Etienne+Bruchet

I'm Etienne Bruchet, a 3rd year D.E.M. specialist student at the University of Toronto at Mississauga.

Individual Research Assignment
Ethnic Relations in France: //La Tricolore?// Ethnic relations in France can at best be described as a thorny topic, since it puts into focus a dark side to France’s vaunted multiculturalism and diversity. Certainly, France, like much of Europe in many ways, has had problems relating to ethnic groups and minorities for many years. The existence of France’s troubles with minorities can be linked directly with their colonial history, which is as blood-stained and shameful as its fellow European powers Britain and Spain, for example. It has been suggested by the mayor of Paris, Bertrand Delanoe, that one factor in for the continuance of racial tensions may stem from the topic of France’s colonial history generally being avoided as a topic of frank discussion. Some groups oppose the mention of this history, citing the risk it causes by ‘reopening old wounds’ [BNET]. The plight of French-Africans is most well-known of late.



The French Empire France held a colonial empire that stretched across the Atlantic, in the Americas, to East Asia, in Indochina, and across North and West Africa. While France had a port established in West Africa as early as the 1650s, actual expansion into Africa and participation in African affairs only become significant in the nineteenth century. North Africa came under gradual French control from the mid-1800s, with Algeria from 1830-47, Tunisia in 1881, and Morocco in 1912 [LookLex]. France held most of what would be French West Africa by the early years of the twentieth century. French colonialism in Africa was driven by commercial interests, and also by a so-called ‘civilizing’ mission. Standards of living for Africans improved very little under French rule, notwithstanding some minor educational and healthcare improvements, a reality which presumably exacerbated the resentful feeling felt by Africans to France [UPenn]. Following the World Wars, in the mid 1940s, independence movements began to gain strength in France’s colonies, fuelled by the dissatisfaction felt by the colonial rule and their own experiences in World War II. Increased self-governance in African countries following the 1944 Brazzaville Conference signified the rise of African political parties and nationalist sentiment, further fuelling the independence movements within several African countries. French colonialism was challenged in Morocco when a political party, the //Istiqlal// drafted a manifesto. Their leaders were arrested and were accused of collaborating with the Germans. French troops fired on crowds demonstrating in the city of [|Fés]. France's Moroccan subjects were outraged. France's colonial governor, supported by French economic interests and backed by most of Morocco's European //colons//, adamantly refused to consider reforms [Macrohistory]. Nevertheless, most of France’s West African territories were independent by the mid-1960s [UPenn].

France & Algeria Of all of France’s involvements in the African continent, their dealings in and with Algeria are probably the most controversial, and possibly one of the most significant factors to the current resentful feeling felt by French people of North African descent. Algeria was considered a very important French province, and was basically viewed as a part of France itself. Nevertheless, there was still exasperation among Algerians with the French rule. On 1st November, 1954, the FLN (Front de Liberation Nationale) began attacking military installations and other civic buildings, calling on Algerian Muslims to fight for the spirit and independence of the Algerian state. This action marked the beginning of the Algerian War of Independence. France clearly took the stance that Algeria was its own province, and part of the French Republic, thus independence was not an option. As stated by the French Premier, “…Between [Algeria] and metropolitan France there can be no conceivable secession.” As the FLN campaign spread, the French government in Algeria was placed under pressure by the European citizens in Algeria to take counter-measures against the rebellion. Colon vigilante units carried out //ratonnades// (rat-hunts) against suspected FLN members in the Algerian Muslim community. The FLN then massacred 123 civilians (including women and children) in the town of Philippeville in 1955, a change in tactics from their usual assault on military installations. This action provoked outrage, and demands were made for drastic action against the rebellion. The French government retaliated, stating that it killed 1,273 guerillas, though the FLN disputed this statistic, claiming it was closer to 12,000. By 1956, over 400,000 French military personnel were deployed in Algeria [Armed Conflict Events Data]. The conflict that followed was riddled with kidnapping, assassinations, massacres and guerilla warfare, with both sides committing countless atrocities against each other and civilians. Public support had begun to shift against the war by 1958, with many French people seeing an outcome similar to France’s involvement with Indochina, which ended in French defeat to Vietnamese forces in 1954. While the French military began scoring greater victories against the FLN throughout the late 1950s, following a change in tactical policy, the opposition to the war in France and Algeria began to overshadow these victories, and would inevitably influence the eventual outcome of the war. Protests, by both French and Algerian demonstrators were staged in French cities, calling for the French President, Charles de Gaulle to end the war. One incident, on the 17th October 1961, inevitably helped shape Franco-Algerian relations for years to come. On that night, 100 to 200 Algerian demonstrators were fired upon and killed by French riot police in Paris, and their bodies were dumped into the Seine River, a bloody repression of a peaceful demonstration, as a memorial plaque unveiled in 2001 stated [BNET]. Eventually, when domestic and international opposition to the Algerian war was at its peak, President de Gaulle changed his policy towards Algeria, signaling an allowance for Algerian independence (the French colonists, feeling betrayed, rebelled against De Gaulle as a result) [Armed Conflict Events Data]. Following talks at Evian in 1961, on 1st July, 1962, 6.5 million Algerian citizens cast their votes on a referendum for Algerian independence, approving it by an overwhelming margin, ending the Algerian War of Independence.

In Recent Times

While the independence of Algeria can be seen as a positive step for ethnic relations in France, the reality remained that North Africans were still disadvantaged and suffering in poverty. According to many commentators, French citizens of African descent had lost their identity, and were left out in the cold by a system and society that cared very little for their plight for nearly 30 years [Direland]. In 2005, it was estimated that approximately one third of France’s six million strong North African population live in poverty in the ghettoes. French policy of ignoring ethnicity and religion when taking census in order to improve integration, has resulted in the plight of minorities often being ignored [The Guardian]. Indeed, many North Africans in the ghettoes believe that law enforcement is institutionally racist, treating them with disrespect and unfairly targeting them [Rennie].

On the 27th October, 2005, the accidental deaths of two French teenagers of North African descent, allegedly caused them running from police, caused the Parisian ghettoes to explode into riots. The tensions that had built up from the suffering of the ghettoes and poor Africans at the hands of police and poor economic and social conditions ignited civil unrest which spread to several other cities across France for several weeks. The governmental response was symbolic of the real treatment North Africans actually faced in the current times, with the then-Interior Minister Nicolas Sarkozy branding the rioters as scum who needed to be cleansed (in far harsher language, which had echoes of militant fascism to some commentators) [Direland].

The reality remains that a greater effort needs to be made by the French authorities to integrate its minorities into French society, with particular focus on changing the policy of merely trying to erase France’s shameful history in surreptitious manner. Fostering discussion would show at the very least that the minorities’ well-being is of significant importance to the French state. This would be a more progressive policy which may help connect ethnic minorities with the famous ‘Tricolore’ flag.

Works Cited:

"Algeria Independence France 1954-1962." __OnWar.com - Wars, Military History, International Relations__. 05 Feb. 2009 . "French Colonialism." __MacroHistory : World History__. 05 Feb. 2009 . "French in West Africa." __African__ __Studies Center, University of Pennsylvania__. 05 Feb. 2009 . Ireland, Doug. "WHY IS FRANCE BURNING? The rebellion of a lost generation." __DIRELAND__. 05 Feb. 2009 . Kjeilen, Tore. "French North Africa." __LookLex [Travel guides / Encyclopaedia / Language course]__. 05 Feb. 2009 . Lichfield, John. "France admits killing Algerians in Paris protest | Independent, The (London) | Find Articles at BNET." __Find Articles at BNET | News Articles, Magazine Back Issues & Reference Articles on All Topics__. 05 Feb. 2009 . Rennie, David. "Riots and race relations." __The Daily Telegraph__. 05 Feb. 2009 . Simpson, John. "BBC NEWS | Europe | Violence exposes France's weaknesses." __BBC NEWS | News Front Page__. 05 Feb. 2009 . "The week Paris burned | World news | The Observer." __Latest news, sport, business, comment and reviews from the Guardian | guardian.co.uk__. 05 Feb. 2009 .