Harki

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Harki (from the Arabic Harka: "movement") is the generic term for Muslim Algerians serving as auxiliaries with the French Army, during the Algerian War of Independence from 1954 to 1962. The phrase is sometimes extended to cover all Algerian Muslims who supported the French presence in Algeria during this war. Since Algerian independence "Harki" has been used as a derogatory expression within Algeria, or amongst some of the Franco-Algerian community, equating to "collaborator". In France, the term is used to designate the Franco-musulmans rapatriés ("repatriated French Muslims") community living in the country since 1962, and its metropolitan born descendants. In this sense the term Harki now refers to a distinct ethnocultural group, i.e. Franco-Algerian Muslims distinct from other French of Algerian origin or Algerians living in France.

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[edit] Before the Algerian conflict

Algerian Muslim regular soldiers had served in large numbers with the French "Armée d'Afrique" (Army of Africa) from 1830 as spahis (cavalry) and tirailleurs (lit. skirmisher, i.e. infantry). They played an important part during the Franco-Prussian War of 1870 and the First World War (1914–1918).

During World War II North African troops serving with the French Army numbered more than 200,000. They made a major contribution during the liberation of France and the campaigns in Italy and Germany of 1944-45.

Tirailleurs from Algeria, Morocco and West Africa fought in Indochina as part of the French Expeditionary Force until the fall of Dien Bien Phu (1954).

[edit] During the Algerian War

With the outbreak of the Algerian War that same year, the loyalty of the Algerian Muslim soldiers to France inevitably came under heavy strain and some of the regular units were transferred from Algeria to France or Germany, following increased incidences of desertion or small-scale mutiny. As a partial replacement the French administration recruited the Harkis as irregular militia based in their home villages or towns throughout Algeria. Initially raised as self-defence units the Harkis, from 1956 on, increasingly served alongside the French Army in the field. They were lightly armed (often only with shotguns) but their knowledge of local terrain and conditions made them valuable auxiliaries to French regular units.

According to General R. Hure (L'Armee d' Afrique 1830-1962) there were by 1960 approximately 150,000 Muslim Algerians serving in the French Army or as auxilaries. In addition to volunteers and conscripts serving in regular units this total took into account 95,000 Harkis (including 20,000 in separate mokhazni district forces and 15,000 in commando de chasse tracking units). It was a recurring claim by the French authorities that more Algerian Muslims were serving with their forces than with those of the nationalist Front de Libération Nationale (FLN).

According to US Army data, possibly compiled at a different date, the Harkis numbered about 180,000, more than the FLN effectives [1], and were used as guerrillas units, mostly in conventional formations, either in all-Algerian units commanded by French officers or in mixed units. Other uses include platoon or below size units, attached to French battalions. A third use include intelligence gathering role, with some reported minor pseudo-operations in support of their intelligence collection [2].

The motives of the Harkis were mixed. The FLN targeted both collaborators and rival nationalist groups and some Algerians enrolled in the Harkis to avenge the deaths of relatives. Others were defectors from the FLN rebel forces who had been persuaded by one means or another to change sides. A major source was from families or other groups who had traditionally given service to France. From the viewpoint of Algerian nationalists all were traitors. However at independence guarantees were given by both signatories of the March 1962 cease fire ("Accords d'Evian" signed by France and the Algerian FLN), that no one, Harkis or Pieds-Noirs (Algerian-born Europeans with French nationality) would suffer reprisals after independence for any action during the civil war.

[edit] After the war

In 1962, orders were initially given by the French government of Charles De Gaulle to officials and army officers to prevent the Harkis from following the example of the Pieds-Noirs and seeking refuge in Metropolitan France. However, some officers of the French army disobeyed and tried to assist the Harkis under their command, as well as their families, to escape from Algeria. On the other hand, the OAS far-right terrorist group initiated a campaign of bombings following the Evian Accords, and tried to block the Pieds-Noirs population from leaving the country. About 91,000 Harkis (including family members) were able to find refuge in France. As feared, there were widespread reprisals against those who remained in Algeria. It is estimated that somewhere between 50,000 and 150,000 Harkis and their dependents were killed by the FLN or by lynch mobs in Algeria, sometimes in circumstances of extreme cruelty. In "A Savage War Of Peace" Alistair Horne writes: "Hundreds died when put to work clearing the minefields along the Morice Line, or were shot out of hand. Others were tortured atrociously; army veterans were made to dig their own tombs, then swallow their decorations before being killed; they were burned alive, or castrated, or dragged behind trucks, or cut to pieces and their flesh fed to dogs. Many were put to death with their entire families, including young children."

By contrast the regular Muslim troops (who had the option of continuing to serve in the French Army) were only occasionally subject to reprisals. Some leaders of the new Algerian Republic were themselves veterans of the French Army, which had prior to independence provided one of the few avenues for advancement open to the Muslim majority.

The French government of the time, concerned mainly with disengagement from Algeria and the repatriation of the Pieds-Noirs, disregarded or downplayed news of these killings. De Gaulle himself appears to have been indifferent to the plight of the Muslim loyalists, according to Alistair Horne remarking to one of their spokesmen "Eh bien! vous souffrirez" ("Well then - you will suffer"). Nothing had been planned for the Harkis, and the government refused to formally recognize their right to stay in France for some years. They were kept out of sight in "temporary" internment camps surrounded by barbed wire, such as the Joffre Camp in Rivesaltes (outside of Perpignan) and in "chantiers de forestage" -- communities of 30 Harki families built on the outskirts of forests for which the men were responsible for their upkeep. The French government has enacted various measures to help the Harki community (notably the 1994 Romani law and the 2005 Mekachera law), however, as the Harki community claims, these laws are often too little, too late.

Recently, the French government of Jacques Chirac has acknowledged these former allies and public ceremonies have been held to commemorate their sacrifices, such as the September 25, 2001 Day of National Recognition for the Harkis. There are hundreds of active Harki associations in France working to obtain further recognition for what is still a somewhat neglected and unassimilated refugee minority. For its part, the Algerian government still does not recognize the Harkis as French citizens and has not permitted them to visit their birth places and members of their families left behind in Algeria.

[edit] Zidane incident

The term harki continues to be a loaded one in the French-Algerian community; Zinedine Zidane, the captain of the French national football team, was famously described as acceptable by the far right National Front because, allegedly, his father was a Harki. This led to death threats from extremists of all stripes, and the disruption of a friendly encounter between the French and Algerian football teams in October 2001. Throughout, Zidane desperately avoided being drawn into the racial politics that has plagued France in recent years, and which had tried to draw him in for his Algerian roots. The only time he made a public statement was when he said, 'I say this once for all time, my father is not a Harki.' Zidane's rare public outburst was in response to posters that said 'Zidane Harki' in the run up to the France-Algeria football match in 2001.

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[edit] Other references

In 2006, French politician Georges Frêche incurred controversy after telling a group of Harkis in Montpellier that they were "subhumans". He later claimed he had been referring to a specific individual in the crowd, but was fined 15000 Euros for the statement. Frêche was later excluded from the Socialist Party for his verbal attacks [3].

[edit] References

  1. ^ Major Gregory D. Peterson, The French Experience in Algeria, 1954-62: Blueprint for U.S. Operations in Iraq, Ft Leavenworth, KS: School of Advanced Military Studies, p.33
  2. ^ John Pimlott, "The French Army: From Indochina to Chad, 1946-1984," in Ian F. W. Beckett and John Pimlott, Armed Forces & Modern Counter-Insurgency, New York: St Martin's Press, 1985, p.66
  3. ^ L'exclusion de Frêche soulage son homologue de Poitou-Charentes, Le Figaro, January 29, 2007

[edit] Bibliography

[edit] See also

[edit] External links

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