LibGuides: Battle for Algeria: Class Resources

Week 1

Timeline
Colonial Rule in Algeria Opening Worksheet
Worksheet covering matching and analysis used with lesson 1
Colonial Hierarchy Comparison Table
Complete this comparison table for the different groups

Waging Counterinsurgency in Algeria a French Point of View

Videos

Prezi

Algerian War Timeline

Sources for study

Books

The National Liberation Front in Algeria Mohammed Hennad
The National Liberation Front can be characterized by the way it was born. For the way it was born constitutes something like a genetic code that explains its conduct ever since Algeria’s independence.

It is a well-known fact that the FLN did not start out as a political organization, but rather as a liberation movement against the colonizing power following the multiple failures of the various factions of the National Movement since 1954. These factions had tried time and again – albeit unsuccessfully – whether individually or collectively, to get the occupation authorities to change their treatment of the Algerian people, especially with regard to those dreams of emancipation stipulated in the Atlantic Charter of 1941 and to the winds of liberation that picked up toward the end of World War II, even if these dreams were subsequently crushed by the Cold War.

Sources

The Crémieux Decree
The Government of National Defense

Decrees:

The Israelites native to the departments of Algeria are declared French citizens; consequently, their real status and their personal status shall be, dating from the promulgation of the present decree, regulated by French law, with all rights acquired until this day inviolable.

All contrary legislative dispositions, senatus-consults, decrees, rulings, or ordinances are abolished.

At Tours, October 24, 1870

Signed: Ad. Crémieux, L. Gambetta, Al. Glais-Bisoin, L. Fourichin

With the bilingual petition of 1869, we can begin unearthing a parallel story of linguistic revival and cultural-religious difference.

Code de l'indigénat - Translated

Excerpt from the Code de l'Indigénat (1881)

"Indigenous Muslims are French; however, they continue to be governed by Muslim law. They may be admitted to serve in the army or navy. They may be called to civil functions and jobs in Algeria. Upon request, they may be permitted to enjoy the rights of a French citizen; in this case, they are governed by the political and civil laws of France."

Excerpt from the Manifesto of the Algerian People (1943)

"The manifesto condemns colonialism and asserts the right for the Algerian people to self-govern. It demands the drafting of a constitution that guarantees liberty and equality for all people regardless of race and religion, the recognition of Arabic as an official language with the same status as French, and freedom of religion with the separation of church and state."

On Jews

'We Shall Become French': Reconsidering Algerian Jews' Citizenship, c. 1860–1900
This article reconsiders a key episode at the intersection of French, Algerian and Jewish history: the naturalization of Algerian Jews in 1870, commonly known as the Crémieux Decree. Whilst historiography largely portrays this as a unilateral French endeavour, this article draws on new Judeo-Arabic sources to trace an Algerian–Jewish campaign for citizenship in the 1860s. Exploring the use of the Judeo-Arabic dialect and religious terminology in this campaign, the article uncovers a complex and much overlooked dimension of Jewish citizenship in colonial Algeria.