The War in Algeria: Algeria Was Never French
Guérin, David
The French government insists that Algeria is part of France. History shows that Algeria never was French and that the Algerian nation is an historic fact whose existence has been either...
...At the time, this objective was considered by some people to be phantasmagoric...
...While conducting war, the Emir laid the basis for a modern state, divided his territory into administrative units, assembled an army, levied taxes...
...READ the magnificent "Algerian Manifesto" written by Ferhat Abbas in 1943...
...It led a national and international life over a long period, recognized by numerous countries, including France...
...History shows that Algeria never was French and that the Algerian nation is an historic fact whose existence has been either concealed or disfigured...
...Resistance is in its every thought...
...For ten months a pitiless struggle took place on the very terrain of the present war...
...The movement was dissolved many times: in 1929, in 1934, in 1937, alas, under the Popular Front, in 1939 and, most recently, at the end of 1954 by M. Mitterand...
...In 1830 its cultural level was much higher than is generally imagined...
...It had brilliant intellectual centers, some 2,000 schools and several universities...
...Venture de Paradis, a French traveler, stated that according to his own observations the Algerian state, even with its weaknesses, was a reality...
...Afterwards, it was the Ulemas who, under the impulsion of two great spiritual leaders, Sheikh Ben Badis and his successor, Sheikh Brahimi, continued to awaken the Algerian people...
...Nonetheless, this "scorched earth" policy with respect to the country and its cultural aspirations, never succeeded in killing the idea of a national Algeria...
...A DEMAND for independence must have not only a spiritual but also a political expression...
...In 1936, before 10,000 listeners in Algiers, it launched the slogan: an independent Algeria...
...The Algerian state was an organized one...
...The Algerian nation is on the march...
...The city of Tlemcen, among others, still bears witness today to this civilization...
...Its founder, Messali Hadj, has spent almost ten years in captivity...
...Led by El Mokrani, the Kabylia rose with the hope of regaining independence...
...Cavaignac, one of the conquering generals, had to acknowledge this refusal to abdicate: "A nation never loses its independence without regret...
...this time also more than 100,000 men had to be used to master the revolt...
...it had a central and provincial administration comparable to that of other countries...
...Listen to De Tocqueville: "We have reduced Algerian society to a much more miserable and barbaric state than it was before...
...Schools and universities disappeared, certain mosques were transformed into churches, the Arabic language was no longer taught...
...An expeditionary force of more than 100,000 men was required to put an end to this great patriot, powerfully supported by the entire people...
...This was perhaps the greatest insurrection ever to shake Algeria...
...For fifteen years, from 1832 to 1847, the Emir Abdel Kader and Ben Salem, his representative in Kabylia, were the soul of this resistance...
...It states that the Algerian Moslem has undergone a "truly devastating destruction" and that the people have been dispossessed to such a point that they are miserable foreigners in their own country...
...Before its conquest Algeria was a well-defined country, an Arabic-Berber community cemented by a unity of language and religion...
...Since the 16th century the Regency of Algiers has been a sovereign state...
...It is a duty for all of us to recall the historic service this movement and its founder have rendered to the cause of Algerian emancipation...
...Such was the task of the movement founded in 1926 by Messali Hadj...
...Without them the different currents which go to make up the present Resistance, now carrying on the same struggle and victims of the same repression, would not be what they are...
...If I were a Christian, I would say that its survival, despite all attempts to exterminate it, is a miracle...
...In March, 1871, as a consequence of the French defeat of that year, there was a new outburst...
...The French government insists that Algeria is part of France...
...After 1830, this historic patrimony was systematically destroyed by the conquerors...
...Francis I sought an alliance with it...
...Successively came banishments, house arrests in Niort and Angouleme, etc...
...In 1933 this movement placed at the center of its program the demand for the creation of an Algerian parliament elected by universal suffrage without distinction as to race or religion...
...Today, with an honesty which does honor, they recognize their error...
...It continued silently and underground, to surge forth after the First World War under the Emir Khaled, grand son of Abdel Kader...
...In 1802, the Regency had an army of 15,000 men and a fleet of 66 ships...
...In the 17th century it freed itself completely from Turkish tutelage...
...But the Algerian nation did not die in the consciousness of the people...
...Within the Algerian elite many persisted in putting the accent on assimilation...
...The French Revolution was only too happy to be supplied by it and even to borrow money...
...But each time it succeeded in reconstituting itself...
Vol. 3 • July 1956 • No. 3
