French general, founder of OAS (1899?1984)
Raoul Albin Louis Salan
(
French pronunciation:
[?aul
sal??]
; 10 June 1899 – 3 July 1984) was a
French Army
general and the founder of the
Organisation armee secrete
, a clandestine
terrorist
organisation that sought to defend the
French colonial empire
by preventing
Algerian independence
. He served as the fourth
French
commanding
general
during the
First Indochina War
. He was one of four retired generals who organized the 1961
Algiers Putsch
operation.
[1]
He was the most decorated soldier in the French Army at the end of his military career.
[2]
World War I
[
edit
]
Salan was born on 10 June 1899 in
Roquecourbe
,
Tarn
.
[1]
Enlisted in the
French Army
for the duration of the
war
on 2 August 1917, he was accepted in the
Ecole speciale militaire de Saint-Cyr
[1]
on 21 August 1917, being assigned to the cadet student platoon of the 16th Infantry Regiment stationed at Montbrison, as part of the
promotion
"de Saint-Odile et de
La Fayette
" (1917-1918).
[3]
[4]
Salan graduated as an
aspirant
on 25 July 1918, and was assigned to the 5th Colonial Infantry Regiment (5e RIC) in
Lyon
on 14 August 1918.
As a platoon leader in the 5e RIC's
11e Compagnie
, he took part in the fighting in the
Verdun
region (
Saint-Mihiel
, Les Eparges, Fort de Bois-Bourru, Cote de Oie, Cumieres-le-Mort-Homme). He was mentioned in the Order of the Brigade by Order dated 29 December 1918.
World War II
[
edit
]
Until France's surrender in World War II, Colonel Salan commanded a battalion of Senegalese troops. At first he sided with the Vichy Government, but when the tide turned to the Allied side, he campaigned hard and successfully in southern France with General Jean de Lattre de Tassigny's troops.
[5]
Between the world wars he was attached in various capacities to the Ministry of Colonies, and in 1941?43 he served with the Free French forces in French West Africa. After participating in the Allied invasion of France in 1944, he went to Indochina in 1945 and was commander in chief there during 1952?53.
[6]
Indochina and Algeria
[
edit
]
Salan served as the commander of French forces in Vietnam from 1945 to 1947.
[7]
By 1948, he was commander of all French land forces in East Asia, and after the death of
Jean de Lattre de Tassigny
in 1952, Salan became the commander-in-chief in Indochina.
[7]
Salan served as commander-in-chief of French forces in
French Algeria
in 1956.
[7]
In 1958, he established special military internment centers for PAM rebels. The Minister of Interior declared a state of emergency, while the army engaged in a "struggle against the terrorism" of the FLN. Special powers were devolved to the military and were returned to civilian powers only in September 1959, when Charles de Gaulle made his speech on self-determination. General Salan refused to apply the Geneva Conventions ratified by France in 1951 because the detainees were not POW's. The civil authorities had different attitudes concerning the use of torture by the military.
In 1958, Salan called for the return to power of
Charles De Gaulle
, believing that the latter would protect French Algeria.
[7]
He retired shortly after, first moving to Spain, then to mainland France.
[7]
He was banned from entering Algeria in 1960.
[7]
Nevertheless, Salan returned to Algeria to organize the putsch on 21 April 1961 with
Andre Zeller
,
Edmond Jouhaud
and
Maurice Challe
.
[7]
After the failure of the putsch, he became the chief of
Organisation armee secrete
(OAS), which attempted to disrupt the April 1962 Peace
Evian Accords
.
[7]
Salan, who was sentenced to death in absentia, was arrested in April 1962.
[7]
He was tried for treason and sentenced to life in prison.
[8]
[9]
[10]
Salan was pardoned and released from prison in June 1968.
[1]
[11]
He was amnestied by the French parliament and re-instated to the rank of general in 1982.
Death
[
edit
]
Salan died on 3 July 1984. Every year, former members of the OAS bring flowers to his tomb on his death anniversary.
[12]
Decorations
[
edit
]
Salan was the most decorated soldier in the French Army.
[7]
[13]
French and Colonial Decorations
Foreign Decorations
Bibliography
[
edit
]
- Memoires Fin d’un empire
(4 volumes), Editions Presses de la Cite, 1970?74
- Le sens d’un engagement
, 1970
- Le Viet-minh mon adversaire
, 1971
- Algerie francaise
, 1972
- L’Algerie, de Gaulle et moi
, 1974
References
[
edit
]
- ^
a
b
c
d
Krebs, Albin (July 4, 1984).
"RAOUL SALAN DIES; LED ALGERIA PLOT"
.
The New York Times
. Retrieved
June 5,
2016
.
- ^
Krebs, Albin (1984-07-04).
"RAOUL SALAN DIES; LED ALGERIA PLOT"
.
The New York Times
.
ISSN
0362-4331
. Retrieved
2023-12-23
.
- ^
"Saint-Cyr ? Promotion ≪ de Saint-Odile et de La Fayette ≫ (1917~1918) - Forum PAGES 14-18"
.
forum.pages14-18.com
. 8 December 2011
. Retrieved
25 August
2021
.
- ^
Boy, Jean (25 October 2010).
"Historique des 101e et 102e promotions (1917-18), promotions de Sainte-Odile et de La Fayette"
(PDF)
.
La Saint-Cyrienne
: 11 – via Saint-Cyr.org.
- ^
"Raoul Salan Dies; Led Algeria Plot"
.
The New York Times
.
- ^
"Raoul Salan | French general | Britannica"
. 29 June 2023.
- ^
a
b
c
d
e
f
g
h
i
j
"Gen. Raoul Salan. France's most decorated soldier dies"
.
Santa Cruz Sentinel
. Santa Cruz, California. July 4, 1984. p. 10
. Retrieved
June 5,
2016
– via
Newspapers.com
.
- ^
Silence in the Dock
TIME Magazine Friday, 25 May 1962
- ^
"1962: Ex-general escapes death sentence"
. 1962-05-23
. Retrieved
2023-07-17
.
- ^
"OBITUARIES Gen. Raoul Salan, French Leader In Algeria, Dies From News Services"
.
Washington Post
.
ISSN
0190-8286
. Retrieved
2023-07-17
.
- ^
To the guillotine
TIME Magazine Friday, 27 Apr 1962
- ^
Cros, Philippe (June 11, 2014).
"Les " fideles " du chef de l'OAS commemorent"
.
La Montagne
. Retrieved
June 5,
2016
.
- ^
Krebs, Albin (1984-07-04).
"RAOUL SALAN DIES; LED ALGERIA PLOT"
.
The New York Times
.
ISSN
0362-4331
. Retrieved
2022-02-01
.
Further reading
[
edit
]
- Alexander, Martin S., and John FV Keiger, eds.
France and the Algerian War, 1954-1962: Strategy, Operations and Diplomacy
(Routledge, 2013)
- General
Paul Aussaresses
,
The Battle of the Casbah: Terrorism and Counter-Terrorism in Algeria, 1955-1957
. (New York: Enigma Books, 2010)
ISBN
978-1-929631-30-8
.
External links
[
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