Lecture and reading notes on the Algerian War of Independence.
The Algerian War of Independence is a component of the HY113 module at LSE.
Notes are ideal for exam and assessment preparation.
Key Questions: Why was there violence? What was the nature of the violence? How and why
did violence end? How prevalent was torture and mob violence?
La Guerre D'Algérie Ou La Revolution = Algerian War for Independence; Independence is not
offered until 1962 (after many decades of bloodshed and war)
“A headlong rush to the brink of disaster followed by an outstanding victory”
During the conflict, approximately 1 million Algerian Muslims were killed and a further 1 million
European settlers were displaced (80,000 French soldiers were also killed)
Martha Hutchinson- Developments in Algeria during the Independence War went on to be a
blueprint for the tactics/ strategies of other terror organizations (such as Al-Qaeda, ANC etc)
General Paul Aussaresse (in Confessions pub. 2000): torture was damaging but necessary
Key Texts:
● J Byrne Mecca of Revolution: Algeria, Decolonization and the Third World (OUP,
2016)- places Algerian Independence struggle in a wider global context
● James McDougall A History of Algeria (2017)- C3, C4, C5
Key Arguments:
● Long durée = important factor with regards to violence, memory and the legacy of
French imperialism
● There was an absence of a strong/ restraining metropole which resulted in thwarted
attempts at nationalism; strong metropole would have also helped to moderate
Algerian political spectrum
● Violence in Algeria quickly became highly racialized
Origins of Extremism in Algeria:
● Franz Fanon: “native is ready for violence at all times...” (The Wretched of the Earth)
● McDougall: natives “always bore” “unlimited violence” and it was the role of settlers
to attempt to “punish” such “instincts”
● Colonialism failed; ‘civilizing mission’ did not bring much benefit or improvement to
the lives of ordinary Algerians; no cultural embrace of European ideas to moderate
extremism
● Francois Mitterand: “Algeria is France. France will recognize no authority other than
her own”; the existence of the French metropole was a persistent problem for
Algerian expressions of independence
● There is also a degree of blind hatred (almost reflective of certain integral aspects of
human nature? - link to JP Sartre?)
French imperialism in Africa:
● Personalized, an elite was based in Paris
● Empire mattered after 1945 both as a symbol of victory but also for security purposes
(France would not have withstood WW1 without the help of her colonies)
● Military and Empire were inseparable; Africa was the only continent that the French
military could effectively bully to demonstrate military strength
● Direct rule in Africa from Paris led to cultural racism; Africans were expected to
become French
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