Part 4: Case Studies: Nov. 24-29: FLN (Front de Liberation National) and Revolution in Algeria Nov. 24 Overview: rise of FLN, Battle for Independence, legacies Nov. 26, 29 FILM Battle of Algiers
Colonial Algeria Algeria: - case where Islamic jihad in modern sense, succeeded - if French feared (falsely) imagined militant tendencies, international networks among Murid of Senegal - faced both unsuccessfully in Algeria Story is one of: - growing use of ideology to unify colonial peoples in post WWII world of decolonization - growing acceptance association of ideology with people by the colonial powers - growing internationalization of war, uniting religious/secular interests - growing interrelationship between fortunes and future colonized and colonizers: Islam remains key
Colonial Algeria Algeria: - considered Algerie Francaise part of France since occupation Algiers 1830 - first colony in Africa: climate, land attracted almost 1 million settlers 19 th C (among 7 million Algerians) - known as pieds noirs (literally black feet ) or colons : established vineyards, plantations, businesses on coast, in hinterland - economy pushed settles inland, pulled French administration/military with them - initial occupation achieved at cost of Ottoman regime - attempts to move beyond Algiers engaged resistance Berbers (mountains, desert) - Abd al-qadir launched jihad; Saharan Tuareg massacred Flatters reconnaissance mission 1880-81
Colonial Algeria Colons saw themselves as French, belonging to overseas province: - while other colonies in Africa settled by Europeans saw growing tensions between local and imperial administration Algeria experienced few of them Postcard (right) I am sending you a package to be picked up at the railway station. The babies are doing well; they have just taken a walk by the beach. I shall write you shortly at greater length. Warm kisses to all of you. Martha
Colonial Algeria Algerians: - Algerians moved in and out of France as workers (mostly unskilled) - like all North African colonies, part of French Union - better policed, more military presence than metropolis - as elsewhere (eg. Senegal): small educated elite formed through colonial education - in inter-war years constituted body of nationalists (similar to groups elsewhere Francophone Africa) - differed to extent that they also identified with larger Arab, Muslim nationalist movements stretching across North Africa - rooted in growing Egyptian nationalist, Muslim identity - ideology not contained or defined by colony, regional ethnicity
Colonial Algeria Political context: - after short-lived role socialists in post-war France, Gaullist party became powerful following 1951 elections - more right wing, aligning with colons interests - began openly repressing local inhabitants (in Morocco, Tunisia as well) - spokespeople from latter colonies turned to UN to censure French policies as being contrary to post-war democratic ideals: failed Opposite effect: French coalesced in face of external interference
Colonial Algeria - Tunis: armed resistance broke out, nationalist leader arrested - Morocco: uprisings led to deposition and exile of Sultan - 1951-54 time of tensions in all three colonies - 1954 armed resistance in Algeria forced French to let Morocco and Tunisia go but to hold on to Algeria! Resistance in Algeria: led by Front de Liberation National (FLN) - guerilla warfare, terrorism countryside and city, including capital of Algiers
Algeria at War: with itself and France Important to Understand: - colons considered themselves Algerian French - no longer identified with French French (eg. Marseilles, Paris), - but culture, language, family relations remained the same - had developed comfortable colonial society (like many colonies in Africa, British and French alike) - local Algerian authorities/police conscious of difference in how metropolis saw overseas province and how they understood that reality: need to protect their own society Critical factors, well portrayed in: The Battle of Algiers (made in France, 1967 reissued 2003; Class Showing: November 26, 29)
Algerian War of Independence As movie shows: - role of Islam played growing role in defining who was with and who was not with -- the liberation movement - came to define the liberation movement itself (not only values but politics) Islam, in turn, seen by French as: - synonymous with resistance (fed earlier fears, prejudices) - with being Arab (caricatured in film but relevant nevertheless) - and with terrorism (this legacy lives on ) It bred terrorism (on the part of the French) in return.
Algerian War of Independence Franz Fanon: - Fanon believed that violent revolution is the only means of ending colonial repression and cultural trauma in the Third World. "Violence," he argued, "is a cleansing force. It frees the native from his inferiority complex and from his despair and inaction; it makes him fearless and restores his self-respect." [see Franz Fanon, Add l Rdgs] Fanon s analysis presented in terms of black white and violence: little attention to role of ideology, in this case Islam
But at the same time, in his own practice saw impact of this violence when actually perpetrated: (comment on patient) he suffered from suicidal obsessions. The critical date was that when on instructions from his organization he had placed a bomb somewhere. This militant, who never for a single moment thought of repudiating his past action, realized very clearly the manner in which he himself had to pay the price of national independence [Franz Fanon,The Wretched of the Earth, p.206]
But it was not only Algerians who suffered: - French and those who fought with French troops also scarred Colons: - colons drawn into violence (like those portrayed in film) never forgot they did not have psychiatrists like Fanon to treat them - nor were their crimes ever forgotten or forgiven by French society - post-war: colons not accepted in France represented embarrassment (see below)
Algerians also fought with the French
Prisoner of war: jail is former Pigsty Regugees from violence: everyone was affected by the war, even in the countryside
Senegalese tirailleurs (fought in both world wars, also Algeria): [see Soldier s Story, Add l Rdgs] I was under the orders of the French army. When we first arrived in Algeria, the Algerians didn't want to shoot us, because we were black people - we were their brothers. But when they realised that we were obliged to fight them, they didn't hesitate to shoot at us. I lost many of my friends and relatives in Algeria. And even now sometimes, when I sleep at night, I can see them in my nightmares - just the way I'm seeing you. This is a very painful situation. I an old man here in Dakar who walks the streets saying, "I'm going mad, I'm going mad", because it's still a nightmare. In 1956, the French were also fighting the Vietnamese; people who fought that battle, even now are still having nightmares. Even when they are not sleeping, they too feel they are going mad. So it is a very painful experience.
For the Senegalese, there was no therapy either the longer term impact is evident from his account However, from perspective of African Muslim Societies which includes both Senegal and Algeria: -interesting to note that he comments on fighting his African brothers whom he identifies in terms of being black, but - nowhere does he acknowledge that he was also fighting his Muslim brothers -nor, it would seem, did the Algerians see him as Muslim - important insight into identities of both: unclear whether we re seeing mid 1950s or historical moment of interview with soldier - nevertheless raises important issues
Support for FLN strong across North Africa: - rise to power of Nasser (1954) in Egypt initially seen as positive by British and French in terms of controlling pan-islamicism - but continued support from Egypt ( Radio Caire ) angered French and British - 1956: Nasser disappointed Western powers -- nationalized Suez Canal - marked turning point for France In Algeria: special parachute troops sent to Algiers under General Massu who brought with him experience of other devastating colonial venture -- Indo-Chine (Vietnam) French met urban guerilla war with a terrorism of their own and unheard of torture
By middle of Battle Algiers, impact of the war felt in France itself: - left, liberals uncomfortable with infringements on human rights (dialogue in video about Sartre ) - 1956 articles and dialogues appearing in major public venues like Paris-Match - began to attract attention in US: 1957 Kennedy demanded discussion in UN -1958 France surveillance tracked FLN to Tunisian village: air bombed it - US and Britain applied pressure to negotiate: international embarrassment
In addition: - dissension in military, economic doubts -- all challenged attempts to hold on to Algerie Francais - not enough to dislodge entrenched interests - 1957 victory in Algiers boosted French military/gov t confidence, determination May 1958: demonstration in Algiers - led to formation Committee of Public Safety - demanded return of General de Gaulle Fear possible military coup directed from Algiers led to constitutional transfer of power in Paris De Gaulle called from retirement.
Initial Support for De Gaulle Soon became Resistance!
De Gaulle: - In 1959, spoke of self determination Algeria - 1960, spoke of an Algerian Algeria
Je vous ai compris! - said De Gaulle to the colons, the Algerian francophiles, the military But what did that mean? - De Gaulle actually convinced of inutility of holding on to colonial possessions: believed in modernization of country, nuclearization of defense system - initially tried to keep nuclear test sites in Sahara (a test had taken place in 1960) and some oil and gas holdings but
De Gaulle: -1961, spoke of a sovereign Algeria By 1961, he was willing to negotiate the non-negotiable -- indpendence moreover, with the FLN!
In light of these pronouncements: - attempts to assure colons, the military and those Algerians who had believed in the cause of assimilation that France would not abandon them -- failed 1961-2 constant unrest, plots to assassinate de Gaulle: threatened to unleash undermine stability of France itself 1962 meetings at Evian (France) with FLN led to agreement which was, only a few years earlier, unthinkable
De Gaulle (1962): We must concede these details rather than reject an agreement; for there is no comparison between the primary interest, which consists of reaching an agreement, and the secondary interest, which consists of holding a little longer certain things which in any case we do not reckon to hold for ever!
Epilogue [from Islamism in Algeria, Add l Rdgs]: The Front de Liberation Nationale (FLN) coalition that managed the extraordinary feat of besting the French empire greatly relied on religious forces and symbols to mobilize the population behind the cause of independence. Despite the clerical community's contributions to this cause, the secular leaders of the FLN viewed religion from a utilitarian perspective, sufficient for mass mobilization but inadequate as a template for governance. For the architects of the revolution, Algeria was to spearhead the emerging Third World and usher in a new epoch among the newly independent Afro-Arab states.
In the late 1980s, the dream shattered. As oil revenues [Algeria is blessed with Saharan oil resources] declined, the governing regime no longer had the funds to subsidize its ideological dogma and was compelled to launch liberalization measures that inevitably provoked political repercussions. As the imported Western models failed to fulfill their promises, an increasingly disillusioned middle class turned to the Islamists [ FIS: Islamic Salvationist Front] and their devastating critique of the prevailing order. However, for the Islamists to succeed, they had to appreciate that their mandate was not the restoration of the mythical seventh century, but reconciliation of demands for cultural authenticity with equally compelling calls for political empowerment.
Their failure to do this is the story of the 1990s (following the Government s annulment of the democratic elections of 1992, where the FIS was posed to win) and the first decade of the 21 st century: - returned intervention foreign forces (France, United States) - bloody civil war (reminiscent of War of Independence/Battle of Algiers in terms of terrorism on all sides) - internationalization of war in this case with connections to the North African arm of Al-Qaida, involving Morocco, Mauritania, Mali, Chad [ Islamism in Algeria : good, concise account of history from 1980s through today; read with consideration of both resources and their relation to success of Islamic governments, and internal tension within Islam as to degree one can be modern and western and retain legitimacy]