- European colonization found its golden age in the 19th th century. European countries are embarking on the colonization, among other things, of the African continent. Industrialization involves obtaining raw materials and finding economic outlets for production:colonization is a response to these expectations.
- Algeria was conquered before the great wave of the mid-19 th century, in 1830. It then became a settlement.
- As soon as the French arrived, resistance movements took shape. Abd el-Kader, who united Algerians unfavorable to the French presence, experienced his surrender in 1847. A demonstration for independence in May 1945 in Sétif was bloodily repressed.
November 1954
Characters
Charles de Gaulle
Francois Mitterrand
Guy Mollet
Procedure
The Algerian War began in November 1954. The 1 st November, the various movements favorable to the independence of Algeria, united in the National Liberation Front (FLN) begin an armed insurrection against France:in Greater Kabylie, simultaneous attacks are carried out.
The episode of Diên Biên Phu, in May 1954, marked the spirits:the French army experienced a real debacle in Vietnam, which gave hope for the other French colonies. However, the French government does not seem to measure the extent of the Algerian protest:François Mitterrand, then Minister of the Interior, assures that no negotiation is possible, and that Algeria remains France. He sends CRS companies to maintain order following the wave of attacks.
Consequences
- The fighting did not stop until Algeria gained independence in 1962. As early as 1955, François Mitterrand encouraged the use of force to contain independence activists. The army then began a colonial war:the combatants of the FLN, but also the civilian populations, were to experience arrests, torture, and population displacements. The war in Algeria notably caused the fall of the IV e Republic, the latter having not found a political solution to this conflict, and the return of De Gaulle.
- There are approximately 350,000 dead on the Algerian side, and 27,500 French soldiers. The war of memories between the different groups (Harkis, Pieds-noirs, Algerians, French) is still alive today. The question of torture, which raised much debate at the time of the conflict, is also a source of tension in collective memories.