By 1958, France had over 460,000 troops in Algeria, including veterans of the counterinsurgency operation in Indochina. Also among their ranks were members of the 5th Bureau, a psych-ops unit that used covert tactics to infiltrate and corrupt the Front de libération nationale (FLN), causing in-fighting and instability. The war had effectively turned Algeria into a police state.
The quadrillage system used in the capital was extended to the entire country. Curfews, searches and summary executions were commonplace, and villages suspected of FLN collaboration were bombed from the air. The Morice Line was rolled out along Algeria’s borders with Tunisia and Morocco. Designed to prevent additional fighters and supplies from reaching the FLN, it consisted of miles of electrified fencing, radar systems, searchlights and minefields. In an attempt to eradicate support for the FLN in rural communities, the authorities uprooted two million people, sending them to concentration camps.
These tactics largely contained the insurgency in Algeria but their use caused political mayhem back in France. As reports of brutality and torture flooded out of the country, support for Algerian independence gained momentum, particularly among France’s left-wing political parties. This infuriated not only the piedsnoirs but also the French military. Believing their counter-insurgency operation was being undermined by political incompetence, they took matters into their own hands.
This story is from the Issue 137 edition of History of War.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber ? Sign In
This story is from the Issue 137 edition of History of War.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber? Sign In
COUPS & CHAOS
How the French armed forces lost the war in Algeria and almost destroyed French democracy in the process
BATTLE OF ALGIERS
When the Front de libération nationale FLN) took its war to the streets of the capital, France’s military responded with merciless wrath
THE RISE OF ALGERIAN RESISTANCE
How the anti-colonialist struggle around the globe helped inspire Algeria’s liberation movement to organise and fight back
ROOTS OF REVOLUTION
A century of French occupation led to a genocide in Algeria that provoked one of the bloodiest showdowns of the modern age
DWIGHT W BIRDWELL
In the opening hours of the North Vietnamese Tet Offensive, this Specialist Five led his armoured cavalry detachment in repulsing a fierce communist assault against Tan Son Nhut Air Base near Saigon
THE FIVE STRATEGY AND LEADERSHIP
Phillips O’Brien discusses how this quintet of national leaders impacted the course of the Second World War
Great Battles FLODDEN
On the morning of 9 September 1513, King James lV of Scotland stood atop Flodden Hill with what seemed an insurmountable advantage over the English. Yet by the day's end he would lay slain and his army shattered
FERDINAND 'THE BLOODY'
Known for his brutal martial punishment and execution of his own men, Ferdinand Schérner’s ruthlessness was matched only by his devotion to Nazi ideology
AIRBORNE UNDER SIEGE ARNHEM
For nine days the heroic 1st Airborne fought desperately, waiting vainly for relief that never came
SCANDINAVIA UNDER ATTACK
Hitler’s forces smash through Denmark and Norway ina grim foretaste of the terrible fate awaiting the rest of Western Europe
