Today marks the 60th anniversary of the start of the Algerian War which took place on November 1st, 1954. To mark this occasion, we are now going to do a panel AMA for questions on the French wars of decolonization. No matter if you're interested in the Viet Minh, the battle of Algiers or the less known aspects of these conflicts - you are very welcome to quench your thirst for knowledge here!
The panelists are as follows:
/u/Bernardito will speak about both the Algerian War and the Indochina War with a focus on the military aspect. I will be happy to answer questions on anything military related during this era.
/u/Georgy_K-Zhukov is well-versed in the French post-WWII campaigns in Indochina and Algeria, with particular focus on the role of the French Foreign Legion.
/u/EsotericR will be answering questions on decolonization in French sub-Saharan Africa.
/u/InTheCrosshairs will answer questions on the Viet Minh's role in French decolonization of Vietnam.
/u/b1uepenguin is also around to address questions about French decolonization in the Pacific; the failure to decolonize as well as anti-colonial movements and events in the French Pacific.
All panelists won't be available at the same time and they will be answering questions throughout the day and into tomorrow - so don't be worried if your question doesn't get answered within an hour!
Also, keep in mind that questions pertaining to the political aspect of these conflicts might remain unanswered since I was unable to recruit any experts on French post-war politics (as well as North African, Vietnamese, etc.)
I also want to take the time to do a shameless plug for a new subreddit touching on the subject of the war in Indochina: /r/VietnamWar has recently been cleaned and opened for posts and discussions on the French involvement in Indochina (and beyond).
I have four semi-related questions (only the fourth directly relates to militaries):
Did the French try to create settlement colonies anywhere besides Algeris (other than earlier attempts in North America)? Why Algeria? How did that even start?
What were their long term plans for Algeria as part of Metropolitan France, anyway? When was it clear that France wanted Algeria to follow a different course than all their other colonies?
Why did French decolonization, particularly in Africa, happen in a very very short period (~1960)?
What the hell was the Algiers Crisis of 1958? Was there a chance it could succeed? and how did it bring down the Fourth Republic?
What was the impact of the Algerian conflict on North Africa as a whole? Were any surrounding states participants in the fighting (either covertly or otherwise) or destabilized by it?
So I just wanted you to talk a bit about the impact of the 1966 film The Battle of Algiers. Particularly I'm interested on its reception and impact as it relates to decolonisation struggles that took place after the film was released, if any.
I've got a few questions for you:
How much of a role played former members of the Wehrmacht and Waffen-SS in the Legion Etrangere during these wars? I think I recall them making up a large percentage of the casualties at Dien Bien Phu, f.e.; I also found an article from the German weekly Der Spiegel, claiming that 50.000 German legionnaires served in Indochina, which seems exaggerated to me.
Also, as a related question, how accepted were these men among their comrades, how/why were they recruited? What about war criminals, did some manage to get a new ID that way? And did they rise to higher positions? Were they received as veterans just the same as other veterans back in France?
Another question would be if one of you could recommend me a book on the battle of Dien Bien Phu, somehow that episode has always intrigued me. Preferrably English or German, but if the best there is is French I'll manage somehow ;)
Interesting AMA. I an French, my mother was born in then-French Algeria and my father in then-French Congo, and my grandfather fought in Indochina, so I feel pretty personally close to this topic. I'll be looking forward to learning more about it all from experts.
The part that caught my eye in the description is the line about the Pacific. The majority of the French actually don't even consider the Pacific possessions as colonies anymore, but as semi-autonomous French regions. Independence movements do exist, but they are still a minority. However, there was a time when there was a lot more unrest, particularly in New Caledonia.
My question then is, why wasn't it successful? Were there less independence-minded groups? Were the islands strategically note important than Africa for France?
I remember reading that the independence movements had quite some support in other European countries like Germany or Belgium. What was the impact of this in terms of material or moral consequences.
What was the point in their colonizing those areas? What exports did they have? Thanks for doing this!
Is there any possibility to say how Roger Trinquier's Montagnard guerilla force would have fared against the Viet Minh?
In his book (La guerre moderne) he writes that they were disbanded before they could fight. (This sounds rather like a sort of stab-in-the-back-legend, I think)
I have heard that the Indochina war was more or less an accident, and that the French government was ready to discuss peacfull independence before it broke out.
Is there any truth to that?
Hi, not knowing much about this topic, I'd like to ask what made the decolonization of Algeria more violent than that in sub-Saharan Africa? Why did Algerians choose to fight for independence while most of the other French colonies in Africa decide to stay in the French community?
This isn't a decolonization question, but I once read that Algerian guerrillas fighting the French during the invasion in the 1830s actually outranged the French firearms with their craft-made jezail muskets. Is this true? Also- how had french armaments improved since 1815?
why did france go to war about the loss of their colonial posessions, unlike the british who at least made some attempt to leave in peace, with a sustainable and profitable (and hopefully pro-english) government in place? looking at examples like Australia, Canada, Hong Kong, Israel (palestine) and other fairly wealthy parts of the world
Bibliography - All info in my various posts is sources from the following:
I recently looked up how French territories in the Pacific were governed, and I found out that it was pretty much 'colonial', with a two-tier society, weird "customary" institutions and a strong prefect. In my experience, nobody in France knows anything about that, or remotely cares.
So my questions :
Do any foreign states or organisations question this state of affairs regularly ? Is there a country where this is an important point towards defining relations with France ?
Did neighbouring island countries that became independent maintain "customary" institution ? If not how may this have affected their development ?
Was there ever a morality issue debated or considered just after WW2 concerning the ethical behavior of foreign troops and the overall foreign policy of colonialism?
Were there no hesitation, no one in power arguing against the ethics of suppressing rebellions from Algerians? That what they were doing was similar to the nazi occupation they had just suffered through?
who amongst the French leaders were the most ambivalent or enlightened , or did it take 16 years of fighting to create any noticeable dissent
Any good books on this topic? I've always had a great interest in this era of french military history. Saharan, sub saharan, Indochina, any. I have simon murrays - legionnaire lying around, but I am yet too read it, but I think it's more focused on the life of a legionnaire during these times, rather than the actual war in algeria.
What do we know about the 29 of march massacre in Madagascar? I've heard about prisoners being packed inside wagons and shot and women giving birth among bodies.