Algerian War of Liberation
From Hobson's Choice
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Zones of operations, 1954-1962 Click for larger image |
(Nov 1954 to July 1959) Click for larger image |
A complex insurgency and civil war in Algeria that aimed at national liberation for the Arab majority; it ultimately involved a violent conflict among both the Arabs and the Europeans of the region. An important outcome of the war was the creation of the Fifth Republic in France (1958), a political earthquake that restored Gen. Charles de Gaulle to power and altered the political landscape in Europe.
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Context
Algeria fell under French rule between 1830 and 1847; in the years that followed, despite the good intentions proclaimed by Napoleon III, the indigenous Arab population was systematically reduced to penury and dependency. At the same time, a vast number of Europeans immigrated to Algeria and were awarded expropriated land.
The Uprising (1954-1957)
During World War I and II, many Algerians served in the French Army; at the end of the War, many demonstrated in Setif for their civil rights, and were massacred by the French army. For the next nine years, there was quiet and "reforms," in which a small, intensely gallicized Arab elite were accorded the right to vote. In November 1954, a series of bomb explosions across Algeria triggered a massive reprisal, followed by a buildup of security forces and arbitrary detention. However, there was almost no consequential rebel activity until 20 August 1955. By September '57, the FLN inside Algeria was essentially eradicated. Nevertheless, the uprising triggered a violent reaction on the political right; French Algerians became deeply divided over the future of liberalism in France generally, with the hard right propagating their opposition to liberalism through the military. Eventually, this became a French civil war waged in Algeria, between the Organisation de l'armée secrète (OAS) and the French state.
The Algerian Crisis (1958)
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Charles de Gaulle & Evian
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The OAS
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Independence for Algeria
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Implications of the War
The Algerian War of Liberation has been likened to the Iraq Invasion. Famously, A Savage War of Peace and The Battle of Algiers were widely distributed to planners at the Department of Defense after the postwar administration broke down.[1] The flaws in the comparison are fairly obvious: firstly, battlefield technology had changed immensely between 1955 and 2003. In Algeria, there had been a system of colonial rule and massive European settlement for 130 years; in Iraq, no such colonial settlement has occurred. Should the US government seek the creation of a permanent presence in Iraq, it would be maintained by professional combatants, not a gigantic civilian cohort. Algeria was a territory of France, in which Arabs were mostly denied citizenship; at the end, reforms had gone as far as creating a racially segregated parliament (one house for Europeans, another for Arabs). In Iraq, the invasion and occupation have accomplished almost nothing whatever beyond the destruction of a fairly functional society. Despite protestations to the contrary, almost all resources spent in Iraq have been either on material destruction or coercion, or else, on corruption.
Notes
- ↑ Re: A Savage War of Peace, see Thomas E. Ricks, "Aftershocks" Washington Post (19 Nov 2006); Re: screening of The Battle of Algiers, see David Ignatius, "Think Strategy, Not Numbers" Washington Post (26 Aug 2003); for a critique of the movie's military lessons, see Charles Paul Freund, "A primer for The Battle of Algiers," Slate (27 Aug 2003).
See Also
External Links
- David Galula, Pacification in Algeria, 1956–1958
, RAND (1963)
- Colonel Karl Goetzke, US Army, "Review of the U.S. Army's Current Counterinsurgency Doctrine Using the Algerian War of National Liberation" , Strategic Studies Institute (2005)
- Alistair Horne, A Savage War of Peace New York Review Books Classics (1977)
- Lt Col. Lou Di Marco, US Army, "Losing the Moral Compass: Torture and Guerre Revolutionnaire in the Algerian War", US Army War College (Summer 2006)
- Ben Stora, Algeria: a Short History (chapter synopses online), Cornell University (2001)
