Algérie française was a slogan used about 1960 by those French people who wanted to keep Algeria ruled by France. It means "French Algeria," and means that the three Départements of Algeria were to be considered integral parts of France. By integral parts, it is meant that they have their deputies (representatives) in the French National Assembly, and so on. Further, the people of Algeria who were to be permitted to vote for the deputies would be those who universally accepted French law, rather than sharia (which was used in personal cases among Algerian Muslims under laws dating back to Napoleon III), and such people were predominantly of French origin or Jewish emigre origin. Many who used this slogan were returnees.
In Paris, during the perennial traffic jams, adherence to the slogan was indicated by sounding one's automobile horn in the form of four telegraphic dots followed by a dash, as "al-gér-ie-fran-çaise." Whole choruses of such horn soundings were heard. This was intended to be reminiscent of the Second World War slogan, "V for Victory," which had been three dots followed by a dash. The intention was that the opponents of Algérie française were to be considered as traitorous as the collaborators with Germany during the Occupation of France.
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