Today’s episode has taken the political authorities by surprise
On April 21, 1961 France’s most senior generals staged a putsch in French Algiers, still an integral part of France. The military coup was in reaction to the policies of the president of the Republic, General de Gaulle, and his belated decision to abandon Algeria to independence. The generals felt this betrayed their honor and that of their fallen comrades after seven years of a bloody war against Algerian ‘terrorists’ to keep Algeria French.
Fast forward 60 years to April 21, 2021. Twenty retired generals (some four-star) 100 mostly retired senior officers and 1,000 military personnel signed a chilling letter in the right-wing French weekly Valeurs actuelles addressed to the president of the Republic, the government and parliamentarians.
