Causes of the Algerian War/Revolution
there are many factors and causes that built up to the Algerian war. we will break those factors in two categories:
-immediate causes
-remote causes
There are many, many reason that started the Algerian War. the main reason is that the native algerians felt opressed and felt that even in their own country, they
were treated as if they were strangers. While most native Algerians were extremely poor and lived in bad conditions, the Europeans owned big houses and felt
home in Algeria. Not only that, The Europeans living in Algeria, also reffered to as "les pieds noirs" literally "the black feet" were, as i just mentionned very rich,
and owned the biggest farming sites, with very advanced agricultural machinery, while the native barely had enough to feed themselves. Not all algerians felt there
was an inequallity;in fact, most of the time, the French and Algeriens worked and lived very well together. Most of those Algerians later became Harkis during the war, meaning they served the french army against the FNL (the rebels wanting to freed the Algerian territory).
were treated as if they were strangers. While most native Algerians were extremely poor and lived in bad conditions, the Europeans owned big houses and felt
home in Algeria. Not only that, The Europeans living in Algeria, also reffered to as "les pieds noirs" literally "the black feet" were, as i just mentionned very rich,
and owned the biggest farming sites, with very advanced agricultural machinery, while the native barely had enough to feed themselves. Not all algerians felt there
was an inequallity;in fact, most of the time, the French and Algeriens worked and lived very well together. Most of those Algerians later became Harkis during the war, meaning they served the french army against the FNL (the rebels wanting to freed the Algerian territory).
Immediate causes:
Since the end of the second world war, Nationalism started significantly rising in Algeria. The Algerian population started showing their will and desire of freedom and independance. They became more and more rebelious.
in mid 1954, a few attacks, including the sabotage of a train killing 8 people and injuring many more started causing tension between the french and algeriams' who were at the time all considered French
France felt threatned by this so they reacted straight away and tried to calm the tension:
François Mitterrand, A french Minister declared: "Algeria is France". not long after, Pierre Mendès France (Radical-Socialist Party) declared: "One does not compromise when it comes to defending the internal peace of the nation, the unity and integrity of the Republic. The Algerian departments are part of the French Republic. They have been French for a long time, and they are irrevocably French. ... Between them and metropolitan France there can be no conceivable secession."
in mid 1954, a few attacks, including the sabotage of a train killing 8 people and injuring many more started causing tension between the french and algeriams' who were at the time all considered French
France felt threatned by this so they reacted straight away and tried to calm the tension:
François Mitterrand, A french Minister declared: "Algeria is France". not long after, Pierre Mendès France (Radical-Socialist Party) declared: "One does not compromise when it comes to defending the internal peace of the nation, the unity and integrity of the Republic. The Algerian departments are part of the French Republic. They have been French for a long time, and they are irrevocably French. ... Between them and metropolitan France there can be no conceivable secession."
Remote causes:
At the beginning of the 1950's, in Algeria, which was colonised by the french population, lived around one million of Europeans (mainly French) and around 8,5 million Muslims.The French Colonisation systeme was a very unfair and unequal. This sepaation between the French and the Muslims was mainly reflected by the living condition of the french comapred to the living condidtions of the Algerians. For instance, aFrench worker would gain 2,5 times more money than an Algerian worker, for a same job. Not only that, The European colonians had a very big amount of land while the majority of Algerians have nothing. Education wise, 9/10 Algerians were illiterate. On top of all of that, The Algerians were nicknamed "the indigenous".
Alot of Algerian that fought for France in world war 1 and world war 2 found it extremely unfair that they were still called "indigenous", Just as if they were considered as second-class citizens, even thought they took part in Serving for the French Nation during both World Wars.
This is Why, at the end of world war one, The Algerians waved a white flag to celebrate the victory instead of a blue-white-red flag (French Flag). This was one of the first times that the will of being independant was noticed. This caused riots in Setif.
Also, the weakness of France at the end of WW2, as well as its defeat by the Indochinese and Tunisian, encouraged the Algerian Nationalists to reach their final goal: Algerian Independance.
Alot of Algerian that fought for France in world war 1 and world war 2 found it extremely unfair that they were still called "indigenous", Just as if they were considered as second-class citizens, even thought they took part in Serving for the French Nation during both World Wars.
This is Why, at the end of world war one, The Algerians waved a white flag to celebrate the victory instead of a blue-white-red flag (French Flag). This was one of the first times that the will of being independant was noticed. This caused riots in Setif.
Also, the weakness of France at the end of WW2, as well as its defeat by the Indochinese and Tunisian, encouraged the Algerian Nationalists to reach their final goal: Algerian Independance.