Algiers putsch of 1961

Algiers Putsch
Part of the Algerian War
From left to right: French Generals André Zeller, Edmond Jouhaud, Raoul Salan and Maurice Challe during the coup (Gouvernement General building, Algiers, 23 April 1961)
Date 21–26 April 1961 Location French Algeria Result Coup failed Civil war averted
Belligerents
French Government	Units of the French Army
Commanders and leaders
Charles de Gaulle Michel Debré	Maurice Challe Edmond Jouhaud André Zeller Raoul Salan Hélie de Saint Marc
Casualties and losses
1 soldier killed

The Algiers putsch (Arabic: انقلاب 1961 في الجزائر; French: Putsch d'Alger or Coup d'État d'Alger), also known as the putsch of the generals (Putsch des généraux), was a failed coup d'état intended to force French President Charles de Gaulle not to abandon French Algeria, the resident European community and pro-French Algerians.^[1] Organised in French Algeria by retired French Army generals Maurice Challe (former commander-in-chief in French Algeria), Edmond Jouhaud (former Inspector General of the French Air Force), André Zeller (former Chief of Staff of the French Army) and Raoul Salan (former commander-in-chief in French Algeria), it took place from the afternoon of 21 to 26 April 1961 in the midst of the Algerian War (1954–1962) and brought the nation to the brink of a civil war.^[2]

The organisers of the putsch were opposed to the secret negotiations that French Prime Minister Michel Debré's government had started with the anti-colonialist National Liberation Front (FLN). General Salan stated that he joined the coup without concerning himself with its technical planning; however, it has always been considered a four-man coup d'état, or as De Gaulle put it, "un quarteron de généraux en retraite" ("a quartet of generals in retirement").

The coup was to come in two phases: an assertion of control in French Algeria's major cities Algiers, Oran and Constantine. The metropolitan operation would be led by Colonel Antoine Argoud, with French paratroopers descending on strategic airfields. The commanders in Oran and Constantine, however, refused to follow Challe's demand that they join the coup. At the same time information about the metropolitan phase came to Prime Minister Debré's attention through the intelligence service.

On 22 April all flights and landings were forbidden in Parisian airfields; an order was given to the Army to resist the coup "by all means".^[3] The following day, President De Gaulle made a famous speech on television, dressed in his World War II uniform (he was 70 years old and long since a civilian head of state) ordering the French people and military to help him.^[4]