The Algerian War was a pivotal event in the global struggle for decolonization. In this discussion of his new book, Terrence G. Peterson highlights how the conflict also helped to transform the nature of modern warfare. As the French Army attempted to counter the struggle for Algerian independence, it fashioned a radical project of armed social reform that sought not to preserve colonial rule unchanged, but to refashion it for the Cold War era. As Peterson will make clear, French officers’ efforts not only shaped how the Algerian War unfolded from its earliest months, but also helped to forge the paradigm of “modern” warfare that has so often dominated strategic thinking since: counterinsurgency.
A reception will follow Professor Peterson’s lecture in the Atrium adjacent to Howard Auditorium.
Presented by the War in Society and Culture Program
Cosponsored by the Wisconsin Veterans Museum and Department of History