BW - EP144—005: October 1957—Algeria Aflame

In October of 1957, Algeria was in the midst of a war for Independence and control between France and the Algerian National Liberation Front. The conflict began in November of 1954 and by October of 1957 was considered the world’s only active war of note. It was a complex conflict characterized by guerrilla warfare and the use of torture. When the War finally came to an end in 1962 with France granting Algeria Independence, nine-hundred-thousand Algerian refugees fled to France in fear of the NLF taking revenge on them for siding with France. The majority of Algerian Muslims who had worked for the French were left behind. Algerian authorities promised France they’d take no action against them. However, these Algerian Muslims were branded as traitors and many were soon murdered. On October 14th, 1957 at 10:30PM Eastern Time, CBS radio broadcast a documentary on the first three years of the conflict entitled, “Algeria Aflame.”