Contested commemoration: The Great War, memory and politics in contemporary Algeria

Abstract

The past four years have seen a whole range of commemorative events around the globe to mark the centenary of the Great War. Few, however, have proved as controversial as the participation of Algerian troops in 2014s Bastille Day parade in Paris. This article examines the heated debate provoked by the Algerian presence at this act of commemoration, asking what it tells us about the complex interactions between history, memory and the practice of politics in contemporary Algeria. It traces the evolution of attitudes towards the Great War over time and asks how the dominance of the War of Independence in political discourse has shaped how politicians and public intellectuals have understood and mobilized the memory of Algeria’s involvement in the First World War. Finally, it uses this case study to explore how, in Algeria, evoking the past has simultaneously legitimized and limited opposition to the status quo.