Decolonising 'French universalism': reconsidering the impact of the Algerian war on French intellectuals

Abstract

This chapter illustrates how the French-Algerian War transcended military and political concerns but its goal is not to illuminate France's impact on Algeria and the Maghreb but rather the war's impact on French intellectuals. More than any other colonial confrontation, the French-Algerian War forcibly demonstrated North Africa's impact on a major European power. The French-Algerian War and the process of decolonisation disrupted France and French perceptions of France on a level not seen since the German Occupation and, one can argue, even since the French Revolution. Due to the severity and the importance of the Algerian crisis, there is a sense of urgency to research on the French-Algerian War because it continues to affect France and Algeria, and by extension Europe and North Africa. For intellectual and cultural historians of France, the Algerian War is thus one of the most important moments of the twentieth century.

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