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Jean-Paul Sartre and the Algerian Revolution: 1954-1962

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Jean-Paul Sartre and the Algerian Revolution: 1954-1962 https://theses.gla.ac.uk/ Theses Digitisation: https://www.gla.ac.uk/myglasgow/research/enlighten/theses/digitisation/ This is a digitised version of the original print thesis. Copyright and moral rights for this work are retained by the author A copy can be downloaded for personal non-commercial research or study, without prior permission or charge This work cannot be reproduced or quoted extensively from without first obtaining permission in writing from the author The content must not be changed in any way or sold commercially in any format or medium without the formal permission of the author When referring to this work, full bibliographic details including the author, title, awarding institution and date of the thesis must be given Enlighten: Theses https://theses.gla.ac.uk/ [email protected] JEAN-PAUL SARTRE AND THE ALGERIAN REVOLUTION: 1954-1962 BY ABDELMADJID AMRANI B.A. ALGIERS UNIVERSITY, (1981) M. LiTT. GLASGOW UNIVERSITY, (1985) A THESIS SUBMITTED IN FULFILMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY, PH.D. DEPARTMENT OF MODERN HISTORY FACULTY OF ARTS UNIVERSITY OF GLASGOW FEBRUARY 1990 i ProQuest Number: 10970983 All rights reserved INFORMATION TO ALL USERS The quality of this reproduction is dependent upon the quality of the copy submitted. In the unlikely event that the author did not send a com plete manuscript and there are missing pages, these will be noted. Also, if material had to be removed, a note will indicate the deletion. uest ProQuest 10970983 Published by ProQuest LLC(2018). Copyright of the Dissertation is held by the Author. All rights reserved. This work is protected against unauthorized copying under Title 17, United States C ode Microform Edition © ProQuest LLC. ProQuest LLC. 789 East Eisenhower Parkway P.O. Box 1346 Ann Arbor, Ml 48106- 1346 JEAN-PAUL SARTRE AND THE ALGERIAN REVOLUTION: 1954-1962 DEDICATION To the souls of all the martyred Ouled Amrane "Chouhada" who took part in the Algerian War (1954-1962) especially my father El-Hadi. ACKNOWLEDGEMENT First and foremost a special debt of gratitude is owed to my supervisor, Professor Keith G. Robbins, not only for the guidance of my research and his continuous supervision which has enabled me to produce this work, but also for his extensive help since I came to the Department of Modern History which has made it possible for me to submit and resubmit this work. Special thanks are due to him for his help and encouragement which have enabled me to finish in spite of financial difficulties. I would also like to thank all the librarians who made Glasgow University Library feel like a second home to me, particularly Mary Sillito for her extensive help in correcting my English. Last and not least, I am grateful to my mother, Touta, not only for her standing by me throughout my life but also for her support and encouragement to finish this work. fiv) ABSTRACT What follows is a discussion of Jean-Paul Sartre’s writings and political activities on the Algerian revolution between 1954 and 1962. In this study, it is stressed that Sartre’s political writings are in favour of the struggle of the Algerian people not only because of his general philosophy of life but also because of his idea of freedom for which he had fought since the Second World War. Thus, I discuss, first, how the organized revolution started in November 1, 1954, against the French colonialists and how the French government reacted by transferring power to the military forces in Algeria. Torture and indiscriminate killing were the main policy of the French Army in Algeria. In the course of my examination, I concentrate only on the most important events of the Algerian War. Secondly, I attempt to analyze the development of Sartre’s philosophical and political writings to show how he became involved in the Algerian revolution to the danger of his life in the early 1960s. CONTENTS Page No. Acknowledgement (i) Abstract (v) Introduction 1 CHAPTER ONE 4 The Discovery of Freedom in Sartre’s Thought (a) Sartre’s Ontology (b) Sartre’s Political Freedom (c) The Left-Wing Influence on Sartre CHAPTER TWO 68 The Outbreak of the Algerian Revolution on November 1. 1954 and the French Intellectuals (a) The Emergence of the FLN on November 1, 1954 in Algeria. (b) The Aim of the FLN (c) The Attitude of the French Intellectuals Toward the Algerian War. CHAPTER THREE 133 The Power of the French Army and the Attitude of Jean-Paul Sartre Towards the Torture Inflicted in Algeria. (a) The Power of the French Army in Algeria (b) Sartre and the Tortured Algerians CHAPTER FOUR 193 Sartre’s Position on the Algerian War (a) De Gaulle, the OAS and Self-Determination for the Algerian People (b) Sartre’s Writings on and Political Activities during the Algerian Revolution (c) An Assessment of Sartre’s Writings on the Algerian War. CONCLUSION 277 BIBLIOGRAPHY 280 INTRODUCTION The Algerian War has been the subject of many critical discussions. However, four months after the Geneva agreements had ended French colonialism in Indo-China, the Algerian revolution began on November 1, 1954. This insurrection was to last for seven and a half years, bringing for France the fall of the democratically elected Fourth^ Republic at the hands of an insubordinate military and provoking the greatest crisis in the French government; and for the Algerians, it was the last and most serious challenge to confront French military power and Nato forces, a struggle which cost the people of Algeria one and a half million martyrs in order to achieve their independence and freedom. Indeed, torturing, shooting people indiscriminately, and burning villages and forests became the norm to the French Army in Algeria. This French savagery and barbarism made the writers of high intellectual standing who were actively involved in the debate over decolonization after the Second World War concern themselves in the Algerian revolution. Among those intellectuals was Jean-Paul Sartre who was committed politically to the struggle of the Algerians. Thus, in the following thesis, I intend to make a contribution towards clarifying Sartre’s position on the Algerian revolution. More specifically, I shall attempt to show that Sartre’s writings and political activities are in favour of the Algerians. My purpose is to concentrate on French colonialism in Algeria and on how the FLN (National Liberation Front) reacted to the French government in November 1954, by organizing new military forces against the oppression. In the course of my analysis, I will gradually attempt to offer some explanations and justifications on both sides, and I will suggest briefly some alternative interpretations. The thesis is divided into 1 four chapters. Chapter One introduces Sartre’s philosophical and political thought before and after the Second World War. The following three chapters show how France waged her war in Algeria and discuss the development of Sartre’s writings and political activities on the Algerian revolution. Chapter One presents Sartre’s philosophical and political freedom as a starting point of the development of his writings, and discusses how he has been influenced by the Left-wing, particularly his relationship with the Communist Party which vacillates between agreement and disagreement. The essential point to be noted in this chapter is that it was probably Sartre’s theory of freedom which led him to become involved in the Algerian War, as will be shown in the following chapters. Chapter Two is concerned with the outbreak of the Algerian revolution on November 1, 1954, and the aim of the FLN’s organization which lay in the independence and liberation of Algeria. The next step of this chapter discusses the attitude of the French intellectuals toward the Algerian War: such as Albert Camus, Francis Jeanson, and Frantz Fanon who were actively and practically involved in the Algerian revolution, and also who were close to Sartre after the Second World War. This may help us to understand how Sartre gradually became involved in the Algerian problem. Chapter Three deals directly with the torturing, indiscriminate killing, and shooting for "fun" which became normal behaviour for the French Army in Algeria. This point will be discussed in both sections with some evidence from the eye-witnesses of the Algerian War. As Sartre became involved in the Algerian revolution since 1956 the development of his political writings will be examined at length, particularly on torture. 2 Chapter Four discusses the conflict of the Algerian problem in the period of General De Gaulle’s proposal of self-determination for the Algerian people and how his army became opposed to his Algerian policy. The next stage of this chapter is not only concerned with the development of Sartre’s writings and political activities related to the Algerian revolution in the 1960s but is also a continuation of his position on the Algerian War stated in the preceding chapters. Finally the list of Sartre’s commitments to the struggle of the Algerian people is drawn up in order to assess his political writings which are in favour of the Algerians. 3 CHAPTER ONE THE DISCOVERY OF FREEDOM IN SARTRE’S THOUGHT (a) Sartre’s Ontology (b) Sartre’s Political Freedom (c) The Left-Wing Influence on Sartre 4 Politics, of whatever sort, is action carried out in common by certain men against other men; based on convergences or divergences of interests, relations of solidarity, like those of struggle and of hostility, define a total attitude of man towards man. Jean-Paul Sartre, "Le Fantome de Staline". Les Temps Modernes. No. 129- SI, November-December 1957. p.579. 5 INTRODUCTION The present chapter discusses briefly Sartre’s ontology as a starting point of the development of his thought.
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