Essay Sample on Battle of Algiers

Introduction

The Battle of the Algiers which occurred between 1954 and 1957 was a significant exercise which was responsible for the decolonization of the colony of Algeria. The war reveals how the process of decolonization tended to be different depending on the choice and approaches implemented by the various colonial powers. The case of the achievement of the independence in Algeria was significantly different from the other regions since the former served as a settler colony of the French (Zemali, 2017). The French established a settler colony in this region hence they were able to exercise considerable control over the Algerians for a long period making very difficult for the colony to fully rise to arise against them.

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The French, having been able to replace some of the Algerian population, was able to learn more ways of the natives. As a result, it was not easy for the Algerians to gain independence until a long fight arose between them. This was probably because the colonial power was living among them and still gets some support from the local communities. This is significantly different from the non-settler aspect of delocalization in which the colonial powers were relatively easy to drive away (Fanon & Chevalier, 2007). This could be due to the fact that they had no permanent settlements and would soon leave. For the case of Algeria, it had to cost both sides war so that the natives would achieve independence.

The Africans represented by the case of the Algerians in the Battle of Algiers constructed and developed nationalism as a way of rising against their colonizers. Algerians after having been tired of the domination of the French in their own land used rebellion movements to show that they were against the rule of the foreigners in the country. For instance, the Algerian rebels formed the National Liberation Front, whose main aim was to fight against the French power and drive the foreigners away (Zemali, 2017). The French would reach by assassinating those involved however this did not kill the spirit of rebellion whereby the leader would continue recruiting more members to make the movement strong.

Moreover, the Algerians focused on the guerrilla war in which they would organize sudden attacks on the French while they were unaware and would kill some of them. this was a strategy which also helped the natives to scare the whites in their land, and ultimately contributed to the achievement of independence (Fanon & Chevalier, 2007). Moreover, the mobilization of the Algerians headed by Arabs rather than the whites showed the French that the Algerians were able to organize leadership amongst themselves and being controlled by a foreigner. These enabled the natives to rise towards the achievement of nationalism in the country.

Terrorism could have been justified to achieve independence from imperial powers based on the ultimate result of independence which was the primary mission of the Algerians. This could be possible because the Algerians rejected any single attempt to create the peaceful mission with the French in their country. Fanon and Chevalier (2007) argued that in their various movements of rebellion, they resorted to terror attacks because the French were equally using force to control their rebellion. This explains that the colony had their target of achieving independence hence the reason behind launching terrorism.

Terrorism can also be seen as a way of justifying independence concerning the post-colonial attacks that the FNL organized and accomplished in France. This was a way of communicating to them that they were not pleased with the rule of the colonial power in their own and actually needed to an independent rule amongst themselves. The end was the independence that they were fighting for in spite of the enmity between the colony and France.

References

Fanon, F., & Chevalier, H. (2007). A dying colonialism. New York, NY: Grove Press.

Zemali, S. (2017). The Battle of Algiers [Video]. Retrieved from https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=f_N2wyq7fCE