Algeria: France's Undeclared War

494 Pages·2012·5.98 MB·English

by  Martin Evans

ALGERIA
THE MAKING OF THE MODERN WORLD
This group of narrative histories focuses on key moments and events in the
twentieth century to explore their wider significance for the development of the
modernworld.
PUBLISHED
TheFallofFrance:TheNaziInvasionof1940,JulianJackson
ABitterRevolution:China’sStrugglewiththeModernWorld,RanaMitter
DynamicofDestruction:CultureandMassKillingintheFirstWorldWar,AlanKramer
Sharpeville:AnApartheidMassacreanditsConsequences,TomLodge
Algeria:France’sUndeclaredWar,MartinEvans
SERIESADVISERS
PROFESSORCHRISBAYLY,UniversityofCambridge
PROFESSORRICHARDJ.EVANS,UniversityofCambridge
PROFESSORDAVIDREYNOLDS,UniversityofCambridge
ALGERIA:
FRANCE’S
UNDECLARED
WAR
MARTIN EVANS
1
3
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To Abdul with love
Dunkerque
GERMANY
Paris
FRANCE
Lyon
ITALY
Aix-en-Provence
Marseille
L
A
G
U
T SPAIN
R
O
P
Mediterranean Sea
Algiers
Constantine
Oran
Bordj
Bou Arreridj
MOROCCO TUNISIA
ALGERIA
LIBYA
A
NI
A
T
RI
U
A MALI
M Tamanrasset
400 miles NIGER
ContemporaryAlgeriaandFrance
Acknowledgements
B ordj Bou Arreridj is a small city of 169,009 inhabitants in eastern
Algeria. Well known for its food and hospitality, Bordj is situated in
themidstofacountrysidethatproducesthebulkofthecountry’swheatand
barley:hence thearea’snicknameas Algeria’sbreadbasket. Towalkdown
thestreetsofBordjBouArreridj,asIdidinApril2010,istofeelthehandof
history.Thereisamuseumdedicatedtotheveteranswhofoughtagainstthe
Frenchbetween1954and1962;acemeteryforthefallenmartyrs;amonu-
ment to the national liberation struggle; a statute commemorating Mo-
hammedEl-MokraniwholedahugerevoltintheregionagainsttheFrench
in 1871. In this manner Bordj Bou Arreridj is typical. Every village, town,
andcityinAlgeriahasthesametypeofmonuments:anever-presentpublic
memory that is encapsulated in the massive memorial—the 97-metre-high
Riad-El-Feth—that dominates the Algiers skyline. Inaugurated on 5 July
1982,exactlytwentyyearsafterindependencefromtheFrench,atthebase
of the abstract monument are three huge male bronze figures, proud and
defiant, which represent ‘popular resistance to the French occupation’; the
‘National Liberation Army’; and the present ‘Popular National Army’.
Underneaththemonument,theMuseumtotheNationalLiberationStrug-
gle climaxes with a domed room, decorated in gilded verses from the
Qu’ran, that contains a single illuminated stone: the symbol of the ‘unity
of the Algerian people and its heroic resistance’.
In contrast, across the Mediterranean in France, there is no equivalent
public memory. Unlike World War One, or the World War Two Resis-
tance,publicmonumentshavebeenlocal,piecemealaffairs.Thosethatexist
are the result of pressure from below by specific communities who want
recognition of how they suffered during the Algerian War. Significantly,
too,thediversityofthesemonumentsistestamenttotheongoingmemory
waroverAlgeriawithincontemporaryFrance.Thus,inPariswecanfinda
PlaceMauriceAudindedicatedto thememoryof anAlgerian Communist
Party member who disappeared at the hands of French paratroopers in
viii acknowledgements
Algiers in 1957 and a plaque on the Pont Saint Michel bridge to Algerians
whoweremurderedbyFrenchpolicethereon17October1961.Whilein
Aix-en-Provence there is Place Bachaga Boualam, marking the life of the
most prominent pro-French Algerian from the late 1950s, and in Nice a
memorial to the French settlers which also includes a plaque to fallen
membersoftheextremistpro-FrenchAlgeriaorganizationtheOrganisation
Arme´e Secre`te (OAS) who are called ‘the martyrs of French Algeria’.
Two different patterns of remembering; measures of the enduring signifi-
canceofthesubjectofthisbook,namelytheorigins,experienceandlegacyof
theAlgerianWarofIndependence1954to1962—aseminaleventintwenti-
eth-centuryworldhistory.Assuchthebookwillbedealingwithbroadissues—
colonialism, nationalism, war, the impact of transnational ideals—but it will
alsobeattunedtotheparticularitiesofAlgerianhistory:acombinationofthe
genericandspecificthatisabsolutelyvitalinunderstandingtheArabworldas
thisregionexperiencesthetumultuouseventsofthe‘ArabSpring’.
In completing this book I must first thank the British Academy which
awarded me a Leverhulme Senior Fellowship in 2007–8. In addition the
BritishAcademyalsofinancedfieldworkinFrance,participationintheRude´
SeminaronFrenchHistoryinAdelaidein2006,andathree-yearprojecton
anoralhistoryofAlgerianandSenegaleseveteransfromtheAlgerianWarof
Independence(Oralhistoryacrossgenerations:aresearchprogrammewith
the universities of Dakar and Algiers, <http://www.port.ac.uk/research/
africanoralhistory>). In the last case this facilitated workshops at the Uni-
versities of Algiers and Dakar in 2010 and 2011 that produced fascinating
insights into the complexities of memory and history in contemporary
Africa. Equally I must thank the Arts and Humanities Research Council
which financed the research leave that allowed me to write up the bulk of
this book. And finally I must thank the Centre for European and Interna-
tional Studies Research at the University of Portsmouth which generously
financedresearchtripstoAlgeria,BelgiumandFrance.
IntermsofcolleaguesImustthankMeganVaughnwhofirstapproached
mewiththeideaforthisbookontheadviceofMarkMazower.ThereafterI
could not have begun to trace the long and complex history of Algeria
withouttheideasofstimulatingcolleaguesattheUniversityofPortsmouth,
above all Walid Benkhaled, Tony Chafer, Emmanuel Godin, and Natalya
Vince,eachofwhomcommentedonthemanuscript.Equally,writingthis
book gives me a chance to thank a generation of graduate students at
Portsmouth—Enrico Cernigoi, Marianne Durrand, Fiona Haig, Manus
acknowledgements ix
McGrogan,TobiasReckling,MonicaRiera,andJoWarson—eachofwhom
hasbroughtnewunderstandingstothevitalrealismofcontemporaryhistory,
as well as those final-year students in the School of Languages and Areas
Studies who took my final-year option in Algerian history and participated
in the annual Algeria workshops. Again this teaching experience has done
somuchtodeepenmyknowledgeandunderstandingofthesubject.
Beyond Portsmouth, in the rest of the UK, Algeria, Australia, Canada,
Senegal,and theUSA,I mustalso thank Richard Evans, AlistairHorne,Jim
House, Roderick Kedward, Sylvie The´nault, Martin Thomas, and Ryme
Seferdjeli who read the manuscript. For their insights and suggestions I am
sincerelygrateful.Aspecialmentionmustalsobemadeofthosewhowereso
helpful at the Socialist Party Archive in Paris—Fre´de´ric Ce´pe`de, Denis Le-
febvre,andGillesMorin.ThanksalsotoNaomiGraham,whosokindlygave
memuchofherlatehusband’s(BruceGraham)personalarchiveontheFrench
Socialist Party, which proved invaluable. Importantly, too, I have benefited
fromconversationswithAttika-YasmineAbbes-Kara,RobertAldrich,Martin
Alexander,RobertBaldock,CatherineBarry,ChristopherBayly,BadiaBen-
belkacem, Raphae¨lle Branche, Michael Brett, Phoebe Clapham, Claire El-
dridge,MohammedHarbi,JulianJackson,MalikaKebbas,CheikhAhmadou
Bamba Khoule´, John King, Zineb Lalaouine, James McDougall, Margaret
Majumdar,ClareMarynower,CheikhAntaMbaye,GilbertMeynier,Samia
Mitchell,CliveMyrie, SabreaOughton,MalikaRahal,EugeneRogan,Lydia
A¯ıtSaadi,Cherif KhaledSabeur,Me´zianeSa¯ıdi,SokhnaSane´,GavinSchaffer,
Ibrahima Seck, Martin Shipway, Daniel Stone, Ibrahima Thioub, Stephen
Tyre,andMichaelWillis.Significantly,too,Iwouldliketothanktheteamat
themagazineofHistoryToday—SheilaCorr,CharlotteCrow,PeterFurtado,
KathrynHadley,andPaulLay—whoinbringinginformed,well-researched
historytoawideraudiencehavealwaysbeenopentoallthingsAlgerian.Then
atOxfordUniversityPressMatthewCottonhasbeenasuperbeditorthrough-
out,incrediblypatientandalwaysencouraging,whileJeremyLangworthydid
a fine job of copy-editing, and Emma Barber and Clifford Willis played a
crucialroleduringthefinalproductionprocess.EmmanuellePe´risucceeded
admirablyintrackingdowntheillustrations.Finally,asregards,myfamily—
Lucy,Hannah,CalumandSkye—Icannotbegintothankthemenoughfor
theirlove,patience,andsupport.
Martin Evans
Algiers
April 2011