France and Algeria are at a standoff with diplomats on each side being sent home after France recognised Moroccan sovereignty over the disputed Western Sahara. Though shadowing any present-day dispute is the bitter history between the two countries extending back almost two centuries, culminating in the brutal 1954-1962 war for Algeria’s independence from colonial France.
In 1830 the French invaded and captured Algiers with methods which reached genocidal proportions. A combination of violence and disease epidemics caused the indigenous Algerian population to decline by nearly one-third from 1830 to 1872. From 1848 until independence, France administered the Mediterranean region of Algeria as an integral part of the nation and it became the destination for hundreds of thousands of European immigrants, known as Pied-Noirs. Communal land was confiscated from tribal peoples.
Dissatisfaction among the Muslim population, underdogs in the colonial system, gave rise to demands for independence from France. There were various massacres by French troops and outright war broke out in 1954. The Algerian militant group the National Liberation Front (FLN) killed those who supported the French and in retaliation the French conducted severe reprisals. 2 million Algerians were sent to concentration camps. There was a notorious Paris massacre of 1961, the mass killing of 200 to 300 Algerians by the French National Police after a pro-FLN demonstration. Death was due to heavy-handed beating by the police, as well as mass drownings, as police officers threw demonstrators into the river Seine.
The France chart, 31 September 1792 3.30 pm Paris, born out of a bloody revolution, has a revolutionary Pluto in Aquarius opposition Uranus square a vengeful Mars in Scorpio on the Midheaven.
Algeria gained independence on 3 July 1962 10.38am Algiers, Algeria, with Uranus back in late Leo square Mars in Taurus so not the most amiable of connections. Algeria’s Mars is conjunct France’s IC with Algeria’s Uranus on the cusp of the France 8th house with their Pluto into the 8th – so an entangled and uncomfortable interface.
Their relationship chart is worse with a composite and explosive Mars, Uranus, Sun conjunction square Pluto.
The FLN was founded on 23 October 1954 just before war broke out when Pluto was in late Leo. The war finished when tr Jupiter in late Aquarius was opposition Uranus.
Late Fixed signs recur throughout their conflicted relationship. No surprises with tr Uranus aiming to exit Taurus that more troubles flare up – opposing their composite Pluto into next year.
The post Algeria and France – historical bitterness first appeared on Astroinform with Marjorie Orr – Star4cast.
