Algerians at Fort Montluc, The Militarization of Repression in France During the Algerian War of Independence (1954-1962)

The Algerian War of Independence is the only decolonization war that took place in the colony as well as on metropolitan soil. Until now, historical studies have focused on police repression of Algerian activism in Paris, which reached its peak with the "massacre" of October 17th, 1961. The publication, since 1962, of numerous autobiographical works authored by former FLN militants who had been condemned to death by the military tribunal in Lyon allows us to refocus the investigation on the situation in the rest of the country. This article uses the case study of Montluc army barracks, military tribunal and prison to propose a social history of military justice and of the incarceration of Algerians in mainland France during the Algerian War. In doing so, it engages critically with academic studies of the justice, prison and military systems, and focuses on those who were in charge of rendering "justice" and on those who were subjected to this process. The analysis relies on a wide variety of sources, from military court records, legal judgements, administrative reports, and burial records to oral interviews with former death-row inmates and their lawyers. The examination of all these sources indicates that the military was very active in metropolitan France as well.