60 years ago to the day, the Evian agreements put an end to the Algerian war and to years of conflict. In Grenoble in particular, demonstrations of those recalled from the contingent had broken out. An abrasive memory even today. Even though, at the time,we didn’t feel like it was an important date“, estimates the historian Benjamin Stora on France Bleu Isère. He is the author of a report on “memorial questions relating to colonization and the war in Algeria” and this month he publishes “France-Algeria: painful passions”, with Albin Michel.
France Bleu Isère: What did the Evian agreements represent at the time? They mark the end of a French colony over 130 years old…?
Benjamin Stora: The Evian agreements were actually signed on March 18, after very, very long negotiations which had started almost two years earlier in Melun and Les Rousses. It was very difficult and very long. And these Evian agreements are the moment when the ceasefire in Algeria was decided. This is what is fundamentally the hallmark of these Evian agreements.
It is the end of years of violence, which it took a long time to qualify as war, why?
It is not quite the end of the violence, it is simply a ceasefire which is announced and which is naturally very well received by the soldiers of the conscripts of the contingent, who were very numerous in Algeria. There were almost 400,000 men who were stationed on Algerian territory and therefore for the families of these soldiers – fathers, fiancés, uncles, etc. – this is of course a very big relief. But that does not mean that the war in Algeria was over. It continued, as we know, in particular through the refusal of these Evian agreements by a certain number of populations. But it was a ceasefire.
You write moreover in Jeune Afrique, “everyone remained on their guard after these Evian agreements”. Were there any more fights afterwards?
Yes, everyone was on their guard because you know, the war had been very long, almost seven years, it was inevitable. Much blood had been shed. There was a lot of resentment or mistrust. It is very difficult to get out of a war. You can get in easily, but getting out is another matter. Mistrust had set in on all sides. And truly finding the political compromise after the military compromise was not at all obvious.
Supporters of French Algeria rejected the Evian Accords, with abuses on the ground, including from the OAS. The Algerians were also very suspicious, since abuses against them continued after the Evian Accords. Which meant that we didn’t have the feeling at that time that it was a very important date. Once again, this date was important especially for the soldiers, for the conscripts of the contingent.
Why was the independence of Algeria negotiated in our region, in Evian? For its proximity to Switzerland, a territory considered “neutral”?
Absolutely. The goal was to try to find a place that was as neutral as possible, an in-between, which made it possible not to settle in with too much political visibility, in particular for the Algerian delegation which was very suspicious. It was necessary to show that this negotiation was still situated in a kind of indecision through a buffer zone, a border zone.
You spoke earlier about the reaction of the contingent to these Evian agreements. In Grenoble, there were many demonstrations against the mobilization of the contingent in Algeria. To what extent were these mobilizations supported in the population?
There were several demonstrations, in particular those of the recalled who are not often spoken about: people who had already done their military service and who were recalled to Algeria. They had expressed their refusal at the time, since many were already married with children, etc. So it was very difficult.
Initially, there was undeniably popular support for these movements. But little by little, these movements ran out of steam, decreased in intensity, and finally over the years there was a consensus that settled, there was less and less opposition. And it took a political decision, at the highest level of the State, so that we could actually try to put an end to this war situation.