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A “colonial massacre in Paris”. Intertitle as an exergue and bold characters to support it, Emmanuel Blanchard does not skimp on semantics to put a qualifier on the bloody events of October 17, 1961 in Paris.
Of all the bloody dates that mark the history of France, particularly its colonial past, the repression of the peaceful demonstration of Algerians is like no other. Lecturer at the University of Versailles-Saint-Quentin, Emmanuel Blanchard is a specialist in the history of the French police, all periods combined.
By choosing to work on this theme, under the direction of Jean-Marc Berlière – another recognized specialist in the history of the French police – Emmanuel Blanchard has given himself the scientific means to go beyond the investigation published in the fall of 1991 by Jean-Luc Einaudi, under the title “The Battle of Paris” (editions du Seuil). In 2008, Emmanuel Blanchard defended a voluminous thesis entitled “Supervising ‘diminished citizens’: the policing of Algerians in the Paris region (1944-1962)”.
Defended under the direction of Jean-Marc Berlière, the thesis was published in 2011 in book form: the Parisian Police and the Algerians (1944-1962), Nouveau Monde editions.
A scientific effort praised by the historical community, his work makes it possible to situate the particularity of the repression of October 17, 1961 with regard to episodes of police repression in France and Europe. “Compared to previous situations, the repression of October 17 is unprecedented in the history of “maintenance of order” in Paris and in the Western world in the 20th century.e century. The police force put in place was not motivated by the desire to prevent a prohibited demonstration, but to intensify what Maurice Papon described as an “anti-subversive war” against the FLN.
Shortly before bowing out at the dawn of the 2000s, Professor Pierre Vidal-Naquet praised, with superlatives, the work of the “new generation of historians of the Algerian war”. A group of budding researchers who came into the world well after the end of the conflict and are credited with original work on the bloodiest of decolonization conflicts.
Pierre Vidal-Naquet was referring, among others, to Raphaëlle Branche, author of a remarkable thesis on the French army and torture, and to Sylvie Thénault, author of a seminal work on colonial justice. Emmanuel Blanchard emerged on the front of academic work after the death of the author of the Audin Affair (editions of Minuit) and Torture in the Republic (from the same publisher). If it had been published during Pierre Vidal-Naquet’s lifetime, Blanchard’s book would have been widely praised for its added value for understanding anti-Algerian police repression.
On October 17, 1961, the Parisian police acted with a logic different from the logic that had prevailed in previous Parisian demonstrations. “Well before the evening of October 17,” explains the historian, “the Police Prefecture mobilized using a repressive arsenal never before used against the Algerians.” Prior to the Algerians leaving the streets, the Exhibition Center (Porte de Versailles) was the subject of an exceptional requisition. “In reality, the police were already preparing a gigantic raid at a time marked by the resumption of mass expulsions of Algerians to Algeria.”
Papon’s hateful will
Order was thus given to arrest all Algerians circulating in the street. The police went about it with great zeal. In the space of a few short hours, no less than 12,000 Algerians were rounded up and transferred to several destinations: the Parc des Expositions, the Stade Coubertin, the courtyard of the Police Prefecture, in Vincennes. “By its scale, this raid marked the evening of October 17, 1961 as a singular date in the history of the Parisian police,” underlines the author of the Parisian Police and the Algerians (1944-1962).
Appointed head of the Paris police headquarters in March 1958, Maurice Papon assigned the Parisian police – and unequivocally claimed it – a resolutely repressive role against Algerians. “Unless we capitulate, the only response is to fight back. Only the response will lead to negotiation. The army takes care of it in Algeria. In mainland France, it’s a matter for the police. In the capital (Paris, editor’s note), this is the mission of the police headquarters,” recalls the police prefect in his Memoirs, the Horses of Powerpublished in 1988 by Plon editions.
“This is indicative of Papon’s desire to do battle with immigrants from Algeria or the “French Muslims” of Algeria.”
Upon his appointment as head of the Paris police headquarters, Maurice Papon set a course of action in the area of communication. Throughout his speeches and other interventions, he continued to remind the police of the need for the “anti-subversive war” that he had applied when he was in Constantine.
According to Emmanuel Blanchard, the effects of his speech on the police “were beyond expectations”. “The violence was multifaceted and marked by unprecedented intensity. For the occasion, the means used to cause death relate to operating methods which had little to do with the desire to prevent a prohibited march.
During the fall of 1961, “the Parisian police carried out limitless repression against Algerians. Maurice Papon was given a “blank check” to repress without mercy.”
The bloody episode of October 17, 1961 has long been a victim of the screed of memory. For thirty long years, this date was missing. We had to wait until the fall of 1991 and the release of Jean-Luc Einaudi’s book to witness the emergence of this date in the French commemorative agenda. Since 1991, at the dawn of each autumn, it has been the reminder of thousands of people at the Saint-Michel bridge, at the Bezons bridge (Val-d’Oise department).
Since the fall of 1991 and, above all, since the dawn of the 2000s, children of Algerian immigration accompanied by old people who have walked the streets of Paris, left-wing political activists, community leaders and historians have found themselves in the four corners of the Paris region. During a meditation in memory of the hundreds of murdered Algerians, they come to pay homage to the victims and call for official recognition of a “state crime”.