Algeria. DeGaulle and the U.N.'s influence on Algeria's decolonization

France's colonial Empire before World War Two was second in size only to that of Britain. It had a population one and a half times the size of it homeland and was twenty percent larger. By 1962 however the colonial empire was little more than a remnant of what had been . The process of de-colonization had been a long and arduous one with France fighting tooth and nail to maintain all that it could of its …

…protested against giving Algeria its independence. The colons were deploying an average of 120 bombs a day. Their efforts did nothing an on June 17, 1962 they declared a truce with the FLN. Half a month later on July 1 a referendum was held in which Algerians were allowed to decide whether to remain a French colony or become an independent state. The vote was virtually unanimous, and on July 3, 1962 Charles De Gaulle triumphantly declared Algeria an independent nation.