Decolonization as a Violent Phenomenon - Essay Example

Decolonization as a Violent Phenomenon The twentieth century was distinguished by the diminishing existence of European colonies in the Third World, as the result of various liberation movements and resisting organizations in the countries seeking independence. Some of the insurgencies, like South Africa and Algeria, have been bloodier than others, like the revolution in India, but in almost every case blood has been shed for freedom. Frantz Fanon, a distinguished psychiatrist, philosopher, Marxist, and anti-colonial writer wrote on the effects of colonialism on natives in Algeria. This philosopher received his education in France, but lived most of his life in Algeria (Caute 3). He wrote his most influential work, The Wretched of the Earth, during the Algerian liberation movement when Algeria was a French colony. Fanon talked about violence towards the colonizers and described the Algerian French relationship during the colonial period which ended in the 1960s. Fanon said, “decolonization is a violent phenomenon” (Fanon b 37). He believed that violence was the only way to abolish colonialism. Fanon was one of the strong willed who believe that violence would be the only way to rid Algeria of colonialism. This essay will focus on Fanon’s argument that violence is the only way to eliminate colonialism and his reasons for the belief. The film, “The Battle of Algeries”, which was directed by the Italian director Gillo Pontecorvo, shows the environment Fanon lived in when he formed most of his opinions on decolonization. The film also offers a clear example of how Fanon’s ideas of anti-colonialism violence were applied during the years leading up to the liberation of Algeria in 1962. Decolonization is getting rid of colonial rule and obtaining independence (Fanon a 5). One of Fanon’s resolute beliefs was that the only way to get rid of colonialism was through violence. In The Wretched of the Earth he states: Decolonization is the meeting of two forces, opposed to each other by their very nature, which in fact owe their originality to that sort of substantification which results from and is nourished by the situation in the colonies. (Fanon b 27) Fanon’s personal experiences in Algeria impressed on him that there was only one way to respond to colonialism, revolution through violence. Colonies always breed conflict, because of the oppressive atmosphere the natives endure. Decolonization is the natural outcome for a colony, it does not matter how long it takes, a few years or centuries. Fanon observed that killing on both sides (the colonized and the colonizers) is the consequence of decolonization. Fanon commented on the violent nature of opposition to colonial rule: The naked truth of decolonization evokes for us the seering bullets and bloodstained knives which emanate from it. For if the last shall be first, this will only come to pass after a murderous and decisive struggle between the two protagonists. (Fanon b 28) This quote shows that this violence continues until the colonized get their independence. Subjugated natives will fight for independence; they will never cease their struggle for freedom. The circle of violence will only end when the decolonization process is finished. According to Fanon, the reasons behind using violence vary. In The Wretched of the Earth, he gives examples of the colossal differences between the settlers’ part of the city and the natives’. Fanon reports: The colonial world is cut in two…the settler’s town is a strongly-built town, all made of stone and steel. it is brightly-lit town, the streets are covered with asphalt, and the garbage-cans swallow all the leavings, unseen, unknown and hardly thought of… the town belonging to the colonized people…it is a world without spaciousness, men live there on top of each other. (Fanon b 63) Fanon shows that there is a distinction between the settlers’ way of life in contrast to the native in a colonial context. While the settlers live in spacious dwellings, the natives are forced into overcrowded poverty ridden abodes. Fanon saw the unfairness of the colonizers use of the native’s natural resources. The colonized and the colonizers differ from each other in many ways. They have diverse backgrounds, cultures, and religions. In another anti-colonial book, Black Skin, White Masks, Fanon shows how even the language of the colonists makes the natives feel repressed through the introduction of foreign ideas: “To speak . . . means above all to assume a culture, to support the weight of a civilization" (Fanon 17-18). Because the perpetrators force their ideals onto natives, Fanon believed there could be no reasoning with them. Therefore, the natives use violence as a means to get rid of colonialism, because of the feeling of being dehumanized, treated like animals or, maybe worse was justified. Natives also feel pressured and tense, because the colonizers view them as zombies, strangers and foreigners. Yet this does not stop the colonizers from enjoying the benefits of the native land. In addition, Fanon saw violence as the ultimate goal to be used in the decolonization process as a normal reaction to the violence committed by the colonizers. Fanon claimed: In the colonies, the foreigner coming from another country imposed his rule by means of guns and machines…the violence which has ruled over the ordering of the colonial world, which has ceaselessly drummed the rhythm for the destruction of native social forms and broken up with reserve the systems of reference of the economy, the customs of dress and external life, the same violence will be claimed and taken over by the native… (Fanon b 38) Fanon asserted the importance of violence in decolonization and getting rid of the colonial rule. He saw violence as a normal reaction to what the colonizers have done to the natives. The relationship between the colonizers and the colonized is based on suspect, tension, fear, and the lack of confidence. This tension is blown up in the different violent acts like killing, explosions, and extermination. The colonizers come to the colonial world with the slogans of education, liberation, and freeing the native from illiteracy and poverty. However, the truth has been revealed that the colonizers used violence, oppression, and aggression in order to control the natives and their countries. Therefore, violence creates violence and what was taken by power will not be taken back without power. Moreover, the colonized tend to use violence against the colonizers because of the way they are treated. The colonizers look at the natives as second class people. Native people are considered as barbarians and primal people. Fanon wrote: Monsieur Meyer could thus state seriously in the French national assembly that the republic must not be prostituted by allowing the Algerian people to become part of it. All values, in fact, are irrevocably poisoned and diseased as soon as they are allowed in contact with the colonized race… (Fanon b 32) This citation shows clearly that the colonizers considered the colonized as non worthy people to be part of the colonial empire because they are less than humans with no values and high customs. Fanon also felt colonists did not respect native religions and beliefs. This issue was another factor separating colonist and native Algerians. He wrote: The church in the colonies is the white people’s church, the foreigner’s church. She does not call the native to God’s ways but to the ways of the white man, of the master, of the oppressor. (Fanon b 32) This quotation shows how the colonizers distinguished themselves to the colonized people even in the house of God. The oppressors considered it wrong even to let the colonized pray side by side in the churches. One more thing which may have fanned the flame of violence in the Algeria was the idea of trying to convert the natives to Christianity. It did not help matters that most native Algerians were Muslim (Malley 231-232). The Christians assumed colonizing Algeria was a religious mission. The main goal was to change native Algerian religious beliefs from Islam to Christianity. Since the French occupiers attacked their religion, the natives felt it was a mission from God to overthrow the occupiers’ rule. Also, the colonizers tried to destroy the natives’ culture and language by forcing the foreigners’ language to be the first language in schools. The French in Algeria tried to fight the women’s veil in order to defeat the Algerian customs and culture so it would be easier to control them for the benefit of the colonizers. If these measures were not followed, the colonizers would punish the offenders with jail time. This was more ammunition for those leaning toward the of use violence in order to decolonize Algeria. French interest in Algeria was not only the conversion of the native population to Christianity. Other capitalistic reasons were the raw materials like oil and agriculture. Land was given as incentive for French farmers to come settle in Algeria (Malley 208). Another resource abused by the French was the vast supply of oil underneath the Algerian sands (Malley 91). Fanon saw violence as a normal reaction towards colonialism. Historically, the colonizers took control over the colonial world by force. The use of soldiers, planes, trucks and police spread everywhere in the colonies. All these factors created tension, anger, and a feeling of inferiority in the hearts of the colonized people. Albert Memmi felt Fanon’s reaction was understandable (9). The native use of violence was valid because it was used in the first place by the colonizers. Fanon’s conclusion was violence only leads to violence. Not everyone agrees with Fanon’s ideas. Henry Gates does not offer another solution for colonialism, but is very dismissive of Fanon’s theory: “What, exactly, does Fanon aim at doing in his major works that lend themselves to this renewed and reinvigorated reading” (Gates). In contrast to Fanon’s ideas, there is arguably an alternative to violence in decolonization. Gandhi in India is a well known for his example of a non-violent method of decolonization. Mahatma Gandhi’s work in India is a well known example of a non-violent method of decolonization. Gandhi believed in a non violent means to get rid of the English colonizers. Gandhi called for what he termed, a civil non-cooperation: Non-cooperation is directed not against men but against measures. It is not directed against the Governors, but against the system they administer. The roots of non-cooperation lie not in hatred but in justice, if not in love… The spirit of non-violence necessarily leads to humility. Non-violence means reliance on God, the rock of ages. If we would seek his aid, we must approach Him with a humble and contrite heart… Non-cooperation is beyond the reach of the bayonet. It has found an abiding place in the Indian heart. Workers like me will go when the hour has struck, but non-cooperation will remain… This campaign of non-cooperation has no reference to diplomacy, secret or open. The only diplomacy it admits of is the statement and pursuance of truth at any cost. (Pandyan) Gandhi did not take the British occupation of his country personally. He fought against the unfair laws peacefully with non-cooperation. He only protested laws that were unfair to basic human rights. For example, strikes spread across India with Gandhi’s encouragement, which ground India’s economy to a halt. Gandhi was straightforward with his approach. Gandhi is one case in comparison with many cases in which violence was the only way to get rid of the colonizers. India’s decolonization turned violent in the end. After Gandhi and his wife were arrested, the Indian population rioted without Gandhi’s leadership (Fisher 21). The British weary at the end of World War II decided to give India their independence to stop the riots (Green). Nelson Mandela was another non-violent protester. As a young man, Mandela studied to become a lawyer. Like Gandhi, Mandela tried to fight the system legally. Only after non-violent protests and legislation did Mandela approve of violence (Young 250-252). After rejecting peace, Mandela would not even renounce violent means after an offer to be freed from jail (Young 250-252). Gandhi believed in peaceful protests, but Mandela realized the foolishness of dealing with a barbaric legal system using only peaceful boycott. Military tactics were approved by Mandela and his colleagues. Mandela remained in jail, refusing to renounce violence until 1990 (Young 252). After all of his trials and tribulations, Mandela became the first South African democratic elected president (Young 252). A film, “The Battle of Algeries”, was produced expressing Fanon’s ideas vividly. “The Battle of Algeries” occurs in Algeria during the French colonial period. This film is directed by the Italian director Gillo Pontecorvo and released in 1966. The director of the film starts with a scene where the French officers are torturing an Algerian to get information about the resisting movement leaders. The National Liberation Front or the FLN decide to target the French policemen and soldiers. Ali is shown in the film as a person full of hate toward the colonizers. This is especially true after a scene when some French guys hinder him, making fun of him. The other important event happens when Ali is in the prison. He sees an Algerian man chanting “long live Algeria” before he was executed. These incidents fill Ali’s heart with anger and tension toward the colonizer. Upon release from jail, the FLN tries to initiate him with a test. Ali is given a mission to kill a French officer. The circle of violence starts between the Algerians themselves when the FLN decides to eliminate those Algerians who would not work with them. When Ali kills Hassan LeBaladi because he did not respond to the rules of FLN is an example (“The Battle of Algiers”). The important theme of the film is that when the FLN started, they were targeting French officers and stealing their guns. In the beginning the only FLN targets were policemen, soldiers, police stations. Then, this policy changed when some French officers who appear in a civilian dress go to the Arabic town of the city. These officers put bombs in the heart of the Medina. Of course, the result was that innocent women, children and elderly people were killed as the consequence. The FLN reacting on pure emotion decide to target all the French anywhere (“The Battle of Algiers”). Algerian women were used effectively in this war. FLN targeted cafés, cafeterias, and an Air France office. The FLN went after the French wherever they drank, ate, danced, and gathered. Fanon expressed: Mass slaughter in the colonies at a certain stage of the embryonic development of consciousness increases that consciousness, for the hecatombs are an indication that between oppressors and oppressed everything can be solved by force. (Fanon b 56) The French reacted to this violence by sending more policemen, and creating checkpoints in the streets. Also, General Mathieu is sent to Algeria to establish law and order. He is ordered to fight terrorism according the French government in Paris. He was a member of the French resistance, serving in Madagascar, Suez, Indo China and Algeria. By sending this experienced man who fought in many wars indicates that the violence and killing will not stop in Algeria. The general decides to use interrogation as a method to deal with the Algerians. General Mathieu informed the press that any and every means will be used in order to make sure that Algeria stays part of France (“The Battle of Algiers”). Another scene showing that the circle of violence is never ending between the colonizers and the colonized is when the Algerians decide to go on strike for eight days. The French authorities try to force the Algerians to open their shops so life can go on. When resistance is met, the French used violence when dealing with the Algerians. Some of the Algerians who went on strike were identified easily by the French. These poor souls were taken to be investigated and tortured to reveal any information about the FLN (“The Battle of Algiers”). As a result of that torture, a lot of FLN members were caught. One named Ben Mihdi faced the press and said to them that bombing Algerian villages and killing innocent people was viler than carrying baskets with bombs. General Mathieu confesses that this is a vicious circle, but France has to win in this continuing violence (“The Battle of Algiers”). Decolonization is the process in which colonies break free from occupying countries. Both discussions of how violence is the only way to defeat colonization in Franz Fanon’s mid-twentieth century novels and Gillo Pontecorv’s film “The Battle of Algiers” from the same period, violence seems to bet the only answer to occupied territories. Gandhi’s efforts for peace keeping around the world in the early part of the twentieth century clearly demonstrated that there was an alternative to violence, but Fanon clearly disagreed. Nelson Mandela beliefs started with non-violence, before realizing that violence was the only way to deal with oppression. All three men had different views, but in the end history will judge all three. Bibliography The Battle of Algiers. Dir. Gillo Pontecorvo. Perf. Brahim Hagiag, Jean Martin, and Sadi Yacef. Rizzoli, 1966. Caute, David. Frantz Fanon. New York: The Viking Press, 1970. Fanon, Frantz. Black Skin, White Masks. New York: Grove, 1967. Reprint of Peau noire, masques blancs. Paris, 1952. Fanon Frantz (a). Studies in a Dying Colonialism, or A Dying Colonialism. New York, 1965. Reprint of L'an cinq de la revolution algerienne. Paris, 1959. Fanon Frantz (b). The Wretched of the Earth. New York, 1965. Reprint of Les damnesde la terre. Paris, 1961. Fisher, Leonard E. Gandhi. New York: Atheneum, 1995. Gates, Henry Louis. "Critical Fanonism." Critical Inquiry 17 (1992): 457-470 Green, Martin. Gandhi: Voice of a New Age Revolution. New York: Continuum,1993. Malley, Robert. The Call From Algeria: Third Worldism, Revolution, and the Turn to Islam. California: University of California Press, 1996. Memmi, Albert. "The Impossible Life of Frantz Fanon.” Massachusetts Review (Winter 1973): 9-39 Pandyan, Kanakasabpathy. The Official Mahatma Gandhi eArchive & Reference Library. 30 Jan. 2002. Mahatma Gandhi Foundation. 20 Mar. 2006 http://web.mahatma.org.in/quotes/quotes.jsp?link=qt Young, Robert J. C. Postcolonialism: An Historical Introduction. Oxford: Blackwell Publishers, 2001.  Read More