During WWII, Japan took over vital European colonies in Asia such as Dutch Indonesia, French Indochina, British Malaya, and Burma so that they could have resources if they were cut off by other majors powers at the time. When the allies won the war and Japan surrendered, its newly claimed territories could not be won back by the Europeans. The European powers, particularly France and Britain, could try to reclaim their colonies, but it would end up with bloody wars and a large amount of money wasted. The loss of of their Asian colonies caused them to lose vital resources. What were they to do now? Should they give up and except their loses? No, instead Britain and France saw new colonizing opportunities in Africa.
A map showing how Africa was split up by different European powers.
Britain focused on colonizing the Gold Coast, Ghana, while France colonized Algeria. Africa was an opportunity to gain more resources and people. Both of these new African colonies had different cultures and politics that seemed backwards to the Europeans. Britain and France tried to impose their own culture and politics onto their new colonies. Britain tried to get the educated Africans to become more interested and involved in politics, but were not successful. They did not just want to change the government in the colonies, but also their lifestyle. The Europeans thought that if they moved into the new colonies they could create the standard family life in Europe in Africa, having the men be the breadwinners and the women stay at home with the kids. Unfortunately this was not an easy task for the Europeans.
France had particular difficulty with Algeria and even ended up going to war with them. Algerians wanted to be independent since France was not holding up on agreements with them after the war was over. There were uprising against the French in Algeria and guerrilla warfare was common. The French did not want to lose more resources, so they retaliated with new torture techniques. These new techniques were carried out using new home appliances that the people back in France used on a daily basis to improve their lives. Bathtubs and electricity were used to carry out torture tactics by the French. When compared to WWI and WWII, the war in Algeria is seen as “unclean”. It is interesting to see how the new appliances that were taking over French lifestyle were used to injure their enemies. The French and Algerians can be compared as clean vs dirty and civilized vs uncivilized through the efforts the French made to try to keep the Algerians under their power.
It is weird to read about how common household appliances were used by the French as torture devices during the conflict with Algeria. It shocks me that they would be able to use those appliances to hurt so many people when we use them carefree at home on a regular basis without a concern for our safety. France’s desire to be clean and to cleanse its colonies lead to the death and torture of thousands of Algerians. The Algerians who started social movements just wanted to help their people have better working conditions or get paid more so that they could support themselves; little did they know that it would result in torture. Did other European powers have the issue that the French did with wanting to be “clean”? How did French culture and lifestyle after the war influence their decisions in Algeria? How does the French situation compare to other issues Europeans were having in Africa?
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I like how you encompassed all of Africa and the role the Europeans had. I think that the illustration (map) is a great visual aid, it truly shows how Europe had a huge role in Africa. I like how you used the cleanliness as a way to torture the native inhabitants. The cleanliness that the French experienced was a form of moral cleansing which is ironic because that same tool that gives them moral purification is the same tool they are using to be morally wrong by torturing people, even if they had no reason to do so.
Great post Meaghan! I like the parallel you drew between French citizens using every day cleaning appliances at home, versus the French in Algeria, using the appliances as a tactic for torture. It seems that the French had an overall obsession with being clean. As you explained, they felt the war in Algeria was “unclean” so it only makes sense they used bathtubs and the like to clean the Algerians of their war driven thoughts. I also like how you mentioned the French would have felt Algeria more clean if it were more like France, with a female at home and a man out making the money. It seems we as historians are learning that not much good has come out of people trying to force their personal idea of gender roles onto others.
This is a very intriguing post. I think you did a really good job playing on the humanity of the French and questioning their actions and behaviors. The idea of clean and unclean warfare is very controversial even today, and I think this post does a good job maintaining that a line be drawn and recognized.
I enjoyed your post, and your visual you provided. It really goes to show just how much Britain and France had in Africa after WWII. Africa is one of the richest continents for resources, so it is not surprising that it was colonized, even though one would think it would have been fully colonized much earlier. I like how you ask if Britain also had any “clean vs dirty” experiences in Africa, and the closest example I can think of is their colonizing of Egypt and their exploitation of the leadership and cotton industry. That also resulted in riots, protests, and uprising by the people, but I don’t think it resulted in the same full-scale war as the French in Algeria.