50 years since the end of the Algerian War

The French National Algerian War Memorial on the banks of the Seine in Paris.

About the time that the British Empire began to disintegrate in the late 1940s, so did the French Empire, but unlike the British imperial breakup, it was not a peaceful affair and the Algerian War which lasted 1954-1962 was particularly nasty.  The legacy of it continues to the present day.

The number of French military casualties is put at 26,000 killed, while the number of Algerians who died is put at 1.5 million, including about 400,000 who had sided with the French and were massacred by the insurrectionists after the French withdrawal.  For a comprehensive account of the war, naturally we recommend you read a book on it.