ABSTRACT
The history of Western imperialism is packed with contradictions. The spread of Western power—principally of Britain and France— over distant countries, with non-European customs and languages, was originally a form of despotism in that the peoples concerned had not been consulted over the imported methods of government. The colonial history of Algeria—one of France's most important colonies—is of special interest. The Phoenicians had established trading settlements on the Algerians coast, which were taken over by the Romans. In Algeria, as in Vietnam and elsewhere, the advent of communism would dominate the nationalist movement in the 1930s, and on into the 1950s. If the French—before, during or even after de Gaulle—had been ready to play a more constructive and protracted role, both the Algerian war and the murderous chaos that followed France's departure as the ultimate authority, could have been avoided. Political victory therefore retreated, as the conflict continued, progressing (an oxymoronic term) from relative simplicity to ever increasing complexity.
