WI: France was able to keep some peices of Algeria

What if, following Algerian independence, France had been able to keep all or most of the Oran département? What would the effects be on French-Algeria relations? What about the reprecussions for the pied-noir community? What would the effect be on the Foreign Legion

There are precidents for this: the cities of Cueta and Melililla rest firmly on the North African coat surrounded by the Mediterranean and Morocco yet are firmly Spanish. Gibraltar is a British Overseas Territory despite being a rock surrounded by Spain. Saint Pierre and Miquelon are French despite being islands located next to Canada.

Remember the city of Oran had been a European (mostly Spanish) possession for years and that the pied-noirs of Algeria wanted to keep Algeria French. Could the Department of Oran be a suitable compromise?
 
Wouldn't it just become an overseas department, or province or whatever the French call their states.
 
In terms of Franco-Algerian relations, I can see them being very hostile for a few decades, probably not being until the 90' that Algeria actually recognizes French sovereignty of the area officially.

As for the Pied-Noirs, well they may well lead to a more integral France, one that does'nt have the current problems with Muslim Immigrants.

I'm not sure what affect it would have on the Foreign Legions.


What would be interesting is what affect this would have on decolonization, might their be more instances of this, with countries keeping parts of larger colonies while the remainder of it goes independent?
 
Wouldn't it just become an overseas department, or province or whatever the French call their states.

France is a Unitary State, it does'nt have the equivalent of States, the overseas territories operate under varying forms of administrative division.

In all likelihood it would be considered part of the Metropole proper, rather than an overseas region.
 
In terms of Franco-Algerian relations, I can see them being very hostile for a few decades, probably not being until the 90' that Algeria actually recognizes French sovereignty of the area officially.

As for the Pied-Noirs, well they may well lead to a more integral France, one that does'nt have the current problems with Muslim Immigrants.

I'm not sure what affect it would have on the Foreign Legions.


What would be interesting is what affect this would have on decolonization, might their be more instances of this, with countries keeping parts of larger colonies while the remainder of it goes independent?

Re the FFL, they'd find De Gaulle less unpopular if they could keep their HQ in Algeria- OTL alot of FFL officers were involved in the OAS who wanted to assassinate him...
 
What would be interesting is what affect this would have on decolonization, might their be more instances of this, with countries keeping parts of larger colonies while the remainder of it goes independent?

That would be an interesting thought. Perhaps Hong Kong and Macau would not revert to Chinise rule. Potentially the Cape Verde Islands as well as São Tomé and Príncipewould remain in Portuguese hands as well.

A precedent for holding certain ports past decolonisation and then intergrating them into the metropole as a province would have interesting effects on the relationships in the areas retained by the colonizing government and those nieghboring them. Certaintly if these become overseas provinces of the home country their standards of living would be superior to those of the independent countries.
 
In terms of Franco-Algerian relations, I can see them being very hostile for a few decades, probably not being until the 90' that Algeria actually recognizes French sovereignty of the area officially.

As for the Pied-Noirs, well they may well lead to a more integral France, one that does'nt have the current problems with Muslim Immigrants.

I'm not sure what affect it would have on the Foreign Legions.


What would be interesting is what affect this would have on decolonization, might their be more instances of this, with countries keeping parts of larger colonies while the remainder of it goes independent?

The Pied-Noirs weren't muslims, so no chance of it leading to less discrimination against Muslims.

As for keeping Oran: France didn't really want to give up Algeria, and they already considered it as part of the Metropole. It's entirely conceivable then that de Gaulle decides to keep at least a few ports, but if the French hold on to them, I can't see Franco-Algerian relations being any good until a long time later, since the Algerians would be quite bitter about it, and it would give a lot of people in France a reason to say that they never "left" Algeria and might come back.
 
Its not an insane WI, but the Pied-Noirs would have to be moved into a single department to ensure a strong majority, half the reason the French totally left Algeria was the Pieds had no local superiority bar certain sections of Algiers.

Expect a car bomb or two but ultimately Algeria will accept the situation. On other colonies, HK and Macau aren't colonies, they're leased property and not handing over bits of pro-colonial territory to a new, poor, desert state is very different to breaking contract with a nuclear-armed superpower.
 
The Pied-Noirs weren't muslims, so no chance of it leading to less discrimination against Muslims.

As for keeping Oran: France didn't really want to give up Algeria, and they already considered it as part of the Metropole. It's entirely conceivable then that de Gaulle decides to keep at least a few ports, but if the French hold on to them, I can't see Franco-Algerian relations being any good until a long time later, since the Algerians would be quite bitter about it, and it would give a lot of people in France a reason to say that they never "left" Algeria and might come back.

I know they are'nt, I was thinking that with the Pied Noirs having lived with them a more understanding situation might develop.
 
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