Stephen
Agnatovech
3/26/17
Global
Politics of Terrorism
Professor
Shirk
International
Support and Current Events: Crucial for FLN
Looking at a group such as the FLN
is important when trying to figure out how a group is viewed when fighting for
freedom. A nation that has power over a certain group tries to make that group
look evil in the international eye. The nation that has power justifies their
wrongdoings because it is the minority groups fault. The FLN was a group at
first labeled as terrorists because France had ownership over Algeria. The
minority group that justifies their actions as acts in a war trying to fight
for freedom can be looked at as enemies, or terrorists. The minority group can
also be looked at as heroes fighting for their freedom. These two opinions of
the minority group are formed based on the international opinion of the issue
as well as what is going on in the world at the time.
The FLN were looked at as freedom
fighters at the end of the conflict between the French. The FLN had formed due
to years of colonial rule which had resulted in nearly 825,000 Algerians
falling victim to some sort of violence (Thomas p. 218). There was a strong
sense of nationalism between native Algerians and hatred towards colonial rule
by the French. This resulted in the FLN’s first armed revolt declaring
independence in November of 1954. The FLN was viewed as terrorists because of their
attacks on civilians, and bombings trying to gain international recognition.
Their motive can also be looked at as political because of how they had shut
down trade between French trying to restore the Algerian culture. The Algerians
had been looked at as second class citizens for so long, and had found force to
be the only language that the French spoke (Fanon p. 83).
Fanon also goes on to state how
media played a huge role in the struggle Algerians faced for freedom against
the French. French reporters had given inaccurate representation for the
Algerians favoring the French side. This set the stage for how the FLN was
going to be viewed throughout their fight for freedom. The conflict had
continued to go on for years which had started to make it unpopular by the end
of the 1950’s. French citizens as well as the rest of the international
community didn’t see the point in colonialism as it started to become an
unpopular concept. The idea of a nation having an empire in contrast with
civilian deaths had made the conflict look pointless for the French to pursue.
The Battle of Algiers had also become a significant turning point for the FLN
gaining their freedom from French rule. “The remaining group of FLN bombers
found on October 8, 1957, who didn’t surrender got blown up in an explosion so
large that it destroyed the entire block killing an additional 17 residents”
(Thomas p. 232). This had become a significant event that French citizens
didn’t necessarily agree with going forward with the conflict against the FLN
and France. Colonialism becoming unpopular in the international realm is what
ended the conflict between the FLN and France. The FLN was looked at as a group
that wanted their independence, and France was looked at as a nation who wanted
to restore colonial power. The lack of support for the French resulted in their
withdrawal in 1962 giving the FLN and native Algerians freedom.
A
good example of how the minority group can be looked at as enemies and
terrorists would be in the case of the IRA. Unlike the case of the conflict
between the FLN and France, The IRA had gained no international or situational
support by the end of the conflict between Britain. The reason for the
difference is because of having barely any support from native Catholics in Ireland.
The IRA had been doing illegitimate acts against Britain which had resulted in
the deaths of Ireland's own citizens. Another reason for the IRA’s lack of
support was because of there not being one specific IRA. The citizens of
Ireland who joined the IRA disagreed on a number of issues which had resulted
in there being six different IRA groups. The lack of order and vision on what
the IRA wanted to accomplish was responsible for their demise. This is why
international support as well as what is going on in the world at the time is
integral for the outcome of the minority group either being successful or
unsuccessful.
Stephen,
ReplyDeleteGood point. Do you think there were any cases of the FLN proving successful in its messaging? By the end of the war, France did pull out of Algeria despite its own privileged messaging.
I thought that this post brought up some very good arguments about the importance and fragility of freedom fighters and global support and recognition. The media can play a big role in deciding wether or not a faction or movement should be considered terroristic or not. However the sheer amount of civilians that died due to the actions of this war on both sides makes me hesitant to consider them freedom fighters.
ReplyDelete-Christopher Bouchard
Great post. I like how you discussed the FLN on how they wanted to liberate themselves after falling victim of colonialism for up to 45 years. I also agree that the FLN can be seen as freedom fighters.
ReplyDeleteChirusha de Mel
I thought that this was a great post. Specifically, I like how you talked about the role of the media in such conflicts. I think that this philosophy can be applied to almost any conflict, and that it is so easy for us to only hear one side of the story as a result. Do you think the media has a role in possibly shaping public opinion of conflicts, like they did with the FLN, today?
ReplyDelete-Andrew Gillis
DeleteI like how you pointed out that the French reporters had given inaccurate representation for the Algerians favoring the French side. This shows the role of media is shaping how the rest of the world views the FLN. This is important because we rely on the media so much to be informed but people need to realize that sometimes is what the media puts out is not always true.
ReplyDeleteDivine
Delete