualified as a doctor, specialising in psychiatry. In 1953, he went to work at a critics of his government’s conduct of
psychiatric hospital in Algeria. After the start of the Algerian War, he treated the war, and a supporter of Algerian
French soldiers who were suffering from the effects of inflicting torture. At the independence. He was deeply
same time, he was secretly treating the Algerian victims of this torture. He was influenced by the views of
later expelled from Algeria after taking part in a strike by doctors sympathetic Frantz Fanon, and he wrote the
to the FLN. introduction to Fanon’s most famous
work, The Wretched of the Earth, as well
In 1957, he moved to Tunisia to work full time for the FLN. While there he
as the introduction to Henri Alleg’s
published his study of the sociological effects of war on the Algerian population,
exposé of the use of torture during the
L’An V de la Révolution Algeriénne (1959), later published in English as A Dying
Battle of Algiers (see page 28).
Colonialism. He became a diplomat for the FLN and a representative of the
Algerian Provisional Government in Accra, Ghana. He then completed the
best known of his works, Les Damnés de la Terre (1961), published in English as
The Wretched of the Earth. In it, he examined the impact of colonialism on Africa as
a whole, the liberation of the Third World, and the economic and psychological
effects of imperialism on colonised people. He believed that it was only through
violence that colonised people could free themselves from the psychological as
well as the material oppression of colonialism. He died of leukaemia at the age
of 36.

Fanon came to be regarded as the champion of oppressed people throughout

the Third World, and became an influential voice, especially among liberation 27
movements in Africa.

What was the role of resistance and

revolution?
The FLN was established as a nationalist movement to force the French to
leave Algeria, so the concept of resistance was fundamental to the group.
Resistance played a key role in unifying Algerians and drawing the civilian
population into the struggle. One way in which this was achieved was through
the establishment of a radio station called The Voice of Fighting Algeria, which
broadcast news about the resistance struggle. Organised by Algerians in exile, it
operated out of Tunisia, Morocco, Egypt and Syria, and led to an unprecedented
demand for radios in Algeria. Alongside this, ‘revolutionary’ schools run by the
FLN offered evening classes to combat illiteracy, and at the same time spread
ideas of resistance and revolution.

The FLN saw itself as a revolutionary movement, which would not simply force
the French to leave, but would also revolutionise Algeria. During the war, FLN
leaders emphasised that independence could not be seen as a goal in itself;
they were fighting for economic and social revolution as well as political
revolution. At its Soummam meeting in August 1956, FLN leaders made plans
for a future independent Algerian state, which included far-reaching social
developments such as land redistribution and agrarian reform. These ideas
made a powerful impression on rural Algerians: Horne suggests that ‘profound
revolution had taken place in the traditionally conservative consciousness of
agrarian Algeria’.

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 The Algerian War

Although French propagandists liked to proclaim that an independent Algeria

would be a communist state, the FLN was a nationalist movement rather than a
Marxist one. FLN leaders did indeed visit Beijing and Moscow, and receive arms
and backing from the Chinese and Soviet governments, but historians believe
that the FLN used this as a means of putting pressure on France and Western
governments rather than showing a commitment to Marxism.

What was the reaction to the war in France?

Theory of knowledge French civilians were also affected by the war, though not to the same extent
as the Algerian population. There were 42,000 terrorist attacks in France,
History and bias perpetrated either by the FLN or the OAS, and 2800 civilians were killed. Yet
while the war was being fought, the French government called it a ‘peacekeeping
Does the title of a history book
mission’ and many French people referred to the conflict euphemistically as ‘the
influence your expectations of what
troubles in Algeria’. It was only in 1999, 37 years after the fighting had ended,
the book will be about? How do titles
that the French government officially admitted that a state of war had existed
reflect bias? Two well-known books
between 1954 and 1962. During the war, many French people were seemingly
about the Algerian War are called A
indifferent to what was going on.
Savage War of Peace (by Alistair Horne)
and The War Without a Name (by John This was all the more surprising because, in fact, a large proportion of French
Talbot). What did the writers mean by society was directly affected by the war – all males born between the years 1932
choosing these titles? Should history and 1945 were called up for military service. This meant that between 1955 and
books have neutral titles? 1962, 2 million French soldiers served in Algeria. These men came from all areas
and all social classes of French society. Initially, however, there was no significant
opposition to conscription (as there was a decade later in the United States
during the Vietnam War). In France, only 700 soldiers were officially classified
28 Henri Alleg (b. 1921) Alleg was a as deserters or absent without leave, this figure representing only one soldier
French journalist whose family settled in every 10,000. Nor was there any significant veterans’ movement, as returning
in Algeria during the Second World soldiers ‘sought refuge in silence’, according to historian David Schalk.
War. He was the communist editor
of the newspaper Alger Républicain. Some historians attribute the apparent indifference of the French people to
During the Battle of Algiers, he was the fact that the Algerian War followed so soon after France’s own painful
arrested and interrogated by the experiences during the Second World War.
French army for a month, during which
he was subjected to various forms of
torture. In 1958, he exposed the whole
issue of torture in a book, La Question, Source D
which sold 60,000 copies in France
before it was seized by the authorities France engaged in a cruel war against the Algerians, but society refused
and banned. to live in a state of war. The majority of the French people took refuge
behind the moral certainty that their country, fresh from fighting for
its own liberation in 1944, would not be in the position of oppressing
and torturing. To look lucidly at the course of the Algerian War was to
run the risk of revisiting the dark Vichy period. That would be reason
enough not to speak of either period.

Stora, B. 2001. Algeria 1830–2000: A Short History. Ithaca, New York, USA.
Cornell University Press. p. 89.

There were major restrictions on the freedom of the press in France during the
war, and many publications were seized on the grounds that they were a threat
to state security. Books considered inflammatory – such as those by Fanon –
were banned. Despite the censorship and secrecy, however, the French public
slowly became aware of the true nature of the war and the actions of their

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 2 Nature and practice of the Algerian War

armed forces. After the brutal Battle of Algiers, a handful of writers began to
raise public consciousness about the abuse of human rights, specifically the use Albert Camus (1913–60)
of torture and the misuse of power by the state. Journalists such as Henri Alleg French-Algerian writer, philosopher
(see page 28) exposed the horrors of what was happening in Algeria. Criticism and journalist Camus was criticised
also came from Catholic intellectuals who were appalled at the actions of by French intellectuals and Algerian
their government on moral grounds, and from left-wing intellectuals who nationalists for his failure to speak
saw the people of Algeria as victims of an unjust capitalist state. Several of out to condemn French atrocities in
these intellectuals became the targets of OAS attacks in the closing stages Algeria. Although he was critical of
of the war. French policy in Algeria, he identified
with the pieds noirs’ position. When
By 1960, anti-war feelings had grown considerably among the French population.
asked to explain his silence, he said
More conscripts returning home after completing their national service were
‘I believe in justice, but I will defend
speaking out critically and writing articles about their experiences in Algeria.
my mother above justice’.
There was more open opposition to military service, and the war itself, among
reservists and anti-conscription protestors.

A significant development, which showed the growing opposition to the war

among French intellectuals, was the publication in September 1960 of the
‘Manifesto of the 121’. The signatories included such well-known figures as
the writers Jean-Paul Sartre, Simone de Beauvoir and Françoise Sagan, and
the actress Simone Signoret. Some leading writers, however, such as Albert
Camus, did not sign it. This manifesto had a major impact on public opinion,
and hundreds of thousands of people took part in demonstrations throughout
France in support of the ‘121’. The manifesto clearly set out the fundamental
principles of those who had signed it.

29

Source e
Discussion point
An extract from ‘The Manifesto of the 121’, September 1960.
Another French-Algerian writer,
We respect and deem justified the refusal to take up arms against the Jules Roy, responded to Camus’
Algerian people. statement by saying: ‘It is not a
We respect and deem justified the conduct of Frenchmen who esteem it matter of choosing one’s mother
their duty to supply aid and protection to Algerians who are oppressed above justice. It is a matter of loving
in the name of the French people. justice as much as one’s mother.’
The cause of the Algerian people, who are contributing in a decisive What did Camus and Roy mean by their
manner to destroying the colonial system, is the cause of all free men. statements, and how do they relate to
the Algerian War?
Quoted in Schalk, D. L. 2005. War and the Ivory Tower. Lincoln, USA.
University of Nebraska Press. p. 107.
Activity
Discuss the differing reactions
Another feature of anti-war sentiment on the home front in France was the
that the following might have had
Jeanson Network, an aid network supporting the FLN. It was created by Francis
towards the ‘Manifesto of the 121’:
Jeanson, a philosopher and editor of the journal Les Temps modernes, with the
• Charles de Gaulle
aim of raising funds for the FLN and helping deserters and FLN operatives in
• student groups in France
hiding. By 1960, it had 4000 active members throughout France. The Jeanson
• the pied noir community
Network played a crucial role in sustaining the FLN financially. By 1961, 80% of
the group’s funding came from Algerian workers in France, and all of this money • the Algerian government in exile.
was moved out of the country in secret. The Jeanson Network was responsible
for handling much, but not all, of the money. When the leaders were arrested
and put on trial, they used the opportunity to make anti-war speeches in court,
which gained wide publicity.

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 The Algerian War

It was not until 1960 that large-scale street protests against the war took place
Fact in France. The first major demonstration was organised by the National Union
It was only in 1997 that the French of Students. In October 1961, Paris police used excessive violence to stop an
government acknowledged the deaths illegal yet peaceful protest against the war by 30,000 Algerians. On the orders
of the Algerian protestors in Paris. In of the Paris head of police, Maurice Papon, some of the protestors were beaten
1998, Papon was charged in a French to death and others knocked unconscious and thrown into the River Seine.
court with crimes against humanity, Estimates of the number killed vary between 70 and 200. In February 1962, in an
not for his role in suppressing the anti-OAS protest at the Charonne metro station, more protestors were brutally
protests but for his actions under killed by police. When the burial of these victims of the Charonne massacre took
the Vichy administration during the place, there was a massive protest march in Paris involving over 500,000 people.
Second World War. In 2001, on the
40th anniversary of the massacre, End of unit activities
the mayor of Paris dedicated a plaque:
‘In memory of the many Algerians 1 Design a spider diagram to summarise the main events in the Algerian War.
killed during the bloody repression Arrange it chronologically, from 1954 to 1962.
of the peaceful demonstration of 2 Draw up a table to summarise and evaluate the strategies used by the French
17 October 1961.’ during the Algerian War, using the headings suggested in the example below.

Strategy Aim/description Impact

To prevent FLN from getting arms, Shipments intercepted; FLN critically

Naval blockade
ammunition, supplies short of medical supplies
Forced removals

30 Quadrillage
Morice Line
Use of air power
Propaganda
Counter-intelligence
Other

3 ‘Although it was morally reprehensible, the decision by the French to use

torture was understandable and justified in the circumstances.’
Divide into two groups. One group should work out an argument to support
this statement, and the other group an argument to oppose it. Hold a class
discussion on the issue.
4 Find out what daily life was like for ordinary citizens – Algerian and French
– living in Algeria during the war.
5 http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2010/feb/28/albert-camus-algeria-
anniversary-row
Read this news article about the debates surrounding plans to commemorate
the 50th anniversary of the death of Albert Camus, the French-Algerian
writer who won the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1957. Explain why many
Algerians feel that this event should not be marked in Algeria.
6 Research and evaluate the contribution made by one of the following to the
cause of Algerian independence: Frantz Fanon; Jean-Paul Sartre; Simone de
Beauvoir; Francis Jeanson; Henri Alleg.

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3 Effects and results of the Algerian War

Timeline
Key questions 1962 Mar Evian Accords; establishment of
provisional governing council in Algeria
• What were the political results of the war?
• What were the economic and social effects of the war? Apr referendum in France approves
• How did the war affect Algeria’s position in the world? Evian accords
May escalation of violence by OAS

Overview Jun exodus of pieds noirs begins

Jul referendum in Algeria approves
• The Evian Accords between France and the Algerian nationalists
independence; two days later,
brought the war to an official end.
independence of Algeria formally recognised
• However, the OAS stepped up its campaign of terror in Algeria,
and launched a scorched earth policy to destroy infrastructure. Aug execution of harkis begins
• Over 900,000 pieds noirs left Algeria in a mass exodus.
• Many harkis, Algerians who had supported the French, left as Sep election of Algerian constituent
well, and thousands of those who remained were killed. assembly
• There were divisions among the nationalists, and a struggle Dec massacre of harkis
for power, until Ahmed Ben Bella became the first leader of
independent Algeria. 1963 Sep Algerian constitution approved in 31
• In France, within six years of the end of the war, those involved referendum; Algeria becomes one-party
in the OAS and the attempted coup were granted amnesties. state
• The cost of the war was enormous, in human lives and in
Oct–Nov war with Morocco over border
material damage: over 17,000 French soldiers, 3000 pieds noirs
and an estimated 1 million Algerians died during the war. 1965 Jun Ben Bella overthrown in coup led
• Algeria faced critical economic problems after the war, aggravated by Boumediène
by the departure of the pieds noirs with their technical skills
and capital.
• A policy of ‘Algerian socialism’ saw the expropriation of land,
the establishment of state-owned farms and a system of ‘self
management’ in business and industry.
• The dislocation of the peasant population during the war led to
rapid urbanisation, resulting in high levels of unemployment
and the growth of slums.
• As a newly independent state, Algeria joined the United Nations,
the Arab League and the Organisation of African Unity. It followed
a policy of non-alignment in foreign affairs and joined the
Non-Aligned Movement. It also became an influential member
of OPEC.
• In spite of the bitterly fought war of independence, Algeria
maintained an uneasy economic association with France, which
included the increased migration of Algerian workers to France.

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 The Algerian War

What were the political results of the war?

The terms of the peace settlement
In the Evian Accords, it was agreed that units of the French army would remain
in Algeria for five years, and that France could lease the naval base at Mers-
el-Kebir for 15 years. The Algerian negotiators made several concessions
regarding the rights of Europeans who remained in Algeria: they could have
dual nationality for three years, and then the option of Algerian citizenship
or the status of privileged foreign residents. A clause in the agreement stated
that their property rights would be respected, and that their lands would not
be taken from them without compensation. For six years, French companies
Question would get preferential rights when permits were granted to exploit the oil and
Why do you think that the Algerians natural gas reserves in the Sahara. In return, France offered economic aid to
were willing to make so many Algeria by continuing to carry out de Gaulle’s Constantine Plan (see page 20).
concessions in the Evian Accords? A provisional governing council was set up in Algeria to oversee events from the
Algerian side until the referendum could be held and the future confirmed.

The aftermath of the peace settlement

However, the settlement did not bring peace to Algeria. Within days of the
signing of the Evian Accords, OAS leaders virtually declared war on the French
government. They fortified an area of Algiers, attacked French military convoys
and called on the European civilians of Algiers to join them there. But the French
army had orders to prevent this from happening, and in the ensuing violence
dozens of European civilians were killed and hundreds injured by machine-gun
fire. After this, the pieds noirs began to leave Algeria in large numbers, in spite
32 of OAS orders that they were not to leave the country.

When the results of the referendum held in France revealed that over 90% of
voters supported the peace plan, the OAS stepped up its campaign in Algeria
and launched a scorched earth policy, attacking and destroying clinics, schools
and municipal buildings, and burning down the Algiers library, with its 60,000
books. It also stepped up random attacks on Muslim Algerians. The situation in
Oran was so bad that Muslims moved for safety to villages or other cities that
had smaller European populations. In this atmosphere of fear and vengeance,
the FLN was finding it difficult to ‘hold back an exasperated Muslim population
which wanted to strike back’, according to Benjamin Stora. But even the most
hardline of the OAS commandos realised that they could not continue and, after
attacking and robbing banks for funds, they began to leave Algeria in trawlers
filled with weapons and money. Their departure speeded up the exodus of pied
noir civilians, who abandoned their belongings and waited for boats. A grim
phrase in common usage at the time was that they had a choice between ‘the
suitcase or the coffin’. More than 900,000 pieds noirs left Algeria in one of the
biggest mass migrations since the Second World War. Alistair Horne questions
whether the pieds noirs could have continued to live in Algeria, even if the
OAS had not launched its campaign of violence which further divided the two
communities (see Source A on page 33).

In addition, over 50,000 harkis – Algerians who had been loyal to France
during the war – left to settle in France, where they faced enormous difficulties
integrating into French society. They were often treated as outcasts by the French
and as traitors by Algerian migrant workers in France. An official estimate of
the number of harkis who had been linked in some way to the French army

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 3 Effects and results of the Algerian War

or police was 263,000, but when the French army withdrew in 1962, the harkis Theory of knowledge
were disarmed. Many of them – and sometimes their families as well – were
‘slaughtered by FLN groups in an orgy of revenge’, according to Martin Meredith. History and language
Historians estimate the number killed at between 30,000 and 150,000. Is our perception of historical events
affected by an author’s choice of
words? Should historians always try to
use neutral language? Or is the use of
emotive language a justifiable way to
make history come alive to the reader?

33

Question
Why did the pieds noirs leave Algeria?

Pieds noirs leaving Algeria by boat in 1962

Source A
Taking into account the huge discrepancy in wealth, property and land
between the two communities – nine-tenths belonging to one-tenth –
the excruciating land hunger of the Algerians coupled to their soaring
birthrate, racial stresses and pied noir intolerance, and – perhaps above
all – the accumulated hatreds of seven and a half years of war, could
the Europeans realistically have remained more than a few additional
years at best?

Horne, A. 2006. A Savage War of Peace: Algeria 1954–1962. New York, USA.
New York Review of Books. p. 547.

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 The Algerian War

Divisions among the nationalists

Ahmed Ben Bella (b. 1918)
Ben Bella fought for France in the Independent Algeria did not get off to a stable start. There was a struggle for
Second World War and joined the recognition between the GPRA, the provisional government in exile that had
resistance movement in response to been formed by the FLN in 1958, and the guerrilla leaders of the ALN, the armed
the harsh repression that followed wing of the FLN. There were also ideological and personal divisions between
different factions within the FLN. Some of these were between the guerrilla
the Sétif demonstration. Imprisoned
leaders inside Algeria and guerrilla groups outside the country, in Tunisia and
in 1950, he escaped and made his
Morocco. There were also differences of opinion between the FLN leaders who
way to Cairo, where he was one of
had been in France during the war, and those who had remained in Algeria.
the founder members of the FLN. He
was later kidnapped and imprisoned
As the date for independence approached, there was increasing competition
in France for the duration of the
and confrontation in the struggle for power among nationalist leaders. A full-
Algerian War. He became the first scale civil war was narrowly averted, but more than 1000 people were killed in
leader of independent Algeria, but was clashes between rival factions. Eventually Ahmed Ben Bella emerged in the
subsequently overthrown in a coup. strongest position.
After 15 years either in prison or under
house arrest Ben Bella went to France, Political developments after independence
where he formed an opposition party
calling for a multi-party democracy in In preparation for independence, nationalist leaders had met in Tripoli in May
Algeria. He returned to Algeria in 1990 1962 to work out a plan to transform the FLN from a liberation movement into
and ran unsuccessfully for president in a political party. The Tripoli Plan called for land reform, the nationalisation
of industry and services, and a commitment to non-alignment and anti-
the 1991 election.
colonialism in foreign relations.

Algeria’s first parliament, the National Assembly, was elected in September

Houari Boumediène (1932–78) 1962 and chose Ahmed Ben Bella as the country’s first leader. Ferhat Abbas
34 Joining the FLN in 1955, Boumediène became the president of the assembly. The new government did not include
became chief of staff of its armed wing, any members of the GPRA, the provisional government that had negotiated the
the ALN, in 1960. He served as minister Evian Accords with France. After the Communist and Socialist Revolutionary
of defence and vice president under parties were banned, the FLN was the sole political party of any consequence,
Ben Bella, but became increasingly and Algeria soon emerged as a one-party state. To prevent any opposition from
critical of Ben Bella’s policies and the largest trade union, the General Union of Algerian Workers (Union Générale
leadership, and led an army coup to des Travailleurs Algériens, or UGTA), this group was placed under FLN control.
overthrow him in 1965. As leader of
Algeria, he focused on state-driven During 1963, Ben Bella increased his hold on power. Under a new constitution,
industrial development, and in 1971 he became president, combining the functions of head of state and of
nationalised Algeria’s oil industry, government with that of commander-in-chief of the armed forces. He could
provoking outraged criticism from form a government without the approval of parliament, and could propose
and direct all policies. There was no effective check on powers within
France. He used oil revenues to fund
the government. Ferhat Abbas, the veteran nationalist leader, resigned as
economic development in Algeria.
president of the assembly in protest against the increasing assumption of
He ruled until his death in 1978.
power by Ben Bella.

However, Ben Bella’s hold on power was not secure, and he faced challenges
from other FLN leaders who resented the fact that he had not been part of the
independence struggle (he had been in a French prison for much of the war). He
was criticised, too, for the failure of his economic policies, and for his ruthless
suppression of opposition in the Kabylia region. Although he managed to crush
dissent for a while, he became increasingly isolated politically. Many Algerians
did not like his dictatorial methods, and several of those who challenged his
power were arrested or went into exile. Finally, in June 1965, he was overthrown
in a military coup led by Houari Boumediène, the minister of defence and
former leader of the ALN. Ben Bella was arrested and spent the next 15 years in
prison or under house arrest.

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 3 Effects and results of the Algerian War

Political repercussions of the Algerian War in France Fact

For France, the loss of Algeria meant the virtual end of its empire in Africa. The Benjamin Stora relates that when
war weakened the army and caused serious divisions in French society. After passers-by in Algiers saw tanks in the
Algeria became independent, many people in France wanted to mend these streets during the 1965 military coup
divisions and forget the war – and the uncomfortable truths that had emerged that toppled Ahmed Ben Bella, they
about French wartime conduct. A number of amnesty laws were passed to ignored them, thinking that they were
pardon former OAS members: by 1968 all had received official pardons, and part of the film set for Italian director
many OAS leaders returned to France from exile. In 1982, members of the army
Gillo Pontecorvo’s famous film, The
who had been convicted of subversion through their involvement in the 1961
Battle of Algiers.
attempted coup were allowed to serve in the military again. It was only in the
1990s that a more thorough examination of some of the more controversial
issues relating to the war began to emerge.

A peaceful anti-war protest in Paris in 1961, calling for Algeria’s independence

35
Discussion point
Is it the task of a historian to raise
questions about the past, even if
memories are painful and potentially
divisive? Discuss how one could
challenge the argument that it is
better to forget the past and focus
on the future.

What were the economic and social effects of

the war?
The cost of the war
The cost of the war for Algeria was extremely high. Close to 1 million Algerians
were killed – in fighting, in the refugee camps, as a result of torture, or as a
result of forced removals. The peasants were impoverished as a direct result
of the war: over 2 million of them had been forcibly moved from their homes,
and a quarter of a million of them were refugees in Morocco and Tunisia. Over
10,000 houses had been destroyed during the war or immediately afterwards in
the OAS attacks. There was also massive destruction of infrastructure such as
schools, government buildings, bridges, medical centres and railways, as well as
damage to land and crops. The scorched earth policy also devastated economic
potential and hindered recovery. However, historian Ivan Hrbek suggests that
despite the high cost in human life and damage, the Algerian War demonstrated
some important lessons.

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 The Algerian War

Source B
No other African nation paid such a high and tragic price for its
independence. But by their heroic fight, the Algerians objectively aided
the political struggle in the other French colonies. The Algerian War
made clear to the French public and their political leaders the futility of
the old colonial system, and forced them to recognize the right of every
nation to self-determination.
Question
According to the historian quoted in Hrbek, I. ‘North Africa and the Horn’. From Mazrui, A (ed.). 2003. General
Source B, what was the significance of History of Africa: Volume 8: Africa since 1935. Cape Town, South Africa.
New Africa Books/UNESCO. pp. 139–40.
the Algerian independence struggle?

Over 17,000 French soldiers were killed and 10,000 European civilians were
casualties of war – either killed, wounded or missing. The cost of the war to
French taxpayers was high: according to one estimate, the military costs alone
were between 10% and 18% of GDP. There was also a shortage of labour in
France during the war, caused by the absence of half a million men fighting in
Algeria. Ironically, their places were filled by Algerian workers, and Algerian
immigration to France increased by 30% during the war years. After the war,
the French economy boomed as the drain of the war on resources came to
an end.
36
Economic problems at the time of independence
Algeria had a typical colonial economy, which had existed for the benefit of
metropolitan France. Large modern commercial farms owned and operated by
the pieds noirs had exported agricultural products to France, while traditional
peasant farmers operated at a subsistence level with low productivity. Local
craft industries had declined because of competition from French manufactured
goods. As a result, there was very little industry in Algeria. De Gaulle’s
Constantine Plan of 1958 was a belated attempt to change this by industrialising
the economy. In spite of this, by the time of independence, industry represented
only about 25% of production.

The war and the events in its aftermath had a devastating effect on the
economy. As well as the destruction of infrastructure, houses and farms, there
were hundreds of thousands of homeless and displaced people, and about 70%
of the workforce was unemployed. This massive dislocation of the economy
affected Algeria for a long time after independence.

The economic difficulties facing the new state were aggravated by the sudden
departure of over 900,000 pieds noirs, who took with them their technical skills
and capital. When they abruptly left, factories closed, big commercial farming
operations were abandoned and thousands of jobs were lost. Source C (page 37)
explains some of the implications of this development.

The loss of human capital also included the hundreds of thousands of Algerians
living in France. Since the First World War, they had moved there to find work.
Many of them believed that they would return home once Algerian independence
was secured. In fact, the opposite happened, and the rate of Algerian emigration
to France increased (see Source D on page 37).

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 3 Effects and results of the Algerian War

Source c
The war of national liberation and its aftermath severely disrupted
Algeria’s society and economy. In addition to the physical destruction,
the exodus of the colons deprived the country of most of its managers,
civil servants, engineers, teachers, physicians, and skilled workers – all
occupations from which the Muslim population had been excluded or
discouraged from pursuing by colonial policy … Distribution of goods
was at a standstill. Departing colons destroyed or carried off public
records and utility plans, leaving public services in a shambles.

Metz, H. C. (ed). 1994. Algeria: A Country Study. Washington, USA. GPO for
the Library of Congress. http://countrystudies.us/algeria/36.htm

Source D
Seven and a half years of war, marked by destruction and the
displacement of populations, the OAS’s relentless efforts to destroy
the country’s infrastructures, the rapid mass exodus of Europeans, the
profound disorganization in Algeria that resulted, the sudden arrival on 37
the labour market of tens of thousands of freed Algerian prisoners or
demobilized soldiers, and the ‘civil war’ for power were all factors that Question
explain the resumption of emigration to France in the summer of 1962. What evidence is there to suggest that
the departing pieds noirs deliberately
Stora, B. 2001. Algeria 1830–2000: A Short History. Ithaca, New York, USA.
tried to sabotage Algeria’s future
Cornell University Press. p. 128.
development as an independent nation?

Economic policies adopted after independence

The economic policies of the new government were known collectively
as ‘Algerian socialism’, and involved widespread state involvement in the
economy. The most pressing issue was a programme of land reform. The
farms abandoned by the pieds noirs were taken over by the state, and the rest
were seized in 1963. They were placed under committees of workers. Within
Fact
two years, 40% of the farmland was state owned and state run. Despite some
Algeria’s economic development was
initial difficulties, these state farms were soon producing 80% of the nation’s
negatively affected by an extremely
agricultural output. However, there were problems: the local market for certain
agricultural products (such as wine), to which the economy had been geared,
high population growth rate during
had shrunk, while the country could not produce enough cereal crops to feed the 1970s and 1980s – one of the
its growing population. Industrial output also declined, according to Stora, by highest in the world. This put a severe
55% between 1962 and 1963. At the same time, public services expanded. The strain on employment, housing,
army was also a significant drain on the economy, costing 10% of GDP in 1963. education and health strategies.
At the time of independence in
Workers took control of factories and businesses to keep them going after the 1962, Algeria had a population
departure of their European managers, in a government-sponsored system of just under 10 million; by 1994,
called ‘self-management’ which met with varied success. Algeria’s later it was just under 27 million, and
emergence as a major oil and natural gas producer gave a significant boost to by 2010 nearly 35 million.
the economy.

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 The Algerian War

The social effects of the war

In 1962, Algeria was still a predominantly rural society, but the displacement of
the rural population during the war created massive social problems. Disrupting
the traditional link between people and the land, which had been a strong
feature of peasant agriculture, had many negative side effects. Thousands of
landless peasants moved to the cities when they left the resettlement camps,
many of them settling into apartments left vacant by the departing pieds noirs.
Between 1960 and 1963, 800,000 moved to the cities – half of them to Algiers.
This resulted in more slums being built close to the cities, and an explosion in
sub-standard housing.

Children in a shanty town in Algeria in 1976, one of the many areas of slum housing
that sprang up in the 1960s as a result of poverty and urban overpopulation

38

This rapid urbanisation profoundly changed the economy and social structure
of Algeria. Most migrants to the cities ended up unemployed or doing
unskilled work or odd jobs. In 1963, there were 2 million unemployed and this
created serious social problems, such as violent crime, peasant revolts and
demonstrations by unemployed people. Increasing numbers left Algeria to find
work in France in order to survive.

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 3 Effects and results of the Algerian War

The social policies of the new government aimed to wipe out illiteracy, develop
an Arab Islamic culture, promote public medicine and support women’s Fact
liberation. However, historians such as Horne suggest that the emancipation The government of independent
of women lagged behind the promises of the war years, when women Algeria put enormous effort
operatives in the FLN had greater equality than they had in post-war Algeria. and resources into raising levels
The new government also wanted to regulate and control the flow of emigrants of education. At the time of
to France. independence, fewer than 15% of
Algerian children attended school:
How did the war affect Algeria’s position in the only 700,000 children were in primary
schools. By 1970, this number had
world? risen to 2 million, and ten years
later to 4.5 million. To help with the
Algeria’s leaders saw their country as part of both the Arab world and
shortage of teachers, 11,000 teachers
Africa. Algeria joined the Arab League, and became a founder member of the
Organisation of African Unity (OAU) in 1963. Ben Bella spoke out in support of
from France travelled to Algeria over
African liberation movements still fighting for independence, such as those in the years. Special efforts were made to
the Portuguese colonies, and denounced neo-colonialism. Algeria also joined improve access to education for girls.
the United Nations (UN), which had provided steady support to the FLN during
the struggle for independence. As an important oil-producing country, Algeria
joined OPEC. In spite of its socialist economic policies, Algeria did not become
neo-colonialism A term that was
a member of the Soviet bloc and instead followed a policy of non-alignment,
first used by the Ghanaian president,
joining the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM).
Kwame Nkrumah, to describe the
continuing economic control that
However, the dream of creating greater unity between the countries of North
industrialised countries have over
Africa did not happen, partly due to border disputes. Algeria’s borders, drawn by
their former colonies.
the French in the colonial era, created conflicts among the Maghreb states after
independence. Algeria and Morocco even fought a brief war over the position of a
39
section of this border in October–November 1963. Tunisia also wanted a revision
of its border with Algeria, and there was friction between Libya and Algeria over OPEC Organisation of Petroleum
their shared border, after oil reserves were discovered on the Algerian side. Exporting Countries. This group has
a decisive influence over the world
Post-war relations with France supply and pricing of oil. It has 12
Surprisingly, perhaps, Algeria and France maintained good relations during the member states – from the Middle
1960s. Algeria had oil and natural gas, which France needed, and France in return East, Africa and Latin America – that
provided aid and technical assistance to Algeria. After independence, French between them control one-third of the
technicians worked in the Algerian oil industry, and young Frenchmen served world’s oil production and hold two-
as teachers in Algerian schools instead of doing national service. Historians thirds of the world’s oil reserves.
Oliver and Atmore comment on the nature of the relationship between the
two countries:

Non-Aligned Movement An
organisation formed by countries that
did not want to become part of either
Source e the Western or Soviet blocs during the
Cold War. They agreed that they would
In spite of the oppression and hatreds engendered, the relationship not join alliances or defence pacts with
between France and Algeria, between Algerians and Frenchmen, had the superpowers, and that they would
been exceptionally close, and the revolt when it came was almost like a present a united front on matters of
violent quarrel between members of a family. In some respects, at least, common interest. Most of the NAM’s
the rift took a surprisingly short time to heal. members were former colonies in
Africa and Asia. Boumediène played
Oliver, R. and Atmore, A. 2004. Africa since 1800. Cambridge, UK. Cambridge
a prominent role in it, serving as
University Press (5th edition). p. 242.
secretary general from 1973 to 1976.

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 The Algerian War

However, the steady wave of Algerian immigrants created problems in France.

Fact Many entered the country illegally and lived in poor conditions in slums. They
With its substantial Algerian migrant were often exploited by French employers and workers. The poor treatment
population, France has the largest of Algerian workers in France created tensions between the two governments.
Muslim population in Western Europe. After the deaths and injuries to Algerian workers in anti-Algerian riots, the
This has created certain tensions Algerian government stopped all emigration for a while. But it resumed again,
in France, and government policies despite French attempts to limit it. According to Stora, Ben Bella’s government
promoting secularism have been did not favour emigration to France, but saw it as an important ‘safety valve’ to
controversial. The socio-economic ease the pressure on the labour market, and to improve the balance of payments
circumstances in which many through the money sent back to Algeria by emigrant workers to support their
migrants live have led to serious families. By 1965 there were an estimated 450,000 Algerian workers in France,
anti-government protests and riots and by 2004 this number had grown to over 2 million.
in recent years.
End of unit activities
1 Draw up a table to summarise the political, economic and social effects of
the Algerian War, using the suggested headings in the example below.

Before the war During the war After the war

Political situation

Economic situation

Social situation
40
2 Investigate the situation of either the pieds noirs or the harkis after their
post-independence move to France. Did they adjust to life in France? Were
they assimilated into French society? How were the pieds noirs and the
harkis perceived and treated?
3 ‘In view of their policies during the colonial period and their actions during
the Algerian War, the French had a moral obligation to provide more aid to
Algeria after independence.’
Divide into two groups. One group should work out an argument to support
this statement, and the other group an argument to oppose it. Hold a class
debate on the issue.
4 Imagine that you are a journalist who interviewed Ferhat Abbas before his
death in 1985. Work out what questions you would ask him about the change
in his outlook – from supporting assimilation to becoming a nationalist, his
role during the Algerian War, and the circumstances that prompted him to
resign from politics under Ben Bella’s government. Draft the answers that
you think he may have given.
5 Write a report to evaluate the role of Ahmed Ben Bella in Algerian history.
You may begin your research by looking at this website:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/june/20/newsid_2943000/
2943388.stm

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 3 Effects and results of the Algerian War

Summary activity
Copy the spider diagrams below and, using the information in this case study,
make brief point-form notes under each heading.

Long-term causes Short-term causes

• conquest of Algeria • impact of the Second World War
• colonial policies • Sétif massacre
• rise of nationalism What were • formation of the FLN
the main
causes of
the war?

• nature of the war • French strategies

• main events • FLN strategies

What were 41

the key
features of
the war?

• the peace treaty

• economic results
• the cost of the war
• social results
• political results

What were
the results
of the war?

© Cambridge University Press 2011

 Paper 1 exam practice

Paper 1 skills and questions

Paper 1 contains four types of question. These are:
1 Comprehension/understanding of a source – some will have 2 marks,
others 3 marks. For such questions, write only a short answer (scoring 2 or
3 points); save your longer answers for the questions carrying the higher
marks.
2 Cross-referencing/comparing or contrasting two sources – try to write an
integrated comparison, e.g. comment on how the two sources deal with
one aspect; then compare/contrast the sources on another aspect. This
will usually score more highly than answers that deal with the sources
separately. Try to avoid simply describing each source in turn – there needs
to be explicit comparison/contrast.
3 Assessing the value and limitations of two sources – here it is best to deal
with each source separately, as you are not being asked to decide which
source is more important/useful. But remember to deal with all the aspects
required: origins, purpose, value and limitations.

42 4 Judgement questions/synthesis of source evaluation and own knowledge

– this fourth type of Paper 1 question requires you to produce a mini-essay
to address the question/statement given in the question. You should try to
develop and present an argument and/or come to a balanced judgement by
analysing and using these five sources and your own knowledge.
In order to analyse and evaluate sources as historical evidence, you will need to
ask the following ‘W’ questions of historical sources:
• Who produced it? Were they in a position to know?
• What type of source is it? What is its nature – is it a primary or secondary
source?
• Where and when was it produced? What was happening at the time?
• Why was it produced? Was its purpose to inform or to persuade? Is it an
accurate attempt to record facts, or is it an example of propaganda?
• Who was the intended audience – decision-makers or the general public?

© Cambridge University Press 2011

 Paper 1 exam practice

Question 1
According to Source A (right), what
were the reasons for the tensions that SOURCE A
developed in Algerian cities before the
The expropriated Muslim Algerians poured into the cities and slums,
outbreak of the Algerian War?
[2 marks] and competed with European wage earners, who had higher salaries
and rights that the Muslims did not have. Competition with European
workers and the vast numbers of Algerians whose land had been
Skill
appropriated aggravated the conflict between the two communities.
Comprehension of a source The more bitter the competition, the greater became that antagonism.

Examiner’s tips Stora, B. 2001. Algeria 1830–2000: A Short History. Ithaca, New York, USA.
Cornell University Press. p. 24.
Comprehension questions are the
most straightforward questions you
will face in Paper 1. They simply require you to understand a source and extract
one or two relevant points that relate to the particular question.

As only 2 marks are available for this question, make sure you don’t waste
valuable exam time that should be spent on the higher-scoring questions
by writing a long answer here. All that’s needed is just a couple of short
sentences, giving the necessary information to show you have understood the
source. Try to give one piece of information for each of the marks available for
the question.

Common mistakes
43
When asked to show your comprehension/understanding of a particular source,
make sure you don’t just paraphrase the source (or copy out a few sentences
from it). Just give a couple of sentences that show that you understand
the source.

Simplified markscheme
For each point/item of relevant/correct understanding/information identified,
award 1 mark – up to a maximum of 2 marks.

Student answer Examiner’s comment

The candidate has selected one
relevant and explicit piece of
information from the source to
explain the tension in the cities –
There was competition between Algerian and European workers the competition for jobs – and this
over jobs, and the Europeans had better salaries, which the is certainly enough to gain 1 mark.
However, the answer overlooks a
Algerians resented.
second key point.

Activity
Look again at the source, and the student answer above. Now try to identify
one other piece of information from the source, and so obtain the other mark
available for this question.

© Cambridge University Press 2011

 Exam practice

Question 2
Compare and contrast the analyses of the nature and effects of OAS violence on
the situation in Algeria in Sources A and B on this page and page 45.
[6 marks]

Skill
Cross-referencing

Examiner’s tips
Cross-referencing questions require you to compare and contrast the
information/content/nature of two sources relating to a particular issue. Before
you write your answer, draw a rough chart or diagram to show the similarities
and the differences between the two sources. That way, you should ensure that
you address both aspects/elements of the question.

Common mistakes
When asked to compare and contrast two sources, make sure that you don’t
just comment on one of them. A few candidates make this mistake every year
– and lose 4 of the 6 marks available.

Simplified markscheme

Band Marks
44
Both sources linked, with detailed references to the two
1 6
sources, identifying both similarities and differences.

Both sources linked, with detailed references to the two

2 4–5
sources, identifying either similarities or differences.

Comments on both sources, but treating each one

3 3
separately.

4 Discusses/comments on just one source. 0–2

Source A
But the agreement did not bring peace. In a final paroxysm of violence,
the OAS took revenge on the Muslim population, bombing and murdering
at random, destroying schools, libraries and hospital facilities, attacking
florists’ stalls and grocery shops, determined to leave behind nothing
more than ‘scorched earth’. Whatever slim chance of reconciliation
between pieds noirs and Algerians there had been was snuffed out.

Meredith, M. 2005. The State of Africa: A History of Fifty Years

of Independence. Johannesburg, South Africa. Jonathan Ball Publishers. p. 74.

© Cambridge University Press 2011

 Paper 1 exam practice

Source B
The last months of colonial rule as well as the first weeks after
independence were marked by the rampant sabotage of OAS fascists
who in their powerless fury killed, destroyed and burned. By their
acts they also killed all chances for the European minority to remain
in independent Algeria as provided in the Evian protocol. There
followed a mass exodus of colonists: by the end of July about half a
million left for France and by the end of the year fewer than 20 per
cent of the Europeans remained in Algeria. On the one hand, the
mass and abrupt departure of the colonists – including almost all
the technicians in the country – caused the young republic many
difficulties; on the other hand, it largely simplified the ethnic and
social structure of Algeria and spared it otherwise inevitable
racial conflicts.

Hrbek, I. Quoted in Mazrui, A. 2003. General History of Africa:

Volume 8: Africa since 1935. Cape Town, South Africa. New Africa Books/
UNESCO. p. 139.

Student answer 45

Source A explains that the OAS launched a scorched earth campaign

aimed at terrorising the Muslim community, by attacking schools,
hospitals and shops. This created so much anger towards the pieds
noirs as a community that it would have been impossible for them to
remain in Algeria after independence.

Examiner’s comment
Source B describes the sabotage campaign by the OAS, which made The answer simply paraphrases both
it impossible for the colonists to remain in Algeria. So they left in a sources without making any attempt
mass exodus, taking most of the technical skills out of the country, but to compare or contrast them. There
their departure also helped the new government as there were so few is no attempt to link the sources, or
to comment on them. The candidate
Europeans left that conflict between them and the Muslim community
has therefore done enough to get into
was less likely.
Band 3, and be awarded 3 marks.

Activity
Look again at the two sources, the simplified markscheme, and the student
answer above. Now try to rewrite the answer, linking the two sources by pointing
out similarities and differences between them, and referring to the sources
without simply paraphrasing them.

© Cambridge University Press 2011

 Exam practice

Question 3
With reference to their origin and purpose, assess the value and limitations
of Sources A and B (see page 47) for historians investigating the origins of the
Algerian nationalist movement.
[6 marks]

Skill
Utility/reliability of sources

Examiner’s tips
Utility/reliability questions require you to assess two sources over a range of
possible issues/aspects – and to comment on their value to historians studying
a particular event or period of history. The main areas you need to consider in
relation to the sources and the information/view they provide are:
• origin and purpose
• value and limitations.

Before you write your answer, draw a rough chart or spider diagram to show,
where relevant, these various aspects. Make sure you do this for both sources.

Common mistakes
When asked to assess two sources for their value, make sure you don’t just
comment on one of the sources! Every year a few students make mistakes like
46 this, and lose as many as 4 of the 6 marks available.

Simplified markscheme

Band Marks

Both sources assessed, with explicit consideration of

1 5–6
BOTH origins and purpose AND value and limitations.

Both sources assessed, but without consideration of

2 3–4
BOTH origins and purpose AND value and limitations. OR
explicit consideration of BOTH origins and purpose AND
value and limitations, BUT only for one source.

Limited consideration/comments on origins and purpose

3 0–2
OR value and limitations. Possibly only one/the wrong
source(s) addressed.

© Cambridge University Press 2011

 Paper 1 exam practice

Source A
From an article by Ferhat Abbas entitled ‘La France Source B
c’est moi!’, published in La Défense in February
A statement responding to Ferhat Abbas, from Ben Badis on
1936. Abbas wrote it to refute charges from his
behalf of the Ulema, published in April 1936.
colonialist enemies that he was a ‘nationalist’, but
the article was later criticised for symbolising the
For our part, we have consulted the pages of history, and
viewpoint of the educated francophile élite.
we have consulted the present circumstances, and we
have found the Algerian Muslim nation existing just as
Had I discovered the Algerian nation, I would be
other nations of the world have been formed and exist …
a nationalist and I would not blush as if I had
Furthermore, this Algerian Muslim nation is not France. It
committed a crime … However, I will not die for
cannot become France. It does not want to become France.
the Algerian nation, because it does not exist.
It could not become France even if it wanted to. On the
I have not found it. I have examined History,
contrary, this nation is distanced in every respect from
I questioned the living and the dead, I visited
France, in its language, its moral character and its religion.
cemeteries; nobody spoke to me about it. I then
It desires no assimilation, and has its own homeland,
turned to the Koran and I sought for one solitary
namely the Algerian homeland with its own borders as
verse forbidding a Muslim from integrating
they are now established and well known.
himself with a non-Muslim nation. I did not find
that either. One cannot build on the wind.
Quoted in McDougall, J. 2006. History and the Culture of
Nationalism in Algeria. Cambridge, UK. Cambridge University
Quoted in Horne, A. 2006. A Savage War of Peace:
Press. p 85.
Algeria 1954–1962. New York, USA. New York
Review of Books. p. 40. 47

Student answer

Source A denies that Algeria was a nation, so it gives no information

about the origins of the nationalist movement in Algeria. Source B is
written by Abdul-Hamid Ben Badis who started the Ulema movement
that saw Algeria as its fatherland. He wrote this to challenge the
views of liberal moderates like Ferhat Abbas, who supported links with Examiner’s comment
France. It is valuable because it shows that even though the Ulema was The candidate has examined the
primarily a religious movement that wanted to reform the practice of origin and purpose of one source only
Islam in Algeria, it also had nationalist aspirations and it rejected links (Source B), and assessed its value
with France (‘This Algerian Muslim nation is not France’). This shows and limitations. The answer thus has
enough to get into Band 2. However,
that the origins of the nationalist movement pre-dated the formation
as there are no comments about the
of the FLN. However, the source has limitations, as it is one perspective
origin, purpose, value and limitations
only and does not show that there were other influences on the origin of of Source A, the answer is not good
the nationalist movement. enough to get into Band 1.

Activity
Look again at the two sources, the simplified markscheme, and the student answer
above. Now try to write a paragraph or two to push the answer up into Band 1, and
so obtain the full 6 marks. Remember that you need to examine both sources.

© Cambridge University Press 2011

 Exam practice

Question 4
Was the use of torture by the French army counter-productive to French
interests in Algeria, as some historians have argued? Use Sources A, B, C, D and
E on pages 49 and 50 and your own knowledge to answer this question.
[8 marks]

Skill
Synthesis of source evaluation and own knowledge

Examiner’s tips
Before you write your answer to judgement/synthesis of source evaluation and
own knowledge questions, you may find it useful to draw a rough chart to note
what the sources show in relation to the question. (Note that some sources may
hint at more than one factor/result). This will also help make sure you refer to
all or at least most of the sources. When using your own knowledge, make sure
it is relevant to the question.

Look carefully at the simplified markscheme below – this will help you focus on
what you need to do to reach the top bands and so score the higher marks.

Common mistakes
When answering Paper 1 argument/judgement questions, make sure you don’t
just deal with sources or own knowledge! Every year, some candidates (even
48 good ones) do this, and so limit themselves to – at best – only 5 out of the 8
marks available.

Simplified markscheme

Band Marks

Developed and balanced analysis and comments using

BOTH sources AND own knowledge. References to sources
1 are precise; sources and detailed own knowledge are used 8
together; where relevant, a judgement is made.

Developed analysis/comments using BOTH sources AND

some detailed own knowledge; some clear references
2 to sources. But sources and own knowledge not always 6–7
combined together.

Some developed analysis/comments, using the sources

3 OR some relevant own knowledge. 4–5

Limited/general comments using sources OR own

4 knowledge. 0–3

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 Paper 1 exam practice

Source A
The terror reached its height with the ‘Battle for Algiers’, an attempt by
the ALN to implant itself more deeply in the city. The French answered
with a merciless campaign of persecution, jailing and torture, which
indeed destroyed the ALN organization in the city, left a legacy of hatred
and aroused a wave of indignation
both in France and in the whole
world where the methods of the
French paratroops were compared
with those of the Gestapo in Source B
Nazi Germany.
The death of Ben M’hidi [an FLN leader who died in prison after his
Hrbek, I. Quoted in Mazrui, A. 2003. arrest and interrogation] … threw up the whole ugly but hitherto largely
General History of Africa: Volume subterranean issue of the maltreatment of rebel suspects, of torture
8: Africa since 1935. Cape Town, and summary executions; or what, in another context and depending
South Africa. New Africa Books/ upon the point of view, might perhaps be termed ‘war crimes’, and
UNESCO. p. 137. what in France came simply to be known as la torture. From the Battle
of Algiers onwards this was to become a growing canker [a corrupting
influence] for France, leaving behind a poison that would linger in
the French system long after the war itself had ended. The resort to
torture poses moral problems that are just as germane to the world
today as they would be to the period under consideration. As Jean-Paul
Sartre wrote in 1958, ‘Torture is neither civilian nor military, nor is it 49
specifically French: it is a plague infecting our whole era’. But what is
immediately important here is the influence, or influences, brought to
Source c bear by it upon the subsequent course of the Algerian War.

France was historically the Horne, A. 2006. A Savage War of Peace: Algeria 1954–1962. New York, USA.
champion of human rights, the New York Review Books. pp. 195–96.
liberator of oppressed peoples,
the civilizer of less advanced
societies. The use of torture in
Algeria betrayed this tradition and threatened the existence of liberal
democracy itself. For how could anyone be sure that state agents,
convinced such methods had paid in Algeria, would not be tempted to
try them out on the mainland – not only on suspected revolutionaries
but on anyone who happened to fall into the hands of the police?
Perhaps such agents might set out to subvert the political order
itself?… The defenders of liberal democracy not only thought that
the use of torture in Algeria might bring irreversible political decay to
France; they also feared that exposure to such practices might infect
the youths serving in Algeria with a kind of virus deadly to public and
private morality. Returning home, they would transmit this virus to the
rest of French society. Some feared the Algerian experience might leave
some young men so unhinged they would embark on a life of crime
and violence.

Talbot, J. 1980. The War Without a Name: France in Algeria 1954–1962.

London, UK. Faber and Faber. pp. 102–03.

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 Exam practice

Source D
The war was responsible for great brutalities: whole populations were
moved so as to cut them off from the FLN guerrillas, and by 1959 an
estimated two million Arabs (25% of the population) had been forced
to leave their villages. Many of the whites in their territorial units
became brutal in their tactics and indiscriminate in their targets, while
in certain police stations and
military detention centres a new
breed of torturer appeared. The
members of the FLN could be
equally brutal towards the colons. Source e
Arnold, G. 2005. Africa: A Modern Some years ago the expert commentator on Algerian politics, Yahia
History. London, UK. Atlantic Books. Zoubir, persuasively suggested how the skilled use by the FLN of
p. 29. opportunities to draw worldwide political and media attention to their
cause damaged the credibility of the rival cause of French Algeria. The
propaganda work of the FLN cadres based outside Algeria succeeded
between 1957 and 1961 in bringing about the condemnation of France
by the Non-Aligned Movement, as well as at the United Nations and
from liberal quarters in the United States. French brutality, atrocities
and repression of the rights of Algerians to popular self-determination
were debated and attacked in highly public places, tarnishing and
50 weakening France’s claim to epitomize ‘Western civilization’ and carry
the banner for the ‘Rights of Man’.

Alexander M. and Keiger, J.F.V. 2002. France and the Algerian War. London,
UK. Frank Cass. p. 19. Referencing Zoubir, Y.H. ‘The United States, the Soviet
Union and the Decolonization of the Maghreb, 1945–62’. Middle Eastern
Studies 31/1 (Jan 1995). pp. 58–84.

Student answer
Those parts of the student’s answer that follow have brief examiner comments
in the margins, as well as a longer overall comment at the end. Those parts of
the answer that make use of the sources will be highlighted in green. Those
parts that deploy relevant own knowledge will be highlighted in red. In this
way, you should find it easier to follow why particular bands and marks were –
or were not – awarded.

The use of torture by the French army was indeed counter-productive to

French interests in Algeria. It resulted in international condemnation of
France, opposition and criticism at home, and increased determination on
the part of the nationalist movement. There is evidence to support most
of this in these five sources and I will also use my own knowledge.

© Cambridge University Press 2011

 Paper 1 exam practice

The use of torture started during the Battle of Algiers in 1957. The battle
started when the FLN launched a series of bombing attacks in the capital,
Algiers. The French responded by using very harsh reprisals. Source A
Examiner’s comment
refers to a merciless campaign which involved torture. This left a legacy
This is a good, well-focused start. It
of hatred which obviously would have increased the determination of
shows how the candidate intends to
Algerians to fight even harder for independence. It also led to criticism answer the question, and supplies
of France internationally and in France itself. People compared French some own knowledge to explain the
actions with those of the Gestapo in Nazi Germany. So this source very historical context. Source A is referred
clearly supports the view that the use of torture was counter-productive. to and the information from it used
It increased resistance, led to international condemnation and led to the effectively. There is good focus on
growth of an anti-war movement in France. the question.

During the Battle of Algiers the French public first heard about the use of
torture when some officials resigned in protest. Later they became more
aware when journalists such as Henri Alleg wrote about his experience
of torture. From then onwards there was growing opposition to the war,
especially among intellectuals in France. Sources B and C discuss the
effects that news about the use of torture had in France itself. Source B 51
refers to it as a corrupting influence that poisoned French society as a
whole. It also suggests that the use of torture would be considered a war Examiner’s comment
crime today, and that it is an ethical issue that is just as relevant today There is some good own knowledge
as it was then. This implies that many people then would have found the here, but the candidate could have
actions of their own army unacceptable, and this would increase pressure used the opportunity to explain the
on the government to change its policies. In this way the use of torture reference to Jean-Paul Sartre and his
would be counter-productive. role in the anti-war movement among
intellectuals.

Examiner’s comment
This view is strongly supported by Source C, which states that people The candidate has linked the two
feared that the use of torture by the army and police might spread to sources (B and C) but hasn’t explored
France itself and threaten the political order. This would threaten French the overlap fully. But the two sources
traditions of democracy and support for human rights. Source C also are clearly referred to and used,
explains the fear that people in France had that being involved in torture showing good understanding, and
would affect the young soldiers who were serving in Algeria. At that there is some helpful own knowledge
stage France had a system of conscription and 2 million soldiers fought to clarify some of the issues raised. A
in Algeria, so many may have been involved in the use of torture there. really good answer would also point
People feared that as a result they would return to France and become out the irony in Source C, which
involved in crime and violence. The work of Frantz Fanon in Algeria describes France as ‘the liberator of
oppressed peoples’, because this is
supports this fear, as he clearly showed that people who inflicted torture
certainly not how the Algerians who
also suffered psychological effects. So Source B would support the view
were subjected to torture would have
that the use of torture was counter-productive.
seen the French.

© Cambridge University Press 2011

 Exam practice

Source D describes some of the brutality of the war apart from the use
Examiner’s comment of torture, such as the forced removal of 2 million people from their
A good answer would mention that
villages. This was so that units of the French army could sweep the
the tactics targetting civilians
country trying to clear out all the guerrilla units that they found. The
described in this source would also
have been counter-productive to
source also mentions that the FLN also used brutal tactics. But the
French interests. source does not mention the effects of any of this.

Examiner’s comment
There is good focus on the question
here, but the candidate should draw
Source E shows very clearly that French brutality and atrocities were
attention to the obvious link between
Source C and E. Source C talks about used by international bodies to condemn France. The FLN very skilfully
France as being ‘historically the used the news about this as a propaganda tool to muster up support
champion of human rights’, while from bodies such as the UN and the Non-Aligned Movement. Algerian
Source E refers to France’s claim to nationalists such as Ferhas Abbas played a big role in getting support for
epitomise ‘Western civilization’ and Algeria internationally. As a result of this France lost support for its claim
carry the banner for the ‘Rights of that Algeria was part of France, and instead there was more international
Man’. The candidate needs to point support for the Algerian cause. Here it is clear to see that French
out that the use of torture obviously
‘brutality’ and ‘atrocities’ were counter-productive to French interests.
conflicts with this notion.
52

All five sources give evidence of the fact that the French used torture in
Algeria, but only Sources A to C and E say something about the effects of
this. But from the information in these sources it is clear that the use of
torture by the French army in Algeria was counter-productive to French
Examiner’s comment
interests there. It increased international pressure on France to withdraw,
This is a strong conclusion which
focuses on the question and sums up it gave fuel to the anti-war movement at home, and it left a legacy of
the argument clearly. hatred towards the French in Algeria.

Overall examiner comments

There is good use of the sources, with clear references to them. There is also
some good own knowledge, which is integrated with information from the
sources. However, the candidate deals with each source separately and does
not show obvious links. A good answer should do more than simply paraphrase
each source separately. A good answer needs to develop an argument and use
the information from the sources to support it. The candidate also needs to
take a more critical look at some of the sources. Hence this answer fails to get
into Band 1 – but this is a sound Band 2 answer and so probably scores 6 marks
out of the 8 available.

Activity
Look again at the all sources, the simplified markscheme on page 48, and the
student answer above. Now try to write a few paragraphs to push the answer up
into Band 1, and so obtain the full 8 marks.

© Cambridge University Press 2011a

Paper 2 exam practice

Paper 2 skills and questions

For Paper 2, you have to answer two essay questions from two of the five
different topics offered. Very often, you will be asked to comment on two
states from two different IB regions of the world. Although each question has
a specific markscheme, a good general idea of what examiners are looking for
in order to be able to put answers into the higher bands can be gleaned from
the ‘generic’ markscheme on page 54. In particular, you will need to acquire
reasonably precise historical knowledge in order to address issues such as
cause and effect, or change and continuity, and to develop the ability to explain
historical developments in a clear, coherent, well-supported and relevant way.
You will also need to understand and be able to refer to aspects relating to
historical debates and interpretations.

Make sure you read the questions carefully, and select your questions wisely.
It is a good idea to produce a rough plan of each of the essays you intend to
attempt, before you start to write your answers: that way, you will soon know
whether you have enough own knowledge to answer them adequately.

Remember, too, to keep your answers relevant and focused on the question. For
example, don’t go outside the dates mentioned in the question, or answer on 53
individuals/states different from the ones identified in the question. Don’t just
describe the events or developments – sometimes, students just focus on one
key word or individual, and then write down all they know about it. Instead,
select your own knowledge carefully, and pin the relevant information to the
key features raised by the question. Also, if the question asks for ‘reasons’ and
‘results’, or two different countries, make sure you deal with all the parts of the
question. Otherwise, you will limit yourself to half marks at best.

Examiner’s tips
For Paper 2 answers, examiners are looking for clear/precise analysis and a
balanced argument linked to the question, with the good and precise use of
relevant own knowledge. In order to obtain the highest marks, you should be
able to refer to different historical debates/interpretations or relevant historians’
knowledge, making sure it is relevant to the question.

Common mistakes
• When answering Paper 2 questions, try to avoid simply describing what
happened. A detailed narrative, with no explicit attempts to link the
knowledge to the question, will only get you half marks at most.
• If the question asks you to select examples from two different regions, make
sure you don’t choose two states from the same region. Every year, some
candidates do this, and so limit themselves to – at best – only 12 out of the
20 marks available.

© Cambridge University Press 2011

 Exam practice

Simplified markscheme

Band Marks

Clear analysis/argument, with very specific and relevant

own knowledge, consistently and explicitly linked to
1 the question. A balanced answer, with references to 17–20
historical debate/historians, where appropriate.

Relevant analysis/argument, mainly clearly focused

on the question, and with relevant supporting own
2 knowledge. Factors identified and explained, but not all 11–16
aspects of the question fully developed or addressed.

EITHER shows reasonable relevant own knowledge,

3 identifying some factors, with limited focus/explanation 8–10
– but mainly narrative in approach, with question only
implicitly addressed OR coherent analysis/argument, but
limited relevant/precise supporting own knowledge.

Some limited/relevant own knowledge, but not linked

4 effectively to the question. 6–7

Short/general answer, but with very little accurate/

5 relevant knowledge and limited understanding of the 0–5
question.
54

Student answers
Those parts of the student answers that follow will have brief examiner’s
comments in the margins, as well as a longer overall comment at the end.
Those parts of student answers that are particularly strong and well-focused
will be highlighted in red. Errors/confusions/loss of focus will be highlighted in
blue. In this way, you should find it easier to follow why marks were – or were
not – awarded.

Paper 2 practice questions: The Algerian War

1 Assess the role of Algerian nationalism as a cause of the war that broke out
in 1954.
2 Analyse the impact of the Algerian War on civilians in both Algeria and
France.
3 Account for the victory of the Algerian nationalists in the Algerian War.
4 Examine the nature of the Algerian War and explain why it was not simply
a war of national liberation.
5 Analyse the results of the Algerian War.

Question
Assess the role of Algerian nationalism as a cause of the war that broke out in
1954.
[20 marks]

Skill
Analysis/argument/assessment

© Cambridge University Press 2011

 Paper 2 exam practice

Examiner’s tip
Look carefully at the wording of this question, which asks you to link the role
of nationalism with the causes of the Algerian War. You need to assess what
impact nationalism had as a cause of the war, and not simply trace the rise
of Algerian nationalism. Remember, too, that you need to acknowledge that
there were other causes as well. And don’t just describe what happened: what
is needed is explicit analysis and explanation, with some precise supporting
own knowledge.

Student answer

Algerian nationalism was a key cause of the Algerian War but it was not
the only cause. Other factors, such as the determination of France to hold
on to Algeria, French policy and actions in Algeria, and the attitude of the Examiner’s comment
This is a good, clearly focused
white settlers – the colons – also led to the outbreak of the war.
introduction.

When the French first colonised Algeria there was fierce resistance to it 55
led by Abd al-Qadir, and perhaps the roots of Algerian nationalism lay
in this. However, historians think that it was only after the First World
War that the beginnings of Algerian nationalism can be traced. Many
Algerians fought for France or worked in French factories to support the
French war effort. Some stayed on in France and formed a movement
called the North African Star. The main aim of this movement was to
work for better living and working conditions for migrant workers, but
it also wanted better rights for Muslims and independence for Algeria.
Workers took these ideas home with them. The leader Messali Hadj
played a big role in promoting Algerian nationalism, and when he
returned to Algeria from France he formed a political party called the
Party of the Algerian People. But the French authorities banned it.

Examiner’s comment
Messali Hadj was not the only leader at this time who wanted better Here, the student has omitted the
rights for Algerians. Ferhat Abbas was the leader of a group of moderates important developments in the
who wanted the same rights for Muslims in Algeria as the French settlers nationalist movement during the
had, but did not mind keeping the link between Algeria and France. Ben Second World War, such as the
Badis was another leader who influenced the growth of a nationalist Manifesto that was drawn up, the
greater unity between Abbas and
movement. He did not lead a political movement, but his Ulema was
Messali Hadj, and so on. Mention
a religious movement which wanted more recognition and rights for
should also be made of the situation
the Algerian language, religion and culture. All three leaders – Messali in Algeria at the end of the war and
Hadj, Abbas and Ben Badis – had some support, but there was no strong the demonstrations in favour of
Algerian nationalist movement until after the Second World War. independence.

© Cambridge University Press 2011

 Exam practice

France had always regarded Algeria as part of France and not a colony.
Examiner’s comment This was fairly easy to do as the two were quite close geographically.
It would be helpful here to show Nearly a million European settlers (mostly from France) had settled in
an understanding of the wider Algeria. After the Second World War, other European colonial powers, like
perspective by mentioning changes the British and the Dutch, started to give independence to their colonies,
in Africa after the Second World War but the French did not want to and instead went on ruling Algeria as if it
and a new outlook in the post-war were part of France. One reason for this was the strong influence that the
world towards racism and self-
settlers had in French politics.
determination.

Examiner’s comment
This section should explain how the The settlers owned most of the best farmland in Algeria, and most of the
attitude of the colons towards reform businesses. They led a privileged lifestyle where the laws favoured them,
motivated the Algerian nationalist and kept the Muslim majority in an inferior position. When the French
movement. Also, the student should government had tried to introduce a few reforms to the system before the
have explained that these two factors
Second World War, the settlers had objected so strongly that the French
– French colonial policies after the war
and the presence of the colons – were
government had backed down. After the Second World War, the settlers
also causes of the war. were just as determined to maintain their powers and privileges in Algeria.
56

Events in Sétif in Algeria in May 1945 brought matters to a head.

Protestors carrying the flag of the nationalist movement clashed with
police. This was followed by brutal attacks on the Muslim population by
the police and by the settlers. Thousands of people were killed. Historians
see this as the turning point which changed the situation in Algeria. It
united the nationalist movement, and even moderates like Abbas began
to demand independence for Algeria.

The harsh repression after the events in Sétif spurred on the nationalist
movement. The French government did not realise the extent of the
growing nationalist movement and tried to make last-minute reforms,
which were rejected by the nationalists. In 1954, militant nationalists
formed the FLN with the objective of overthrowing French rule in Algeria.
Examiner’s comment They launched a series of attacks in Algiers in November 1954, and this
There is a clear focus once again on was the start of the Algerian War.
the question here. But the student
mentions factors that have not been
The growth of the nationalist movement was therefore a direct cause of
discussed in the essay. The conclusion the outbreak of the war. But the rise of nationalism has to be understood
should round off the argument and not against the background of French colonial policies after Second World War,
raise new issues that have not already the presence and attitude of the European minority in Algeria, and the
been covered. discriminatory policies towards the Algerian Muslim population.

© Cambridge University Press 2011

 Paper 2 exam practice

Overall examiner’s comment

There is good evidence of the candidate’s supporting own knowledge. In the
introduction and conclusion to the essay, the candidate has made a good attempt
to focus on the question. However, this focus needs to be maintained throughout
the essay. Too much of the essay tends to be narrative and descriptive, rather
than explanation or analysis. Hence this answer fails to get beyond Band 3.

Activity
Look again at the simplified markscheme on page 54 and the student answer
above. Now try to write a few extra sentences or paragraphs to push the answer
up into Band 2. Focus on trying to analyse rather than narrate what happened.

57

© Cambridge University Press 2011

 Acknowledgements

Further information
Afigbo, A. E., Ayandele, E. A., et al. 1971. The Making of Modern Africa: Volume 2.
Harlow, UK. Longman.
Alexander, Martin and Keiger, J. F. V. 2002. France and the Algerian War. London,
UK. Frank Cass.
Arnold, Guy. 2005. Africa: A Modern History. London, UK. Atlantic Books.
Fanon, Frantz. 1965. A Dying Colonialism. New York, USA. Grove Press.
Horne, Alastair. 2006. A Savage War of Peace: Algeria 1954–1962. New York, USA.
New York Review Books.
Mazrui, Ali A. 2003. General History of Africa: Volume 8: Africa since 1935. Cape
Town, South Africa. New Africa Books/UNESCO.
McDougall, J. 2006. History and the Culture of Nationalism in Algeria. Cambridge,
UK. Cambridge University Press.
Meredith, Martin. 2005. The State of Africa: A History of Fifty Years of Independence.
Johannesburg, South Africa. Jonathan Ball Publishers.
Metz, Helen Chapin (ed.). 1994. Algeria: A Country Study. Washington, USA. GPO
for the Library of Congress.
Oliver, Roland and Atmore, Anthony. 2004. Africa since 1800. Cambridge, UK.
Cambridge University Press (5th edition).
Roy, Jules. 1961. The War in Algeria, New York, USA. Grove Press.
Schalk, David. 2005. War and the Ivory Tower. Lincoln, USA. University of Nebraska
Press.
Shillington, Kevin. 1989. History of Africa. London, UK. Macmillan.
Stora, Benjamin. 2001. Algeria 1830–2000: A Short History. Ithaca, New York, USA.
Cornell University Press.
Talbot, John. 1980. The War Without a Name: France in Algeria 1954–1962. London,
58
UK. Faber and Faber.

Acknowledgements
The volume editor and publishers acknowledge the following sources of copyright
material and are grateful for the permissions granted. While every effort has been
made, it has not always been possible to identify the sources of all the material used,
or to trace all copyright holders. If any omissions are brought to our notice we will be
happy to include the appropriate acknowledgement on reprinting.

Picture Credits
p. 5 Roger-Viollet/Topfoto; p. 5 Wikimedia; p. 9 Wikimedia; p. 16 Ullstein/TopFoto;
p. 19 Getty Images; p. 22 ©Hulton-Deutsch Collection/Corbis; p. 26 © Bettmann/Corbis;
p. 27 Wikimedia; p. 28 Wikimedia/:Julien:; p. 29 Wikimedia; p. 33 ©AP/TopFoto; p. 34
Wikimedia; p. 35 ©Roger-Viollet/TopFoto; p. 38 ©Richard Melloul/Sygma/Corbis.

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