It was a "war of peace" in that no declaration of hostilities was ever made (unless one should recognise the first FLN proclamation of 1 November 1954 as such), and during most of the eight years the vast majority of Frenchmen lived unaffected by it. Equally, it was undeniably and horribly savage, bringing death to an estimated one million Muslim Algerians and the expulsion from their homes of approximately the same number of European settlers.

DEFINE: Clarifies the peculiar 'war of peace' framing that characterized this undeclared conflict.

Horne, Alistair, A Savage War of Peace- Alge…, loc. 9