Fitzsimmons
Encounters
Fall 2011
Battle of Algiers Viewing Guide
The film is being shown three times in Maxey Auditorium: Wednesday, Thursday and
Sunday from 7-9. Ideally you will go see the film twice: once before Friday’s class
(Wednesday or Thursday) and once before Monday’s class (Sunday), just as you would
do reading to prepare. If you have Netflix, the film is currently available for instant
watch. For your first screening, read the following questions beforehand and consider
them as you watch. After the film, complete the worksheet.
1. In this screening of the film I want you to pay attention to the tactics employed by
both sides, and their justificiation for such tactics. When do they change and
why? How is each stage of the escalation different from the last? Considering the
handout, when do you think the FLN become terrorists? What is the film saying
about violence?
2. Consider the role of the press in the film, particularly when they speak with or
interview Matthieu. What does he believe their “role” should be? Are they
compliant with this? What is the significance of the voice-over and what impact
does that have on the film?
3. What “kind” of film is this?
The Algerian War of Independence
The Algerian War of Independence (1954 - 1962) comprised a series of guerilla-strikes,
terrorism, counterterrorism, and riots between French army and colonists in Algeria, on
the one hand; and, on the other, the FLN (Front de Libération Nationale or “National
Liberation Front”) and other pro-independence Algerian groups.
France had a long-standing presence in Algeria: Napoleon invaded Algeria in 1808. After
1830, France began to settle Algeria as a colony, officially making it a département of
France in 1848. After a long stretch of weak resistance and evident passivity to
colonization, the FLN, which had headquarters in Cairo, emerged as the main source of
resistance to French colonialism in Algeria. By 1954, when the FLN started large-scale
militancy in Algeria, it was the foremost source of anti-colonial agitation in North Africa
(France had already lost the colonies of Tunisia and Morocco). The FLN launched its
urban campaign with three bomb strikes in Algiers on September 30, 1956, leading to the
“Battle of Algiers”, which, according to most accounts, was fought most intensely from
January to March, 1957.
In February, 1957, the FLN organized a General Strike in Algeria, synchronized with the
United Nations debate about the future of Algeria. French troops punished villages that
were suspected of harboring rebels during the strike, attacking them with mobile troops
or aerial bombardment and gathering 2 million of rural population to concentration
camps.
Fitzsimmons
Encounters
Fall 2011
After many in France voiced increasing dissatisfaction with the French colonial
resistance in Algeria, Charles De Gaulle showed tentative support for “selfdetermination” for Algeria in September 1958. He organized a referendum about his new
constitution proposal. Despite the FLN’s intimidatory tactics, apparently eighty percent
of the Algerian population voted, with ninety-six percent of them supported the new
constitution. In February, De Gaulle was elected president of the French Fifth Republic,
before a wave of resentment and riots organized by the French civilians and army-units in
Algeria, leading to a prolonged debilitation of French colonial power. The French
government began talks with the FLN in May 1961. After a peaceful march organized by
the FLN in October, 1961, the police killed many (about two hundred) Algerian civilians
in Paris, provoking further resistance to French policies in Algeria.
On March 18, 1962, France and Algeria signed an agreement ending the war.
France announced that a cease-fire would begin in March, 1962, and that there would be
a French referendum in Algeria. The referendum on July 1, 1962 strongly supported
Algerian independence. Algeria won its independence officially on July 3, 1962.