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

The Algerian War 1954-62 was one of the most prolonged and violent examples of decolonization. At times horribly savage, it was an undeclared war in the sense that no formal declaration of hostilities was ever made. Bringing to an end one hundred and thirty two 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.

Table of Contents:
Preface Notes on the Contributors The 'War without as Name', the French Army and the Algerians: Recovering Experiences, Images and Testimonies; M.S.Alexander, M.Evans & J.F.V.Keiger PART ONE: EXPERIENCES From Indochina to Algeria: Counterinsurgency Lessons; A.J.Zervoudakis Algeria and the 'Official Mind': The Impact of North Africa on French Colonial Policy South of the Sahara, 1944-58; M.Shipway The Sahara and the Algerian War; J.Fremeaux From One Crisis to Another: The Morale of the French Foreign Legion during the Algerian War; E.Michels The War Culture of French Combatants in the Algerian Conflict; J.C.Jauffret The Harkis: The Experience and Memory of France's Muslim Auxiliaries; M.Evans PART TWO: IMAGES Anglo-Saxon Literary and Filmic Representations of the French Army in Algeria; P.D.Dine The Image of the French Army in the Cinematic Representation of the Algerian War: The Revolutionary Politics of 'The Battle of Algiers'; H.Roberts The Algerian War Through the Prism of Anglo-Saxon Literature, 1954-66; M.Brett Le Monde's Coverage of the Army and Civil Liberties During the Algerian War, 1954-58; M.Khane Psychological Propaganda During the Algerian War Based on a Study of French Army Pamphlets; N.Aggoun Remembering the Algerian War: Memory/ies and Identity/ies in Techine's Les Roseaux Sauvages; B.Rollet The Children of the Occupation and Colonial Ideology; B.Sigg PART THREE: WITNESS TESTIMONIES Biographical Details Officer Corps Veterans; General Alain Bizard, Colonel Henri Coustaux, Major Paul-Alain Leger Anti-War Activists; Professor Andre Mandouze, Georges Mattei, Dr Francous Sirkidji Index

About the Author :
MARTIN S. ALEXANDER is Professor of International Relations at the University of Wales, Aberystwyth. He is co-editor (with Kenneth Moure) of Crisis and Renewal in France, 1918-1962. MARTIN EVANS is Director of the Centre for European Studies Research, University of Portsmouth. He is the author of Memory of Resistance: French Opposition to the Algerian War 1954-62 and co-editor (with Ken Lunn) of War and Memory in the Twentieth Century. J.F.V. KEIGER is Deputy Director of the European Studies Research Institute, University of Salford and Professor of International History. He is the author of France and the Origins of the First World War and France and the World since 1900.