orwelans II

Banned
Have there been any attempts by the French colonists in Algeria to settle for a small part of the country along the coastline during the Arabs' independence struggle? Did they have any other options besides complete victory and an exodus back to France? Where could such a state (or a French enclave) have been created? What scenarios could have led to it?

Edit: This should go in post-1900.
 
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I had an chapter in my timeline about a Pied Noir state established in 1954-55. They eventually established control over three cities and blocked off access to Contantine, Algiers and another city whom Im not remembering.

Heres the post

Citadelle

Ville_souterraine_%28Bonaventure_métro%2C_Montréal%29.jpg

Modern day photo of tourists enjoying Montreal's Underground City.

In 1949, following year after year of escalating violence due to the rising presence of Swastika Clubs, normally comprised of second generation Irish and English immigrants, who took exception to the newly arriving West Indian and Jewish immigrants from Europe, the city of Montreal, in collusion with the government of both Quebec and Canada, announced the construction of an series of interconnected underground tunnels, which would serve to reinvigorate the flailing state of business in Montreal, and encourage tourism, if not for the sights of the city, than for the marvel of something that had never been done before. Although construction was impeded by the start of the Franco-British War, by 1957, Montreal introduced it's 54 block underground complex to the world, even though by this time, the men of the Swastika Clubs had either been jailed, retired, or had traded in their billy clubs, for parliamentary whips, beating on immigrants and Jews through the means of legislation, as members of the Conservative-National Christian-Social Credit minority coalition. Designed to reinvigorate the commerce of Montreal, it worked, and shot life back into the city's failing heart. Around the world, reaction to this system were varied, usually from praise for the engineering, to questioning the folly of the solution to the social problem. But nowhere in the world did the news of the underground city have an effect, than in the city of Algiers, where the Executive Council of the Republic of Algeria, discussed the possibilities that such a project had brought forth. In 1957, it was still several years before the creation of the Rome Pact, and although both immigration from the "homeland", which among the newly arrived refugees almost always meant the Rhone-del-Est, as the Italians had dubbed the region, and the government of Algeria, run by the Pied-Noir's was facing open resistance from the majority Islamic population of Algeria.

This is not to say that all Muslims within Algeria were against the government, given that most of Algeria's army was Muslim at the time, but there was a growing dissatisfaction with the status quo of Algeria, and thus, the Executive Council grew worried, and inspired, creating the groundwork for Codename Citadelle. The plan was actually written out into a coherent manuscript by Minister of Finance, Edmond Leblanc, who theorized that in the Doomsday Scenario for the Algerian State, there would be three safe havens (or havrepaix in laymans terms), Algiers, Constantine and Oran, home to the three biggest populations of French in Algeria. Oran and Algiers, both being coastal cities, would be surrounded by a large and modern wall, which would not only allow the government to detect all traffic in and out of the city, but provide an imposing psychological deterrent to the "Musulman Hordes". Constantine, being landlocked, but being isolated by the series of ravines and it's natural topography, it was a natural choice for a safe haven. These three "citadel's" would be connected by a series of fortified roadways, which would also serve to connect the Algerian government to the newly discovered oil fields on the border with Libya and Tunisia, as well as other fortified outposts which would serve as positions to "retake" the land of Algeria once the rebels had been quelled. In the meantime, the Pied-Noirs would enjoy the pleasures of a Five Star resort, thanks to the creation of an extensive underground complex in each of the three safe havens.

However, in 1957, this was considered by most of the Executive Council as to extreme to carry out, and as such was tabled. It was revisited in 1962, following the donation of 300,000 European laborers from the Rome Pact to Algeria, however, and with the rise of attacks by the Mujahideen in Libya, along with the demand for gated communities, it was announced publicly, that heightened security would require stricter protection of the Ouargla oil fields would require brick and mortar defensive positions. Following this, it was announced, that Algiers would be creating a subway system, construction on which would never be completed, or at least to public knowledge. In reality, the Algiers subway was completed in 1966, but the construction of the Algiers underground, which was being done simultaneously, would not be done, until at least according to some sources within the Citadel State of Algeria, until 1972. In 1964, construction began on the walls for both Algiers and Oran, as well as two intricate series of checkpoints. By 1968, both Algiers and Oran had been divided into literally two parts, one on either side of a wall, as they began to expel bit by bit, Muslim inhabitants on the "wrong" side of the walls. In 1971, the walls surrounding Algiers and Oran were complete, as well as the necessary fortifications in Oran. As the Algerian government prepared for what they saw as inevitable, progressives from both the Muslim and French communities of Algeria fought to unite the two segregated societies, which had both separate parliaments, police and cultures, but at this point the divide was to great. The Algerian Liberation Movement, being funded by the French government of Adolphe Geroux, which was staunchly anti-colonial, was growing in strength and influence more and more by the day, with young Muslims being radicalized by the oppressive government of the Grand Colons.

As the government of Algiers began to lose more and more control each day, the Algerian Islamic Republic was declared in Bechar, following Ramadan in 1973. With this, the anti-government forces began to ramp up actions against the French community, and the war for control of Algeria was on in earnest. By 1976, with Italy fighting off a French advance, Operation Citadelle was given the green light, and without so much as message to their enemies, on New Years Day, 1977, Algiers, Oran and Constantine, had gone quiet.
 

BigBlueBox

Banned
I had an chapter in my timeline about a Pied Noir state established in 1954-55. They eventually established control over three cities and blocked off access to Contantine, Algiers and another city whom Im not remembering.
Are you still working on Dead by Dawn?
 
Currently yes, just doing some research before I post something. Anything you'd like to see more of? Im always up for feedback, though we should bring it to my thread, I dont wanna waste the thread.
 
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