The Algerian War and the French Army, 1954-62 Experiences, Images, Testimonies

by Alexander, Martin S.; Evans, Martin; Keiger, J.F.V.

• ISBN13: 9780333774564
• ISBN10: 0333774566
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2002-11-09
• Publisher: Palgrave Macmillan

Summary

The Algerian War 1954-62 was one of the most prolonged and violent examples of decolonization. Bringing to an end 132 years of French rule, the Algerian struggle caused the fall of six French prime ministers, the collapse of the Fourth Republic, and expulsion of one million French settlers. This volume, bringing together leading experts in the field, focuses on one of the key actors in the drama - the French army. They show that the Algerian War was just as much about conflicts of ideas, beliefs and loyalties as it was about simple military operations. In this way, the collection goes beyond polemic and recrimination to explore the many and varied nuances of what was one of the historically most important of the grand style colonial wars.

Author Biography

Martin S. Alexander is in the Department of International Politics at the University of Wales, Aberystwyth.

Martin Evans is Lecturer in the School of Languages at the University of Portsmouth.

J.F.V. Keiger is in the School of Languages at the University of Salford.

Table of Contents

Preface	vii
Notes on the Contributors	ix
The `War without a Name', the French Army and the Algerians: Recovering Experiences, Images and Testimonies	1	(42)
Martin S. Alexander
Martin Evans
J. F. V. Keiger
Part I Experiences
From Indochina to Algeria: Counter-Insurgency Lessons	43	(18)
Alexander J. Zervoudakis
Algeria and the `Official Mind': the Impact of North Africa on French Colonial Policy South of the Sahara, 1944-58	61	(15)
Martin Shipway
The Sahara and the Algerian War	76	(12)
Jacques Fremeaux
From One Crisis to Another: the Morale of the French Foreign Legion during the Algerian War	88	(13)
Eckard Michels
The War Culture of French Combatants in the Algerian Conflict	101	(16)
Jean-Charles Jauffret
The Harkis: the Experience and Memory of France's Muslim Auxiliaries	117	(20)
Martin Evans
Part II Images
Anglo-Saxon Literary and Filmic Representations of the French Army in Algeria	137	(15)
Philip Dine
The Image of the French Army in the Cinematic Representation of the Algerian War: the Revolutionary Politics of the Battle of Algiers	152	(12)
Hugh Roberts
The Algerian War through the Prism of Anglo-Saxon Literature, 1954--66	164	(10)
Michael Brett
Le Monde's Coverage of the Army and Civil Liberties during the Algerian War, 1954--58	174	(19)
Mohammed Khane
Psychological Propaganda during the Algerian War -- Based on a Study of French Army Pamphlets	193	(7)
Nacera Aggoun
Remembering the Algerian War: Memory/ies and Identity/ies in Techine's Les Roseaux Sauvages	200	(11)
Brigitte Rollet
The Children of the Occupation and Colonial Ideology	211	(14)
Bernard W. Sigg
Part III Witness Testimonies
Officer Corps Veterans	225	(18)
Anti-War Activists	243	(18)
Appendix: Algerian War Witnesses -- Biographical Details	261	(4)
Index	265