The Struggle

The Algerian War was a long attempt at independence for the Algerian people. It was marked by many deaths, massacres, guerrilla warfare and eventually the independence of the Algerian people from France.

To the French the initial movements taken by their government was considered a "pacification," but it was far from that. A chief of police in Paris was responsible for an attack on a peaceful demonstration resulting in at least 40 deaths, the Setif massacre that killed at least 1000 Algerian demonstrators, and the Cafe wars waged on France resulting in the deaths of around 5000 lives.

The moving force in Algeria that began their struggle for independence was a group called the FLN whose political theorist was Frantz Fanon, and the MNA. I was able to find a brief clip of the FLN fighting against the French during the war on YouTube. Both of these groups engaged in violent warfare throughout Algeria in an attempt to gain independence from France. This resulted in the horrendous murders of many French living in the country at the time. Frances response was an increasing amount of countermeasures to sequester the guerrilla fighters and the leftist groups.

After many struggles and much bloodshed the French government decided in 1962 it would leave Algeria after a vote of independence, which did pass unanimously. Even after this there was still some violence carried out in Algeria by the FLN to purge it of the French citizens.

As I finished reading this I could not help but laugh at the hypocrisy of some of the European nations. We as people of the U.S. are often criticized for being war and power hungry, but in my opinion the atrocities pulled by many of these nation far outshadow some of the things the U.S. has done to other countries, after all they are the ones who colonized this country.