This video is an excerpt
from the Italian classic "Battle of Algiers", depicting
the Islamic Algerian independence war against the French colonial
occupants, one of the bloodiest independence wars in history.
For a brief historical walkthrough,
as the Ottoman Islamic empire went into decline, most of its
periphery territory was seized by the superior European military
powers. France annexed Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia, Lebanon,
and Syria, with the former three conquered throughout the
19th century, and the latter two as a reward for defeating
the Turks in World War I. The conquest of Algeria was difficult.
Mujahidin and Islamic rebels refused to accept foreign occupants
-- let alone Christians -- in their land. After a bitter struggle,
Algeria was subdued and remained a colony from 1830 to 1962.
During World War II, North Africa was ruled mostly by the
Germans and Italians. Where necessary, the Axis even encouraged
Muslims to call the war against the Allies a Jihad, just as
the Japanese did in Muslim Indonesia. After the war, Tunisia,
Algeria, and Morocco remained French, and Libya went from
Italian to British control. In the 1960s, the Muslims of Algeria
(Berbers and Arabs) led an independence war that would rank
was among the bloodiest conflicts in history, with millions
dead. For many, the revolt was one of self-determination;
for others, it was an Islamic Jihad to protect dar-al-Islam
(the Muslim community) from the tresspass of the kafir (infidels).
The revolution surely assumed an Islamic character, appropriate
for such a religious culture as this, and the result is seen
today in the struggle for power between a dictatorial regime
and full Islamic-state-seeking movements. The anthem of the
FLN (National Liberation Front), only one of the many freedom-fighting
groups, was "Islam is our religion, Arabic our language,
Algeria our fatherland." The independence war was such
a humiliation that it contributed to the collapse of the so-called
4th French Republic, just as the useless wars in Angola and
Mozambique led to the collapse of the Portuguese Fascist government.
________________________________________
ABOUT
THE AUTHOR:
James Mayfield is the owner
and Chairman of the European Heritage Library. I am working
for a doctorate in history, with a specific emphasis on Islamic
and European histories. I am well versed in all world cultures,
ethnicities, religions, languages, politics, and historical
evolution in relation to and against each other.
BIBLIOGRAPHY/SOURCES
USED:
The film "Battle of
Algiers", directed by Gillo Pontecorvo, with the copyright
now expired due to age.
Copyright 2008, European Heritage
Library®. www.euroheritage.net.
All Rights Reserved. The European Heritage Library is a non-profit academic
organization owned by Chairman James
Mayfield.
No email addresses or personal information is redistributed. No articles
or content on this site may be redistributed without approval or a full
citation and credit to the EHL as the original source.
