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.
The region of Alsace-Lorraine has historically produced conflict between France and Germany. As a result of the Alsace-Lorraine provincial boundary changes, the people within the area had and still withhold individual national and cultural identities. These unique identities emanate from French, as well as German traditions. As time progressed so did the sentiment of the Alsatians. In 1871, when Prussia annexed Alsace-Lorraine, its citizens objected German rule. Conversely, in 1919 when France reclaimed the territory, the people in it began to yearn for the formally loathed German rule. The national and cultural identity of Alsace-Lorraine fluctuated inversely with its territorial modifications.
The Second World War seems to have had an enormous impact on theorists writing on literary theory. While their arguments are usually confined to a structure that at first blush seems to only apply to theory, a closer examination finds that they contain an inherently political aspect. Driven by the psychological trauma of the war, theorists, particularly French theorists, find themselves questioning the structures that led to the particular events and situations of the war. Many of these writers found themselves driven to engage the lackluster resistance against the Vichy regime in France and sought critical models that explain or lay to rest the guilt of a complacent citizenry.
de Gaulle and the Granting of Independence to Algeria Charles de Gaulle played a vital role in the decolonisation of Algeria. There were a number of factors that lead up to independence of Algeria for example the FLN. The FLN were the foundation of the nationalist movement, after seeing France occupied by Germany in the Second World War the Algerians realised that the French were not unbeatable, and set about to over throw the French and reclaim their country, which was occupied by both colons and the French army. In order to try and gain independence the FLN resorted to terrorism starting in 1954, attacking European settlements, their tactics were responded to with a massive show of force by the French Army. They had previously been defeated in Indo-China in 1940, Vietnam in 1954 and the Suez in 1956.
Vichy France is a period of French history that has only fairly recently begun to be examined for what it truly is: a period in which many of the French turned against their own state and collaborated with the German forces to betray their own country. Until the eighties, the Vichy Regime was regarded as “an aberration in the evolution of the French Republic” (Munholland, 1994) , repressed by the French in an attempt to regain their national pride. ‘Lacombe Lucien’ (1974), directed by Louis Malle is a film which aims to capture the ambiguity of the era through the documentation of fictional collaborateur, Lucien.
Charles Andre Marie Joseph de Gaulle was born on November 22, 1890 in Lille, France to two Catholic parents, Henri and Jeanne de Gaulle. He cherished reading stories. Even more so, de Gaulle liked the stories that were about war heroes. He even played war with his friends. When he played war, he demanded to represent France (Early life de Gaulle). The de Gaulle family was originally formed in Northern France for five centuries back, before Charles Andre de Gaulle. Until the eighteenth century, the de Gaulle family ranked as petite noblesse d’e’pe’e, also known as the sword- bearing officer class. This was not one of the high-ranking family titles. It was an upper-middle-class.
On July 14th, 17189, a shot was heard around the world: the Bastille had been stormed. Propelled by Enlightenment ideas, a rigid class system, and resentment with the monarchy, on this day the French decided to take matters in their own hands. In the next three years, the French overthrew their monarch and established a government and constitution that promised equal rights for all. As the saying goes, history repeats itself. So was the case in Latin America. By 1810, revolutionary fervor had spread to Venezuela. The revolution here was caused by similar reasons. As a colony of Spain, Venezuela did not have a representational government or equality for all its citizens. Peninsulares, or European-born Spaniards, held all the important governmental positions. Like the nobility in France, Peninsulares did not have to pay taxes. Their children (as long as they were also born in Europe), had many educational opportunities. Below the peninsulares were the creoles, or Venezuelans of Spanish descent. Creoles owned much of the land, but they were considered inferior to the peninsulares. Like the bourgeoisie in France, creoles had to pay high taxes and were subject to strict regulation. Creoles were disappointed in what they saw as social and political inequality, and desired to obtain self-representation in the government. At first hesitant, creoles declared their independence amid the weakening of the Spanish crown and the spread of the Enlightenment ideas. The Venezuelan Revolution was influenced by the French Revolution by the spread of Enlightenment ideas, social inequality, the discontent of creoles, and their desire to gain independence from France and form a new democratic government.
The 1950s was not a particularly good decade for France. The Fourth Republic, which had been established in the aftermath of the Second World War, remained unstable and lurched from crisis to crisis. Between 1946 and 1954, there had been a war in French Indo-China, between a nationalist force under Ho Chi Minh and the French. The war was long and bitter and towards the end, the French suffered the ignominy of losing the major fortress of Dien Bien Phu to the guerrillas on 7 May 1954. An armistice was sought with Ho Chi Minh, and the nations of North and South Vietnam emerged from the ashes of the colony. It is entirely likely that the success of the guerrillas influenced the Algerian insurrectionists, the National Liberation Front(FLN), in tactics and in the idea that the time was ripe to strike. It is clear that the FLN employed similar methods to those developed by the nationalists under Ho Chi Minh.1
Government, one of the greatest concepts of mankind since learning how to live together as a community. Government was designed to give order and to represent the people in their quest for happiness. When a government works well the majority of its citizens are satisfied with what the government is doing, but what happens when the government fall short of satisfying the basic needs of its citizens? When the current government fails a new one is the cry of its people. In many countries change is accomplished by a revolution. In France the National Assembly cried for revolution from its oppressive King and the Ancien Regime. They wanted to improve human rights. They wanted an improved economy and religious reform like the American Revolution. This is an argument that the French Revolution failed.
French and British Colonialism and Imperialism in Africa Africa is home to countless cultures that all have their own unique ideas and customs. During the past couple of centuries, these cultures were threatened to the point where they almost ceased to exist. The Berlin Conference was a very important occurrence in Africa and Europe's history. It legitimized what the European powers, mainly France and Britain, had been doing for the past hundred years, without the approval of any African country. During the late nineteenth century, France and Britain began imperialistic ventures into Africa, which eventually led Leopold II to conquer the Congo.
Around the mid twentieth century, Africa saw an increase in independence movements and decolonization efforts. Even up to the 1960s, some European powers still had a colony in Africa, such as France. In 1954, the National Liberation Front (FLN) in Algeria started a guerrilla campaign to gain independence from France. Much later in the decade, South Africa, who gained their independence from Great Briton in 1930, struggled with a racial system called Apartheid. This was used to suppress the native black population, and through racial segregation, the minority white population came into power. This paper will focus on these two events in African history and how the international community comprehended the reality of the two situations. In the case of the Algerian War of Independence, the different strategies that both the FLN and France used will be analyzed by the impact they had on the United Nations and the international community. Secondly, the use of song and culture in South Africa by the native population will be examined, and in particular the effects the Mayibuye Cultural Ensemble and the Amandla Cultural Ensemble had on international audiences and how useful it was in revealing the state of the population under Apartheid rule. Primarily, the films The Battle of Algiers and Amandla! will be used to provide a context, and thus the films will be portrayed through an international viewpoint.
The Vichy Regime was the French government that came after the Third Republic in the year 1940 (Editors, 1). Many historians say Vichy France was a very dark and unfortunate time. Vichy was a wartime government in a town south of Paris called Vichy. It was established by Marshal Philippe Pétain after France surrendered to Germany on June 22, 1940 (Editors, 1). On the same day, France was divided into two zones: one to be under German military occupation and one to be left to the French. There were, however, a few zones of France unoccupied (Holocaust). Not too long after the new government was made, Pierre Laval joined it and soon became the main architect of the regime (Editors, 2). Laval was the man who granted Petain to create a new constitution so he would have full legislative and executive powers in the French State (McMahon). Petain was a beloved hero from World War II. Even though the Vichy government lasted four years, there was never a new constitution (McMahon, 1). Vichy France, known as the “French State”, would rule the south and most of France’s oversea colonies would remain loyal to Vichy.
The process of decolonization in Africa during the 1950’s through the 1970’s was a very smart yet risky idea. For some places independence was easily gained yet in other areas it was a battle. During the time periods where colonization existed, Africa was peaceful and kept things in order. People had control over their specific locations and there were no questions to be asked. Once it was decided to remove these rights, things got out of hand rather quickly. Violence was a main occurrence during the decolonization timeframe because rules, rights, leaderships, etc. got altered and drastically changed. Sometimes nonviolence was used but it usually wasn’t as effective. A major example of using nonviolence actions to gain independence is when Gandhi protested in India. African leaders have tried very hard to lessen the influence of Western powers and the broader international community but they’ve never been completely successful because they continuously needed support in state building, economic development, and public health initiatives.
Total freedom for all people is an ideal way of life. Throughout the French Revolution, the idea of total freedom and human rights circulated the nation of France. While it is true that progress was made in the realm of human rights and freedom, only a select group legally acquired rights and freedom. As the white, male property owning individuals of France took clear advantage of their new-found rights and freedoms, a minority group inhabiting the French colony island of Saint-Domingue, known as the mulattoes, attempted to pave the way for progress. The mulattoes sought rights of their own and based their notions of freedom and equality off of the French National Assembly’s Declaration of the Rights of Man.
In the years from 1871 to 1914, France saw many social changes, economic and cultural, under the new government of the Third Republic. France experienced the modernization of its rural areas, the centralization of the state, and the emergence of a mass media culture. Furthermore, internationally France was heavily involved in the European race to imperialize in Africa and Asia. political participation in the international arena, which at the time was heavily involved in the race for imperial expansion in Africa and Asia.
Is Decolonization good for Africa? Decolonization is the process of a nation trying to establish and have autonomy to make their own political and economic decisions without interference from external pressure (Cooper, 1996). In this case, decolonization of Africa refers to the period where African nations fought for their independence so as to be free from European rule mostly in the 1950s. Decolonization among most African nations basically occurred between the 1950s and 1980s, except for a few nations like Mozambique and South Africa that became independent in the early 1990s. Essentially, it’s not an easy job because it involves violence and the formation of political movements and associations.