De Gaulle and the Achievement of Independence in Algeria

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De Gaulle and the Achievement of Independence in Algeria

Algeria underwent a long struggle to gain independence from France.

Its people had seemed to be happy with the colonisation of its country

until France was occupied by Germany in the Second World War. This

defeat along with others in Vietnam and other colonies proved to the

Algerians that France was not the superpower they had once believed it

was, and nationalist feelings began to grow. As the nationalist

movement grew it became known as the FLN. At first its support was

very small, many Algerians cautious of the extremists, they were happy

with the peace that they lived with although they were exploited, not

many complained. The FLN decided they had to become more radical to

get noticed, and in November 1954 the insurrection began. The

leadership of the FLN consisted of two groups, the internals and

externals. The FLN were at first badly armed with less that 50% of

guerrilla fighters armed but with slowly increasing numbers. The FLN

had split the country into sections with one leader in charge of each;

they had planned to cause chaos in each wilaya so the French couldn't

cope

However in contrast the French were very powerful, they outnumbered

the FLN and with badly organised members and poor communication links

the French army set out to crush nationalist feelings. They were keen

to show the world they were still a powerful nation, and to regain

their pride in their forces. They were determined not to be humiliated

again in Algeria. They were proud of Algeria and saw it as a

'mini-France'. The French reaction was to show a massive show of

force, arresting whole village...

... middle of paper ...

...old the groups

together.

The evian agreement was made to assure that settlers in Algeria would

have the rights to dual citizenship and they would enjoy normal civil

and political rights and their properties would be safe. Arguments

were also taking place regarding who should own the sahara desert, De

Gaulle finally broke the deadlock by announcing his willingness to

give up the desert. The evian agreement called an immediate cease

fire, which was not respected by the army's OAS rebel group, who

attacked yet more Algerians. The agreement also confirmed that Algeria

and France would still trade with each other; with the signing of the

Evian Agreement on April the 7th 1962 Algeria was granted its

independence.

De Gaulle had broken the stalemate and negotiated a peaceful route to

independence for the Algerians.

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