The Algerian War of Independence (1954-1962)
A French soldier watching a couple of suspected rebels. (Public Domain photo. Info can be found here)
The Algerian War of Independence was a war between France and the colony of Algeria that would start in similar ways to other African independence movements. This war started with non-violent protests and a general strike that would take over whole cities in the hopes of hurting the French badly enough for them to withdraw from the country. When the French repressed these protests in extreme fashion, including torture, it would lead the people to turn to violent guerrilla warfare and even acts of terrorism under the leadership of the National Liberation Front (FLN).
The original conquest of Algeria by the French was extremely violent, which would lead things to be tense in the country for the entire duration of the colony. The French would try to give Muslims full citizenship to calm the tense relationship, but very few people would take advantage of this because they were forced to renounce sharia law to do this. The Setif massacre (1945) would cause a major shift the relationship in Algeria even though it started with a celebration. A number of parades started after the Germans surrendered in WWII and the Algerian people were a major part of these. When the French and Muslim groups collided during these celebrations, it started a major riot among the people that would cause the death of over 100 French citizens and even some instances of rape. While few people supported this violence, the French response was so extreme that it unified the people
in ways that was unlikely before this. The French military bombed populations and executed a ton of people to deal with the violence, which resulted in the loss of between 1,000 and 45,000 people (depending on whose numbers you support). As monumental a moment as this was for the Algerian people, it was never really anything the French people were being told about.
The violence in this war would continue to be extreme on both sides due to the violence that caused it in the first place. A campaign of bombings and assassinations at cafes by rebels would cost over 5,000 lives and cause the French to label the rebels terrorists. These calls of terrorism may have been effective had the French not retaliated in brutal fashion. Those citizens who were against violence and willing to withdraw support from the rebels were turned back to being against the government by the perceived overboard response. While the French were attempting to ‘pacify’ the country the FLN chose to focus on major cities to increase attention to their cause. They were especially interested in gaining traction with the French people in understanding the seriousness of the cause. The French responded to this by bombing people with napalm, but when non-combatants were hit by the napalm they turned a ton of the more moderate people against them.
One aspect of guerrilla warfare that is often ignored is the semi civil war aspect of rebellions like this. In most cases, the rebels have to not only fight the power that had taken over the country, but also convince the people to support them instead of the powerful government. In this case, as is often the case, the rebels would try to force the loyalists into changing their opinion using rough tactics like kidnapping, murder, and torture. One of the most well-known instances of this in the Algerian wars was the Philippeville Massacre (1955) in which the FLN troops tried to escalate the war by killing a bunch of civilians in Philippeville. The FLN troops were given drugs to try to make sure they would do what was asked of them, and the result was that they killed 123 people including women and babies in the attack. You might think that this would turn the people against the rebels, but it actually worked to their benefit in the long run. The French response to this attack was swift and brutal and caused many more people to support the rebels over the French.
The French would eventually withdraw from this war based on some political issues they were having within the France. There was a coup called the May 1958 Crisis where the people wanted to get their old leader of Charles de Gaulle to come back to power. This caused the French 4th Republic to fall and they would withdraw from Algeria so that they could focus on their own political issues.
This war became infamous in history for its nasty nature and the 1.5 million people that were killed due to the war
The location of Algeria on a map. (Public Domain photo. Info can be found here)
.svg){kind=link}
(including war-related causes like starvation). Historians have looked at this war for years as a test case for counterinsurgency methods, hoping to find a way to effectively fight against guerrilla tactics. Unfortunately this war doesn’t really provide any solid answers either. Many claim that the use of torture and extreme violence by the French was what led to the loss, but since the rebels did that also it seems like a strange thing to claim. As for the fate of the Algerian people, the rebel leader Ahmed Ben Bella quickly became the first president of the country and the violence would calm soon after.