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I like the fact that the French didn't like American presence on their sole and had offensive feelings towards that, while at the same time, they were forcefull
by afr0ck 5y ago
I like the fact that the French didn't like American presence on their sole and had offensive feelings towards that, while at the same time, they were forcefully present all over Africa with totalitarian and oppressive military administrations.
In Algeria, many fought in WW2 as part of the French Expeditionary Corps (e.g; my great-grandfather) with the hope that in case the allies win, Algerians could possibly negotiate some sort of self-governance. on the 8th of May 45, thousands of Algerians protested for independence. The civilians faced an immediate annihilation by the French military [1], resulting in up to 30,000 dead civilians. And who can believe this happened in the aftermath of ending NAZI Germany?!!!! I mean that's very ironic but well ...
[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/S%C3%A9tif_and_Guelma_massacre https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/S%C3%A9tif_and_Guelma_massacre
- ashtonkem 5y agoA lot of the allied leaders get a better historical reputation because they’re naturally compared to their opponent, Hitler. Without Hitler there as a foil, most of them would be treated far worse by history. Charles de Gaulle should get more crap over his behavior in Algeria than he does. Same for Churchill and his behavior in India.
- jollybean 5y agoGeopolitical ambitions were well beyond the daily awareness of French citizens, moreover, we don't know what the average French citizens view on those things would be. Most of them just lived through existential horror.