The Algerian War in the Settler Colony

Abstract

In 1957, after three years of brutal military onslaught in Algeria, the Fourth Republic’s socialist government led by Guy Mollet collapsed. Mollet’s government had failed to make good on its promise to eradicate the FLN and settle the “Algerian crisis.” The settler community in Algeria had grown impatient with the government and now placed greater trust in the military leadership, namely in general Raoul Salan. In the Metropole, opponents in the Radical party, the communists, and right wing Pouj adists all pointed to the futility of Mollet’s military strategies and the unsustainable strains on the government’s fiscal resources. Between June 1957 and May 14, 1958, two prime ministers from the powerful Radical party, Maurice Bourgès-Maunoury and Félix Gaillard took office one after the other, but neither was able to stabilize a majority leadership. Finally, Christian Democrat Pierre Pflimlin was approved in parliament as prime minister on May 13, 1958. Pflimlin’s nomination, however, sounded the death-knell for the Fourth Republic in Algeria, and the news of his premiership would incite a political sedition in Algiers. Supporters of general Charles de Gaulle and former members of the Resistance had been entrenched in Algeria readying for action to topple the sitting government and bring the general back to power.