Habib Bourguiba and the question of internationalization of the Algerian issue 1956-1961

Abstract

Diplomatic support for Bourguiba contributed effectively to publicizing the Algerian issue on the international scene, and exposing the crimes of French colonialism towards the defenseless Algerian people, which demanded the most important item in the Charter of the United Nations, namely the right of peoples to self-determination, and this support also had a prominent role in changing the position of the international community On the Algerian issue, including the countries allied to France, such as the United States of America, where the writer of its State for Foreign Affairs, Mr. Foster Dulas, stated, "The United States of America has come to regard the Algerian issue as a global issue ...", so the French propaganda saying that the Algerian issue is an internal French matter was broken. The diplomatic role of Bourguiba in the United Nations also coincided with its active activity at the regional and global levels, in light of the repercussions of the Cold War and the role of the Soviet Union in supporting the escalating liberation tide between the countries of the South. In his capacity as a former jurist and journalist, Bourguiba was aware of the importance of the media in internationalizing the Algerian issue. His statements affirming the legitimacy of the Algerian struggle, and denouncing French crimes, were always at the forefront of local and international newspapers and broadcasts (despite their presence under the tutelage of the French), exposing the duplication of the French political position between what he claims From the ideals of democracy and freedom, and the massacres committed by France against the defenseless Algerian people.