The Algerian War And Anglo-french Relations,1954-1962

The Algerian War, also known as the Algerian War of Independence or the Algerian Revolution was a war between the Algerian independence movements and its metropolitan France from November1,1954to July3,1962, which led to Algeria gaining its independence from France. Firstly, the war took place in1950s and1960s, which were characterized by the tide of decolonization and the development of the Cold War at that time. Secondly, from an international perspective point of view, the Algerian War was a major event in the history of international relations of the post-World War II, especially an important breakthrough in the research of Anglo-French relations. Throughout the1950s, management of the crises in French North Africa-Algeria foremost-was a benchmark of French strategic, colonial and diplomatic capability. British government perceptions and reactions to France’s painful decolonization from Algeria form the core of this paper. Officially, from1954to1962British governments consistently maintained that France should be left to deal with its colonial problems alone. But, at the deeper level of British policy formulation towards France, the Mediterranean region, North-West Africa and the Middle East, French decolonization of the Algerian territory was of critical importance, and it generated numerous comparisons with Britain’s experience of decolonization. In fact, relief was always an important element in British governmental attitudes towards France’s Algerian crisis. While British governments did not generally consider the French experience a portent, the Algerian War remained an important component in Anglo-French relations until the FLN’s victory in1962.