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VALERIA KUZNETSOVA. HISTORICAL ANALYSIS OF THE ROLE OF MIGRATION RELATIONS BETWEEN ALGERIA AND FRANCE IN THE WAR OF INDEPENDENCE OF ALGERIA //
Article was written for the bulletin "Russia and the Moslem World."
Keywords: Algeria, France; migration processes, colonial system.
Kuznetsova Valeria,
Bachelor, Political Science Department, Institute of International Relations and Socio-Political Studies MSLU
Citation: Kuznetsova V. Historical Analysis of the Role of Migration Relations between Algeria and France in the War of Independence of Algeria // Russia and the Moslem World, 2021, № 3 (313), P. 113-118. DOI: 10.31249/rmw/2021.03.09
Abstract. From the end of the 19th century to 1962, Algerian presence in France became part of more than a centenary history. The early and significant migration flow of Algerian colonists to the metropolis began in the second half of the 19th century. Until 1962, Algerians were not called foreigners, but first "aborigines," then "French subjects," and then "French Muslims of Algeria." Close relationship between Algeria and France, the metropolis and the colony, oppressors and oppressed, can be traced in the culture of both states and the peculiarities of social structures throughout large-scale historical strata. The peculiarities of this close unity, manifested in migration relations, among other things, encourage the colony to fight for its independence.
At the origins of Algerian immigration
Algerian emigration does not begin with the colonial conquest of 1830. Algeria, on the contrary, becomes a colony and immigration center, attracting hundreds of thousands Europeans looking for a way to invest money (French, Spaniards, Italians, Maltese). The establishment of a colonial system on this territory,
administered by French departments since 1848, significantly worsens the situation of the indigenous population. Worsening impoverishment in rural areas, very high population growth, land pressure, lootings, lack of resources led to the outflow of ethnic population from rural areas and emigration by the end of the 19th century.
The center of the outflow was the especially depressed region of Algeria - Kabilia. Local men provided an influx of labor force into the cities and to the farms of the Mediterranean coast of the metropolis, with the first stronghold in Marseille. They came into use as agricultural workers, diggers, traders or laborers.
Kabilia, especially the poor region, was the main place for those wishing to emigrate. The migration project was developed by family members or a special form of "council of elders" (djema'a). Single men in the metropolis often created families before leaving, and working in the metropolis allowed them to provide for the family when they returned to the village. Their wages allowed them to survive in the metropolis, and scarcely saved money was supposed to provide food for their families. Household heads left for a short time - usually only a few months due to the peculiarities of interstate regulation, so the frequency of movement of migrants between the metropolis and Algerian departments was high. On their return, other young people from their village go to their places, who are settled in their residences and receive their jobs. Migrant workers from Algeria subsequently formed very close diaspora communities in the metropolis. Men, on the basis of social contacts, family contacts, village solidarity or region of origin, joined together and created informal assistance communities, a kind of migration clans that facilitate access to housing, work, communication with the homeland and maintenance of cultural or religious traditions.
On the eve of the First World War, polls showed extensive settlement in the metropolis of the Algerian community. But due to the specific status, exact calculation was impossible. At the 1901 census, there were no statistics for the category of migrants;
Algerians were registered as French. However, for the first time there was a mention of "workers from Algeria". According to a 1912 poll, there were about 4-5 thousand Algerians in the metropolis, more than a thousand of them were in the capital and on its outskirts. They were no longer only part of the agricultural community, but also belonged to the industrial and urban proletariat. They worked, for example, in refineries, in omnibus company and on building areas of metro in Paris, in the Michelin factories, in the mines of the Pas-de-Calais, in the Lyon industry, at the docks of the port of Marseilles. Chiefs appreciated the contribution of this dutiful and cheap labor force, and also resorted to it to disrupt strikes of local workers.
Thus, it was the First World War that initiated the centralized migration movement to France. In 1914-1918, about 100,000 front workers and 175,000 colonial soldiers were recruited in Algeria. After the war, all workers and soldiers returned to their native colonies, but few managed to stay in France.
Interwar period. The birth of Algerian nationalism
and acceleration of immigration
In 1921 there were more than 35,000 Algerian citizens in France, in 1936 their number reached more than 85,000, and on the eve of World War II it dropped to 72,000. In the strict sense, this phenomenon cannot be called immigration, since Algerians had French citizenship and, therefore, were not foreigners, without using the rights of native French. The flows were strictly regulated. Arrival in the metropolis depended on the presentation of an employment contract, cash security, a health examination certificate, and a photo identification.
Immigration in the interwar period was available for the able-bodied male population for a fixed period, with numerous relocations and obligations to employers, which led to a constant increase in the outflow of those who had already worked and a low increase in the inflow of new labor (the migration balance
was even negative at the beginning of the economic crisis of the 1930s) ... On the other side of the Mediterranean Sea, for the first time, the manifestation of close cultural ties and special attention to the Algerians from the state begin. Opening of the Grand Mosque in Paris (1926), and then the Franco-Muslim hospital (1935) and the Muslim cemetery (1937) in Bobigny, indicated the government's intention to help and protect its "Muslim subjects." However, these initiatives do not preclude their desire to control the immigrant community. As early as 1925, there was created the Service of North African Indigenous Affairs (le Service des affaires indigènes nord-africaines (SAINA)) with a North African brigade to carry out this task. Subsequently, nationalist and anti-colonialist ideas began to spread in the Algerian community.
Ahmed Messali Hajj, a supporter of communist ideas and Kemalism, founded the political movement "North African Star" in Paris in June 1926. Its activists propagated their political agenda in the Algerian community, relying on a chain of cafes, restaurants, furnished hotels and workers' houses. Nationalist party condemned the colonial system and claimed the independence of Algeria and all the countries of the Maghreb. Rallies, leaflets, demonstrations, party newspaper: nationalist activity gained momentum around Zaim (leadership) and his 3600 most active supporters. "North African Star" was dissolved on January 26, 1937 by a decree of the Popular Front. On March 11, it reappeared under the name of the Algerian People's Party, which in turn was clamped down on September 26, 1939.
1954-1962: Algerian immigrants
in the War of Independence
World War II brought to a standstill of the flow of workers, while Algerian troops participated and suffered losses in the fight against Nazism and liberation of France. Flights to the metropolis resumed in 1946, which was contributed to the freedom of movement introduced by the law of September 20, 1947. The War
of Independence, with a slight interruption in the flow of new migrants, did not cause a major recession of Algerian migration. During the eight years of conflict, the number of Algerians living in the metropolitan area increased from 211,000 in 1954 to 350,000 in 1962.
This phenomenon may seem contradictory, as voluntary and massive emigration to the metropolis provokes repressions and conflict against participants in the independence movement. However, the pressure and colonial oppression which the Muslim population suffered from, intensified. In particular, this affected the policy of struggle against the Algerian associations. The French army identified prohibited areas, cleared of local residents who were in the camps under the protection of the military guards. More than two million Algerians ended up in such places.
Algerian immigration during the war continued to be economically driven, with men in the lowest paid jobs with high levels of dangerous and hard work (mainly in the construction industry and metallurgy). During this period, a sharp increase in migration begins in most regions. (Kabilia still remains the main focus of migration, however, over time, the number of people leaving Oran, Constantine, Aures, Tlemcen...), and men increasingly begin to emigrate with their families (7,000 families in 1954, 30,000 in 1962).
The resettlement of this large Algerian community in the metropolis became the main issue for two rival nationalist political projects: the Party of the Algerian People, created by the last-mentioned Ahmed Messali Hajj and the National Liberation Front, a radical separatist movement involved in the "All Saints" uprising on November 1, 1954. Their confrontation develops into a bloody fratricidal strife, as a result of which the National Liberation Front roots itself in the immigration field of France. The organization is becoming an important pillar of the war of independence due to its financial backing (compulsory contributions), ideological significance and political pressure. At
this time, the authorities, in turn, express serious concern about the emergence in the center of the metropolis of a genuine Algerian counter-campaign of separatists. In this regard, the French authorities decided to create special social services that would provide well-aimed support to the Algerians, but unofficially they carried out an exploratory mission associated with subsequent repressive actions.
Conclusion
The colonial system built by the French metropolis over several centuries in Algeria, supported by the growth of social integration and consolidation of the Algerian diaspora in the French geographical, economic and cultural space, gave rise to a conflict which took the form of the struggle for the independence of Algeria and led to the emergence of political figures who initiated separatist processes. Migration processes and regulation of migrant flows by the metropolis influenced directly the creation of a nonequilibrium system of intracolonial relations, expressed in the armed separatist conflict, and influenced the further close relationship between the two states.
References
1. Algerian National Movement https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Algerian_ National_Movement
2. French conquest of Algeria https://ru.qwe.wiki/wiki/French_conquest_ of_Algeria
3. L'immigration algérienne en France : histoire et actualité https://www.cairn.info/revue-confluences-mediterranee-2011-2-page-219.htm#
4. Peggy Derder. L'immigration algérienne en France https://www.histoire-immigration.fr/dossiers-thematiques/caracteristiques-migratoires-selon-les-pays-d-origine/l-immigration-algerienne
