The French colony of Algeria gained independence in 1962 only after a brutal war. Algeria continued to influence French life and culture for decades afterwards. Historian William Cohen looks at the demographic impact of Algerian settlers of European origin, Algerian Muslims and Algerian migrant workers coming to France; and explains how Algeria captivated the attention of French statesmen who were convinced it was the key to France’s world prestige and influence.
The Pieds-noirs
Cohen presents the situation of the Pieds-noirs, the 1.5 million Algerians of European origin. When the Evian Peace negotiations in March 1962 presented the possibility of Algerian independence, the Pieds-Noirs panicked. They feared loosing their higher social status in an independent Muslim dominated Algeria and the terror of the FLN (the Algerian Nationalist Movement) and the OAS (Orgnisation de l’armee secrete).
They were responsible for the building boom by bringing in additional capital and fueling expenditure. They were also a source of modernization for certain regions by their introduction of new machine equipment, heavy fertilizer and modern dairy equipment.
The Harkis
The second group from Algeria to impact the demographics of France was the 200,000 Muslim Algerian military auxiliary members and their families, called Harkis. Unlike the Pieds-noirs, the Harkis were met by a hostile French government which forced some to return. In Le Monde the Harkis were described as victims “of a double racism, that of the French who assimilate them to the Algerian emigrant workers, that of the Muslims in Algeria who do not forgive them of their treason.”
The third group, emigrant workers, were a direct legacy of colonial rule as the largest percent of foreign workers in France were from Algeria. France welcomed the emigrants because they needed workers and a way to stabilize the situation in the colony. By 1964 there were half a million Algerian workers in France. Only in 1979 did Portuguese workers start to slightly outnumber them. To not be so dependent on Algerian labor, the French government opened borders to workers from the Maghreb and Yugoslavia, among others.
Islam in France
France gained the largest Muslim population in Western Europe and Islam became the second largest religion in France after Catholicism. The French government announced plans in 1979 for a centre of Islamic learning in Paris to: meet the needs of Muslims and to gain favor with the oil rich Muslim states in the Middle East.
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