The Algerian War lasted from November 1st, 1954, to March 19th, 1962.
Today marks the 70th anniversary of an anticolonial war, the significance of which cannot be overestimated:
. It was arguably a continuum of the genocidal series of wars undertaken by France between 1830 and 1875.
. It directly led to great military and political upheavals: the military coup led by Brigadier General Jacques Massu brought down the 4th French Republic in 1958 and brought about the return of General Charles de Gaulle to the centre of power as the first President of the 5th Republic. De Gaulle's subsequent "betrayal" of the promise to keep Algeria a part of France ("Algerie Francaise") led to the "Generals Putsch" in Algiers in 1961 and after its failure, the formation of the O.A.S. (Organisation de l'Armee Secrete), the underground movement of French military personnel which sought to assassinate de Gaulle on numerous occasions.
. It formed the backdrop to the theories on counterinsurgency devised by the French military officers Lieutenant Colonel David Galula and Colonel Roger Trinquier.
. It led to the creation of "La Main Rouge" ("The Red Hand"), a covert arm of the state which used terroristic methods to wage war which was arguably a forerunner of the MRF (Military Reaction Force) run by the British Army during the Troubles in Northern Ireland and the FLLF (Front for the Liberation of Lebanon from Foreigners) run by the Northern Command of the Israeli Defence Force in Lebanon during the Lebanese Civil War.
. It formed the background to a body of literature produced by Frantz Fanon who was arguably the most influential anti-colonial thinker of his time.
. It was immortalised in popular culture by the 1966 Gillo Pontecorvo film The Battle of Algiers.
© Adeyinka Makinde (2024).
Adeyinka Makinde is a writer based in London, England.