Effects and Consequences of the war:
On both France and Algeria
On both France and Algeria
Ater eight years of fighting, the Algerian war finally came to an end in 1962. The main and most important consequence of this was the decolonisation of Algeria, and the creation of the Country Algeria. of course, there were many more consequences for both nations.
The Algerian was one of the most horrible wars. My grandpa, who fought in the war and who i unfortunately didnt know too well, always refused to talk about the Algerian war. All he ever said was that it was a dirty and nasty war. That the war was all about settling of scores by torturing and killing innocents.
The French miltary used an awfull lot of torturing tactics against FLN members, while the FLN also used torture but to a smaller scalle, and their mthods were not as discriminate. It is believed that torturing only fueled the war even more.
Algeria did win their independence in the end, but to a very high cost. it is estimated that over one million five hundread thousand people died due to the constant fighting. Historians however tend to say that this death toll is underestimated and it could be far higher even though the Algreian governemt does claim that the death toll is under one million. There have been many casualties of the war that havent been recorded.
Death Toll:
-France: 30 000 deaths
-Algeria: 250 000
The Algerian was one of the most horrible wars. My grandpa, who fought in the war and who i unfortunately didnt know too well, always refused to talk about the Algerian war. All he ever said was that it was a dirty and nasty war. That the war was all about settling of scores by torturing and killing innocents.
The French miltary used an awfull lot of torturing tactics against FLN members, while the FLN also used torture but to a smaller scalle, and their mthods were not as discriminate. It is believed that torturing only fueled the war even more.
Algeria did win their independence in the end, but to a very high cost. it is estimated that over one million five hundread thousand people died due to the constant fighting. Historians however tend to say that this death toll is underestimated and it could be far higher even though the Algreian governemt does claim that the death toll is under one million. There have been many casualties of the war that havent been recorded.
Death Toll:
-France: 30 000 deaths
-Algeria: 250 000
Algeria
This war left the country devastated. Algeria were now on their own. Algeria's economy and society completely sank, and the European Colons left the country. Algeria was left with absolutely no infrastructure such as managers, doctors, teachers,engeneers and other people to run the country. Since most muslims were in the incapacity to pursue these types of jobs as they were mostley lower class workers of farmers , many muslims became homeless, and the whole country was suffering from an after war where all the buildings and cities have been destroyed, and where every street reminds you of the war. There was also an incredible amount of people suffering many kind of sicknesses.
It is known that when you give a country its independance, you must educate its people first, to make sure they will know how to run the country. Unfortunately, the Algerians were lacking an education system that would have allowed them a fresh start.
As mentionned, France truely devasted the country after leaving. The colons destroyed or took with them all sort of valuables so Algeria had to go in a state of socialism but as you can imagine, this did not last long, because of the mismanagement of the governemt and the incompetant and corrupt leaders, setting up a whole new system was not an easy task for an undevelopped country like Algeria.
Those issues then led to the Algerian civil war in 1991, opposing the Algerian government against Islamic rebels. there were alot of terrorist and attacks all over the Algerian territory. Due to that civil war, terrorism is still a problem in Algeia.
Talking about modern Day algeria, it has a a high unemplyement rate, and still considered as an under develooed country. Some people say that it is France's fault that Algeria is doing so bad nowadays, others say that it is Algeria's fault because they asked for their independance. Often veterans think that Algeria would have been much better off with the French still ruling them. Back then, they say it was organised and Algeria was not doing too bad and a bit more equality between the French and the Algerians (which the french were ready to do) would have been enough. they say that the whole independance war could have been avoided and therefore, it was a useless war.
The Harkis:
It is known that when you give a country its independance, you must educate its people first, to make sure they will know how to run the country. Unfortunately, the Algerians were lacking an education system that would have allowed them a fresh start.
As mentionned, France truely devasted the country after leaving. The colons destroyed or took with them all sort of valuables so Algeria had to go in a state of socialism but as you can imagine, this did not last long, because of the mismanagement of the governemt and the incompetant and corrupt leaders, setting up a whole new system was not an easy task for an undevelopped country like Algeria.
Those issues then led to the Algerian civil war in 1991, opposing the Algerian government against Islamic rebels. there were alot of terrorist and attacks all over the Algerian territory. Due to that civil war, terrorism is still a problem in Algeia.
Talking about modern Day algeria, it has a a high unemplyement rate, and still considered as an under develooed country. Some people say that it is France's fault that Algeria is doing so bad nowadays, others say that it is Algeria's fault because they asked for their independance. Often veterans think that Algeria would have been much better off with the French still ruling them. Back then, they say it was organised and Algeria was not doing too bad and a bit more equality between the French and the Algerians (which the french were ready to do) would have been enough. they say that the whole independance war could have been avoided and therefore, it was a useless war.
The Harkis:
The Harkis are the Algeriens that decided to fight against the FLN along with the french army during the Algerian War. After the Evian agreements, which marked an end to the Algerian war in March 1962 and gave Algeria its independance, around 100 000 harkis and their family left Algeria for the first time in their lifes and went to France where they were put in camps right away. they left because they were scared that the FLN would kill them and call them traitors for fighting against them. In fact, At the end of the Algerian war, the French took all the guns and weapons that they lended to the Harkis back and left the Harkis there, with no way to protect themselves or their families. Starting in April, murders of Harkis took place more and more with no intervention of the French army.Even though French officers and NCOs have helped thousands of Harkis to go to France, the biggest majority of them stayed in Algeria and tens of thousands were murdered. Nowadays, the surving Harkis feel like they have been betrayed by France. They feel like they are not welcome in France, but not welcome in Algeria. meaning that there is no home for them. It still happens that the Harkis get hate and get threatened for being Harkis and being traitors by Algerians and sometimes even by French people.
France
For France, there has been some huge changes caused by the Algerian war. First of all, the most obvious reason is that they lost Algeria. This was bad for France, mainly because of the Sahara that was full of oil, which was and is the most valuable resource to any developed modern country. Second of all, the Algerian Revolution marked an end to the 4th republic of France, and the start of the 5th republic. The 4th republic did help straighten France economically and financially, but its ministarial instability did not survive the Algerian war. This is why the president Charles de Gaulle created a new constitution. Third of all, after the war, not only did the French people and soldiers come back to France, but so did thousands of Algerians, mainly Harkis that left Algeria as they didnt feel safe there. France, which was not prepared for all those new arrivants, put all the Algerians in camps as first, and did not aloud them to mix with the French population. France also bulit huge improvised buildings, meant to host the Algerians temporarily, but ended up not being temporary at all.