While historian Benjamin Stora delivered his report on Wednesday on the memories of colonization and the Algerian war, his colleague Pascal Blanchard was the guest of Europe 1, Thursday.
The colonization specialist says that many memorial questions on what is called "the events in Algeria" are not resolved.
INTERVIEW
Sixty years after the end of the Algerian War, history remains a source of conflict between the former colonial power and its former territory.
While the French historian Benjamin Stora gave his report on the colonization and the Algerian war, where he notably proposed the creation of a "Memory and Truth" commission, the colonization specialist Pascal Blanchard was the guest of 'Europe 1, Thursday.
According to him, France is still not at peace with its past: "We are perhaps dealing with the last great taboo in the history of our country."
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Between procrastination and nostalgia
The common history between the two countries is "complex, painful, brutal" summarizes the historian.
But the trauma remains present on both sides even today.
"The fact that France lost this empire, lost the Algerian war, affects many French people who are linked to this story."
Indeed, according to the report by Benjamin Stora, seven million people living in France are linked to the history of Algeria: repatriates, called from the contingent, "harkis" or even Algerian immigrants.
The French presidents had until now an ambiguous relationship to Algeria: oscillating between procrastination on the memorial question and nostalgia for an idealized past.
"François Mitterrand has always had a real problem facing this story since he was one of the players: former Minister of the Interior, Minister of Justice and Minister of the Colonies."
"Turn the page of history"
But according to Pascal Blanchard, a change is taking place because unlike his predecessors, Emmanuel Macron was born well after Algerian independence.
"It changes everything, because it is not directly linked to this story. It also changes because it does not happen with a political family that has its hands and feet tied to this past."
The historian recalls that during his campaign in 2017, Emmanuel Macron described colonization as a "crime against humanity".
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Exploring avenues for promoting rapprochement between the two nations, the Stora report proposes, among other things, the sharing of archives or the return of objects.
These proposals are approved by Pascal Blanchard: "The best way for the page of history to turn is to look it in the face, to talk about it, to respond to this youth who is looking for themselves in this history."