Algeria: Eighth Year of War

All Saints’ Day dawned cloudy and rainy last week in Algeria. In the cities, Moslems gathered by the thousands around the green-white-red banners of the rebel F.L.N. From rooftops and balconies, on foot and horseback, Moslem women encouraged the demonstrators with the traditional high-pitched chant of “Yu! Yu! Yu!” The demonstrations were in honor of Nov. 1, 1954, the date on which the F.L.N. rebellion began with scores of attacks across Algeria.

Since then, the war has been fought with increasing bitterness and savagery on both sides—F.L.N. bombings, assassinations and ambushes matched by French air raids, prison camps and executions. The total death toll is already two-thirds larger than that of the U.S. Civil War—an estimated 380,000, of whom 2,000 were European settlers, 18,000 members of the French armed forces, 160,000 F.L.N. guerrillas and 200,000 Moslem civilians.

There were other casualties. The war’s savagery, and especially the revelation of French torture of F.L.N. prisoners, caused a painful crisis of conscience among the French, from Roman Catholic François Mauriac to left-wing Existentialist Jean-Paul Sartre. The war’s seeming insolubility brought down the Fourth Republic and enabled Charles de Gaulle to come to power as the one man with sufficient stature to end it. Last week peace seemed closer than ever, as the F.L.N. announced its willingness to settle on the basis of an Algerian plebiscite, agreed to a “transition” period to accustom Moslems to the idea that “Frenchmen and French interests will remain in Algeria.”

The possibility of early peace had a calming effect on Algeria’s “Independence Day.” From the safety of their Tunisian headquarters, the F.L.N. leaders urged Moslems to avoid violence and celebrate “joyfully, as if independence had already been gained.” The European Secret Army Organization, which is determined that Algeria remain French, was nevertheless not ready to make a direct grab for power. A secret S.A.O. broadcast told its followers to stay out of trouble. For its part, the government swiftly cordoned off the various Moslem quarters in Algiers, Oran and Constantine. All traffic was rerouted, and streets leading to the European sections were closed by barbed wire and heavy police guard.

By afternoon it was all over. There were the inevitable clashes between Moslems and French security forces, who used the occasion to experiment with a new “laxative” grenade intended to empty the streets as well as the bowels. In the rioting, 86 people died. A French official, taking a realistic view, said: “Any F.L.N. demonstration that ends in a death count of less than 100 is a relative success.”