Thousands of Muslim Algerians joined pied noir crowds in mass pro-France fraternisation

Evidence

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

Categorization

• XREF: connects to: European liberals and Muslim Algerians shared hopes for a negotiated peace before 1956.; Pieds noirs faced Europe while Muslim Algerians faced inland Africa; 1.38 million pieds noirs and Muslim refugees poured into France (+1 more)

Related

• Pieds noirs faced Europe while Muslim Algerians faced inland Africa (similarity 0.87)
• European liberals and Muslim Algerians shared hopes for a negotiated peace before 1956. (similarity 0.86)
• 1.38 million pieds noirs and Muslim refugees poured into France (similarity 0.86)
• Algerians fighting for France outnumbered those fighting for independence (similarity 0.82)
• The 16 May Muslim fraternisation in Algiers grew far beyond what was staged. (similarity 0.81)
• Muslim masses openly proclaimed support for de Gaulle and the F.L.N. simultaneously (similarity 0.81)
• The 16 May fraternisation was real, not merely rigged, drawing 30,000 Muslims (similarity 0.80)
• The pied noir exodus far outpaced French government predictions (similarity 0.80)
• The barricade fraternisation revealed the insurgency was exclusively European, excluding Muslims. (similarity 0.80)
• The pieds noirs, not Muslims, triggered the events sealing Algérie française’s fate (similarity 0.79)
• Nearly 1.4 million pieds noirs resettled in France after Algerian independence (similarity 0.79)
• The 16 May Muslim fraternisation was real, not a rigged para stunt (similarity 0.79)
• Most of the million-plus pieds noirs resettled in metropolitan France (similarity 0.79)
• De Gaulle’s 1958 arrival threatened the F.L.N. through fraternisation and a Muslim third force (similarity 0.79)

Broader Connections

• Algerians fighting for France outnumbered those fighting for independence #exemplifies (0.45) — Horne, Alistair, A Savage War of Peace- Algeria 1954-1962, 793