The award-winning 1966 film, The Battle of Algiers depicts the struggle between natives (the Algerians) and the colonizer (France) during a revolutionary fight for independence. After viewing this film, it is evident that the reasons for revolution and extreme violence on the part of the Algerians were fueled by the thoughts and ideology of Frantz Fanon, a notorious Algerian psychiatrist who promoted and accepted terrorist violence as a valid means of achieving group goals. Although the extreme violence in this film may be seen as aggressive and unnecessary by some, it is evident that the National Liberation Front (FLN) and its supporters believed that terrorism was their last chance for independence from France after 130 years of colonization …show more content…
Fanon argues that in promoting self-respect, extreme violence also destroys the myths of inferiority that many natives have emblazoned in their minds and hearts. According to Fanon, people under colonial rule develop inferiority complexes because they are viewed by settlers as “a sort of quintessence of evil”, as opposed to real people with human rights (Cronin 48). For example, shortly after the FLN placed and detonated the first of many bombs, the French settlers were screaming from their balconies at an Arab man, saying that all Arabs should be executed in order for peace to be established. These individuals accepted an overarching stereotype of all Arabs and Algerians based upon the select few who were involved with the FLN. Additionally, these acts of terrorism are justified by groups like the FLN as acts that release tension and aggression that have built up over many years. In the Algerian case, the natives had built up anger toward the French and the French army for 130 years before they began to revolt and successfully call for independence. Before these acts of terrorism began, these individuals did not have an outlet to release their anger towards their colonizer. Furthermore, this terrorism is a tool for the Algerians to work toward independence and to take control of their own lives, which had been controlled by the French for so …show more content…
In The Wretched of the Earth (1961), Fanon makes it clear that extreme violence effectively or ineffectively, based on the planning and strategy behind the attacks. Fanon believed that terrorism can be effective in the fight for independence if (1) communication through terrorist activity is “controlled and guided”; (2) the violence is intentionally planned; and (3) the leaders of the group educate the masses on how to tactically do away with the old power and order so that a new foundation for government can be built. Perhaps the most important requirement for the success of these three for Fanon is the strategic and intentional planning of attacks and defense mechanisms to counter-attacks before they are actually needed. He writes, “total brutality … if not immediately combatted, invariably leads to the defeat of the movement within a few weeks” (Sonnleitner 293). This fact also reinforces Jaffar’s point of how it is more difficult to sustain a revolution than to start one. In the case of Algeria in the film, each violent act was planned beforehand and methods of defense were put in place by FLN leaders like Jaffar. However, in the film, the first time that the FLN fails to plan ahead on defense and predict the next move of the French armed forces, the French are able to spy and gain information that ultimately led to the
The film Casablanca centers on an American man by the name of Rick Blaine who flees a German-occupied France during World War II to a city in Morocco by the name of Casablanca. (Casablanca, 1942) This city is a territory of France at the time and is out of full German jurisdiction due to this status. (Casablanca, 1942) Many citizens of German-occupied countries in Europe sought refuge here due to the lack of control Germany had on other countries’ territories early in the war. The general intent of refugees in Casablanca was to flee to even further countries such as The United States of America, which they could not achieve in their home, occupied countries. As the film’s plot develops, the viewer is introduced to refugees very important to the freedom-fighting movement France, and we learn that Rick originated in New York, U.S.A.
Algeria had revolted against the French colonies many times, but did not succeed with overthrowing them. Under the French rule
Initially popularized during the French Revolution, the term “terrorism,” at its inception, was a distinctly positive word; from the rubble of the first revolts in 1789, stemmed the regime de la terreur, an instrument of governance meant to further propel the success of the revolutionaries through the intimidation of those loyal to the dictatorial regime which governed France for much of the eighteenth century (Hoffman 3). Ironically, given the modern interpretation of terrorism, the revolutionaries who would ultimately constitute the regime de la terreur were advocating for virtue and democracy––in fact, one of the figureheads of the revolutionary movement Maximilien Robespierre was renowned for having said: “virtue, without which terror is
In 1830, a ruler of Tunis, Husain II Bey, signed a treaty with the French. This treaty “abolished the monopoly on produce, prohibited acts of piracy, confirmed previous trade treaties, made France most favored, and allowed European consuls to try all cases involving Europeans.” (Beck) Due to this treaty being signed, Husain II Bey “refused to allow the Ottoman official Tahir Pasha to land in Tunis to challenge the French blockade of Algeria.” (Beck). By preventing the Ottoman leaders from occupying a strategic location, the French were able to steal control of Algeria. Another method by which the French imperialists were able to invade and take control of Algeria was through warfare and military supremacy. The native Algerians were only equipped with, "hunting rifles, shotguns, and home made bombs," when facing the French imperialists, where the French imperialists had more modern weapons due to industrialisation.(Algerian war: 1954 to 1962) In order to take power away from the Turkish in Algeria, 37,000 members of the French army invaded the west of Algeria in June of 1830, and fought against the Turkish. The Turkish surrendered on July 4th of 1830, and the French invaded Algeria the following day. (Lutsky) However, “this success brings France only a small region round Algiers.” (History of Algeria) French imperialists were still threatened by
The beginning of colonization also marks the beginning of decolonization. From the day the colonists start exploiting the colonized people and belittling the colonized people for the colonists' self-aggrandizement, the colonized ones have been prepared to use violence at any moment to end the colonists' exploitation (Fanon, 3).Decolonization is violent, there is a necessity for violence. This is a point that is repeated again and again throughout The Battle of Algiers and The Wretched of the Earth. Here, the focus will be on The Battle of Algiers to discuss the violence of
Similar actions were taken by the FLN in their campaign of violence against the population. Due to the FLN's nationalist approach they began a campaign of us verses them in regards to the French with no concept of neutrality on the matter and any Muslim who collaborated with the French would be murdered to bring allegiance and obedience aimed at cleansing and purifying the city of Algiers.1 The strategy was to remove all social and political parasites that made up any competing forces in light of La Pegre, a similar organization who worked under the French secret police as informants, so in order to covert more members and remove the threat they waged a war of intimidation.2 The FLN began its violence against the French settlers in Algeria
Frantz Fanon grew up in a well off family in French colonial Martinique. He was schooled in France and became a psychiatrist. After volunteering for the free French army during the Second World War, Fanon spent a number of years in the French colony of Algeria before and during the revolution (Zaidi). Because of his life and education, Fanon had a unique perspective to criticize and deconstruct colonialism and decolonization. Using a Marxist lens, he theorized that because colonies were created and maintained in violence, that a colony could only decolonize through violence. He saw violence as the best means to throw off the false consciousness of colonialism and envisioned a brotherhood or comradeship of free and equal people. It is Fanon’s similarity with Martin Luther King, Jr. that is most interesting. In the Letter from a Birmingham Jail, King makes many of the same arguments as Fanon, but proposes a better solution revolving around justice. Fanon’s obsession with violence it at the centre of his argument, however non-violent direct action, according to King, would be a better way to achieve freedom and equality because ultimately unjust action does not bring about justice.
A. Adu Boahen's African Perspectives on Colonialism neatly classifies African responses to European colonialism during both phases of invasion and occupation during the 19th century with precise labels according to their nature or time period. However, the reactions can also be loosely grouped into two diametric characterizations: peaceful and violent. Although creating this dichotomy seems a gross generalization and oversimplification of the colonial African experience, it more importantly allows for a different perspective- one that exposes the overwhelming success of the typically peaceful or pacifist reaction in contrast to the little gain and large losses of the violent response.
Liberty, equality, and freedom are all essential parts to avoiding anarchy and maintaining tranquility even through the most treacherous of times. The Reign of Terror is well known as the eighteen month long French Revolution (1793-1794). In this period of time, a chief executive, Maximilien Robespierre, and a new French government executed gigantic numbers of people they thought to be enemies of the revolution, inside and outside of the country. The question is: were these acts of the new French government justified? Not only are the acts that occurred in the Reign of Terror not justified, they were barbaric and inhumane.
It is 1957 and the Algerian war is at its prime as the FLN fight against an elite troop of ruthless French paratroopers. The Battle of Algiers is a portion of the Algerian war which was fought in order for Algeria to gain independence from France. The film starts off with the torturing of an old man to gain information on where the last of the freedom fighters, Ali Pointe is hiding. A large segment of the film is shot in flashbacks focusing on the past of Ali Pointe. Pointe was a ruffian with theft and drugs on his record; he joined the militants to assist in getting rid of the problems in Algeria associated with the French. With the flashbacks the film tells the struggles of the insurgents and the persistence of the French to end the war. It shows the transformation of the insurgency into a full out revolution. When the flashbacks ends and it is now present time Ali Pointe, along with the rest of the FLN leaders captured are beheaded. Through this, the FLN reciprocate and the insurgency becomes a full on national revolution with growth in numbers and support. The film ends with Algeria gaining the independence it strived for in 1962. The film is important in understanding asymmetric conflicts because despite being the weaker side, Algeria had proved itself to be much stronger than the French and had its newfound independence to show for it.
In his book Twelve Who Ruled, Palmer eloquently writes this narrative, "weaving the biographies of the twelve into the history of their time," and provides a coherent and convincing explanation of the terror. The book is not only educational for someone interested in the time period when these twelve men ruled the nation of France, but it is also enjoyable from the perspective of a person reading the book solely for interest in revolutions and how they affect the people who are involved in them. The book deals with a brief period of time during the French Revolution, namely the year of terror. The book ventures to interpret the foundations and rationale for the terror and Palmer illustrates his speculations on the subject through gracious, flowing writing.
Even though, the French Revolution saw the Terror as a sign to create peace and restore a new France, it was not justified because the extremities of the internal and external threats spun out of control and the methods of the period were over the top. As the Reign of Terror in France grew and invoked fear, the internal threats became more radical and deadly. The French Revolution began in 1789 as an attempt to create a new and fair government. (Doc A) As year four of freedom lurched, the thirst for power in Maximilien Robespierre stirred and the hunger for more blood provoked him, urging him to create the Reign of Terror.
This is shown near the end of the movie through the Arabians inability to fix the generators for town hall, exemplifying what little training Europeans gave them before leaving. This absence of experience expands into an even larger problem long after the British left the dessert with creation of a power struggle. As no consistent order or rule exists, violent political groups are more easily able to take over. The only method these groups know for ruling is the process of instilling fear in those whom they rule. The British didn’t provide the places they took over with a means to govern themselves once the imperialists returned to Europe, leaving them with continued
The “Battle of Algiers” film focuses first on the sufferings of the Algerians segregated in the Kasbah, their poverty and their frustration. It then shows their warfare tactic of bomb attacks on the heart of the city in all its horror, the blood, the randomness of their victims. Finally, the arrival of special French troopers under the operational control of Lieutenant-Colonel Mathieu (inspired by general Massu) provoked an escalation of violence, torture and hate that culminated in the battle of the Kasbah, where the FLN momentarily lost before later winning the war and making Algeria an independent country.
A complete study of 1968 and its legacies in Europe can not solely deal with events that occurred on the continent. 1968 was, in fact, a “global phenomenon”; with ideas perpetrated in Europe reaching as far as Mexico, China, and India, but to name a few . The beginning of this mutualistic relationship between “New Left” groups on different continents (which spawned the revolutionary feeling which would result in the events of 1968), can be seen in Frantz Fanon’s text The Wretched of the Earth; most importantly with regards to the growth of Third Worldism and its inevitable impact on the West. The first chapter of his book Concerning Violence, on display here in the “Third World” section of the exhibition, became a sort of revolutionary handbook for the people of post-colonial Africa (particularly the countries of Algeria and Kenya) and across the world.