1.38 million pieds noirs and Muslim refugees poured into France

Evidence

By the beginning of August, of the 250,000 European inhabitants of Oran only 40,000 were left. When the exodus was all over it was estimated that 50,000 pieds noirs had gone to Spain; 12,000 to Canada; 10,000 to Israel; and 1,550 to Argentina. But the huge mass, 1,380,000 strong (which included the luckier Muslim refugees) — equivalent then to the combined population of the two biggest French cities after Paris — had flooded into France. Only 30,000 stayed bravely, or hopelessly, behind. — Horne, Alistair, A Savage War of Peace- Algeria 1954-1962, 1620 (#corroborates, via linked claim)

More than ever, Salan was now the hero of the hour, and this sudden access of popularity and influence could not help but affect him as indeed it had Soustelle two years previously. The next day, 16 May, the euphoria of the moment occasioned one of the more remarkable and inexplicable phenomena of the whole war. Into the excited pied noir crowds that thronged the Forum, which had now become well-established as the centre of the daily entertainment, that evening there merged dense groups of Muslims. Waving tricolours and crosses of Lorraine, and banners that proclaimed “We demand a Government of National Unity”, or even “Vive Massu!”, they came in their thousands from the Algiers Casbah and from douars throughout Algeria; old men sporting wartime decorations, young students, pregnant fatmas in haiks. A voice from the “G—G” balcony shouted, “Here are our Muslim brothers! Make a place for them!” and there followed extraordinary scenes of mass emotion. Pieds noirs linked arms with Muslims, embraced them; European girls lifted the veils of acquiescent Muslim women; all together sang the Marseillaise and the military Chant des Africains. From the famous balcony the stentorian voice of Massu rang out, welcoming “with pride” this “spontaneously organised” assemblage of Muslims, and asserting, “Let them know that France will never abandon them.” — Horne, Alistair, A Savage War of Peace- Algeria 1954-1962, 888 (#expands, via linked claim)

Categorization

• XREF: connects to: Most of the million-plus pieds noirs resettled in metropolitan France; The pied noir exodus far outpaced French government predictions; Nearly 1.4 million pieds noirs resettled in France after Algerian independence — Horne, Alistair, A Savage War of Peace- Algeria 1954-1962, 1620 (+2 more)

Related

• The pied noir exodus far outpaced French government predictions (similarity 0.96)
• Nearly 1.4 million pieds noirs resettled in France after Algerian independence (similarity 0.94)
• Most of the million-plus pieds noirs resettled in metropolitan France (similarity 0.94)
• Thousands of Muslim Algerians joined pied noir crowds in mass pro-France fraternisation (similarity 0.86)
• Pieds noirs faced Europe while Muslim Algerians faced inland Africa (similarity 0.82)
• Post-war France’s economic boom absorbed over a million pieds noirs. (similarity 0.81)
• The Algerian War’s aftermath migrated with émigrés into France’s banlieues (similarity 0.81)
• By 1917 only one in five Algerian Europeans was of true French descent (similarity 0.79)
• Most Algerian colons were not ethnically French at all. (similarity 0.78)
• By 1917 only a fifth of Algeria’s non-Muslim settlers were French-born. (similarity 0.78)

Broader Connections

• Nearly 1.4 million pieds noirs resettled in France after Algerian independence #corroborates (0.95) — Horne, Alistair, A Savage War of Peace- Algeria 1954-1962, 1620
• Thousands of Muslim Algerians joined pied noir crowds in mass pro-France fraternisation #expands (0.60) — Horne, Alistair, A Savage War of Peace- Algeria 1954-1962, 888
• Thousands of French urban poor were deported to colonize Algeria between 1848 and 1851 #expands (0.40)