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Sétif and Guelma massacre

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The Sétif and Guelma massacre[a] (also called the Sétif, Guelma and Kherrata massacres[b] or the massacres of 8 May 1945[c]) was a series of attacks by French colonial authorities and pied-noir European settler militias on Algerian civilians in 1945 around the market town of Sétif, west of Constantine, in French Algeria. In response to French police firing on demonstrators at a protest on 8 May 1945,[3] native Algerians rioted in the town. Others attacked French settlers (colons) in the surrounding countryside, resulting in 102 deaths. The French colonial authorities and European settlers retaliated by killing an estimated 6,000 to 45,000 Muslims in the region.

Sétif and Guelma massacre
Part of the aftermath of World War II
Map of the massacre
LocationFrench Algeria
Coordinates28°N 02°E / 28°N 2°E / 28; 2
Date8 May – 26 June 1945
Attack type
Massacre, communal violence
Deaths6,000 to 45,000[1][2]
VictimsAlgerian Muslims
PerpetratorsFrench authorities and pied-noir militias
  • General Raymond Duval
    • MotiveRepression of demonstrations that demand Algerian independence; killing of 102 French settlers by rioters

    Both the outbreak and the indiscriminate nature of official and settler retaliation marked a turning point in Franco-Algerian relations, leading to the Algerian War of 1954–1962.[4]

    Background

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    Further information: Algeria in World War II

    The anti-colonialist movement started to formalize and organize before World War II, under the leadership of Messali Hadj and Ferhat Abbas. However, the participation of Algeria in the war catalyzed the rise of Algerian nationalism.

    Algiers served as the capital of Free France from 1943, which created hope for many Algerian Muslim nationalists to achieve independence. In 1943, Ferhat Abbas published a manifesto[5] that claimed the right of Algerians to have a constitution and a state associated with France. The lack of French reaction led to the creation of the "Amis du Manifeste et de la Liberté" (AML) and eventually resulted in the rise of nationalism.

    Hundreds of thousands of Algerians joined protests in several cities to demand their rights. Contemporary factors other than those of the emergence of Arab nationalism included widespread drought and famine in the rural Constantine Province,[6] where the European settlers were a minority. In the city of Guelma, for instance, there were 4,000 settlers and 16,500 Muslim Algerians.

    In April 1945, growing racial tensions led to a senior French official proposing creation of an armed settler militia in Guelma.[7] With the end of World War II in Europe, 5,000 protesters took to the streets of Sétif, a town in northern Algeria, to press new demands for independence on the French administration.[8]

    Events

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    Initial demonstration and killings

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    Flag of the Algerian nationalists in 1945

    The initial outbreak occurred on the morning of 8 May 1945, the same day that Nazi Germany surrendered in World War II. About 5,000 Muslims paraded in Sétif to celebrate the victory. Some carried banners attacking colonial rule. There were clashes between the marchers and the local French gendarmerie when the latter tried to seize such banners.[9]

    There is uncertainty over who fired first but both protesters and police were shot. News from Sétif incited the poor and nationalist rural population, and led to Algerian attacks on pieds-noirs in the Sétif countryside (Kherrata, Chevreul). These resulted in the deaths of 90 European colonial settlers, plus another 100 wounded. A smaller and peaceful protest of Algerian People's Party activists in the neighboring town of Guelma was violently repressed that evening by colonial police, and 12 settlers died in the countryside.[10]

    French repression in Sétif

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    After five days of chaos, the French colonial military and police suppressed the rebellion. On instructions from Paris,[11] they carried out a series of reprisals against Muslim civilians for the attacks on French colonial settlers. The army, which included Foreign Legion, Moroccan and Senegalese troops, conducted summary executions in the course of a ratissage ("raking-over") of Algerian Muslim rural communities suspected of involvement. Less accessible mechtas (Muslim villages) were bombed by French aircraft, and the cruiser Duguay-Trouin, standing off the coast in the Gulf of Bougie, shelled Kherrata.[12] Pied-noir vigilantes lynched prisoners taken from local jails. They randomly shot Muslims out of hand who were not wearing the white arm bands ordered by the army.[9] It is certain that the great majority of the Muslim victims had not been implicated in the original outbreak.[13]

    French repression in Guelma

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    French repression in the Guelma region differed from that in Sétif in that while only 12 pied-noirs had been killed in the countryside, official and militia attacks on Algerian civilians lasted for weeks, until 26 June. The Constantine préfet, Lestrade-Carbonnel had supported the creation of European settler militias, while the Guelma sous-préfet, André Achiari, created an informal justice system (Comité de Salut Public) designed to encourage the violence of settler vigilantism against unarmed civilians, and to facilitate the identification and murder of nationalist activists.[14] He also instructed police and army intelligence agencies to assist the settler militias. Muslim victims killed in both urban and rural areas were buried in mass graves in such places as Kef-el-Boumba. Later officials had the corpses dug up and burned en masse in Héliopolis.[15]

    Victims

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    These attacks were initially reported to have killed between 1,020 (the official French figure given in the Tubert Report shortly after the massacre) and 45,000 Algerian Muslims (as claimed by Radio Cairo at the time).[13][16] British historian Alistair Horne writes that 6,000 was the figure finally settled on by a consensus of historians. French historian Charles-Robert Ageron estimates that 5,000 to 6,000 people were killed in the massacre.[17] Jean-Pierre Peyroulou, correlating Allies' statistics and Marcel Reggui's testimony, concludes that a range from 15,000 to 20,000 deaths is likely, contesting Jean-Louis Planche's estimate of 20,000 to 30,000 deaths.[7]

    The identity of the Muslim Algerian victims differed in Sétif and Guelma. In the countryside outside Sétif, some victims were nationalists who had taken part in the insurrection, but the majority were uninvolved civilians who simply lived in the same area. But in Guelma, French settler vigilantes specifically targeted nationalist activists. Most victims were male (13% of the men in Guelma were killed),[18] either members of the AML, the Muslim scouts, or the local CGT.[15]

    Following the military repression, the French administration arrested 4,560 Muslims, of whom 99 were sentenced to death. Twenty-two of the death sentences were carried out.[19]

    Legacy

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    Monument in Kherrata

    The Sétif outbreak and the repression that followed marked a turning point in the relations between France and the Muslim population under its nominal control since 1830, when France had colonised Algeria. While the details of the Sétif killings were largely overlooked in metropolitan France, the effect on the Algerian Muslim population was traumatic, especially on the large numbers of Muslim veterans of the French Army who were returning from the war in Europe. They had hoped their service would improve their rights and status in Algeria.[20]

    Nine years later, a general uprising began in Algeria, leading to independence from France in March 1962 with the signing of the Évian Accords.[21] The 1945 massacre was censored in France until 1960.[22]

    Legacy in Algeria

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    In a secret report to General Henry Martin, French Army General Raymond Duval, the officer chiefly responsible for presiding over the massacre, warned that while he had bought time for the colonial government, they could not keep using brute force to suppress Algerian nationalists. He advised them to enact reforms immediately. Without reforms being enacted, Duval warned that not only would Algerians would rise up in the future, they might triumph next time.[23]

    "I have secured you peace for 10 years. If France does nothing, it will all happen again, only next time it will be worse and may well be irreparable."

    From 1954 to 1988, the massacres of Sétif and Guelma were commemorated in Algeria. But it was considered a relatively minor event compared to November 1, 1954, the beginning of the Algerian war for independence; this had legitimized the one-party regime. The members of the FLN, as rebels and as State members, did not want to emphasize the importance of May 1945. This would have involved acknowledging that there were other contradictory currents of nationalism,[24] such as Messali Hadj's Algerian National Movement, that opposed the FLN.

    With the democratization movement of 1988, Algerians "rediscovered"[24] a history different from the one told by the regime, as the regime itself was questioned. Research about the massacres of May 1945 was conducted, and a memorial wall was erected to remember these events. The presidency of Liamine Zéroual and Abdelaziz Bouteflika, and the Fondation du 8 Mai 1945, started using the memories of the massacres as a political tool[24] to discuss the consequences of the "colonial genocide"[25] by France.

    Semantic debates: genocide, massacre or politicide

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    The words used to refer to the events often carry a memorial connotation or are chosen for political purposes. Historical research and writings now apply the word massacre to the Muslim Algerian victims of May 1945. It was first used by the French in their propaganda of the 1940s to refer to the 102 European colonial settler victims, apparently to justify the French suppression.[26]

    The word genocide, used by Bouteflika[27] for example, is not applied to the events in Guelma, since the Algerian victims there were reportedly targeted because of their nationalist activism. B. Harff and Ted R. Gurr accordingly classify the Guelma massacre as a politicide.[28]

    According to Jacques Sémelin, the term massacre is a more useful methodological tool for historians to study an event whose definition is debated.[29]

    Effects on modern Algerian–French relations

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    French officials during a remembrance ceremony for victims of the Setif massacre, held in Aubervilliers on 9 May 2010

    In February 2005, Hubert Colin de Verdière, France's ambassador to Algeria, formally apologized for the massacre, calling it an "inexcusable tragedy".[30] His statement was described as "the most explicit comments by the French state on the massacre".[31]

    In 2017, French presidential candidate, Emmanuel Macron considered colonialism as "a crime against humanity".[32] On 8 May 2020, Algerian President, Abdelmadjid Tebboune, decided to commemorate the day at the 75th anniversary of the massacre.[33]

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    The Algerian cinema, an industry where war movies are popular, depicted the massacres more than once. When Outside the Law by Rachid Bouchareb was nominated for Best Picture in the 2010 Cannes Film Festival, French Pied-Noirs, Harkis and war veterans demonstrated against the film being shown in French cinemas, accusing it of distorting reality.[citation needed]

    Héliopolis, a 2021 film directed by Djafar Gacem about the massacre,[34] was selected as the Algerian entry for the Best International Feature Film at the 94th Academy Awards.[35]

    See also

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    Wikimedia Commons has media related to Sétif and Guelma massacre.

    Notes

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    1. ^ French: Massacres de Sétif et Guelma; Arabic: مجزرة سطيف و قالمة
    2. ^ French: Massacres de Sétif, Guelma et Kherrata
    3. ^ Arabic: مجازر 8 مايو 1945

    References

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    1. ^ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2024-04-25. Retrieved 2024-04-25.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
    2. ^ "France urged to admit 1945 massacre". Archived from the original on 2024-02-14. Retrieved 2024-04-25.
    3. ^ "Témoins des massacres du 8 Mai 1945 en Algérie". Archived from the original on 2011-07-28. Retrieved 2011-01-02.
    4. ^ Morgan, Ted (2006-01-31). My Battle of Algiers. HarperCollins. p. 26. ISBN 978-0-06-085224-5.
    5. ^ "10 février 1943 – Le Manifeste du peuple algérien". Textures du temps (in French). Archived from the original on 2018-04-08. Retrieved 2018-04-08.
    6. ^ Gunther, John (1955). Inside Africa. Hamish Hamilton Ltd. p. 121.
    7. ^ a b Peyroulou, Jean-Pierre (March 21, 2008). "Le cas de Sétif-Kherrata-Guelma (Mai 1945)". Violence de masse et Résistance – Réseau de recherche. Archived from the original on April 9, 2018. Retrieved April 8, 2018.
    8. ^ Planche, Jean Louis. Sétif 1945, histoire d'un massacre annoncé. p. 137.
    9. ^ a b Morgan, Ted (2006-01-31). My Battle of Algiers. HarperCollins. p. 17. ISBN 978-0-06-085224-5.
    10. ^ Horne, Alistair (1977). A Savage War of Peace: Algeria 1954–1962. New York: The Viking Press. p. 26.
    11. ^ General R. Hure, page 449 "L' Armee d' Afrique 1830–1962", Charles-Lavauzelle, Paris-Limoges 1977
    12. ^ "Le cas de Sétif-Kherrata-Guelma (Mai 1945) | Sciences Po Violence de masse et Résistance – Réseau de recherche". www.sciencespo.fr (in French). Archived from the original on 2019-08-15. Retrieved 2019-08-03.
    13. ^ a b Horne, p. 27.
    14. ^ Peyroulou, Jean-Pierre (2009). "6. La mise en place d'un ordre subversif, le 9 mai 1945". Guelma, 1945 : une subversion française dans l'Algérie coloniale. Paris: Éditions La Découverte. ISBN 9782707154644. OCLC 436981240.
    15. ^ a b Peyroulou, Jean-Pierre (2009). "8. La légitimation et l'essor de la subversion 13-19 mai 1945". Guelma, 1945 : une subversion française dans l'Algérie coloniale. Paris: Éditions La Découverte. ISBN 9782707154644. OCLC 436981240.
    16. ^ Bouaricha, Nadjia (7 May 2015). "70 ans de déni". El Watan.
    17. ^ Charles-Robert Ageron, « Mai 1945 en Algérie. Enjeu de mémoire et histoire », dans Matériaux pour l'histoire de notre temps, vol. 39, No. 39–40, 1995, p. 52-56.
    18. ^ Peyroulou, Jean-Pierre (2009). "11. Les morts". Guelma, 1945 : une subversion française dans l'Algérie coloniale. Paris: Éditions La Découverte. ISBN 9782707154644. OCLC 436981240.
    19. ^ Rogerson, Barnaby (2012). North Africa. A History From the Mediterranean Shore to the Sahara. Duckworth Overlook. p. 297. ISBN 978-0-7156-4306-8.
    20. ^ Porch, Douglas (1991). The French Foreign Legion. Macmillan. p. 569. ISBN 978-0-333-58500-9.
    21. ^ Edgar O'Ballance, pages 39 and 195 "The Algerian Insurrection 1954–62", Faber and Faber London 1867
    22. ^ Jean-Pierre Peyroulou (2009). Guelma 1945, Une subversion française dans l'Algérie coloniale (in French). Paris: La Découverte. ISBN 978-9961-922-73-6..
    23. ^ "Algeria remembers mass killings under French rule". France 24. 2021-05-08. Archived from the original on 2024-01-07. Retrieved 2024-01-07.
    24. ^ a b c Peyroulou, Jean-Pierre (2014-12-18). "Les métamorphoses du martyrologe algérien du 8 mai 1945". In Branche, Raphaëlle; Picaudou, Nadine; Vermeren, Pierre (eds.). Autour des morts de guerre : Maghreb – Moyen-Orient. Internationale. Paris: Éditions de la Sorbonne. pp. 97–118. doi:10.4000/books.psorbonne.850. ISBN 9782859448745.
    25. ^ "Numéro spécial 8 mai 1945 : Combattre l'amnésie". El Watan. 8 May 2005. Archived from the original on 2018-04-09. Retrieved 2018-04-09.
    26. ^ Mehana., Amrani (2010). Le 8 mai 1945 en Algérie : les discours français sur les massacres de Sétif, Kherrata et Guelma. Paris: Harmattan. ISBN 9782296120730. OCLC 672222819.
    27. ^ "Boutéflika réclame "des excuses publiques"". L'Obs. 8 May 2006. Archived from the original on 9 April 2018. Retrieved 9 April 2018.
    28. ^ Harff, Barbara; Gurr, Ted Robert (1988-09-01). "Toward Empirical Theory of Genocides and Politicides: Identification and Measurement of Cases since 1945". International Studies Quarterly. 32 (3): 359–371. doi:10.2307/2600447. ISSN 0020-8833. JSTOR 2600447. Archived from the original on 2021-03-08. Retrieved 2018-04-09.
    29. ^ Sémelin, Jacques (2005). Purifier et détruire usages politiques des massacres et génocides. Paris: Éditions du Seuil. ISBN 9782021008746. OCLC 936677982.
    30. ^ "Algeria Marks WWII Anniversary with Call for French Apology". VOA News. 9 May 2005. Archived from the original on 11 May 2005. Retrieved 8 May 2016.
    31. ^ "France urged to admit 1945 massacre". Archived from the original on 2016-06-05. Retrieved 2016-05-08.
    32. ^ "Algerian War: Macron in rare torture admission". BBC. 13 September 2018. Archived from the original on 6 May 2020. Retrieved 8 May 2020.
    33. ^ "Massacres du 8 mai 1945 : Le message cinglant de Tebboune à la France". algerie360.com (in French). 8 May 2020. Archived from the original on 23 May 2020. Retrieved 8 May 2020.
    34. ^ "Algérie : Vers un " Achour El Acher 100% algérien ", révèle Djaâfar Gacem". Dzair Daily. 31 August 2020. Archived from the original on 2 September 2020. Retrieved 13 October 2020.
    35. ^ "Héliopolis de Djaâfar Gacem en compétition pour l'Oscar du meilleur film international". APS. 21 October 2021. Archived from the original on 8 April 2022. Retrieved 21 October 2021.

    Bibliography

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    • Courrière, Yves, La guerre d'Algérie, tome 1 (Les fils de la Toussaint), Fayard, Paris 1969, ISBN 2-213-61118-1.
    • Horne, Alistair, A Savage War of Peace: Algeria 1954–1962, New York 1978, Viking Press, ISBN 0-670-61964-7.
    • Hussey, Andrew, "The French Intifida: The Long War between France and Its Arabs", London 2014, Granta ISBN 978-84708-259-6 Parameter error in {{ISBN}}: length.
    • Planche, Jean Louis, Sétif 1945, histoire d'un massacre annoncé, Perrin, Paris 2006, ISBN 2262024332.
    • Vallet, Eugène, Un drame algérien. La vérité sur les émeutes de mai 1945, éd. Grandes éditions françaises, 1948, OCLC 458334748.
    • Vétillard, Roger, Sétif. Mai 1945. Massacres en Algérie, éd. de Paris, 2008, ISBN 978-2-85162-213-6.
    • Afro-Asian Peoples Solidarity Conference, Moscow: Foreign Languages Publishing House, 1958
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