Etat Pied-Noir

The Pied-Noir are a people of European-origin born in French-occupied North Africa and, in particular, Algeria. They left en masse as French citizens following the ethnic cleansing of Europeans that took place following the end of the Algerian war, and settled mostly in the south of France. Although French citizens, the Pieds-Noirs were largely descended from Catalan, Italian, and Maltese settlers, as well as ethnic French. They have nevertheless remained for the most part fiercely loyal to France throughout the history of French Algeria and its aftermath. There have, however, been occasional expressions of autonomism and even separatism, particularly around the rise of the Third Republic and again at the fall of French rule in Algeria.[1]

The Gouvernement provisoire Pied-Noir en exil was created on 1 October 2016 in Montpellier by a small group of veteran Pied-Noir activists in response to what they saw as marginalization by successive French governments.[2] A written constitution was formalised the following year in Nice. This document outlines the aims of peace and neutrality as well as the basis for Pied-Noir sovereignty as claimed in international law.[3] The GPPNE has expressed a desire for membership of the Unrepresented Nations and Peoples Organization[4] and even to acquire a territory in the Mediterranean region, although they have made no specific territorial claims.[5]

In the Algiers metropolitan area, Europeans and Jewish people accounted for 35.7% of the population. In the metropolitan area of Bône they accounted for 40.5% of the population. The département of Oran, a rich European-developed agricultural land of 16,520 km² (6,378 sq. miles) stretching between the cities of Oran and Sidi-Bel-Abbès, and including them, was the area of highest Pied-Noir density outside of the cities, with the Pieds-Noirs accounting for 33.6% of the population of the département in 1959. Many Pieds-Noirs settled in continental France, while others migrated to New Caledonia,[6] Australia,[6] Spain,[7] Israel,[8] Argentina,[9][10] Italy, the United States and Canada. In France, many relocated to the south, which offered a climate similar to North Africa. The influx of new citizens bolstered the local economies; however, the newcomers also competed for jobs, which caused resentment.[11][12] One unintended consequence with significant and ongoing political effects was the resentment caused by the state resettlement programme for Pieds-Noirs in rural Corsica, which triggered a cultural and political nationalist movement.[13]

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