The anti-colonial cause in many French colonies emanated from the colonials’ tiredness of being subjected to sub-standard treatment. This would eventually lead many French colonies to seek self-determination. However, the French was unwilling to concede the colonies to the original inhabitants, which escalated tensions and violence between the French and its colonial people. Battle of Algiers is a documentary-style movie that depicts the tension and eventual systematic targeting of the National Liberation Front (FLN). The FLN has the over-reaching goal of ousting the French from Algeria and obtaining independence for its people. However, the French was reluctant to concede to the demands of the FLN and deployed a military force in Algiers to break down the structure of the FLN through torturous interrogations, assassinations, and multiple bombings of residential areas.  In the end, while the French was successful in breaking down the organizational structure of the FLN, the French’s campaign sparked the Algerians’ desire to obtain independence from the French. Based on an analysis of Battle of Algiers and other written works related the French colonial empire, the French empire eventually broke apart due to a general disregard of colonials grievances, and the substandard treatment of the colonials in regards to their natural rights.

In one scene of Battle of Algiers, the people of Algiers are subjected to military checkpoints and are required to show identification and be possibly subjected to a search by French police/military. In addition, the people of Algeria were subjected to curfews as well. The French’s tight control of the people of Algiers highlighted the lack of rights Algerians have in the French colonial system. According to Fogarty, the French has always been viewed as a “…color-blind society, one that truly lived up to the republican ideals of egalitarianism and universalism.” (Fogarty,5) However, in the Battle of Algiers, the French military was utilized racial profiling. The lack of egalitarianism displayed by the French had consequences that haunted the French military. The French did not offer its soldiers fair opportunities or equality during World War I. In fact, according to Fogarty, colonial soldiers were not offered high positions within the military because “…it was “painful” for French officers and NCOs to be under the orders of an indigene.” (Fogarty 127) In addition, the lack of egalitarianism was also revealed at the conclusion of World War I. Muslim Africans who fought for the French military, sought citizenship because of their service to the French military. However, many French officials were wary of granting these men citizenship because of their religion and their observance of following Koranic law and not French civil law. (Fogarty,247) This is a direct form of inequality because France promised colonial soldiers French citizenship in exchange for military service. (Fogarty,230) The French’s tactics of not promoting equality and treating its colonials inhumanly led many individuals with the French empire to seek independence for their people to ensure equality.

Being forced to help the French is a re-occurring theme in Battle of Algiers. The French had a long history of forcing its colonials to fight for its causes. The French according to Fogarty, “…made use of an existing indigenous system of conscription in Tunisia [and] in Morocco.” (Fogarty 20) Many colonials in the French empire did not like the idea of being forced to enlist in the French army. In fact, many French officials had to trick and/or coerce troops into joining the French military. It is for this very reason, that multiple people in Battle of Algiers were forced to help the French because they were coerced through torture. However, the French tactics only made the Algerians viewed those who were tortured as martyrs for a greater cause. The Algerians and the FLN continued to operate because they no longer wanted to be manipulated by the French.

In one disturbing scene of the Battle of Algiers, the French uses an explosive device on a residential area in the middle of the night. Many of the victims were not part of the FLN and a significant number of victims were children. This scene highlights the French’s disregard of colonial lives in general. Fogarty notes that Senegalese and West African soldiers “…had come to France “in order to be killed instead of and in place of good French men.” (Fogarty,6)  During World War, the French utilized soldiers from every inch of its empire. This group of individuals were forced to put their lives on the line, while the French offered little compensation them. However, the French expected these soldiers to fight for their adopted homeland and if they were to die in the process, then it would be better than a white French man dying. This disregard of colonials’ life would encourage the FLN to employ three women to set off bombs in Algiers’ European areas. In a way, the FLN felt that if the French was willing to kill civilians in order to intimidate them into not continuing its operations, then the FLN would be willing to kill European civilians as well. These tensions between the French and its colonies would continue as these people sought their independence. However, this form of evidence displayed by the French represented a form of motivation for colonials to seek independence.

Marriage is administered by the state. However, in Battle of Algiers, a couple gets married under the jurisdiction of the FLN. It is not clear why the couple chose not to be married by the colonial government, but one can infer that the couple did not respect the authority of the French colonial government or there was a regulation and/or obstacle that prevented them from getting married by the French. In any case, European powers in general has always interfered with marriage concerning colonials. For example, according to Stoler, the Dutch instituted the Mixed-Marriage Law of 1898 because European women were marrying non-European men, thus creating a class of mixed-children who were neither European nor full-blooded colonial. (Stoler,101) In addition, the Dutch instituted such legislation because they believed that a “…woman who wants to enter [interracial] marriage has already sunk so deep socially and morally…” (Stoler, 103) In other words, the Dutch and many other European powers felt that women who married colonials ruined their own reputation by being with someone who has no value in society. That colonials have no importance, no standing, or place in European society. But due to the increase of marriages between people of different ethnic backgrounds, the Europeans felt compelled to regulate marriage in order to maintain the purity of the European line. The mixed-marriage act displays the attitude many European governments felt towards it colonials, including France. In addition, by not allowing interracial marriage or regulating marriage in general made certain colonials resentful towards their respective European governments. In relation to Battle of Algiers, couples married under the authority of the FLN because they did not respect the French colonial government because of the injustices they committed against the people of Algiers. These injustices would lead to tensions between colonies and its empires and serve as justification to seek independence.

In conclusion,

Battle of Algiers serve as a movie designed to highlight the tensions between the FLN and the French during the 1950s. However, the movie can be connected to many grievances displayed by the colonials of the French colonial empire including lack of rights, having no value in French society, and not be offered any opportunities to advance their lives in society. These tensions in the case of Algiers, led to the formation of the FLN and rallied an entire nation to achieve independence. The Battle of Algiers serves as a reminder that neglecting a nation will lead to revolution.

Works Cited

The Battle of Algiers. Dir. Gillo Pontecorvo. Prod. Antonio Musu and Yacef Saadi. By Franco Solinas and Gillo Pontecorvo. Perf. Brahim Haggiag and Yacef Saadi. Allied Artists Corporation, 1969.

Fogarty, Richard Standish. Race and War in France: Colonial Subjects in the French Army, 1914-1918. Baltimore, MD: Johns Hopkins U, 2013. Print.

Stoler, Ann Laura. Carnal Knowledge and Imperial Power: Race and the Intimate in Colonial Rule. Berkeley: U of California, 2010. Print.