ALGIERS, Algeria (AP) — While France celebrated the anniversary of its victory over the Nazis on Wednesday, Algeria marked a darker anniversary: French colonial forces’ crackdown on Algerian independence activists on the same day 79 years ago.
Both events occurred on May 8, 1945.
In Paris, the French president Emmanuel Macron lay a wreath Wednesday at the eternal flame beneath the Napoleon-era Arc de Triomphe, honoring those killed fighting the Nazis and marking the end of the Second World War in Europe.
At the time of the war, Algeria was the crown jewel of the French colonial empire, and Algerian soldiers were among those sent to fight for France in Europe. The end of World War II triggered independence movements in the former French and British empires.
On Wednesday, in Algiers, ceremonies were held to honor the protesters who took to the streets in the cities of Guelma, Sétif and Kherrata to call for liberation from French rule.
“On this day we remember the massacres of May 8, 1945, committed by the colonizer with extreme brutality and cruelty, to repress a growing national activist movement that resulted in massive demonstrations that expressed the revolt of the Algerian people and their aspiration for freedom. and emancipation”, the Algerian president Abdelmadjid Tebboune said in a statement.
They were unusually strong comments from the Algerian leader and a reminder of the lingering tensions with France more than 60 years after Algeria gained its independence in a painful war of 1954-1962.
Algeria and France today have close economic, security and energy ties, but the issue of historical justice remains a sensitive issue.
Tebboune is expected to lift it on a trip to France later this year. The issue of historical memory “will remain at the center of our concerns until it enjoys objective treatment that does justice to historical truth,” Tebboune said in his statement this week.
During a visit to Algeria In 2022, Macron established a friendly relationship with Tebboune and agreed to create a commission of historians from both countries to make reconciliation proposals. The commission released proposals this year, including the return of documents and artifacts from French archives to Algeria.
Algerian politicians also sought financial reparations for French nuclear tests in the Sahara – and, more importantly, an official apology from France for colonial-era crimes.
As the first French leader born since that time, Macron has sought to confront the mistakes of his country’s past while moving toward a new era of relations with its former colonies. But he has faced criticism domestically, in a context of growing public support for far-right nationalists who champion the grievances of some French descendants of colonizers.
