On the day France celebrated victory over Nazi Germany, Algerian demonstrators in Sétif, Guelma, and nearby towns called for rights and independence. Police violence and attacks on civilians were followed by a sweeping colonial crackdown involving the army, air force, police, and settler militias. Estimates of Algerian deaths vary widely. The repression exposed the gulf between Allied claims of freedom and colonial rule, and became a landmark in Algerian anticolonial memory.
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What did the Sétif events expose in May 1945?
Algerian nationalists were demanding rights and independence while French authorities celebrated victory in Europe.
Algerian demonstrators at Sétif were protesting for rights and independence on 8 May 1945.
The demonstrations called for political rights and independence; French forces then carried out a large-scale crackdown.