For the first time Frenchmen had fired upon, and killed, other Frenchmen; to the historically minded the dreadful spectre of the 1940s and, farther back, of 1871 presented itself. Across the breadth of France would echo the dying words of one of the Algiers gendarmerie lieutenants: “For two years I’ve been fighting against the fellagha. Now I’m dying at the hands of people who cry Algérie française! I don’t understand…!”

XREF: Parallels the Algerian War's internal fractures with France's 1940 Vichy collapse and the 1871 Paris Commune, both earlier moments of French-on-French violence.

Horne, Alistair, A Savage War of Peace- Alge…, loc. 1100