The Algerian Civil War

My entry for the historical O.C. contest!
Cannon Character: France
Original Character: Algeria
Historical Event: The Algerian Revolution

      Algeria's civil war began shortly after World War II. The war had exhausted Europe's people physically and financially, and many were no longer willing to keep their colonies. Britain, Belgium, Germany, Italy, and others gradually released all of their colonial holdings. But not France. 
      France refused to accept its status as a second class world power. Germany had humiliated the French Republic twice, and now they needed to redeem their name for the world. So when the FLN (Algeria's National Liberation Front) started stirring up trouble against the boss-men in Paris, the French struck back with full force. The chaos actually toppled the forth republic, but when Charles de Gaulle took power in the Fifth Republic the French got their act together and won most of the war's millitary battles. Despite this the FLN refused to give up their fight, and young Frenchmen back in the homeland took to the streets to protest the war. Both sides fought ruthlessly, torturing and maiming prisoners, massacering innocents, and even employing early terrorist tactics. (It was a disturbing prelude to the quagmires in Vietnam and America's modern war on terror). In 1961 de Gaulle Finally gave up on Algeria, and after a few more bombings Algerians gained their independence. This meant that the Algerians who supported the French had to flee to Europe before the FLN killed them. Right now their descendants make up France's massive Muslim population. 
   
    I did a lot of reading on this war as part of my research for my senior project (my topic was French Muslims- interesting, but very, very complicated. 
     

    This painting took forever! I made quite a few mistakes (spot them if you can) but overall I'm really pleased with it.