Medjahed: 8 May 1945 Massacres Were a Sovereignty-Driven Break, Not a “Hunger Revolt”

By Dr. Hana Saada

The Director General of the National Institute for Global Strategic Studies (INESG), Abdelaziz Medjahed, said the 8 May 1945 massacres in Algeria were not a hunger-driven revolt but a political uprising rooted in demands for national sovereignty.

Speaking at a conference titled “8 May 1945: Popular Will, National Sovereignty,” Medjahed said the events marked a decisive rupture between Algerians and colonial authority, reshaping political consciousness and accelerating the trajectory toward independence.

He said the repression in Sétif, Guelma and Kherrata exposed the “true nature of the colonial project,” which he said targeted national identity and human dignity and underscored the collapse of reformist expectations under colonial rule.

Medjahed added that the killings triggered a shift in militant thinking, consolidating the view that independence required a single adversary and unified strategy, after repeated political demands were shut down.

Historian Ahmed Adimi said the events marked a “point of no return” in Algerian resistance, turning a peaceful demonstration into a catalyst for armed struggle. He said the Sétif march, launched near the mosque by the railway station, was organised as a non-violent mobilisation calling for independence.

Drawing on 1985 testimonies, Adimi said the march remained orderly for nearly two kilometres before being met with lethal force, citing the killing of Bouzid Saâl, who carried the national flag and was shot while attempting to preserve it.

He rejected interpretations framing the events as driven by hunger, saying commercial granaries were not looted and describing the mobilisation as explicitly political, reflecting rising national consciousness in rural areas.

Historian Mohamed Lahcen Zeghidi welcomed President Abdelmadjid Tebboune’s decision to designate 8 May as a national Day of Memory, calling it an institutionalisation of remembrance. He said the events are extensively documented in Algerian and international sources and remain central to national historical memory.

Bilal Amroune, a professor at Blida University, described the massacres as a “psychological and political spark” that accelerated the shift toward armed revolution, arguing they cemented the belief that independence could only be achieved through force and formed a bridge to the 1 November 1954 uprising.