B. P. Rinehart’s Reviews > 'A Savage War of Peace: Algeria, 1954-62' > Status Update

Since I last updated on this book, much has passed. But to keep it short: De Gaulle's goal of a peace settlement on purely French terms fell apart because of extremists on both sides, there was a military putsch by four generals in Algeria that failed thanks to the majority of the French military outside of Algeria being completely loyal to De Gaulle, and the first round of peace talks in Evian have begun.

The last chapter was a full look at the total ambiguousness of de Gaulle's policy towards Algeria and how after the "Barricades Week" hardliners in both the French and FLN camp would influence all decisions being made with FLN hardliners getting the upper-hand by having de Gaulle de-facto recognize the FLN government-in-exile after saying that he would not recognize any one actively working for the FLN.

We've gone from the FLN soldiers and militants vs the French army to right-wing paramilitaries within the French army vs de Gaulle and the French government all stemming out of de Gaulle's determination for Algerians to vote on...self-determination. The last chapter documented the infamous "Barricades Week" episode when insurrectionists in Algiers reveal themselves.

Footnote by Horne: "One of the more curious and less easily explained sidelights of the Algerian war was the presence in its more violent aspects, on both sides, of so many from a profession dedicated to the saving of human life."

The last chapter recaps that though the French army has totally defeated the FLN militarily, in doing so they have lost the confidence of the Algerian Muslims. For de Gaulle this means that self-determination has to be on the table.

The last chapter recounted de Gaulle's coming to power from the FLN's point-of-view. This was probably the closest they came to total collapse and the French were none the wiser. The divisions created by French Intelligence were bearing fruit inside Algeria, but the creation of a new government-in-exile in Tunisa helped stabilize things while a new figure, Houari Boumédiène, would bring the ALN under-control.

De Gaulle's return to power was a mixed result. For France it was the beginning of the Fifth French Republic and the end to post-war chaos. For Algeria: it depended on who you were. The army was brought back under control, but the political situation was not as different. De Gaulle could've ended the war between May-June 1958, but his slowness to act ensured that Independence was inevitable.

The last chapter detailed the end of the French Fourth Republic and Charles de Gaulle coming back to power as Supreme Commander President of a new Fifth French Republic. All the factions in Algeria were fully expecting that de Gaulle would do what they wanted, but the books narrative is suggesting that they are all about to be let down.

By the middle of 1958, Metropolitan France had lost almost full control of the Army in Algeria...and simply was not able to put out a stable government causing the fall of the French Fourth Republic. While winning the war inside Algeria, they were losing the war outside of it. This brings back Charles de Gaulle from his 13-year self-imposed exile and the creation of the current French Fifth Republic.

The last chapter was about the world starting to take notice of the war. In particular was the US Government before the Cuban Missile Crisis and the escalation of Vietnam was much more willing to be seen as sympathetic to the Third World in order to counter the Second World. This approach was pioneered FLN diplomats based in the US and a sympathetic US Senator John F. Kennedy. We also learn more of Tunisia's role.