The Algerian War of Independence – POSSIBLE CAUSES Whilst one can say that it started in 1954, one could argue that one of the causes of the war was that in 1952, the French gave up their colonial control of Tunisia and Morocco. LONG TERM CAUSE: Imperialism and in this case Colonialism. SHORT TERM 1945 French defeat in 2 wars and at Dien Bien PHu 1952 Granting of Independence to Tunisia and Morrocco. Algerian Naitoanlist movement UDMA – autonomy within the French state. ULEMA wanted Islamic republic MTLD – hybrid. This gave rise to the FLN (Ahmed ben Bella) Econcmic greviances Outsid einfluences NOVEMBER 1 1954 AUGUST 1955 Philipeville (collective responsibility) Indeed, the main cause was colonialism that began in 1830. During the early part of the colonial period, camps were used mostly to forcibly remove Arabs, Berbers and Turks from fertile areas of land and replace them by primarily French, Spanish, and Maltese settlers. It has been estimated that from 1830 to 1900, between 15 and 25% of the Algerian population died in such camps. Post war civil war could be put down to FLN and MNA (Mouvement National Algerien) which was supported mainly by Algerian workers in France). One could argue that one cause was religion – the desire of the FLN to assert Islamic values throughout the body politic, a desire intensified and fundamentalised by the evident injustices of colonialism. The FLN’s first proclamations spoke of the "restoration of the Algerian state, sovereign, democratic, and social, within the framework of the principles of Islam." So it was not just inspired by socialist or communist principles. (interesting that it was not swept up in the Cold war, or was it?) Another cause of the war could be a failure of French diplomacy. Francois Mitterand, the socialist minister of interior at the time, when faced with these demands, replied “the only possible negotiation is war”. Similarly, the French president took a hard line when, on November 12th 1954, he addressed the National Assembly and said “One does not compromise when it comes to defending the internal peace of the nation, the unity and integrity of the Republic. The Algerian departments are part of the French Republic. They have been French for a long time, and they are irrevocably French… Between them and metropolitan France there can be no conceivable secession." Yet this exposed something of a contradiction. For it was Mendes who had overseen, just a few months earlier, the liquidation of France's empire in Indochina Given that they had withdrawn from Tunisia and Morocco, how could they possibly justify keeping Algerian French?