ALGERIA | A French Apology?

At the end of August 2022, the President of France, Emmanuel Macron, visited Algeria. Coming as the country marks the 60th anniversary of its independence from French colonial rule - an independence won following a particularly bitter and brutal war - the aim was to try to rebuild relations between France and Algeria. However, although the leaders called for a new era in ties, many feel that Paris and Algiers cannot have a normal relationship until France formally apologises for colonial rule and the treatment of Algerians during the War of Independence. But while France has been willing to acknowledge the past, will it ever formally say sorry?

Hello and welcome! My name is James Ker-Lindsay. Here I take an informed look at International Relations with a focus on conflicts, security, and statehood. If you like what you see, please do subscribe. If you want more, including exclusive content and benefits, consider becoming a channel member. Many thanks!

There were few colonial wars more bitter and brutal than the Algerian War of Independence. Bringing to an end 132 years of French rule, the war saw more than a million people killed, injured, and displaced. It also led to deep divisions within and across Algerian and French society. As well as the fighting between the French Army and the forces of the National Liberation Front, the FLN, it also saw fighting between the native Algerians and French settlers, the Pieds Noirs. On top of this, Algerians fought against Algerians as 200,000 Muslim Algerians served as French auxiliaries, the Harkis. As a result, the war left bitter divisions between France and Algeria, which finally won its independence in 1962. And even today, the effects are still being felt. Although President Macron has acknowledged the wrongdoings of the past, he has steadfastly refused to apologise, with officials close to him insisting none will be coming. But can relations ever be normal until France atones for its actions?

CHAPTERS
0:00 Introduction and Titles
00:43 Algeria and Post-Colonial Apologies
01:45 Geography and Demographics of Algeria
02:42 History of Algeria and French Rule
04:20 The Algerian War of Independence, 1954-62
06:09 French-Algerian Relations after Independence
07:52 Algeria-France Relations under President Macron
10:30 Will France Ever Apologise to Algeria?

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KEYWORDS

#Algeria #France #Colonialism
#InternationalPolitics #CurrentAffairs #internationalrelations
#Apology

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[EdMcF]

I went to Algeria in the late 1980s, I had occasion to speak to a police officer, which I did in French, his reply was 'Quelle nationalite êtes-vous?' I said 'Anglais' and he said 'Bon!'. I could feel the hostility drain away.

[Honey_B_River]

My grandfather was literally decapitated and his limbs were cut of and thrown In valley by the French, he got buried at the spot his remains were found by local women and After independence he got relocated to the local graveyard specialised for martyrs .
Personally I don't hold any grudge against the French as my religion believes that the son doesn't bear the sins of the father but thinking that if the colonialisation lasted a little longer that could have been my parents ، older siblings or my fate .

[yasser]

Well I don't think Algerians will forget what happened in the past because it was really brutal, in the same time I don't think France will ever apologize because it will open the hell doors and other colonies will ask for the same, as an algerian I don't want an apology I want Algeria to be strong and have an equal relationship with France we are not a French colony anymore in fact we need to work on ourselves and make our country great with many reliable allies and partners 😀

[VladVexler]

Excellent work as always- and huge congratulations on 100K!!

[coola]

One of the reason France was so adamant about keeping Algeria was because Algeria, unlike other French possesions/colonies in Africa, was considered an integral part of France both symbolically and legally. As French decolonization effort gathered steam and the former colonies in Africa gained independence in the late '50's to early '60's, the French attitude towards Algeria looked more and more like one of an oppressor to the outside world as in "They let all the other places go, why not Algeria?" This along with the increasing fractures in French society because of the war threatened to destroy Frances standing in the world, and so independence became De Gaulles way out. I would also assume, that De Gaulle probably didn't feel a lot of sympathy for the far-right groups advocating for Algeria to remain French. I mean, they did try to coup him twice and kill him once. Great informative video as always. Greetings from Aarhus, Denmark

[FredoRockwell]

Another excellent video! My understanding of Algeria's history is a bit basic, and I didn't really understand how current or deep the bad feelings between Algeria and France are. Thanks again for the thorough briefing on a fascinating topic!

[aymenbendjeddou]

An outstanding analysis as always, this topic always impacts me as an Algerian, and you never disappoint me James in giving objective analysis. The Algerian issue will always be an elephant in the room for the French, and it's a deep scar in the Algerian tissue. The apology isn't looming in the air anyway, but things seem to be moving. Wether they apologize or no ...the damage remains. I wish a better future to all the people who were colonized.

[andrewsarantakes]

Outstanding analysis. The politics of France have always been eye opening related to the strident political differences, and how they can co-exist in a single political entity. The issue of the war in Algeria highlights the internal political dynamics of France, and the fervently held feelings as well as France's imperial chauvinism contrasted against its profound liberalism. In this case it seems that this "internal" French political conflict played out violently in Algeria. Given the current internal politics of France it would seem Algeria will continue to be a giant "Pink Elephant" in the room that no one will talk about. So Algerian & Franch relations will continue to be contentious. Thanks for this great video and your efforts to objectively analyze difficult topics.
👍

[Jorjgasm]

It surprises me that, despite the bloody war of independence, so many Algerians migrated to France and the French let them. Algerians could not live with the French in Algeria, but they could live with them in France? Had I a violent separation from somebody, I would not continue cohabiting while simply changing addresses. Brigitte Bardot expressed a similar sentiment.

[JamesKerLindsay]

So, do you think France could or should apologise for the war of independence? Thoughts and comments below.

[Fyrlss]

As usual, exceptional research and presentation. Thank you Professor!

[sadeksama]

One of my grand-parents was killed by French troops
He left my grandma with her 2 yo son " who's my dad " and another son who wasn't born yet " my only uncle " his youngest brother was killed too
He didn't leave any children

My other grandfather managed to stay alive during the revolutionary War
He has pictures in the 50s back when he was a soldier fighting the French to liberate his country

He speaks proudly about his experience
I really wanted to meet my other grandfather too

Personally as someone who's parents were directly affected by this occupation I know France is not gonna say sorry

And their sorry is not gonna change anything
It's not gonna Bring my grandfather to live to raise his child or the other 1.5 million who's France killed during the revolution

I just want em to stay away from my country and stop interfering with our country

Personally I'd never forgive France for what it did even if they paid trillions of dollars
Cause one human life worth much more than that
Let alone 1.5 million

[djas]

Thank you for these valuable information, There was a couple of points that I wished you touched on, like the nuclear tests carried out in the south of Algeria and the Algerian soldiers who fought alongside the French army in the front lines during WW2.

[roddychristodoulou]

Excellent video, I beleive France should say sorry but this will never happen as France would then be obliged to say sorry to all the other countries that were under French colonial rule .
I wish you would do a video on Africa's former colonial powers who are still in control of Africa's mineral wealth and looks likely they'll never let go .

[airsoftalgerie]

Thank you for this great analysis. I’d love to see more content about my homeland!

[charlycharly]

I am not sure politicians from both sides are really willing to change the status quo:
- French politicians would lost their far right wing which is pretty important and reparations would mean spending tax payers money and risky politically speaking, so a lot prefer to say that « you know, there were good things as well in the colonisation »
- Algerian politicians would lose a common « excuse » for their lack of results, especially economic results, mostly due to their incompetence/corruption. They prefer keep saying it’s because of « what the French took us during occupation »

[laurentdavid]

A few remarks :
- Algeria's population is not mainly of Berber and Arabic descent, it is a melting pot including a substantial part of Anatolian (Turkish...) descent, because of the large garrison the Turkish empire maintained in Alger, garrison whose member "married" locally, but where forbidden to bring back their spouses or children when they went back to Anatolia at the end of their service time. Arabic population influx (ie. from Arabic peninsula) is limited in the Maghreb.
- In the 1830-1852 period, French occupation of Algeria was mainly due to French fears of a possible British colonisation of Egypt, due to the weakening of the Turkish Empire. I sincerely believe that this occupation was negotiated with (accepted by ?...) Turkey, because it allowed French government to position, and to acclimate, French troops near Egypt as a menace against British troops that might intervene to conquer Egypt. In those years, French government was very active in helping Egyptian government to acquire modern European agricultural and military technologies. British colonisation of Egypt looked quite possible in the 1830' and would have been catastrophic for both France and Turkey.
- In those years, there was a short supply of grain in Europe, and Algeria had huge good farmlands that were not cultivated due to cultural and organisational issues of the Turkish Empire. From a Turkish perspective, it might have been a reasonable trade-off to let France occupy part of those farmlands in exchange for technological transfers and some military arguments against Britain just in case....
- I don't really believe French occupation of Algeria in the 1830-1852 period was particularly "brutal" compared to the history of Maghreb in the previous generations. I understand there were large famines, but such famines also existed in previous generations and there were no surplus of grain in Europe or reasonable means of transports that might have prevented those famines. Best solution was to imports European agricultural technologies and farmers, which is what the Frenchmen did in that time.
- I understand that there was some influx of European population in the 1830-1852 period, then a very limited influx in the 1852-1871 period and a large influx in the 1871-1900 period, but that this European population included much more Spaniards, Italian or Maltese than native Frenchmen. It looks like, between 1830 and 1852, France was in good connection with Turkey to do what looked reasonable to oppose British expansionism in the Mediterranea, then between 1852 and 1871, France frose the situation to avoid too much confrontation with Britain, and between 1871 and 1900, French governments advertised Algeria as a kind of promised land for poor Frenchmen for electoral purposes, having abandoned any serious idea of confronting Britain in the Mediterranea (the problem might also have been considered as much less acute than in the 1830'...).
- I understand that in 1900, France (Parisians...) had mixed feelings about Algeria. On one hand they believed that it might serve as a link between Europe and the Middle-East & sub-Saharan Africa, both commercially and culturally. On the other hand, they considered that Algeria low GNP per habitant, even when limited to Algeria's "pieds-noirs" population, prevented any possibility of real unification between France and Algeria, short or long term. I guess they believed in a future independent Algeria under the leadership of its pied-noirs population, and they let this population rule that country to a large extent. They were surprised to find that Pieds-Noirs and indigenous Algerian could not find any kind of reasonable compromise, and, in 1962, they did what the US governments of the time asked for to close the file.

60 years later, most Frenchmen don't feel very concerned by this story. Personally, I think that French presence in Algeria was positive between 1830 and 1871, and that it should have evolved toward much less European immigration and more autonomy after 1871, concluding in the 1930' or 1950' with some kind of peaceful independence, keeping most of its (much more limited...) pieds-noirs population. Diplomacy, French electoral marketing and a few errors after 1871 prevented that.

[armzbarmz]

Thank you, great content. Iv often heard about this topic but never looked into it. and it seems like it’s not a topic covered by mainstream media.

[rhodesiansneverdie]

I think your final words perfectly summarise the prospective relationship between France and Algeria. Anyways, a concise, well formulated video as always.

[CarmenOfSpades]

Glad to have found your channel! One of those rare days when the Youtube algorithm recommends something worth watching! Look forward to watching more of your content in the future!