II.

Background to War

At the end of World War II, the V-E (Victory in Europe) Day celebrations of May 8, 1945, were marred in Algeria by violent demonstrations in the town of Sétif and the first Algerian attacks against European settlers (or colons), of whom around 100 died. French retributions for this uprising, resulting in the deaths of several thousand Algerians, radicalized the approach of many Algerian nationalists towards gaining independence from France. Attempts by Paris to implement more liberal reforms were thwarted by the colons’ resistance and by Algerian dissatisfaction.

The main Algerian political parties under Messali Hadj and Ferhat Abbas had participated in French-organized elections from the late 1940s. Pressures for more direct action, however, led to the creation of a clandestine revolutionary group, the Organization Speciale (OS), uncovered by the French in 1950. In March 1954, to plan for revolutionary action, nine of the younger radical nationalists (later known as the historic chiefs) formed the basic structures of what became the FLN.