The many years France spent as a colonial power in Algeria has shaped its relationship to the North African nation today.
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Rarely, if ever, has colonisation been as brutal as it was when France invaded Algeria in 1830 and then refused to leave for the next 132 years.
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n May 1945, Algerians staged protests to demand an end to colonial rule. The French responded by killing an estimated 45,000 civilians.
Then, in 1954, the National Liberation Front, the FLN, started a guerilla war for independence.
On October 17, 1961, the FLN staged a peaceful demonstration in Paris to call for an end to colonial rule. The French authorities there killed up to 300 Algerians, who were shot, beaten, tortured or drowned in the Seine.
French President Charles de Gaule was eventually forced to sign the Evian Accords to end a war that had killed as many as 1.5 million Algerians. On July 3, 1962, France recognised Algeria’s independence
What France never did was apologise. A report in 2021, commissioned by President Emmanuel Macron, recommended a “memories and truth” commission but no apology.
