ABSTRACT
The case of the extensive use of torture by French forces during the Algerian war for independence enables R. Branche to address the issues of history and meaning. He explores the Algerian case in this perspective by addressing the widespread use of torture in France's last colonial war. Algerian nationalism took shape from the early twentieth century. In spring 1956, the French parliament gave the government special powers to make any decisions required to resolve the 'Algerian problem'. The Front de Liberation Nationale (FLN) military forces were not sizeable and the French authorities believed that they would crush the FLN easily. However, the events in Algeria were not considered to be a war, officially, France would refuse to recognise that this was a war until 1999. Torture was effectively adapted to this war, where control over the civilian population was at stake. In this sense, it was above all a political form of violence, aiming at maintaining the colonial order.
