2 Harkis and the Algerian War

Unlike other French territories in North Africa, Algeria was not technically a colony. It was officially an extension of France across the Mediterranean. This helps explain the vigorous French military response to the guerrilla war unleashed by the militant National Liberation Front (FLN) in 1954 in their quest for independence. At the peak of the conflict, over 400,000 French troops were stationed in Algeria, responding to the terror attacks of the FLN with equally brutal tactics.

Harkis were an essential part of French military strategy. Approximately 58,000 Algerian Muslims of Arab or Berber descent were Harkis, contracted to support the French armed forces. (The name Harki came from the Arabic for ‘movement’ and referred to the use of auxiliaries in harkas or mobile units.) The term later came to be used more broadly for any of the more than 200,000 Indigenous Algerians who served with the French army, police or civil service. As such, the name denotes ethnic and religious difference, and became associated with perceptions of racial difference. Some became Harkis because their communities had suffered from the ruthless tactics of the FLN. Others were coerced into joining by French commanders who needed to expand their Harki units. Many were poor and illiterate and were compelled to accept any income in rural regions impoverished by the structural inequities of French rule.

The Harkis paid a considerable price for their support of the French. They and their families were subject to FLN retribution during the war. When the war was over, despite promises of reconciliation, they were the targets of severe reprisals. While almost a million colonists of European descent escaped to France after the war, Harkis were essentially left in Algeria by the French government to fend for themselves. Tens of thousands were tortured and murdered as traitors by the triumphant FLN. However, as many as 88,000 Harkis and their families fled to France with help from members of the French army or through other semi-clandestine methods.