FRANCE: Broken Link

The French army brought De Gaulle to power largely because many officers thought he could end the war in Algeria and keep Algeria French. But De Gaulle has not ended the war, and though he systematically dispersed officers who later defied his authority in Algeria, he has not been able to quiet their doubts over his pledge to let the Algerians themselves decide Algeria’s future.

In the famous “May 13” army-settler revolt in Algiers two years ago, sad-eyed General Raoul Salan, army commander in Algeria, was the first to cry “Vive De Gaulle” to the unruly crowd from his Algiers balcony. For months, Salan was grimly steadfast as De Gaulle went on to promise Algerians a referendum offering three choices, including independence. Two weeks ago, Salan had enough. “No one,” he said defiantly, has a right “to decide to give up a portion of territory under French sovereignty, above all in Algeria.” The colons and right-wing ultras of Algiers, hailed Salan as their new leader.

President de Gaulle does not favor generals in politics, except himself. After the May 13 uprising, he had first promoted but then fired firebrand Paratroop General Jacques Massu. He also kept a wary eye on General Salan, first shunting him off to the largely honorific post of military governor of Paris, then retiring him to the reserve. Salan elected to buy a house in Algiers and plan a new future.

Others have said more violent things than Salan against De Gaulle’s self-determination policy, e.g., ex-Premier Georges Bidault and ex-Gaullist Jacques Soustelle. But what worried De Gaulle was that Salan, as head since last year of a right-wing veterans’ organization called the National Association of Combatants of the French Union, has the means to organize the dissatisfaction of many other officers and disaffected veterans.

Last week Salan was peremptorily summoned to Paris. ”I shall return,” proclaimed Salan as he took ship for France. “If our goal is not to keep Algeria French, our struggle has no meaning.” But in Paris, Defense Minister Pierre Messmer brusquely forbade the general to go back to Algiers. The order, he explained, was a decision of the “entire government.” i.e., presumably De Gaulle himself.

In Algiers, Europeans muttered bitterly: “We expected it. Salan was our last link with May 13.”