The Battle for Algeria: Sovereignty, Health Care, and Humanitarianism by Jennifer Johnson (review)

Algeria's War of Independence (1954–62) was not only one of the bloodiest theatres of decolonization; it was also characterized by the nationalists' astute understanding of international diplomacy. With her careful scholarship Jennifer Johnson focuses on how the Front de libération nationale (FLN) sought international support for its campaign through the rhetoric—though limited practice—of healthcare for Algerians, as well as diplomatic missions to the newly independent nations of the Arab world, Asia, and, specifically, the United Nations. In both these fields the FLN sought to counter the French line that Algeria was a 'domestic matter' and to advocate the legitimization of its goal of national sovereignty. Johnson's work is divided into six lucid chapters that retell the story of Algeria's struggle for independence through the prism of healthcare and diplomacy. Chapter 1 reviews the use of medicine to promote the colonial project from 1830 to the 1950s. Chapter 2 details the deployment by French forces of the Sections administratives spécialisées to win over the Algerian population through, among other methods, the strategic use of healthcare programmes. This process of medical 'pacification' was countered by a similar, if less well-equipped programme by the FLN, in particular after the summer of 1956. The FLN wanted to be seen as being capable of setting up a national organization that would care for the population and it developed this programme in tandem with its establishment of the Algerian Red Crescent (ARC). This is the subject of Chapter 4, which, along with Chapter 5, on the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), forms the substantive core of Johnson's work. It is in these chapters that the narrative draws on archival materials located at the ICRC in Geneva and focuses on the actions and views of key figures, in particular the impressive Pierre Gaillard, an ICRC delegate. Granted de facto status, the ARC was present at International Conferences of the ICRC—the first of such in New Delhi—and made use of these platforms to lobby support for the Algerian cause and raise money for Algerian refugees in Morocco and Tunisia. Johnson makes clear that while the diplomatic initiatives were successful and donations substantial, ARC records are less clear on whether the funds indeed reached the refugee communities. Nonetheless, she argues, the approach of internationalizing humanitarianism and using it to advocate independence was innovative and presented the ICRC with the problem of how to intervene, given mounting evidence that French forces were prosecuting the war through extra-judicial means including the systematic use of torture by some units. Although the fiction that Algeria was part of France was maintained, the French government conceded to ICRC requests to undertake missions to Algeria. This internationalization of the conflict was pursued at the UN with success and here too Johnson's narrative is absorbing. Her book draws on interviews and archives to enrich the complexity of the existing narrative and is a further contribution to understanding the war from the perspective of winning over world opinion.