Knick Laux’s Reviews > A Savage War of Peace: Algeria, 1954-1962 > Status Update

The finally achieved a ceasefire after over seven years of fighting. There is still a militant group of European settlers that want to disrupt the ceasefire by killing random Muslims in Oran and Algiers. The army decides to focus solely on eradicating these militants.

Another attempt at blockading the streets of Algiers from the colonizers, followed by a much stronger riot from the Muslim population in favor of independence. de Gaulle started leaning towards full independence for Algeria, which disturbed the generals who had been losing men fighting the rebels. A group of these generals, including some who had been removed earlier, organized a putsch which only lasted four days.

The Europeans in Algiers put up barricades to protest de Gaulle’s proposal for Algerian self-determination. The military attempted to sweep them out of the street and were fired upon resulting in a hundreds injured on both sides.

Collapse of the Fourth Republic under threat of coup. de Gaulle returns and is given six months of emergency powers. Terrorism jumps the Mediterranean to the streets of Paris. The politically aspirant generals are purged.

Multiple bombings of civilians from the FLN. Also the French military starts using electric and water torture on civilians. Almost half of all Muslims in Algiers were arrested at one point or another. Also oil is discovered in the deserts of Algeria.

The FLN has formed and attempted their first widespread attack. It didn’t go very well, and now French paratroopers have arrived with experience from Vietnam.

France colonized Algeria in 1830. By the end of World War One there were three different nationalist movements in Algeria seeking independence.