"The Time of Skydivers" and "Je ne regrette rien"
January 1960, Algeria, student speech against de Gaulle's politics. Student leader Pierre Lagayard in front of the barricade
Having defeated the militants of the National Liberation Front in field battles and defeating the terrorists in the battle for the capital (Algeria), the French seemed to be able to develop success. By 1959, almost all rebel leaders were arrested, killed or fled the country, army units reliably controlled the borders with Tunisia and Morocco, and many underground cells were routed. The disorganized and virtually uncontrolled units of TNF militants could still plunder the indigenous population by collecting “revolutionary taxes” from them, threatening to cut out the family or the whole village in case of refusal. But militarily, they now did not pose any particular danger and already avoided direct clashes with regular French troops or Harki Arabs ready to fight back.
Operation Revival
Under these conditions, the government’s attempts to enter into negotiations with the leaders of the TNF provoked an outbreak of indignation in French Algeria.
On the one hand, too much blood has already been shed between the warring parties, including innocent victims. And this blood shared not only the Arabs and the "black-footed", but the whole Algerian society.
On the other hand, the demands of the TNF leaders on France resembled the conditions of surrender. The Blackfoots, who would decide to stay in Algeria, and the Arabs, their allies, were promised practically nothing and no guarantees were given. But the Arabs in France (there were about 370 thousand at that time) were supposed to study in Algerian schools funded by the French Ministry of Education. Claims were filed for jurisdiction over their Muslim courts, as well as for compensation from the French treasury for “suffering”.
On May 13, 1958, Pierre Lagayard, who headed the Algerian General Students' Association (a participant in the Algerian war, who was demobilized in 1957 and, in the future, one of the founders of the OAS), led the assault on the residence of the Governor of Algeria. He was not to be decisive: it was he who sent the truck to the fencing of the house of the general government, and during these events he was guarded by the Arab detachment Harki.
On the same day, the “Public Security Committee” was created, headed by Raul Salan.
The committee leaders said that the army would be “deeply offended” by the decision to leave Algeria, and demanded the resignation of the government, as well as the adoption of a new constitution and the appointment of Charles de Gaulle as head of state.
General Salan announces army support for Charles de Gaulle, May 13, 1958
Demonstration in Algeria, May 1958. 20 thousand demonstrators in Algeria require the army to defend “French Algeria”
At the headquarters of the 10th division, Jacques Massouet, a plan of operation "Renaissance" was drawn up, which provided for a real landing operation to seize the government offices of Paris. The first "wave" was five thousand paratroopers stationed in Algeria regiments - they were supposed to land at Velizi-Vilacable airbase located near Paris. They would be followed by other combat units from Algeria, which Toulouse parachutists and tank a group from Rambouillet. The link between Algeria and France and an important transshipment base was to be Corsica. Therefore, on May 24, the First Battalion of the Parachute Regiment stationed in Calvi took control of the city of Ajaccio, the capital of the island.
On May 29, the Revival operation began (transport planes took off from the base in Le Bourget, which headed for Algeria), but was immediately stopped: the French government and the Chamber of Deputies surrendered and resigned.
That was the end of the Fourth Republic. In the presidential election, Charles de Gaulle won a landslide victory.
Algeria, September 1958, Arab demonstration for the preservation of Algeria as part of France: “Long live France!” "Long live the Army!", "Long live de Gaulle." These people do not yet know that the new president of France will soon abandon them and give Algeria to extremists from the TNF. But the Allies during World War II began talking with de Gaulle only because at a critical moment he unexpectedly had at his disposal 2 battalions of the Foreign Legion, 5 Algerian infantry battalions, 1 Tunisian battalion, 3 squadrons of Moroccan spahi and two "camps" (battalion ) Moroccan gummers. But there were no Frenchmen for Free France then
On December 19, 1958, Raul Salan, who actually brought de Gaulle to power, was transferred to Paris and appointed Inspector General of National Defense, February 7, 1959 - took over as military governor of Paris, June 10, 1960 - was dismissed.
“The betrayal of de Gaulle”
First terrorist attack in stories The Fifth Republic did not have to wait long: they were fired upon by the militants of the Front for the National Liberation of the Machine of Jacques Sustel, who earlier (in 1955-1956) was the Governor-General of Algeria, and at that time was acting Minister of Information. Sustel, like General Massiu, was a staunch supporter of integration, such a person in a high position for the nationalist leaders was very dangerous, and therefore a total of three assassination attempts by the TNF were committed on him.
Meanwhile, de Gaulle had his own vision of the situation, he said:
“Arabs have a high birth rate. This means that if Algeria remains French, France will become Arab. I don't like this prospect. ”
He was supported by numerous “minority” (“reducers”), who openly stated that it was time to stop “feeding the colored population” of the colonies and live quietly within the borders of “little France”. People with a similar character base in 1940 happily surrendered and obeyed the Germans.
Thus, the patriots of French Algeria and de Gaulle, in essence, put France’s interests at the forefront. The tragedy was that each side had its own view of these interests, the exact opposite of the opinion of the opponents. The Blackfoots and their allies wanted to see Algeria a thriving French province - European Africa.
Charles de Gaulle and his supporters tried to isolate themselves from African Algeria in order to preserve the “good old France” they knew from childhood — the country of Joan of Arc, Pierre Terrail de Bayard and Cyrano de Bergerac, the kings and musketeers of Dumas, the heroes of Voltaire’s “philosophical tales” .
The saddest thing is that both sides failed to achieve their goal and lost. Algeria did not become “European Africa,” France is populated by migrants and is rapidly losing its national identity. And so the numerous victims of that war and the tragic struggle of OAS activists were in vain.
However, it should be recognized that the position of the leaders of the "black-footed", who demanded not to give Algeria to the leaders of the defeated TNF and to continue efforts to Europeanize the Arab population of Algeria, was more reasonable and adequate.
Before this country gained independence, Algerians were determined and even sought to abide by the laws of the French Republic common to all — both at home, and especially in the metropolis. More and more Arabs received European education, including in colleges and universities in France. The number of people appreciating the opportunities offered to them and their children has increased. The absolute majority of the population of Algeria was quite satisfied with the rules instituted by the French: there were only about one hundred thousand active supporters of TNF even at the peak of its activity. About 20 percent of local Muslims openly supported the “black-footed” - they were brought up in the traditions of European culture (Algeria exceeded countries such as Portugal and Greece in terms of education, and was comparable to such a country as Spain in terms of economic development). In their way of life, they were similar to the descendants of European settlers, differing from them only in their professions of Islam. Algerian tyrants and spahi regularly served their service. More than 250 thousand Muslims-Harki fought with TNF militants in the French army or defending their cities and villages from them. Many in Algeria knew that over 100 years of French rule, the country's indigenous population increased from one million to eight and a half, and not to see that the standard of living here significantly exceeds that in any Arab country (including the now rich UAE) could only be blind.
In principle, the door to French society was open to all residents of Algeria: to become a full citizen, an Arab or a Berber did not even need to adopt Christianity, it was only necessary to inform the authorities in writing that he recognized the primacy of French laws over Sharia law and was not polygamist. Not everyone was ready for this, but the French did not insist in such cases, allowing them to live "in the old days." But the leaders of the TNF, on the contrary, demanded that the indigenous population strictly comply with the rules and regulations of the Sharia, the “black-footed”, in their opinion, did not have the right to live on Algerian soil, which was reflected in the notorious slogan: “Suitcase or coffin”.
After the implementation of the Evian Agreements, pro-French citizens of Algeria were partially repressed, partially destroyed, and the rest were forced to flee the country. The result was a sharp radicalization of the population. The "fighters for independence" and their children, who suddenly massively wanted to leave their rapidly degrading, impoverished and sliding into a war of all against all countries in the "beautiful France", no longer wanted to become part of French society. They wanted to arrange their Algeria in France, at first demanding that the French not interfere with them, and then - implicitly obey their new and new requirements. Such a future for the French of those years could not have been dreamed in a dream.
Algerian French and French Algerians (Europeanized Arabs, evolvés) strongly disagreed with de Gaulle's position. During the president’s visit to this country on June 4 of that year, they met him with the slogans “French Algeria” and “Save Algeria”.
Poster "France remains" (inscription in French and Arabic)
The inscription on the road in Algeria: "France remains"
On September 16, 1959, de Gaulle declared that Algeria had the right to self-determination, and at the end of January 1960 the "black-footed" students of Algeria revolted. Their leaders were Pierre Lagayard, Guy Forsi and Joseph Ortiz.
Pierre Lagayard, January 1960
Among other things, students also protested against the recall of General Massiu, who dared to declare that the army was mistaken in de Gaulle and might refuse to obey him in the future.
Meanwhile, it was with the activities of Massou, an ardent supporter of the idea of integrating Arabs and Algerian Europeans, that the hopes of many supporters of French Algeria were connected. On the posters of students and citizens supporting them, there were inscriptions: “Algeria is France” and “Long live Massu”.
Students with a poster “Algeria is France”
Algeria, January 1960, captured by the soldiers of the barricade, the sign says: “Territory of France”
Barricades on the streets of Algeria. The inscription on the banner: "Long live Massu"
This performance was quickly suppressed. The leaders of the rebels, Lagayard and Suzini, were arrested and imprisoned, from which in December 1960 they fled to Madrid. Here they met with the retired Raul Salan and Charles Lacherua. The result of this meeting was the conclusion of an anti-Gaullist agreement (the so-called Madrid Treaty), from which the OAS later “grew”.
We have already talked about Raul Salan and Lagayard. Let's say a few words about the other creators of OAS.
Charles Lacherua was a graduate of the Saint-Cyr military school, after which he served in the colonial forces in Upper Volta, Syria, Morocco and Tunisia. During World War II, he fought with allies in Italy, France and Germany. Then, as the battalion commander, he crushed the uprising in Côte d'Ivoire (1949), fought in Indochina, was an adviser to two French defense ministers, dealing with issues of “psychological warfare”. In 1958, he was transferred to service in Algeria, after the defeat of the rebellious generals, he became one of the leaders of the Spanish branch of OAS. He returned to France after the 1968 amnesty.
Charles Lacherua
Jean-Jacques Suzini is one of the leaders of Algerian students, he headed the propaganda department at OAS, and after Salan’s arrest, he became the head of this organization in Algeria and Constantine, was the organizer of several attempts on de Gaulle, was sentenced to death twice in absentia. He also returned to France in 1968, but was arrested there twice: on charges of robbery (1970) and organizing the abduction of Colonel Raymond Gore (1972) - in both cases, the jury passed a acquittal.
Jean-Jacques Suzini
But back to 1961 year.
It was not students who represented the main threat to de Gaulle and his government. A referendum held on January 8, 1961, in which 75% of citizens voted for the independence of Algeria, pushed the military to rebellion supported by the “black-footed”, evolvés and harki (they were described in the article “Algerian War of the French Foreign Legion”).
The rebellion against de Gaulle and his government was led by General Raul Salan, holder of 36 military orders and medals, who enjoyed great prestige in France and Algeria.
Demonstration of the defenders of French Algeria, January 1961: Arabs can be seen among the protesters
The military coup in Algeria
On the night of April 22, 1961, the first parachute regiment of the Foreign Legion (1e REP) took control of all government agencies in Algeria.
His commander, Major de Saint-Marc, said afterwards:
“I preferred crime against the law to crime against humanity.”
This performance was supported by other regiments of the Foreign Legion and the 25th parachute division of the French army. Marines and some other military units were ready to join them, but the commanders loyal to de Gaulle managed to keep them in the barracks.
Leaders of the rebellion: from left to right - Andre Zeller, Edmond Zhuo, Raul Salan and Maurice Schall at the Algerian Government House, April 23, 1961
Vice Admiral Cerville, commander of the French Navy in the Mediterranean Sea, tried to lead Algeria’s loyal de Gaulle formations, but the Admiralty’s building was blocked by Colonel Godard’s tanks. On a patrol boat, Cerville sailed to Oran.
French tanks in Algeria
At about 15 p.m. on April 23, units of General Zeller (former chief of staff of the French army) entered Constantine, where General Gouraud joined the rebels.
On the same day in Paris, OAS “warned” the government by organizing explosions at two stations (Lyonsky and Austerlitsky) and at Orly airport. This was a mistake, as it pushed the Parisians sympathetic to them from the rebels.
On April 24, de Gaulle introduced Article 16 of the Constitution, having unlimited rights, on the 25th Paris entered the loyal 16th Infantry Division, and French regiments stationed in Germany moved to the capital.
In France, there were numerous demonstrations in support of de Gaulle, in Algeria, supporters of Salan took to the streets, it seemed that it was a civil war. And it seems that de Gaulle was mentally prepared to shed the blood of his compatriots, but the leaders of the rebels did not dare to fight "against their own."
Sea lanes controlled by faithful de Gaulle fleet, military formations from France were being transferred to Algeria, but the regiments of Salan and Challe hardened in many years of battles, led by experienced and beloved soldiers, commanders, still seemed and could be ready to drop them into the sea. If the rebels could repel the first blow and gain a foothold in Algeria, the situation could change dramatically. It is unlikely that after the first failure de Gaulle would have risked starting a full-fledged and large-scale war, especially since his opponents had high-ranking and influential supporters in the highest echelons of the French army. And among the troops heading for Algeria, there were few who wished to fight. Already after de Gaulle's victory, the head of the French General Staff, General Charles Allerett, in one of his reports said that only 10% of the soldiers were ready to shoot at the “OAS fighters”. And then, having agreed with his supporters in the Metropolis, Salan, perhaps, could have gone to France.
In the meantime, time worked on de Gaulle, and it was necessary to decide on something. But the leaders of the rebels did not dare to give the order for resistance. In the early morning of April 26, they finally abandoned the fight. Raul Salan and Edmond Zhuo went into an illegal position, Andre Zeller and Maurice Schall voluntarily surrendered to the authorities.
Maurice Schall, trying to save Eli Sen Marc, the commander of the first parachute regiment of the Foreign Legion, who joined the conspirators at the last moment, suggested he flee abroad, but he refused, saying that he was ready to share the fate of his soldiers and his commanders.
Maurice Schall
Ely Dunois de Saint Mark
The employees of the Sante prison in Paris were in shock: they were ordered to consider state criminals people whom in France until that day were unconditionally considered heroes.
La Sante Prison, Paris
Speaking before the court, Saint Mark recalled the humiliating flight of the French from Vietnam and the contempt of the local officers and soldiers who were escorting them. And he said that his soldiers were crying, learning about the order to leave the land of Algeria, covered with their blood, about responsibility to the native Algerians, who believed in France and in the army, who promised to protect them:
“We thought of all the solemn promises made on this African land. We thought about all those men, about all those women, about all those young men who chose because of us the side of France, risking every day, every moment, to die a terrible death. We thought about the inscriptions that covered the walls of all the villages and villages of Algeria:
"The army will protect us. The army remains."
For 15 years I have seen legionnaires, foreigners die for France, perhaps by blood received, but French by blood shed. Because of my comrades, non-commissioned officers and legionnaires who fell with honor on the battlefield, on April 21 at 13.30 I made my choice in front of General Schull. ”
"The army will protect us. The army remains."
For 15 years I have seen legionnaires, foreigners die for France, perhaps by blood received, but French by blood shed. Because of my comrades, non-commissioned officers and legionnaires who fell with honor on the battlefield, on April 21 at 13.30 I made my choice in front of General Schull. ”
The prosecutor demanded that he be sentenced to 20 years in prison; the court sentenced him to 10 years (of which he spent 5 years in prison - he was granted amnesty on December 25, 1966).
Two former colleagues of Saint Mark, Jacques Lemaire and Jean Histod-Kine, encircled and emphasized their ranks and letters on envelopes of letters addressed to him, as if inviting the authorities to dismiss them too or to arrest them - the de Gaulle government did not dare.
After the amnesty, Saint Mark worked as a sort of head of the personnel department at one of the metallurgical plants. In 2011, President N. Sarkozy returned the Legion of Honor to him.
General Jacques Massoux at this time would be the military governor of Metz and the Sixth Military Region of France. He did not take part in the conspiracy and was not repressed. Largely due to his principled position, de Gaulle was forced to amnesty the conspirators in 1968: during the events of the “Red May” of 1968, Massiu, being the commander of the French troops in Germany, guaranteed de Gaulle support only in exchange for the freedom of his old comrades. De Gaulle was forced to yield, but did not forgive this pressure on himself. In July 1969, Massoux was dismissed. He died on October 26, 2002.
We will return to Algeria in 1961, where supporters of French Algeria “disagreed” with Challu's surrender and made plans to release the former commander of the troops in Algeria from the prison in Tulle. In 1973, the film “Le-complot” (“Conspiracy”) was even shot about this attempt in France, in which the roles were played by well-known actors - Jean Rochefort, Marina Vlady, Michelle Bouquet, Michel Duchossois.
Another conspiracy leader, Edmond Zhuo, general of the French army and chief inspector of the Air Force, the "black-footed" from Oran, to whom Schall transferred 300 thousand francs from personal funds to continue the fight, became Salan's deputy in OAS. He was arrested on March 25, 1962 - and on the same day they tried to release him: one gendarme was killed, 17 were wounded.
On April 11, 1962, the day the trial of Zhuo began, the OAS organized 84 assassination attempts: 67 people were killed and 40 wounded.
This did not save Edmond Zhuo: he was sentenced to death, which, however, was replaced with life imprisonment. In 1968, he was released under an amnesty.
Andre Zeller was sentenced to 15 years and was also amnestied in 1968.
Jacques Moren, which was described a little in the article “Foreign Legion Commanders in the Algerian War”At that time he was in France, acting as inspector of the air forces, did not participate in the conspiracy. But in 1962, after the conviction of his comrades, he resigned - either he decided so, or the authorities asked him "in a good way." He was only 36 years old, he fought all his life and did not know how to do anything else, but he never returned to the army, but the Saint-Cyr military school assigned his name to the 1997 graduation of officers. And Morin died in 1995.
Another famous commander, the hero of the previous article, Colonel Pierre Busch, who served as commander of the La Calais sector, was arrested. At the trial, he said that he knew about the conspiracy, but did not join because he felt his responsibility for covering from the possible invasion of militants in the territory entrusted to him, and was acquitted by jury. He was still fired from the army - November 16, 1961. Later, he became one of the founders of the National Union of Skydivers and held the post of Vice President. He died on April 20, 1978.
The head of the OAS, Raul Salan, was sentenced to death in absentia. On April 20, 1962, the authorities managed to arrest him, this time the tribunal sentenced him to life imprisonment. In 1968 he was amnestied, in 1982 - reinstated in the rank of army general and holder of the Legion of Honor. He died on July 3, 1984, on his tombstone it is written: "Soldier of the Great War."
Marcel Bijard, already familiar to us from past articles, did not join the conspirators, but for 12 years he defiantly refused to hang a portrait of President de Gaulle in his office.
Pierre Lagayard was forced to flee to Spain, returned to France in 1968, settled in the city of Auh and even took over as president in 1978. He died on August 17, 2014.
The bitter fruits of defeat
This attempted rebellion was followed by large-scale repressions, which actually put an end to attempts to defend “French Algeria” - the Blackfoots no longer had the strength to resist. In addition to the arrests and dismissals of many officers, the elite first parachute regiment of the Foreign Legion and two regiments of the 25th Division were disbanded. Leaving their barracks, the 1e REP legionnaires blew them up. Some officers and soldiers of this regiment then went into an illegal position and became members of the OAS, 200 officers were placed in the Paris Fort de Nogent-sur-Marne (built to defend Paris in 1840), where they were held for 2 months, while the investigation was ongoing.
Ironically, one of the recruitment centers of the Foreign Legion is now located here.
The bulk of the privates of the first parachute regiment was transferred to other units of the legion. In the Foreign Legion now only the Second Parachute Regiment remains, which is deployed in Calvi (island of Corsica)
Paratroopers of the Second Regiment of the Foreign Legion
Since then, by the way, the phrase “time of paratroopers” has entered the French language: leftists and liberals use it when they want to talk about some kind of “threat to democracy”.
And among the former paratroopers of the first regiment after the events of April 1961, the song Edith Piaf “Je ne regrette rien” (“I regret nothing”) became extremely popular, but the legionnaires sang other words on its motive:
No, I do not regret anything.
Not about the evil that was done to me
Not about the capture of the city of Algeria.
About nothing, about nothing
I do not regret anything.
And in the parachute regiment of the Foreign Legion
All officers are proud of their past.
Not about the evil that was done to me
Not about the capture of the city of Algeria.
About nothing, about nothing
I do not regret anything.
And in the parachute regiment of the Foreign Legion
All officers are proud of their past.
And this version of the song ended with promising words:
“And all the officers are ready to start from the beginning.”
Algeria, soldiers of the First Parachute Regiment of the Foreign Legion
And then “Je ne regrette rien” with this text became the unofficial OAS anthem. And even now, when military bands and choirs of the regiments of the Foreign Legion perform the innocent original version of this song, many believe that they still sing the words of the forbidden anthem to themselves.
Orchestra and choir of the French Foreign Legion perform the song “Non, je ne regrette rien”, Comoedia Theater and Concert Hall, Lyon, December 12, 2013
By the way, many of you have heard this song, more than once: in the film “17 Moments of Spring” Stirlitz recalls pre-war Paris under it, although it was written in 1960.
The government of de Gaulle won, but was discredited among the "black-footed" Algeria, where the president was openly compared to the betrayer of France during World War II, Marshal Pétain. De Gaulle himself now did not trust the "black-footed", considering them almost personal enemies. As a result, people most interested in its outcome: the “black-footed” of Algeria, evolvés and harki, were excluded from participation in the referendum that he initiated in April 1962. This was a direct violation of article 3 of the French Constitution, and the vote could not be considered legitimate.
"Old Army Headquarters"
Many citizens of the mother country, who considered the loss of Algeria more serious than the loss of Lorraine and Alsace in 1879, were in solidarity with the Blackfoots. Among them was even such a respectable and respected officer as the chief engineer of the French Air Force, cavalier of the Order of the Legion of Honor, Lieutenant Colonel Jean-Marie Bastien-Thiry, whose father was de Gaulle's comrade since the 1930s.
Jean-marie bastien-thiry
Bastien-Tiri was not a member of the OAS - he was a member of the mysterious organization Old Headquarters (Vieil État-Major), which was created back in 1956 by senior officers of the French army opposing the government. It is believed that his top leaders (remaining unknown and our days) played a large role in the fall of the IV Republic, and then organized several assassinations of Charles de Gaulle who did not meet their expectations.
After the defeat of the Algerian rebels, the “Old Headquarters” formed the “Committee 12”, the aim of which was to organize the de Gaulle assassination.
The Committee’s most famous assassination attempt was an attack on the president’s car in a Paris suburb of Petit Clamart on August 22, 1962 - Operation Charlotte Corde. This group was led by Bastien-Tiri.
Some believe that this assassination attempt on de Gaulle was not the first for Bastien-Thiry, and under the pseudonym Germain he could take part in the unsuccessful attempt to kill him in Pont-sur-Seine on September 8, 1961. This attempt has long been attributed to OAS, but now more and more researchers are inclined to think that it was also an action of the “Old Headquarters”, carried out jointly with OAS, which sent its performers.
An explosive device hidden in a pile of sand, consisting of 40 kg of plastid and nitrocellulose, 20 liters of oil, gasoline and soap flakes, went off next to the president’s passing car that day. The data on the explosion is contradictory: people from the President’s security service said that a column of flame rose above the trees. However, some experts argue that the resulting funnel does not match the declared power of the bomb. It was even speculated that the explosive device was timely discovered and replaced by special services - to be a "victim of an attempt" was then in the interests of de Gaulle losing popularity. The spectacular, but absolutely harmless explosion caused sympathy for de Gaulle in French society and became the reason for further repression against his opponents.
Lieutenant Alain de Bougren de La Tokne, Algerian war veteran and former OAS member who escaped from Sante prison, became Bastien Tiri's deputy in Committee 12 (he later wrote the book “How I Did Not Kill De Gaulle”).
Among the subordinates of Bastien-Tiri, it is also worth noting the “black-footed” column of Georges Watin, nicknamed Lame: in Algeria, he became famous for creating his own detachment that guarded the neighborhood from TNF fighters. Former paratrooper Georges Bernier previously belonged to the Delta group, which will be discussed in a future article. Sergeants Jacques Prevost and Dula Shari were participants in the battle of Dienbienf, Serge Bernier fought in Korea.
One of the three Hungarians of this group, Lajos Marton, later stated that the main informant of the “Committee” for a long time was Commissioner Jacques Cantelob — police general controller and head of the security service de Gaulle, who, however, quit shortly before those events. But even without him, surrounded by the president, the “Old Headquarters” had several agents reporting on his movements.
Georges Vatin, who was arrested in Switzerland but not extradited to the French authorities (on the grounds that he was sentenced to death there), took refuge in Paraguay. In 1990, he said in an interview that de Gaulle’s original plan was to capture him alive and put him on trial, but his car appeared earlier and the conspirators, who had no time to prepare, were forced to open fire.
Despite 14 bullet hits in the car in which de Gaulle was, neither he nor his wife were injured.
The well-known film “Jackal Day”, shot in 1973, begins with a story about this attempt (Jackal is a killer hired to liquidate de Gaulle after the execution of Bastien-Tiri, and this is already a “fantasy” part of both the film and the Forsyth novel to which he was filmed).
Bastien-Tiree was arrested on September 17, 1962, at the trial he compared himself to Colonel Stauffenberg, and de Gaulle to Hitler, and accused the president of complicity in the genocide of the European population of Algeria and Muslims loyal to France. And the camps to which the triumphant TNF militants drove hundreds of thousands of French supporters (the population of Western Ukraine would have expected the same future if Stalin had decided to surrender this region to Bandera, but he was not de Gaulle after the war), were compared with Nazi Germany concentration camps. He said the following words:
“There were other solutions for the future of Algerians, solutions that would protect the path of sincerity and honor, respecting the life, freedom and good of millions of native French and French Muslims living on this earth.”
It is not surprising that when the court sentenced him to death, de Gaulle, contrary to general expectations, did not use his right of pardon, cynically saying:
"If France needs a dead hero, let him be such a fool as Bastien-Tiri."
Jean-Marie Bastien-Thiry was executed on March 11, 1963 and was the last person to be executed by a court sentence in France. The fear that he inspired the authorities was so great that two thousand policemen guarded the road along which he was taken to execution.
Another response to de Gaulle's actions was a desperate terrorist attack by the Organization of the Secret Armed Organization (OAS), created by de Gaulle's opponents, with the help of which they tried to force the government to refuse to leave Algeria.
We will talk about OAS, the Delta squad and the tragedy of French Algeria in the next article.
In preparing the article, the materials of the blog of Urzova Ekaterina were used: The Story of Saint Mark; "The story of Bush".
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Ryzhov V. A. "Fire in the Empire." Foreign Legion after World War II
Ryzhov V.A. Algerian war of the French Foreign Legion
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