May 1958 crisis

The May 1958 crisis began with an uprising in French Algeria and a military threat to intervene in France, prompting Charles de Gaulle’s return to power and the founding of the Fifth Republic.

Algiers putsch: A 1958 coup attempt in Algiers by French army officers and settlers opposed to Algerian independence. The uprising in Algiers turned political opposition into an immediate challenge to civilian rule.
Algerian War: A war from 1954 to 1962 between France and Algerian independence forces, especially the National Liberation Front. The conflict over Algeria’s future drove the uprising and divided French political and military leaders.
Charles de Gaulle: A French general and statesman who led Free France during World War II and founded the Fifth Republic. His return to government was the crisis’s decisive political outcome.
French Constitution of 1958: The constitution adopted in 1958 that established France’s Fifth Republic and expanded the executive’s powers. De Gaulle’s government drafted it as the crisis’s constitutional resolution.
Operation Resurrection: A French military plan in May 1958 to seize control in Corsica and potentially intervene in metropolitan France. The operation made the threat of military intervention in France credible.
French Fourth Republic: France’s parliamentary republic from 1946 to 1958, marked by frequent changes of government and weak executive authority. Its fragile governments struggled to command authority during the Algerian War.
Raoul Salan: A French army general who commanded forces in Algeria and supported French Algeria during the 1958 crisis. Salan became a leading military figure in the Algiers uprising.
French presidential election of 1958: The December 1958 election in which Charles de Gaulle became president of the French Republic. It installed de Gaulle as president after the new constitution took effect.
Committee of Public Safety of Algiers: An emergency body formed in Algiers on 13 May 1958, dominated by military officers and supporters of French Algeria. It claimed authority in Algiers while demanding a government led by de Gaulle.
Battle of Algiers: A 1956–1957 campaign in Algiers in which French forces fought the National Liberation Front using extensive repression and torture. Its aftermath deepened conflict over French policy and the army’s role in Algeria.

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