Recognition of the ‘Provisional Government’ of the Algerian Republic': A Study of the Policy of the Government of India
| Published date | 01 June 1962 |
| Date | 01 June 1962 |
| DOI | 10.1111/j.1467-9248.1962.tb00986.x |
| Author | K. P. Misra |
| Subject Matter | Article |
RECOGNITION
OF
THE ‘PROVISIONAL GOV-
ERNMENT’
OF
THE ALGERIAN REPUBLIC’:
A STUDY
OF
THE POLICY
OF
THE
GOVERNMENT
OF
INDIA
K.
P.
MISRA
Lucknow University
ROUGH
excrescences of international diplomacy after the World War
I1
have strained the international law of recognition almost to
a
vanishing
point. Perhaps never before in the history of the modern Law of Nations
has the incongruity between the principles of recognition as enunciated by
international law writers and practice of states been
so
wide as it is today.
This
is
largely because states are making
a
much greater use of recognition
as an instrument of their foreign policy. This attitude is easily discernible in
many a controversial case of recognition at the present time. These cases
have generated differences, sometimes very sharp, among the ideological
and regional camps of contemporary international politics.’
The problem of recognition of the GPRA (Provisional Government of
the Algerian Republic) is a typical example of this state of affairs. Algerian
nationalists, engaged in
a
fierce struggle for their country’s independence
from the French domination have tried out various means to achieve their
objective. One of these means has been the formation of the GPRA.
The formation of such a government by the Algerian nationalists ‘had
long been under consideration’.2 But for obvious reasons the task was
fraught with
a
variety of not too easily surmountable difficulties. Probably,
the most formidable difficulty was to decide the location or the seat of the
contemplated government. The setting up of a provisional government on
Algerian soil would have invited the French to make
a
concentrated
attack on the base of such a government. To protect it from being annihi-
lated by the French, would have meant ‘quite a military feat’ on the part
of the Algerian
nationalist^.^
On the other hand, the formation of such
a
government in
a
foreign land, was fraught with grave diplomatic risk, a
1
The
Western
bloc
is
divided over the recognition
of
the People’s Republic
of
China; Afro-
Asian countries are divided over
the
recognition
of
the
GPRA;
Muslim
countries
of
the Middle
East
are divided over the recognition
of
Israel.
2
Joan
Gillespie,
Algeria Rebellion
and
Revolution
(Nations
of
Modern World
Series
London, 1961).
p.
161.
3
Ibid.
Political
Studir. Vol. X. No.
2
(1963.130-145).
K.
P.
MISRA
131
risk which could be taken only after due deliberation. It was not clear to
Algerian nationalists how many countries, particularly outside the Com-
munist bloc and the Arab world, would come forward to extend recogni-
tion to their government.’ Because of these difficulties, although the
establishment of the GPRA had been decided upon by the CCE (Com-
mittee of Co-ordination and Extension) in February 1958, the actual
formation was deferred to
a
suitable future date.
A
few months later, when the Constitution of the Fifth Republic
of
France was to be put to popular vote for acceptance, the Algerian national-
ists resented efforts to incorporate Algeria as
a
part
of
metropolitan France.
With
a
view to providing an answer, the Algerian nationalists decided to
transform, with few changes, the National Algerian Liberation Front
into the GPRA. Consequently,
on
19 September 1958,
a
simultaneous
announcement was made in Cairo, Tunis, and Rabat that the GPRA,
under the presidentship of Mr. Farhat Abbas, had been proclaimed with its
headquarters in Cairo.2 It was made clear by the nationalists that Cairo
had been chosen as
a
seat only temporarily, and that ultimately the
GPRA would be shifted
on
to Algerian The GPRA hoped ‘to secure
wide formal recognition among the nations of Africa and Asia and thus
galvanize the flagging energies
of
their bands in the field.4 Besides,
the
GPRA also declared that it considered itself
‘in
a state
of
war with France
under international law’.5
Reaction to this move in the chancelleries of the world was bound to be
mixed. President Nasser offered a most enthusiastic support to the GPRA,
not only by extending prompt recognition, but also by hailing the move
as
a
‘glorious historic moment in the Algerian people’s struggle’.6 Prompt
recognition was also accorded by Morocco, Tunisia, Libya, and Iraq.7
It
was also announced that the GPRA would be admitted as a member
of
the Arab League.8 All this was symbolic
of
the general support to the
GPRA by the Middle East.
The attitude of the Western Powers towards the GPRA was under-
standably hostile. The French Government issued a lengthy statement,
couched in
a
language similar to that generally used in the writings
of
the
1
Another difficulty of some importance was that the formation of a government would have
put Algeria’s two Maghrebian neighbours-Morocco and Tunisia-into a position where
their utility as factors influencing French policy would have been likely
to
diminish.
Michael
K.
Clark,
Algeria in Turmoil,
A
History
of
the Rebellion
(Thames
&
Hudson,
London, 1960), p. 423.
3
Joan Gillespie,
op.
cit.,
p.
167.
4
Michael
K.
Clark, op.
cit.,
p. 423.
5
Ibid.
6
New York Times,
20 September 1958,
see
editorial on p. 18.
7
Michael
K.
Clark, op. cit., p. 423.
8
Statesman,
New
Delhi,
21
September 1958, p.
I.
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