The Battle of Philippeville, also known as the Philippeville massacre or the August Offensive was a series of raids launched on 20 August 1955 on various cities and towns of the Constantine region by FLN

insurgents An insurgency is a violent, armed rebellion against authority waged by small, lightly armed bands who practice guerrilla warfare from primarily rural base areas. The key descriptive feature of insurgency is its asymmetric nature: small irr ...

and armed mobs during the Algerian War between

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan area ...

and Algerian rebels. The raids, which mostly took the form of

ethnic riots An ethnic group or an ethnicity is a grouping of people who identify with each other on the basis of shared attributes that distinguish them from other groups. Those attributes can include common sets of traditions, ancestry, language, history, ...

, resulted in the

massacre A massacre is the killing of a large number of people or animals, especially those who are not involved in any fighting or have no way of defending themselves. A massacre is generally considered to be morally unacceptable, especially when per ...

, in extremely gruesome ways, of several dozens of

European European, or Europeans, or Europeneans, may refer to: In general * ''European'', an adjective referring to something of, from, or related to Europe ** Ethnic groups in Europe ** Demographics of Europe ** European cuisine, the cuisines of Europe ...

settlers known as Pieds-Noirs. These massacres were then followed by very brutal and blind

reprisals A reprisal is a limited and deliberate violation of international law to punish another sovereign state that has already broken them. Since the 1977 Additional Protocol I to the Geneva Conventions (AP 1), reprisals in the laws of war are extremel ...

by the

French army The French Army, officially known as the Land Army (french: Armée de Terre, ), is the land-based and largest component of the French Armed Forces. It is responsible to the Government of France, along with the other components of the Armed Force ...

and Pieds-Noirs

vigilantes Vigilantism () is the act of preventing, investigating and punishing perceived offenses and crimes without legal authority. A vigilante (from Spanish, Italian and Portuguese “vigilante”, which means "sentinel" or "watcher") is a person who ...

, which resulted in the death of several thousand native Algerians. The events of late August 1955 in the Constantinois region are considered to be a major turning point of the Algerian War.

Background

The Algerian War had technically begun on the 1st of November 1954, when the FLN launched "scores of scores of spectacular attacks". The conflict began to escalate, as evidenced by the remarks of the

Socialist Socialism is a left-wing economic philosophy and movement encompassing a range of economic systems characterized by the dominance of social ownership of the means of production as opposed to private ownership. As a term, it describes the ...

Minister of the Interior, François Mitterrand: "I will not agree to negotiate with the enemies of the homeland. The only negotiation is war!" The French adopted an increasingly aggressive policy in Algeria and in early March 1955 the French government of

Prime Minister A prime minister, premier or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. Under those systems, a prime minister i ...

Pierre Mendès France Pierre Isaac Isidore Mendès France (; 11 January 190718 October 1982) was a French politician who served as prime minister of France for eight months from 1954 to 1955. As a member of the Radical Party, he headed a government supported by a co ...

was replaced by that of

Edgar Faure Edgar Jean Faure (; 18 August 1908 – 30 March 1988) was a French politician, lawyer, essayist, historian and memoirist who served as Prime Minister of France in 1952 and again between 1955 and 1956.counter-insurgency had put the FLN in a very dire situation. Only in Wilaya II was the insurgency in a shape to mount any offensive. Popular support was still rather low and many among the Algerian Muslim elite still advocated for a peaceful resolution of the conflict through conciliatory agreements with the French government. To break out of this bad situation,

Youcef Zighoud Youcef Zighoud ( ar, يوسف زيغود February 18, 1921 – September 25, 1956), also known as Colonel Si Ahmed, was an Algerian FLN party fighter during the Algerian War. On August 20, 1955, he planned a resistance and struggle against the ...

, leader of the Wilaya II and one of the most radical elements among FLN leaders, took the decision to conduct a massacre of Pieds-Noirs civilians, with the hope that bloody French retaliations would irremediably break the fragile bond between French colonists and native Algerians, and thus increase the popular support for the rebellion as well as destroy any possibility for a conciliatory settlement of the conflict. General Aussaresses knew that the FLN was planning something when one of his informers, an Arab baker in Philippeville, told him that he had used to sell on average a sack of flour every three days, but was now selling two tons of flour every day to men whom he did not know and who paid only cash. From this, Aussaresses deduced that the spike in flour sales must have been because the FLN was concentrating men in the hills above Philippeville, which could only mean an operation was due to start soon.

FLN's attack

On 20 August 1955, a few hundreds FLN regulars gathered

crowds Generally speaking, a crowd is defined as a group of people that have gathered for a common purpose or intent such as at a demonstration, a sports event, or during looting (this is known as an acting crowd), or may simply be made up of many ...

of several thousand local Muslim civilians, influenced by

religious Religion is usually defined as a social- cultural system of designated behaviors and practices, morals, beliefs, worldviews, texts, sanctified places, prophecies, ethics, or organizations, that generally relates humanity to supernatur ...

and

racial A race is a categorization of humans based on shared physical or social qualities into groups generally viewed as distinct within a given society. The term came into common usage during the 1500s, when it was used to refer to groups of variou ...

motivations. False rumors were spread of an imminent

landing Landing is the last part of a flight, where a flying animal, aircraft, or spacecraft returns to the ground. When the flying object returns to water, the process is called alighting, although it is commonly called "landing", "touchdown" or ...

by Egyptian troops and the Muslim groups were directed towards various settlements of the Contantinois area in a series of coordinated raids.

Raid on Philippeville

The main attack was conducted on the city of

Philippeville Philippeville (; wa, Flipveye) is a city and municipality of Wallonia located in the province of Namur, Belgium. The Philippeville municipality includes the former municipalities of Fagnolle, Franchimont, Jamagne, Jamiolle, Merlemont, N ...

, now known as Skikda. A large mob of several thousands civilians led by FLN regulars launched a general assault on the city, with the aim of attacking Europeans and

moderate Moderate is an ideological category which designates a rejection of radical or extreme views, especially in regard to politics and religion. A moderate is considered someone occupying any mainstream position avoiding extreme views. In American ...

Muslim personalities and taking over the

police station A police station (sometimes called a "station house" or just "house") is a building which serves to accommodate police officers and other members of staff. These buildings often contain offices and accommodation for personnel and vehicles, ...

's weaponry. Only half of the insurgents were armed with firearms, while the rest carried

farming tools Agriculture or farming is the practice of cultivating Plant, plants and livestock. Agriculture was the key development in the rise of Sedentism, sedentary human civilization, whereby farming of Domestication, domesticated species created food ...

knives A knife ( : knives; from Old Norse 'knife, dirk') is a tool or weapon with a cutting edge or blade, usually attached to a handle or hilt. One of the earliest tools used by humanity, knives appeared at least 2.5 million years ago, as evidenced ...

or makeshift bombs device. As the mob arrived in the city, Europeans in the streets were murdered on sight. However, the reaction of police forces and French army paratroopers was swift and the insurrection was soon defeated, for the loss of only 14 dead policemen. Once the assault was over, the bodies of over a hundred insurgents were found in the streets, while many more had been captured by French forces.

El-Halia mine massacre

The major massacre of the day occurred at the El-Halia

pyrite The mineral pyrite (), or iron pyrite, also known as fool's gold, is an iron sulfide with the chemical formula Fe S2 (iron (II) disulfide). Pyrite is the most abundant sulfide mineral. Pyrite's metallic luster and pale brass-yellow hue giv ...

mining Mining is the extraction of valuable minerals or other geological materials from the Earth, usually from an ore body, lode, vein, seam, reef, or placer deposit. The exploitation of these deposits for raw material is based on the economic ...

town, where about 130 Europeans and 2,000 Muslims lived and worked together. The mob was essentially composed of hundreds of Muslims, both men and women, mostly armed with farming tools,

axes Axes, plural of '' axe'' and of '' axis'', may refer to * ''Axes'' (album), a 2005 rock album by the British band Electrelane * a possibly still empty plot (graphics) See also * Axess (disambiguation) *Axxess (disambiguation) Axxess may refer to ...

, sharpened shovels, or knives, and was led by 25 FLN regulars. They arrived at about 11 am, when most of the Pied Noir men were working in the mine while women and children were at home. A bloody massacre ensued, as European women were

raped Rape is a type of sexual assault usually involving sexual intercourse or other forms of sexual penetration carried out against a person without their consent. The act may be carried out by physical force, coercion, abuse of authority, or agai ...

and

disembowelled Disembowelment or evisceration is the removal of some or all of the organs of the gastrointestinal tract (the bowels, or viscera), usually through a horizontal incision made across the abdominal area. Disembowelment may result from an accident ...

decapitated Decapitation or beheading is the total separation of the head from the body. Such an injury is invariably fatal to humans and most other animals, since it deprives the brain of oxygenated blood, while all other organs are deprived of the i ...

, children had their throats slit and babies were slammed against walls. Some of the local Muslim inhabitants who had initially watched without reacting eventually joined the excited mob, as it massacred Europeans under chants of 'Allah Akabar' that blended with Algerian women's ululations. Thirty-seven Europeans, mostly women and children, were murdered in the attack.

Attack on El Khroub military outpost

Near

El Khroub El Khroub ( ar, الخروب) is a town and commune in Constantine Province, Algeria. According to the 2008 census it has a population of 179,033.outpost held by 150 soldiers. Their goal was to kill the garrison in order to take over the heavy weapons and ammunitions stock. The attack was repulsed without any French casualties, while 12 uniform-wearing FLN regulars, 15 civilian men, 19 women and 11 children or teenagers were killed among the attackers.

Terror attacks in Constantine

Constantine Constantine most often refers to: * Constantine the Great, Roman emperor from 306 to 337, also known as Constantine I *Constantine, Algeria, a city in Algeria Constantine may also refer to: People * Constantine (name), a masculine given name ...

, eight FLN

commandos Royal Marines from 40 Commando on patrol in the Sangin">40_Commando.html" ;"title="Royal Marines from 40 Commando">Royal Marines from 40 Commando on patrol in the Sangin area of Afghanistan are pictured A commando is a combatant, or operativ ...

of about ten men each launched a series of terror attacks on a number of specific

targets ''Targets'' is a 1968 American crime thriller film directed by Peter Bogdanovich, produced by Roger Corman, and written by Polly Platt and Bogdanovich, with cinematography by László Kovács.Stephen Jacobs, ''Boris Karloff: More Than a Monster' ...

. Allouah Abbas, nephew of

Ferhat Abbas Ferhat is a Turkish given name and the Turkish spelling of the Persian name Ferhad ( fa, فرهاد, ''farhād''). It may refer to: Given name Ferhad * Ferhad Ayaz (born 1994), Turkish-Swedish footballer * Ferhad Pasha Sokolović 16th-century Ott ...

and a moderate local politician who had advocated for conciliation with the French government, was murdered in the pharmacy he owned. Chérif Hadj-Saïd, another prominent moderate politician, was shot as well but survived. Local

police inspector Inspector, also police inspector or inspector of police, is a police rank. The rank or position varies in seniority depending on the organization that uses it. Australia In Australian police forces, the rank of inspector is generally the ne ...

Robert Laemmel was assassinated in front of a

cafe A coffeehouse, coffee shop, or café is an establishment that primarily serves coffee of various types, notably espresso, latte, and cappuccino. Some coffeehouses may serve cold drinks, such as iced coffee and iced tea, as well as other non-caf ...

Grenades A grenade is an explosive weapon typically thrown by hand (also called hand grenade), but can also refer to a shell (explosive projectile) shot from the muzzle of a rifle (as a rifle grenade) or a grenade launcher. A modern hand grenade gene ...

were thrown at a police station, and a movie theater and a restaurant were bombed. Several bombs exploded in the

Jewish Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""The ...

area of the city, killing two and wounding dozens.

Other attacks

Smaller scale attacks on Europeans also took place in various villages of the region. In

Aïn Abid Aïn Abid is the capital of the Aïn Abid District in Constantine Province, Algeria ) , image_map = Algeria (centered orthographic projection).svg , map_caption = , image_map2 = , capital ...

, Bernadette Mello, a 5-day old newborn, was cut into pieces in front of her mother whose belly then was opened to stuff the pieces back inside. In Ramdane Djamel, 13 Europeans, among them three children, were murdered. In

Collo Collo ( ar, القل, links=, lit=, translit=al-Qull) was an ancient Roman– a city of the Ottoman empire and Berber. Located in the northern Skikda Province, Algeria. It was the capital and one of three municipalities of Collo District, an ...

, 4 policemen and 6 European civilians were killed. The car of a

family was stopped by the mob on a road near Ramdane Djamel. Haïm Benchetrit was forcibly pulled out of the vehicle, before being

castrated Castration is any action, surgical, chemical, or otherwise, by which an individual loses use of the testicles: the male gonad. Surgical castration is bilateral orchiectomy (excision of both testicles), while chemical castration uses pharmac ...

and made choked to death with his own

genitals A sex organ (or reproductive organ) is any part of an animal or plant that is involved in sexual reproduction. The reproductive organs together constitute the reproductive system. In animals, the testis in the male, and the ovary in the female, a ...

in front of his wife and their three children, aged 11, 5 and 3, who were then killed.

French retaliation

After the initial shock of the attacks, French

began. A number of Algerian men

arrested An arrest is the act of apprehending and taking a person into custody (legal protection or control), usually because the person has been suspected of or observed committing a crime. After being taken into custody, the person can be questi ...

during or after the attacks were executed without trial. When French

paratroopers A paratrooper is a military parachutist—someone trained to parachute into a military operation, and usually functioning as part of an airborne force. Military parachutists (troops) and parachutes were first used on a large scale during World ...

arrived at El-Halia a few hours after the attack, they rounded up about 80 Algerian men present on the site and shot them without any further investigation. At El Khroub, 60 insurgents captured during the attack were shot on the same day, while many other men were arrested based on suspicions and shot in the following days. In the following days, several shepherd villages, suspected to be harbouring FLN members or to have taken part in the attacks, were razed by the French air force. The total death toll of the French reprisals is uncertain (estimates vary from 1,200 to 12,000) but as at Setif 10 years earlier, the number of Algerians killed in retaliation for the initial massacre of Europeans was disproportionate. French anticolonial militant

Daniel Guérin Daniel Guérin (; 19 May 1904, in Paris – 14 April 1988, in Suresnes) was a French libertarian-communist author, best known for his work '' Anarchism: From Theory to Practice'', as well as his collection ''No Gods No Masters: An Anthology of ...

estimated the number of men executed in Philippeville proper at 2,000. A French military report gave a number of 750 men executed in the El Harrouch area.

Philippeville stadium scandal

In Philippeville, the city's stadium was turned into an interrogation center by the French army. Thousands of indigenous Algerian men captured during the fighting were briefly interrogated before being shot without any proper investigation or

trial In law, a trial is a coming together of parties to a dispute, to present information (in the form of evidence) in a tribunal, a formal setting with the authority to adjudicate claims or disputes. One form of tribunal is a court. The tribunal ...

to determine individual guilt. Due to the nature of the assault (mainly conducted by civilians without uniforms), the French army had rounded up a large number of indigenous Algerian males present in the streets during the attack, without attempting to distinguish uninvolved inhabitants from insurgents guilty of involvement in the initial attacks on Pied Noir civilians. French reporter Robert Lambotte took a photograph depicting the lined up bodies of executed Algerians in the stadium and published it in the newspaper

L'Humanité ''L'Humanité'' (; ), is a French daily newspaper. It was previously an organ of the French Communist Party, and maintains links to the party. Its slogan is "In an ideal world, ''L'Humanité'' would not exist." History and profile Pre-World Wa ...

, sparking national outrage in France.

Pieds-Noirs vigilante reprisals

Shocked and enraged by the atrocities inflicted upon European civilians, some of the Pieds-Noirs began forming vigilante militas. The

mayor In many countries, a mayor is the highest-ranking official in a municipal government such as that of a city or a town. Worldwide, there is a wide variance in local laws and customs regarding the powers and responsibilities of a mayor as well ...

of Philippeville Paul-Dominique Benquet-Crevaux armed the militias, which soon started exercising random reprisals upon indigenous Algerians, killing dozens. After the funerals of the victims ended, seven Algerians were

lynched Lynching is an extrajudicial killing by a group. It is most often used to characterize informal public executions by a mob in order to punish an alleged transgressor, punish a convicted transgressor, or intimidate people. It can also be an ex ...

in the streets. The fact that some of the anti-European atrocities had been committed by trusted Muslim neighbors, alongside whom the victims had lived for years, created widespread

paranoia Paranoia is an instinct or thought process that is believed to be heavily influenced by anxiety or fear, often to the point of delusion and irrationality. Paranoid thinking typically includes persecutory beliefs, or beliefs of conspiracy co ...

among the Pied-Noir community, some of soon started seeing every Muslim as a potential attacker. Fearing for their safety, armed vigilantes fired at any Muslim whose behavior they deemed suspicious, killing or wounding many innocents. In one incident a group of Pieds-Noir vigilantes got involved in a firefight with French soldiers they had mistaken for FLN rebels, which prompted French authorities to start disarming vigilantes.

Death toll

The total death toll of the late August Constantinois attacks is uncertain. On the day of the attacks, French authorities gave an official figure of 71 European civilians, 21 native Algerian civilians and 31 law enforcement officers killed by insurgents during the FLN's actions. However, many survivors were severely wounded or maimed, and some later died of their wounds. Historian Roger Vétillard gave a total figure of 117 European civilians, 42 Algerian civilians and 47 law enforcers who ultimately died as a result of the 20 August FLN's attacks. The death toll of French retaliations remains heavily disputed. French authorities gave an official figure of 1,273 native Algerians killed, which is widely considered to be underestimated. The FLN claimed that as many as 12,000 were killed by French repression. French historian and Colonial Algeria specialist Charles-Robert Ageron estimated the number of native Algerians killed as a result of French retaliations to be between 3,000 and 5,000.

Aftermath

The events of 20 August 1955 are widely considered to be a major turning point in the Algerian War. Just as Zighoud intended, the massacre of the Pieds-Noirs, followed by the violent French reprisals, created an irreparable divide between the European and the native communities. The peaceful "third way" was no longer an option, and many former moderates on both sides ended up forced to choose unambiguous positions. As such, the

operation Operation or Operations may refer to: Arts, entertainment and media * ''Operation'' (game), a battery-operated board game that challenges dexterity * Operation (music), a term used in musical set theory * ''Operations'' (magazine), Multi-Ma ...

was thus considered a great success by Zighoud despite the failure to take the much-needed weapons from the targeted military outposts and police stations, and despite the relatively small number of Europeans killed in comparison to the Algerian death toll. Despite the undeniable political success of the operation, Zighoud's

cynical Cynicism is an attitude characterized by a general distrust of the motives of "others". A cynic may have a general lack of faith or hope in people motivated by ambition, desire, greed, gratification, materialism, goals, and opinions that a cynic ...

disregard for Algerian lives was frowned upon by several high-ranking members of the FLN.

Abane Ramdane Abane Ramdane (June 10, 1920 – December 26, 1957) was an Algerian political activist and revolutionary. He played a key role in the organization of the independence struggle during the Algerian war. His influence was so great that he was know ...

and Larbi Ben M'hidi notably criticized his decision to send barely armed Algerian civilians with almost no weapons to a certain death for a result of less than 100 Europeans killed. Ramdane also condemned the murder and

mutilation Mutilation or maiming (from the Latin: ''mutilus'') refers to Bodily harm, severe damage to the body that has a ruinous effect on an individual's quality of life. It can also refer to alterations that render something inferior, ugly, dysfunction ...

of European babies, which he feared would cause the revolution to be associated with fanatical madness and decrease international support for the cause of Algerian independence. Three weeks after the event, a group of sixty-one prominent Algerian Muslim politicians, who had thus far adopted moderate positions and who used to believe it was possible for Algerians to become French by adopting the French language, wrote a public declaration "condemning the blind repression" in Philippeville, declared the French government's policy of integration of Algerian Muslims to be a failure, and wrote that, in the wake of the blind and bloody repression against Muslims in Philippeville, the vast majority of Algerians had become

nationalists Nationalism is an idea and movement that holds that the nation should be congruent with the state. As a movement, nationalism tends to promote the interests of a particular nation (as in a group of people), Smith, Anthony. ''Nationalism: The ...

who now believed in the "idée nationale algérienne" ("Algerian national ideal"). By late 1955, the number of FLN fighters in the Constantine region had increased by a threefold.

Jacques Soustelle Jacques Soustelle (3 February 1912 – 6 August 1990) was an important and early figure of the Free French Forces, a politician who served in the French National Assembly and at one time served as Governor General of Algeria, an anthropologist s ...

, the recently appointed Governor of Algeria, who had thus far defended conciliatory approach on

Algerian nationalism Algerian nationalism is pride in the Algerian identity and culture. It has been historically infuenced by the conflicts between the conflicts between the Deylik of Algiers and European countries, the French conquest of Algeria and the subsequen ...

, was profoundly

traumatized Psychological trauma, mental trauma or psychotrauma is an emotional response to a distressing event or series of events, such as accidents, rape, or natural disasters. Reactions such as psychological shock and psychological denial are typical. ...

by his visit at the El-Halia mine after the attacks. After the events of late August 1955, he became convinced that no negotiation was possible with 'FLN terrorists', and would keep getting increasingly

radicalized Radicalization (or radicalisation) is the process by which an individual or a group comes to adopt increasingly views in opposition to a political, social, or religious status quo. The ideas of society at large shape the outcomes of radicaliza ...

as the war progressed. French Pied-Noir

intellectual An intellectual is a person who engages in critical thinking, research, and reflection about the reality of society, and who proposes solutions for the normative problems of society. Coming from the world of culture, either as a creator or a ...

Albert Camus Albert Camus ( , ; ; 7 November 1913 – 4 January 1960) was a French philosopher, author, dramatist, and journalist. He was awarded the 1957 Nobel Prize in Literature at the age of 44, the second-youngest recipient in history. His work ...

, who had written several articles to bring attention on the condition of native Algerians, was appalled by the horrific massacre of European children, and completely rejected the FLN as terrorists. As he later wrote: "If I can understand and admire freedom fighters, I have only disgust for murderers of women and children". After August 1955, the brutality of the Algerian War dramatically increased in intensity, and atrocities on both sides became commonplace as FLN rebels and the French army became more and more radicalized.

References

Bibliography

* * {{Algerian resistance against French invasion

Massacres of ethnic groups Massacres in Algeria Algerian war crimes August 1955 events in Africa Mass murder in 1955