On the Algerian Insurrection

Really sloppy work, although in some ways it prefigures A Diplomatic Revolution: Algeria’s Fight for Independence and the Origins of the Post-Cold War Era. O’Ballance seems almost obsessed with the idea that the outbreak of the Algerian Revolution in 1954 was around a small group of power-hunger radicals to the point that he paints them as almost Leninist, with nationalism instead of Communism as the goal. It’s true that the average Algerian peasant wouldn’t know much about nationalism, but I find it suspect that these vanguardists were only concerned with their own power. Rather, they had very real concern and tried to do something about it. Although the Algerian peasantry was surprised with this turn of events, that doesn’t mean they were opposed to them, and I think this is where O’Ballance most misses the mark.