The demonstration of 14 July 1953 (French: Manifestation du 14 juillet 1953) in Paris was the traditional parade organized by the French Communist Party (PCF) and the General Confederation of Labor (CGT) to celebrate the "values of the Republic" on the Bastille Day. During this event, the police intentionally and without warning opened fire on the Algerian procession, resulting in 7 deaths and around sixty protesters and policemen being hospitalized.

The demonstration was proceeding smoothly when, all of a sudden, the situation turned into a tragedy as the last demonstrators were reaching Place de la Nation. In a matter of minutes, law enforcement officers fired multiple times at the Algerian protesters. This incident, which occurred just before the Algerian War, was quickly forgotten in both France and Algeria. It was not until the early 2000s that the first books entirely dedicated to this event emerged.

On the occasion of the 64th anniversary of the demonstration in 2017, the City of Paris made the first official acknowledgment of this massacre by installing a commemorative plaque at Place de l'Île-de-la-Réunion.

For 14 years, the authorities prohibited demonstrations on May 1st and July 14th, until the May 1st, 1968, parade. This event also marked the end of popular parades organized during the national holiday in the capital.

Background

Since 1936, though interrupted by the Vichy period and the German occupation, the French Communist Party, the General Confederation of Labour in France, and several similar movements organized a parade in Paris each Bastille Day to celebrate the values of the republic.^[1]

Since the beginning of the 1950s, Algerian separatists from the Movement for the Triumph of Democratic Liberties (MTLD), led by Messali Hadj, took part in the parade in spite of their differences with the French Communist Party on the issue of Algerian independence.^[1]

In 1953, tensions were high. The demonstrations on International Workers' Day had been met with violence by the police. The next year, on May 28, 1952, the French Algerian communist Hocine Bélaïd was killed^[2] during the demonstration against American General Ridgway's visit to France; the general was accused of using biological weapons in Korea.

Events

The demonstration was very closely watched by the authorities; "offensive" signs, flags, and banners had been banned by the prefecture of police, along with "seditious" songs and chants.^[3] The march was to follow a traditional course, travelling from Place de la République to Place de la Nation. However, when it reached the Rue du Faubourg-Saint-Antoine, some off-duty paratroopers in uniform attacked the demonstrators; the paratroopers were beaten back by the demonstrators, and six were wounded.^[3] The paratroopers continued their aggression against the demonstrators; the police removed them each time, but made no arrests.^[1]

The demonstrators clashed with police at Place de la Nation, where most of the protesters dispersed. The parade planned by the MTLD continued somewhat farther^[4] in spite of heavy rain,^[1] as some marchers went toward Avenue du Trône to drop their signs and flags in an MTLD truck.

There, and without warning, the police opened fire on them on their own initiative without direction from their command.^[4] This escalated the violence; the Algerian demonstrators used barricades to attack the police and burned at least two police cars between 5:00 PM and 5:30 PM. Seven people were killed: six French workers from Algeria, and one worker from metropolitan France, who was a member of the General Confederation of Labour.^[5] Besides the deaths, over 50 demonstrators were injured, at least 40 by gunshots. About fifty police officers were injured: between three and five by stabbing, and the remainder by makeshift weapons.^[3]

Aftermath

The Parisian authorities immediately tried to paint the demonstration as a clandestinely organised riot.^[3] To avoid public discussion, the government charged one police administrator with rebellion and violence on July 15, a charge which would not have required an investigation into the police shootings. Despite this, that September, the scope of the judicial inquiry was expanded when family members of the victims moved an adhesion procedure. Even in spite of this, few French Algerian witnesses were heard at the trial. The trial ended when the judge stayed the proceedings by issuing a non-lieu on October 22, 1957, later confirmed on appeal on January 23, 1958.^[3]

The French press was indignant about the shootings, but some newspapers also denounced both the communists and the separatists for assaulting the police. The communists held a large meeting on July 21, the same day the Algerian victims' funerals were held, but did not take up the MTLD's demands for Algerian independence.

See also

• Paris Massacre of 1961

References

Further reading

• Horne, Alistair. (1977). A Savage War of Peace: Algeria, 1954-1962. Viking Press.
• McDougall, James. (2017). A History of Algeria. Cambridge University Press.
• McDougall, James. (2006). History and the culture of nationalism in Algeria. Cambridge University Press.