January 7, 1957 · Algiers, the Casbah Theater
January 7, 1957
French paratroopers under General Massu were given full police powers over Algiers to crush an FLN bombing campaign. The 10th Parachute Division systematically dismantled the FLN's urban network using torture, disappearances, and mass arrests. By October 1957, the FLN organization in Algiers was destroyed — but the methods used, particularly systematic torture, caused an international scandal and a moral crisis in France.
Commanders