1954: The crash of the empire

Of the events of 1954, 8 out of 15 experts and readers chose the colonial wars of France in Indochina and Algeria. The first of them ended in May 1954 with a defeat of the metropolis at Dianbenf. The second began in November of the same year.

White against yellow

Vadim Erlichman

White against yellow Vadim Erlichman Indochina was a colony of France since the 19th century. But against the French, the Communists, led by Ho Shi mine, raised an uprising. As a result of the Seven Years War, only large cities and the Dianbieenfu fortress remained for the French. From the article in the Mond newspaper on March 16, 1954: "Our forces near Dyenbenf are constrained by the actions of the partisans. The Vietnamese suffer terrible losses. And yet, there and here they climb over fences with the help of light bamboo stairs, and hand -to -end begins." On May 8, the French garrison under the command of General de Castroet. In July 1954, France pledged to withdraw its troops from Indochina. The lost pearl of the pearl of the empire was Algeria, providing it with cheap raw materials and labor. In 1954, 9 million Muslims and 2 million Europeans lived there. From the report of the France Parliament Commission of July 1, 1954: "Against the backdrop of prosperity and artificially created security of Europeans, the natives seem just shadows of people." From the charter of the Algerian people, adopted by the leaders of the National Liberation Front on November 1, 1954: "Algerian people! Think about your humiliating slave position. Act on the side of the liberation forces that you must provide assistance, assistance and shelter. Undressing in the struggle is crime. Resistance to it is a betrayal." From the Communny of the Government of France of November 2, 1954: "Yesterday, several military posts and administrative buildings in different areas were attacked in Algeria." More than 500 thousand Algerian Muslims served in French institutions and the police. The main blow of the partisans fell upon them. In the first year alone, 15 thousand Algerians were killed for refusing to support the front of national liberation and "insulting Allah." The European settlers also suffered - the partisans cut them out without sparing neither women nor children. The response of the French army was carpet bombing and torture of prisoners. From the book of the Algerian partisan Henri Alleg “Interrogation under torture” (Paris, 1958): “The commander of the troops, General Massa, officially allowed the use of torture against FNO supporters ... I was beaten on the body of cigarettes, kept under water until I started to choke. Thousands of our people were scored to death or dropped from airplanes into the sea.” The war in Algeria lasted until 1962. It killed 650 thousand Muslims of the Alzhire residents and 30 thousand Frenchmen. Mutual bitterness led to the fact that after the declaration of independence, almost all Europeans left the country. In 1956, in a desperate attempt to stop the collapse of the empire, France, along with England and Israel, made an armed invasion of Egypt, which supplied the weapons of Algerian militants. The failure of aggression made the loss of Algeria inevitable. In 1958, General de Gaulle came to power, which provided independence to Algeria and other French colonies. The state’s attempt to impose a will to another beats on both sides of Yuri Rubinsky, the head of the Center for French Studies of the Institute of Europe of the Russian Academy of Sciences, I watched with his own eyes how hard French society came out of the state of the split into which colonial wars plunged it. Of the twenty years of my work in France, the most difficult were the years after the Algerian campaign. The confrontation between indigenous French and Muslim French led to monstrous cases. For example, in 1961, the North African Arabs reached an anti -war demonstration in Paris. Powerful police forces were thrown against them: the Arabs were thrown into the Sen, scored with batons - while several hundred people were killed. The allergy of part of the French society to the Arabs-Muslims remains to this day. Arab will not rent an apartment in a prestigious quarter. They will not take a prestigious job. All these are the consequences of that long -standing Algerian campaign. Any colonial wars, any attempts by the state to impose their will on another people do not pass painlessly for both sides. The war in Indochina went far from France and was very expensive. The attitude towards her was something like that of our media to the First Chechen War. But when on November 1, 1954, an uprising began in Algeria and his suppression grew into a new seven -year war, public opinion supported this war. Algeria was much closer. The French have been there since 1830 - much longer than in Indochina. Legally, Algeria was part of the national French territory and almost one and a half million French citizens considered him their home. In addition, oil was found in the sugar. The French perceived the loss of Algeria as the end of the great France. But the second war cost France even more. It interfered with the modernization of the economy and the army, the European community condemned it. The war negatively influenced the internal situation in France itself, causing - since there were many Arabs - racist sentiments. She stimulated nationalism and neo -fascist movements, led to the restriction of freedom of print. French society turned out to be split into supporters and opponents of war. The latter were accused of betrayal. As is customary in such cases, they, and not for the instigators of hostilities, were responsible for the death of French soldiers in Algeria. In May 1958, the troops led to power de Gaulle in the hope that the general, having become the president, would win the Algerian war. De Gaulle understood the main thing: it is impossible to hold Algeria, and the use of forces is fraught with the rebirth of France into a fascist dictatorship. The rebels in Algeria supported the entire Arab world. Attempts to surround the separatists with barbed wire and a chain of powerful fortresses from which the French paratroopers could act were unsuccessful. Then, contrary to his supporters, de Gaulle began negotiations - first secret, then open - with the front of the national liberation of Algeria, despite the fact that he practiced partisan and terrorist methods of struggle. He went to great political risk. The agreements concluded by him in March 1962 led France to serious events. Arab pogroms began. The councils of the military. The general himself escaped from death by a miracle - the attempt on his life followed one after another. In the end, Algeria became independent - the Algerians became Algerians, and the French became French. The Arabs, who fought on the side of the French, left after the French population, which fled from Algeria, throwing lands and property without any compensation. Automatically, France’s citizenship was received by family members formed as a result of mixed marriages. The end of the Algerian war was good for France. And de Gaulle went down in history by a man who brought France from a dead end of colonial wars. Thus, he released funds for the modernization of the economy, and then managed to reorganize the army, supplying it with nuclear weapons, as well as raise the authority of France in the world. And finally, to maintain democracy in the country, while strengthening the authority of state power. The Frenchman fully realized the insight of their then president much later. That is why today they react so sharply to the events in Chechnya, which remind them of their own drama of forty years ago.

Indochina was a colony of France since the 19th century. But against the French, the Communists, led by Ho Shi mine, raised an uprising. As a result of the Seven Years War, only large cities and the Dianbieenfu fortress remained for the French.

From an article in the newspaper "Mond" dated March 16, 1954:

"Our forces near Dyenbienf are constrained by the actions of the partisans. The Vietnamese suffer terrible losses. And yet, here and here they will climb over the barriers with the help of light bamboo stairs, and hand -to -end begins."

On May 8, the French garrison under the command of General de Castroet. In July 1954, France pledged to withdraw its troops from Indochina.

Lost pearl

The pearl of the empire was Algeria, providing it with cheap raw materials and labor. In 1954, 9 million Muslims and 2 million Europeans lived there.

From the report of the France Parliament Commission of July 1, 1954:

"Against the backdrop of prosperity and artificially created security of Europeans, natives seem just shadows of people."

From the Charter of the Algerian People, adopted by the leaders of the Front of National Liberation on November 1, 1954:

"The Algerian people! Think about your humiliating slave position. Act on the side of the liberation forces that you must provide help, assistance and shelter. Uncertainment in the struggle is a crime. Resistance to it is betrayal."

From the Communny of the Government of France of November 2, 1954:

"Yesterday, several military posts and administrative buildings in different areas are attacked in Algeria."

More than 500 thousand Algerian Muslims served in French institutions and the police. The main blow of the partisans fell upon them. In the first year alone, 15 thousand Algerians were killed for refusing to support the front of national liberation and "insulting Allah." The European settlers also suffered - the partisans cut them out without sparing neither women nor children. The response of the French army was carpet bombing and torture of prisoners.

From the book of the Algerian partisan Henri Alleg "Interrogation under torture" (Paris, 1958):

"The commander of the troops, General Mass, officially allowed the use of torture against FNO supporters ... I was beaten, extinguished on the body of a cigarette, kept under water until I started to choke. Thousands of our people were scored to death or dropped from airplanes to sea."

The war in Algeria lasted until 1962. It killed 650 thousand Muslims of the Alzhire residents and 30 thousand Frenchmen. Mutual bitterness led to the fact that after the declaration of independence, almost all Europeans left the country.

In 1956, in a desperate attempt to stop the collapse of the empire, France, along with England and Israel, made an armed invasion of Egypt, which supplied the weapons of Algerian militants. The failure of aggression made the loss of Algeria inevitable. In 1958, General de Gaulle came to power, which provided independence to Algeria and other French colonies.

The state’s attempt to impose the will to another
hits on both sides

Yuri Rubinsky,
Head of the Center for French Research
Institute of Europe of the Russian Academy of Sciences

I watched with my own eyes how difficult it came from the state of the split into which the colonial wars plunged it. Of the twenty years of my work in France, the most difficult were the years after the Algerian campaign.

The confrontation between indigenous French and Muslim French led to monstrous cases. For example, in 1961, the North African Arabs reached an anti -war demonstration in Paris. Powerful police forces were thrown against them: the Arabs were thrown into the Sen, scored with batons - while several hundred people were killed.

The allergy of part of the French society to the Arabs-Muslims remains to this day. Arab will not rent an apartment in a prestigious quarter. They will not take a prestigious job. All these are the consequences of that long -standing Algerian campaign. Any colonial wars, any attempts by the state to impose their will on another people do not pass painlessly for both sides.

The war in Indochina went far from France and was very expensive. The attitude towards her was something like that of our media to the First Chechen War. But when on November 1, 1954, an uprising began in Algeria and his suppression grew into a new seven -year war, public opinion supported this war. Algeria was much closer. The French have been there since 1830 - much longer than in Indochina. Legally, Algeria was part of the national French territory and almost one and a half million French citizens considered him their home. In addition, oil was found in the sugar. The French perceived the loss of Algeria as the end of the great France.

But the second war cost France even more. It interfered with the modernization of the economy and the army, the European community condemned it. The war negatively influenced the internal situation in France itself, causing - since there were many Arabs - racist sentiments. She stimulated nationalism and neo -fascist movements, led to the restriction of freedom of print. French society turned out to be split into supporters and opponents of war. The latter were accused of betrayal. As is customary in such cases, they, and not for the instigators of hostilities, were responsible for the death of French soldiers in Algeria.

In May 1958, the troops led to power de Gaulle in the hope that the general, having become the president, would win the Algerian war. De Gaulle understood the main thing: it is impossible to hold Algeria, and the use of forces is fraught with the rebirth of France into a fascist dictatorship. The rebels in Algeria supported the entire Arab world. Attempts to surround the separatists with barbed wire and a chain of powerful fortresses from which the French paratroopers could act were unsuccessful.

Then, contrary to his supporters, de Gaulle began negotiations - first secret, then open - with the front of the national liberation of Algeria, despite the fact that he practiced partisan and terrorist methods of struggle. He went to great political risk. The agreements concluded by him in March 1962 led France to serious events. Arab pogroms began. The councils of the military. The general himself escaped from death by a miracle - the attempt on his life followed one after another.

In the end, Algeria became independent - the Algerians became Algerians, and the French became French. The Arabs, who fought on the side of the French, left after the French population, which fled from Algeria, throwing lands and property without any compensation. Automatically, France’s citizenship was received by family members formed as a result of mixed marriages.

The end of the Algerian war was good for France. And de Gaulle went down in history by a man who brought France from a dead end of colonial wars. Thus, he released funds for the modernization of the economy, and then managed to reorganize the army, supplying it with nuclear weapons, as well as raise the authority of France in the world. And finally, to maintain democracy in the country, while strengthening the authority of state power. The Frenchman fully realized the insight of their then president much later. That is why today they react so sharply to the events in Chechnya, which remind them of their own drama of forty years ago.