July 5, 2022 marked the sixtieth anniversary of Algeria’s accession to sovereignty. On the African continent, if there is one independence that has been deserved, it is that of Algeria. We could also talk about the independence of Angola, Mozambique, Guinea-Bissau, Namibia and South Sudan, among others. But that of Algeria is the first. The Algerian example has inspired and aroused struggle movements almost everywhere in Africa. He even precipitated the independence of the countries of French-speaking Africa, because General De Gaulle, then at the head of France, did not want a reproduction of the Algerian case in the colonies of black Africa. The first shot was fired on 1is November 1954 by the National Liberation Front (FLN) which was inspired by the struggle of the Vietnamese people. Never has a liberation struggle been so bitterly contested in Africa. France threw much of its strike and nuisance power into it, and the Algerians paid a heavy price, but never despaired. The abuses and tortures were sometimes atrocious, on both sides, but more in the Algerian camp, because knowingly, France had sent some of the most cruel officers there. The determination of the Algerians ends up forcing the French authorities to negotiate. Thus, following the Evian agreements of March 18, 1962, a self-determination referendum approved by 99.72% of the votes decided on the independence of the country, after one hundred and thirty-two years of French colonization. That said, the festivities of the 60e anniversary take place in a peaceful indoor climate.
We wish the Algerians to know how to learn the lessons of the past sixty years
The Hirak, which was leading a protest movement for change, seems to have stalled. Externally, however, relations remain tense with neighboring Morocco, even though this country has been a strong ally in the Algerian struggle for independence. A question arises. Was the armed struggle unleashed by the FLN unavoidable? Those who started the struggle were first supporters of Ahmed Massali Hadj who, since the 1930s, had engaged in a civil and peaceful struggle for the emancipation of the Algerian people, and then for independence. The tenors of the FLN found that the results were slow in coming and that there was no longer any question of waiting. Then followed the break with Messali Hadj. Did the armed struggle accelerate independence? Highly possible. Be that as it may, Messali Hadj’s movement was gaining so much momentum that it could also have led to independence with less violence. We saw the example in India where the peaceful and pacifist movement of Gandhi led the Indian giant to independence. We can also cite the case of the United States where, contrary to the movement of the Black Panthers which advocated violence against whites and which did not obtain any significant result, it was rather the pacifist movement of Pastor Martin Luther King which achieved the abolition of racial segregation and equality between whites and blacks. The armed struggle undoubtedly had a positive role, notably in asserting the authority of the Algerian state and the sovereignty of Algeria. But it also caused irreparable situations such as the numerous losses in human life, the tortures which left people handicapped for life and demoralized. In addition, this struggle drove many into exile, French people then established in Algeria as well as native Algerians. So many losses for the revitalization of the economy. Economically, entire swaths of land have been devastated and it has taken years and resources to rebuild them. Politically, the barons of the FLN set themselves up as lords, controlling the administration and the economy, and generating a cumbersome, corrupt and inefficient bureaucracy. The Algerian case can serve as a beacon for the African peoples in their struggles for emancipation and for development. Do we need spectacular, immediate and sometimes illusory results? Or should we engage in enlightened methods and strategies that can lead to less spectacular and less immediate results perhaps, but surely more adapted and permanent? In any case, we wish the Algerians to be able to learn the lessons of the past sixty years in order, beyond the festivities of the moment, to lay new foundations for a better influence of their country.
Apolem