Particle.news
Download on the App Store
4 ARTICLES
·
last mo.

80th Anniversary of Sétif Massacre Spurs Algerian Calls for French Apology

Thousands marched in Sétif on May 8, 2025, commemorating the 1945 killings and demanding France formally acknowledge its colonial-era atrocities.

Image
En 2015 à Paris, était organisé un Rassemblement pour la reconnaissance des crimes d'Etat commis le 8 mai 1945 a Setif, Guelma et Kherrata en Algérie par l'armée Française.
Image
Image

Overview

  • On May 8, 1945, French colonial forces violently suppressed nationalist demonstrations in Sétif, Guelma, and Kherrata, with death toll estimates ranging from 1,500 to 45,000.
  • The Sétif massacre is considered a precursor to the Algerian War of Independence (1954–1962) and remains a deeply contested historical event between Algeria and France.
  • Thousands of Algerians participated in an 80th-anniversary march in Sétif, pressing France for a formal apology for the massacre and broader colonial-era abuses.
  • Since 2020, Algeria has officially marked May 8 as the Journée de la mémoire to honor victims and preserve the collective memory of the tragedy.
  • Franco-Algerian relations remain strained, with tensions heightened by disputes over migration policies, diplomatic expulsions, and the detention of Franco-Algerian writer Boualem Sansal.