The Battle of Algiers and the Torture Debate

In 1956–57 the war came to the city of Algiers. The FLN carried out bombings in cafés and public places in European neighborhoods and called a general strike. In January 1957 the French government gave General Jacques Massu's paratroopers police powers in the city. Through mass arrests, systematic interrogation using torture, and disappearances, the paratroopers dismantled the FLN network by October 1957. Militarily it was a French success; politically it was costly.

Accounts of torture, including journalist Henri Alleg's 1958 book 'La Question', which French authorities banned, shocked many in France and abroad. Paul Teitgen, a senior police official in Algiers, resigned in protest, recording that thousands of detainees had vanished. Defenders of the army argued that harsh methods saved lives from bombings; critics argued torture betrayed France's own principles and fueled support for the FLN. In 2018 President Emmanuel Macron acknowledged that France had established a system that allowed torture during the war.