Cold Open

It’s the evening of August 22nd, 1962.

French President Charles de Gaulle and his family sit in the backseat of a car as they’re driven through the rainy streets of Paris. They’re on their way to a military airfield, where they’re due to catch a plane bound for their country home. Beside the President’s car is a military escort vehicle, and two guards on motorcycles.

The small convoy is in the city suburb of Petit-Clamart, just after 8 PM, when suddenly bullets spray their Citroën DS, shattering its rear window. Some of the gunfire comes from a nearby yellow van parked on the side of the road. Seconds later, more shots are fired from another car parked down the street, riddling the Citroën and its tires with bullets.

As the car squeals and then skids, the President’s son-in-law shouts at the First Couple to get down, take cover. De Gaulle and his wife duck as fast as they can as the bullets continue to rain down, and the President hears several whiz right by his head.

Keeping his cool, the driver manages to regain control of the Citroën and steps on the gas, steering them to safety, and far away from the would-be assassins. Cautiously, the First Couple lifts their heads, reeling from the ambush. But as the convoy reaches its airfield destination, they try to maintain an air of normality.

When they step out onto the tarmac, the President acts like nothing out of the ordinary has happened. Meanwhile, the First Lady simply frets over the fate of the jellied chicken she wanted to take home with them – it was in the trunk of the car, and she worries it might have been ruined by bullets.

Despite having nearly been killed mere minutes ago, as they board their plane and take off for their country home, both appear unshaken. But this is simply a performance.

Publicly, the 71-year-old Charles de Gaulle will ridicule the assassination attempt, later joking that his assailants were terrible shots. But, in private, the president will admit to his son-in-law that it was a close call. In total, around 150 bullets were fired during the attack, eight of which punctured the President’s car. In the following weeks, the culprits behind the attack will be revealed to be right-wing extremists, so angered by de Gaulle’s recent decision to recognize Algeria’s independence from France that they were ready to murder him on August 22nd, 1962.

Introduction

From Noiser and Airship, I’m Lindsay Graham and this is History Daily.

History is made every day. On this podcast—every day—we tell the true stories of the people and events that shaped our world.

Today is August 22nd, 1962: The Failed Assassination of French President Charles de Gaulle.

Act One: The Sétif and Guelma Massacre

It’s May 8th, 1945. After nearly six years of fighting, Germany has just surrendered in World War II and people around the world are celebrating the end of the war in Europe.

The celebrations extend to Colonial Algeria, which has been under French rule since 1830. Today, around 5,000 Muslim Algerians march in the city of Sétif to mark the occasion of Germany’s surrender.

Many of those marching feel a great swell of pride that men from their country have helped the Allied forces defeat the Nazis. But along with pride, there’s also a sense of discontent. Europe has been liberated from tyranny, but what about Algeria? While those abroad celebrate their hard-fought freedom, Algerians continue to live under the thumb of a foreign power.

The sense of oppression is even greater among the country’s Muslim population, who are not allowed to vote in elections. Today’s march is a rare opportunity for Algeria’s Muslims to raise their voices on a large scale. So, while some celebrate victory in Europe, others wave banners and flags calling for an end to colonial rule.

This small act of protest offends the French military force present in the city, and they wade into the crowd to seize objectionable signs and placards. But when the Algerians refuse to give up their flags, the celebration turns violent. Shots are fired somewhere in the swell of people, with bullets striking Algerians and police officers alike, igniting a riot in the streets.

At almost exactly the same time, about 140 miles away in the city of Guelma, French forces violently oppress a peaceful anti-colonialist protest organized by the Algerian People’s Party.

The unrest in the two towns continues for the next few days, getting bloodier as time goes on. And as news of the two small uprisings trickle out of the cities, it fires up people in rural communities, leading to still more violence. The targets of their ire are the pieds-noirs – people of European descent who were born in Algeria and who rule the country’s political landscape. In total, at least 102 French and European settlers are killed by the protesters, and 100 more are injured.

After five tumultuous days in the greater Sétif region, the French authorities finally quash the rebellion. But it’s not enough to quiet the angry masses. Soon, orders come through from Paris that the violence cannot go unpunished. Army forces, including members of the Foreign Legion, and troops from the Senegalese and Moroccan armies move throughout the countryside, carrying out summary executions on locals they believe played a role in the deadly uprising.

At the same time, more remote Muslim villages are bombed by French aircraft, and a French cruiser shells a town in the country’s north. In Sétif, where the uprising began, Algerian Muslims are targeted by vigilantes for lynchings and executions in the street. And though it hardly seems possible, things in Guelma are perhaps even worse. There, the highest-ranking French representative in the area encourages the European settlers to form militias. His second-in-command creates an informal justice system designed to encourage further violence by vigilante groups and to facilitate the rooting out and murder of Algerian nationalists. That same official even orders the local police and members of the army intelligence to provide support to the settlers in their violent attacks.

In less than two months, thousands of Muslim Algerians are slaughtered by European colonial settlers. The victims of these attacks are buried in mass graves but are later disinterred and burned, making it impossible to know the full scope of the massacre. The initial numbers suggested by French authorities peg the deaths at just over a thousand, while other sources estimate that the number could be as high as 45,000.

Whatever the true death toll is, most French citizens don’t know anything about it. The government has already begun censoring reporting of the episode and will continue to do so for the next 15 years.

In the meantime, the Algerians’ fight for independence only grows stronger. As communist revolutionaries rise up against French rule in Vietnam, Algerian nationalists are inspired to do the same. They launch armed revolts across the country and issue a proclamation that calls for Algeria to become a sovereign state. This kicks off a drawn-out war of independence that lasts until 1962 when the French government orders a ceasefire.

Following this, French President Charles de Gaulle will sign the Évian Accords, a document that ends France’s ongoing war with Algeria, and recognizes the country as an independent nation. It will be a great win for Algerian nationalists and a new source of political turmoil for de Gaulle. During his rise to the presidency in 1958, de Gaulle declared his support for the continued French rule of Algeria. His reversal in position will anger many members of France’s far-right, some of whom will set their sights on the President. In their eyes, de Gaulle has betrayed France, and the price for betrayal is death.

Act Two: A Radical Act

It’s early September 1962, just a few weeks after the botched attempt on President Charles de Gaulle’s life.

In a police station in the Rhône Valley in the southeast of France, 22-year-old Pierre Magade sits in an interrogation room, waiting to be questioned.

Just hours ago, Magade was stopped at a police checkpoint when his name turned up on a list of known army deserters. Excited to have cornered a man they think is a coward, the officials are eager to put the screws to him. They don’t expect he’ll have anything of value to say, but they think it might be fun to let him sweat it out before they send him back to the army to face punishment.

The police enter the stark room and stare Magade down. It’s easy to see he’s nervous. So they start with some softball questions, but quickly drop any pretense of friendliness. Within minutes, they’re talking down to him, belittling him for his lack of courage, and for being a traitor to his country.

It doesn’t take long for the young Magade to crack. Losing control, he snaps that he’s no coward, that he loves his country. Even more, than its own President does, a man who was willing to act against France’s best interests when he recognized Algeria’s independence earlier that year.

Believing it to be proof of his patriotism, Magade tells the police that he was involved in the shooting at Petit-Clamart. Stunned, the two officers look at each other in silence. The whole country knows that Petit-Clamart was where President de Gaulle was shot at less than a month ago. And until now, there’s been no break in the case. But unlikely as it seems, it appears as though they’ve stumbled upon one of the would-be assassins.

After conferring with their superiors, the police ask Magade some questions about the shooting to confirm he’s not making it all up. But when he proves he has real details of the shooting, they offer him partial immunity if he gives up the names of his co-conspirators. The young deserter gives them everything.

Within days, the other members of the plot are rounded up, save for three who have already fled the country. Among their number is the mastermind behind the attack: 34-year-old French Air Force Lieutenant-Colonel Jean Bastien-Thiry, a brilliant military engineer credited with helping design a French-guided missile. Bastien-Thiry is arrested returning from a mission in the UK, and slowly, the truth about the assassination attempt comes out.

Bastien-Thiry was previously a supporter of de Gaulle but turned against the President after he started supporting Algeria’s independence movement. It’s unclear exactly how, but he linked up with the Organisation de l’armée secrète, translating to 'the secret army.’ Known as the OAS, this organization is a far-right dissident paramilitary and terrorist group born out of fierce opposition to Algeria’s fight for independence.

A devout Catholic, Bastien-Thiry believed he had a higher purpose, and it was his duty to remove President de Gaulle from power, Bastien-Thiry saw de Gaulle as becoming a dangerous dictator and tyrant. He never officially joined the OAS but worked with their members to plan the assassination. Most of the men involved came from within the OAS, but they were joined by three Hungarians who believed that de Gaulle’s death would be a welcome blow to rising international communism.

Whatever their various and individual reasons for wanting the President dead, the plan gathered momentum, with Bastien-Thiry providing funds for things like cars and weapons from his own pocket. On the day of the attack, Bastien-Thiry acted as a lookout for the group. Having never seen combat himself, it didn’t make much sense for him to be one of the gunmen.

After their arrests, the trial of the conspirators runs from January to March of 1963.

Bastien-Thiry’s attorneys argue that the attempted assassination was justified by the so-called genocide committed by Algerians against European colonial settlers. And if that isn’t convincing, the defense hedges their bets by stating that Bastien-Thiry only wanted to kidnap the President. But the thin defense doesn’t hold much water, and Bastien-Thiry can’t hold himself back from openly deriding and mocking the President in court. He is found guilty and sentenced to death, along with two of his co-conspirators.

But, in the trial’s immediate aftermath, there’s a general expectation that none of the men will actually face the firing squad. By this time, the French people seem to have turned away from the death penalty. Even President de Gaulle stated before the trial that Bastien-Thiry would probably be handed a 20-year sentence and that he, as President, would pardon him after five.

But with the date of execution set for just a week after sentencing, all eyes will fall to de Gaulle, anticipating that he’ll extend an olive branch to the men who tried to kill him. And indeed, the President will grant clemency to the two convicted gunmen. But as the days tick by, and there’s no word from the President on the fate of Bastien-Thiry, the public will begin to wonder if he’s keeping quiet just to make the Air Force officer squirm, or if he’s really going to let him die.

Act Three: Just a Rosary

It’s just before 5 AM on March 11th, 1963.

Jean Bastien-Thiry is shaken awake in his dimly lit prison cell.

It’s been a week since his sentence was handed down, and he’s still hopeful that his petition to have his sentence commuted will be granted. But as his bleary eyes work to bring his surroundings into focus, the would-be assassin sees an odd look on the guards’ faces. He asks what’s going on, but he knows the answer before anyone else opens their mouth to speak: his petition has been rejected. It’s a blow, but Bastien-Thiry figures there’s still hope – other legal avenues to explore.

But then, the rug is pulled out from under him. The guards inform him that he’s going to be executed at dawn. Today.

His mind spinning, Bastien-Thiry requests that he hears Mass before he dies. He also scribbles down two more legal objections to his execution on the off chance that they will somehow make a difference. His attorneys take the arguments to the military prosecutor, but he isn’t swayed. The prosecutor dismisses the appeals and orders the execution to move forward as planned.

With the sun still not yet up, a priest arrives at Bastien-Thiry’s cell to deliver Mass and communion to the condemned man. The former Air Force officer is then loaded into the back of a military vehicle to make the rainy journey to Fort d-Ivry, just south of Paris’ bustling city center. Some 35 cars make up the armed convoy, and around 2,000 police officers line the route to the fort. The authorities want to make sure Bastien-Thiry can’t escape or be liberated by supporters.

Once at the fort, the 35-year-old prisoner refuses to let authorities cover his eyes. Devout to the last, he holds a rosary in one hand as he faces the firing squad. Then, after an explosion of gunshots, he crumples to the ground.

Afterward, Bastien-Thiry is buried in a nearby cemetery, in a section set aside for the executed. He remains the last prisoner to die by firing squad in France, and the only one of the failed assassins to receive the death penalty.

In later years, de Gaulle’s son-in-law will explain the President’s reasoning for not sparing Bastien-Thiry. There were apparently several factors, chief among them was that de Gaulle’s wife was in the car, as well as the danger the shooting posed to an innocent family on the street that evening. But what separated Bastien-Thiry from his co-conspirators was his antagonism during the trial and the fact that he chose to be nothing more than a lookout. If he’d actually put himself in danger on the night of the shooting, de Gaulle might have respected him enough to spare his life.

In the end, six years after Bastien-Thiry’s execution, de Gaulle will retire from public life. The following year, he will die of a heart attack inside his home at the age of 79 – ending his story in a very different way than it would have, had the assassination attempt against him succeeded on August 22nd, 1962.

Outro

Next on History Daily. August 23rd, 1944. During the Second World War, a coup in Romania shifts the country's allegiance from the Axis powers to the Allies.

From Noiser and Airship, this is History Daily, hosted, edited, and executive produced by me, Lindsay Graham.

Audio editing by Muhammad Shahzaib.

Sound design by Mischa Stanton.

Music by Lindsay Graham.

This episode is written and researched by Joel Callen.

Executive Producers are Alexandra Currie-Buckner for Airship, and Pascal Hughes for Noiser.