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Algeria: The 8-Year War That Broke France West Africa· Algerian· Contemporary· Legends & Heroes· 18 min For 132 years, France claimed Algeria wasn't a colony—it WAS France. But on November 1, 1954, Algerian revolutionaries launched a guerrilla war that would last 8 brutal years, cost 1.5 million lives, and break French colonial power forever.
TranscriptRead along · tap any line to jump there Search the transcript 0:03 1957 Alers explodes. Young Algerian women walk through French checkpoints carrying bombs and handbags. French soldiers wave them through. Cafes explode. France sends [music] paratroopers. The battle of Alers begins. Urban warfare that 0:21 rewrites military history forever. But to understand how [music] we got here, we must go back. How do you fight the world's fourth most powerful military? 0:32 How do you win when they control everything? The cities, [music] the weapons, the laws. This is Algeria versus France. Eight brutal years, 1.5 [music] million dead. The war that ended French colonialism in Africa. This is how it happened. 1830, France invades 0:51 Algeria. The conquest takes 30 brutal years. Villages burned. populations [music] displaced, resistance crushed. 1:00 By 1954, France [music] has controlled Algeria for 132 years. But to France, Algeria isn't a colony. It is France [music] itself. This claim will cause catastrophic war. Algeria [music] isn't legally a colony. It's three French 1:17 departments. French citizens in Algeria vote in French elections. to Paris. 1:23 Algeria is French territory just like Normandy or Provence. But there's a problem. 9 million Algerians live there and they have absolutely no rights whatsoever. Zero. 1 million French settlers. The peace control all the land, businesses, government positions. 1:44 They're full French [music] citizens. 9 million Algerians. Secondass status. No voting [music] rights. No citizenship, no equality. France preaches liberty, equality, fraternity, but only if you're white and French. Hypocrisy fuels rage. 2:02 For over a century, Algerians tried peaceful reform. Petitions, protests, political parties. France >> [music] >> ignores them all. World War II arrives. 2:14 France promises reform if Algerians fight for them. Thousands die fighting Nazis. After the war [music] of France breaks every single promise made, betrayal complete. May 1945, just days after Europe celebrates victory over fascism, Algerians [music] 2:32 march for independence. France massacres them. Setifith, Guelma, Kurada. 2:38 Estimates [music] range from 6,000 to 45,000 dead. The message is clear. 2:44 France will never grant independence peacefully. Violence is their answer. 2:52 Peaceful resistance has failed. 2:54 Petitions ignored. Protests met with bullets. Promises broken. By 1954, Algerian revolutionaries reach a conclusion. France will never give freedom. So freedom must be taken by force, by blood, by any means [music] necessary. War is the only option left. 3:14 November 1st, 1954, All Saints Day. 3:18 While France sleeps, 30 coordinated attacks strike across Algeria simultaneously. Police stations, military [music] barracks, communication lines, infrastructure, all burning, eight dead. The front deliberation national has declared war on France. The 3:37 revolution has begun. The Felen proclamation [music] is uncompromising. 3:43 Independence, national sovereignty, [music] complete freedom from France, no negotiation, no compromise, liberation or death. France is [music] stunned. How dare Algeria rebel. This is France attacking France. Paris mobilizes. 4:02 50,000 troops deploy immediately. The war neither side can win has begun. Who are these revolutionaries? [music] The LN unites intellectuals, soldiers, farmers, students. Ahmed, Ben, Bella, Larby, Ben, Mihidi, Jamila Buhir, Alila 4:22 Point. From mountain gerillas to urban bombers, [music] one shared goal, total independence. France sends more troops. 4:30 The FLN doesn't blink. They're ready to die. It's asymmetric warfare. [music] France has half a million trained soldiers, tanks, aircraft, artillery. 4:41 The FLN has maybe [music] 40,000 fighters with old rifles and homemade bombs. On paper, this isn't a contest. 4:49 France should win in weeks. But guerilla war doesn't follow [music] conventional rules. Advantage, Algeria. The fellin strategy is simple but brilliant. Hit and run. Strike French targets. 5:03 Disappear into mountains or crowds. 5:06 Avoid direct [music] confrontation. 5:08 Bleed France slowly. Make occupation expensive in blood and money. France can win battles, but can they win a war with no front lines? Impossible. 5:23 The Oess mountains become felen strongholds, rugged terrain, hidden caves, local support. French patrols venture in. Felen [music] fighters ambush them, then vanish. The French send more troops. Same result. You can't occupy mountains the way you occupy 5:43 cities. Nature itself becomes Algeria's greatest ally. France escalates. 50,000 troops become [music] 100,000, then 200,000. By 1956, half a million French soldiers occupy Algeria. That's half the entire French army. In one colony that 6:03 [music] France claims isn't even a colony, the financial cost is absolutely staggering. A stalemate develops. France controls [music] cities, roads, coastal areas. The LN controls countryside, mountains, rural Algeria. Neither side 6:21 can decisively win. French casualties 6:23 [music] 6:23 mount. LN fighters die by thousands. But for every fighter killed, anger recruits three more. France is stuck in an unwinable war. 1956. 6:35 The Phil leadership makes a strategic decision. We're winning in the countryside, but we're not winning the war. To truly hurt France, we must strike where it hurts most. French pride, French civilians. Whoa. The capital city itself, we must bring the 6:52 war to Alers. Urban guerrilla warfare is different. Not hit and run in mountains. 6:59 This is bombing cafes, planting explosives in public spaces, targeting French civilians who feel safe in their cafes and dance halls. It's ruthless. 7:10 It's controversial. But LN asks, "How is this different from France's [music] violence?" But there's a problem. French checkpoints everywhere. Algerian men are searched thoroughly. [music] every pocket, every bag, every fold of 7:25 clothing checked. You can't smuggle [music] bombs past French soldiers unless unless you're not a man. Unless French soldiers [music] own sexism becomes their fatal weakness. Her name is Jamila [music] Buhir. She's 22 years old, smart, educated, committed to 7:43 independence. She's also about to become the face of urban resistance because Jamila has something French soldiers don't expect. She can pass as European and French soldiers don't search European women thoroughly. 8:00 The felon discovers what [music] works. 8:03 Young women, European style dresses, hairstyled [music] French, light makeup, walking confidently. They approach checkpoints. French soldiers see attractive European women and wave them through with smiles. They don't search the handbags. The handbags contain 8:21 bombs. Sexism [music] becomes France's fatal weakness. September 30th, 1956. 8:29 The Milk Bar, a popular [music] French cafe in Alers. Families, students, young [music] people enjoying afternoon treats. Jamila Buhir and Zora [music] Drift enter separately. They place handbags. They leave. The explosion kills three, wounds 50. The Battle of 8:49 Alers has officially begun. French settler outrage is immediate. They're targeting civilians. French media screams. Terrorists. The government demands action. But Algerians respond. 9:03 You've been massacring our [music] civilians for 126 years. Setif. Constant police [music] violence, land theft, starvation. What did you expect would happen? An eye for an eye. The bombing campaign continues. Taffis, dance halls, 9:21 Air France terminal. Anywhere French settlers gather. More women bombers join. Hiba, Ben, Bali, Samia Lakdari. 9:31 They're not monsters. [music] They're revolutionaries who've watched their people die for generations. 9:37 They've chosen violence because peace [music] failed them completely. 9:40 Desperation breeds extremism. France panics. Alers is supposed to be safe French territory. Now French civilians are dying in their own cafes. The government must respond decisively. 9:54 January [music] 1957. They send General Jacqu Massu and the 10th parachute division. Their mission crush the FLN in Alers by any means necessary. The battle of Alers enters its most brutal phase. 10:09 Paratroopers seal off the Caspa, the old city where the FLN operates. 10:14 House-to-house [music] searches, night raids, thousands arrested. The FLN strikes back with more bombs. It's urban warfare at its most intense. And France is about to cross a line. To find fill-N bombers, French paratroopers need 10:31 intelligence. So they torture prisoners. 10:34 Electric shocks, water boarding, beatings. It's systematic. It's official policy. General Massu doesn't hide it. 10:43 He openly states torture is [music] necessary to save French lives. 10:47 Thousands of Algerians disappear into detention centers. Many never return alive. 10:57 March 4th, 1957. 11:00 French paratroopers capturer Larby Ben Mihiti, one of the FLN's [music] top strategists. Brilliant mind, architect of the Battle of Alier's campaign. In custody, he remains defiant. When asked about women bombers, he responds, "Give 11:16 us your bombers [music] and we'll give you our baskets." March 23rd, 1957, French authorities announced Larby Ben Mahiti committed suicide [music] in custody, hanged himself with his hands tied behind his back. Nobody believes 11:31 it. Everyone knows the truth. France murdered him. Mahiti becomes a martyr. 11:36 His death inspires [music] more Algerians to join the FLN. October 8th, 1957. 11:43 French [music] forces corner Ali Le Point, former street criminal turned revolutionary legend, surrounded in a casba hideout, refuses to surrender. The French solution, blow up the entire building. Ali dies in the explosion 11:58 along with others hiding with him. The battle of Alers is over. By late 1957, France has won the battle of Alers. The FLN urban [music] network is destroyed. 12:10 Key leaders captured or killed. Bomb stop. French settlers celebrate. General Massu is a hero. Tactically, it's a complete victory, but strategically, France has [music] lost something far more valuable than battles. The torture becomes public knowledge. French 12:28 journalists expose it. Henry Alleg, a French communist journalist, publishes the question, describing his own torture in detail. France bans the book immediately, but it's too late. The world reads it. International condemnation begins. France's moral 12:45 [music] authority crumbles before the world. 1958. France faces [music] political crisis. The military threatens a coup if the government negotiates with LN. Civil war [music] looms. Charles de Gaulle, World War II hero, returns from retirement [music] 13:02 to lead France. Initially proc colonial, but de Gaulle is also a realist. He sees what others won't admit. France cannot win. 1959 de Gaulle makes a shocking announcement. 13:16 Algerians have the right [music] to self-determination. They can vote on their own future. French settlers [music] feel utterly betrayed. After fighting for France, de Gaulle is abandoning them. They form their own terrorist organization, the OAS. 13:32 Organization Dar secret. 13:37 The OAS [music] refuses to accept Algerian independence. If they can't keep Algeria French, they'll destroy it. 13:45 1961-62 bombing campaign. Schools, hospitals, government buildings. Anyone supporting independence becomes a target. French or Algerian. March 1962. 13:58 120 [music] bombs per day in Algeria alone. The OAS even targets to Gaul himself. 12 [music] assassination attempts between 1961 and 62. They fail every time. De Gaulle continues pushing for Algerian independence. The OAS has become what they claim to fight. 14:19 Terrorists destroying French lives. 14:21 Their own extremism ensures they lose all support. March 18, 1962. 14:28 After [music] secret negotiations, France and FLN signed the Evian Accords. 14:33 ceasefire, referendum on independence within months. After 8 years of war, 1.5 million deaths, torture scandals, [music] and international condemnation, France agrees to leave. The impossible has happened. Algeria will finally vote. 14:49 July 1st, 1962, [music] referendum day. Algerians line up to vote independence [music] or remain French. The answer is overwhelming. 15:00 99.72% vote yes to independence. [music] Not 90%, not 95. 99.72, [music] the most unanimous vote in all of modern history. July 3rd, 1962, France [music] officially recognizes Algerian independence. After 132 years, 15:23 colonial occupation [music] ends. 15:25 Celebrations erupt across Algeria. The LN flag [music] rises. The Frenchricolor comes down. Algerians [music] dance in streets. They're finally free. But victory comes at a [music] devastating cost. The human cost is staggering. 1.5 15:42 million Algerian deaths during the war. 15:45 10% [music] of the entire population. 15:48 Imagine losing one in every 10 people you know to war in 8 years. Villages destroyed, families shattered, torture victims traumatized [music] forever. The price of freedom measured in pain. 16:04 France doesn't [music] escape unscathed. 16:06 400,000 French and loyalist casualties. 16:10 1 million peas noir flee to France. Many never lived there before. Their refugees in their supposed homeland. The Harkis Algerians who fought for France face brutal revenge. Felen massacres between 30 and 150,000. Tragedy everywhere. 16:29 1966, Italian director Gilo Pontto Corvo releases The Battle of Alers, shot in black and white using non-acctors [music] in actual locations. So realistic that the film includes a disclaimer. No documentary [music] footage was used. France bans it until 1971. 16:49 Too truthful, too damning, too real. The film becomes [music] the textbook for guerrilla warfare worldwide. Black Panthers [music] study it. IRA studies it. IRA studies it. Vietkong study it. 17:03 Even the US Pentagon [music] screens it in 2003 to prepare for Iraq occupation. 17:10 Algeria proved colonial powers can be defeated. Question is at what cost? What did the world learn from [music] Algeria? That guerilla warfare works against conventional armies. That urban insurgency [music] can defeat superpowers. That torture and brutality 17:28 lose you international support. That colonial powers, no matter how strong, eventually break. Algeria rewrote the rules of modern warfare and global decolonization. [music] Algeria paid for independence in blood. 17:42 1.5 million dead. 8 years of [music] brutal war. But they proved France wasn't invincible. and Africa was watching. The colonial dominoes began falling. Algeria showed the world you can enslave a people but you cannot enslave their will to be Captions from YouTube. Automatic captions can mishear names and places.
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