Identity area
Reference code
Title
Date(s)
- 1873-1964 (Creation)
Level of description
Fonds
Extent and medium
2,449 items occupying 208.4 linear meters.
6 documents selected and described for the Archival City project.
Context area
Name of creator
Administrative history
1832-1871. The control of Algerian civil affairs was entrusted to the Minister of War from 1832 to 1870. In fact, the responsibilities of the Ministry of War for civil affairs in Algeria were devolved to the Ministry of the Interior. A decree of the following May 6 transferred to it the opening of the corresponding credits and a department for civil affairs in Algeria was created within it by the decree of November 8, 1871. The transfer of powers from the Minister of War to the Minister of the Interior was reflected in the administrative plan by a simple transfer of offices from one ministerial department to another.
-
In 1905, the commission for the reorganization of the administration of the Ministry of the Interior, judging that the office of Algeria lacked means and authority, proposed to turn it into a directorate employing fourteen civil servants and made up of two offices, one in charge of administrative affairs, the other of economic and financial affairs. Five years after its creation, the Directorate of Algerian Affairs was merged with the Directorate of Control and Accounting by the decree of September 16, 1927. The Algerian offices thus became the fourth and fifth offices of the new Directorate of Control, Accounting and Algerian Affairs.
-
Since 1943, the sub-directorate of Algeria has been composed of three offices: an office of political affairs, an office of administrative affairs, which resulted from a sharing of the functions of the former political office, and an office of economic affairs.
-
By the ordinance of November 16, 1944 on the organization of the Ministry of the Interior, the sub-directorate of Algeria was attached to the general directorate of regional, departmental and communal administration of the Ministry and consisted of an office of the sub-director, and three offices: a political and social office, headed by Pierre Rosier (ALG-1), an administrative office headed by Maurice Michel (ALG-2), and an economic and financial office, headed by Edouard Léautier (ALG-3).
-
Decree no. 49-242 of February 23, 1949 brought together the sub-directorate for Algeria and the office in charge of the overseas departments within a service for Algeria and the overseas departments and Algeria attached to the Ministry of the Interior and headed by Prefect Pierre Damelon. A fourth office was created in the subdirectorate of Algeria: the office of the subdirectorate thus created was called the office of coordination and social action.
1955-1956. After the outbreak of the Algerian war, the administration in charge of Algerian affairs was reinforced. The sub-directorate of Algeria was transformed into a directorate by a decree of 3 February 1955. The Minister of the Interior exercised powers in Algerian matters until February 16, 1956, when they were transferred to the President of the Council. On March 16, 1956, the law known as the "special powers" law was passed, giving the government increased powers in terms of reform and maintenance of order. Robert Lacoste then became Minister for Algeria and was in charge of the General Government services as well as the direction of Algerian affairs.
- General De Gaulle returned to power on June 1, 1958. He constantly tried to regain control of the Algerian situation and appointed a secretary general for Algerian affairs at his side. To carry out these missions, the Secretary General was assigned a cabinet and a study mission, the direction of Algerian affairs, various organizations and in general the public services and organizations of press, propaganda and economic action dependent on the Ministry of the Interior. He was also in charge of restructuring the ministerial services in charge of Algeria.
1960-1964. It was with the aim of preparing the negotiations with Algeria that General De Gaulle appointed Louis Joxe Minister of State in charge of Algerian affairs, by decree of 22 November 1960. The Prime Minister's powers regarding Algeria were then transferred to him. The General Delegate and the General Secretariat for Algerian Affairs were placed under his authority. The administration of the ministry is composed of a political affairs and information department, headed by Bruno de Leusse, Foreign Affairs Advisor. The department of administrative and social affairs was headed by Pierre Rosier, former deputy director of the Algerian affairs department, and consisted of an office of administrative affairs, an office of social affairs, and an office of the civil service. The department of economic and financial affairs was headed by Robert Rigard, former deputy director of the Algerian affairs department. The last department of the ministry was that of general affairs, headed by M. Dijon.
After the independence of Algeria, the organization of the ministry is naturally modified to face new attributions.
Repository
Archival history
This collection is made up of three sets transferred to the National Archives at different dates:
Files provided by the services of the Ministry of the Interior in charge of Algeria (1957-1958). The Ministry of the Interior made a transfer to the National Archives on May 2, 1957. It added twenty-eight boxes relating to the period 1930-1956 to the F80 series of the National Archives (F80 2045- 2072). Some time later, the Ministry of the Interior added six boxes relating to international relations in the 1930s (F80 2073-2078). These items were transferred by the Centre historique des Archives nationales to the Centre des archives d'outre-mer in 1975, at the same time as the whole of subseries F80. They have been integrated into the present collection because of their dates.
Fund of the Secretary of State for Algerian Affairs (1964). This collection held by the Secretary of State for Algerian Affairs was transferred to the National Archives in 1964, on the initiative of two officials of the Secretary of State, Claude Bignon, Director of the Cabinet, and François Plaisant, Secretary General. The collection, prepared for transfer by a mission from the National Archives in July 1964, arrived in Aix-en-Provence in November 1964. This deposit constitutes the largest part of the present collection resulting from the activity of the ministerial services in charge of Algerian affairs since 1945.
Contribution of a file by Francis Graëve, former deputy director of Algeria at the Ministry of the Interior (1994). In 1994, Francis Graëve, deputy director of Algerian affairs from 1947 to 1951, gave the National Archives a file consisting of reports on the activities of the department under his authority. This file was given the reference F80 2079 before being integrated into the present collection under the reference FR ANOM 81 F 4.
Immediate source of acquisition or transfer
Content and structure area
Scope and content
The fonds consists of the archives of the ministerial departments responsible for Algeria between 1945 and 1964. However, there are a few older files or documents, dating back to the 1870s. In some cases, these are old regulatory documents taken up to deal with a case. In other cases, entire files which, although never transferred to the National Archives, must have been kept in the services themselves, not having known the fate of many of the archives produced at the beginning of the 20th century and which have disappeared. These files are mainly related to the Franco-Moroccan and Franco-Tripolitan borders of Algeria at the beginning of the 20th century and the situation in the Hedjaz from 1916 to 1940. Most of the collection consists of the archives of the services that operated after 1945. A certain number of files relate to general policy in Algeria and come from the deputy directors and directors of Algeria, then from the cabinets of the ministers and senior officials who succeeded each other from 1956 to 1964.
The majority of the files, however, come from the administrative services responsible for political, legal and administrative, financial and economic affairs. Given the stability of the competences of the ministerial services and the relative stability of the men, the funds show a certain continuity in the action of the administration throughout the period.
The collection of the Ministry of Algerian Affairs provides a global view of Algerian civil affairs during the period 1945-1964 and makes up for the shortcomings of the local collections transferred to France in 1962. There are files devoted to the investigation of the events of May 1945 as well as to the period of the Algerian War.
This collection includes only the archives of the central administration of the Ministry of Algeria. The services that depended on it were then attached in various ways, which explains why their collections are now generally kept at the Centre historique des archives nationales or the Centre des archives contemporaines.
Appraisal, destruction and scheduling
Accruals
System of arrangement
The question of choosing a classification framework posed some difficulties due in particular to the frequent disruptions in the structures of the ministerial departments responsible for Algerian affairs from 1956 onwards.
Therefore, choosing a chronological filing system would only have led to the division of the files that had been compiled. It was therefore decided to present the collection as a single unit. The filing system chosen therefore follows the broad lines of the organization of the Ministry's services established in 1961.
Some files from offices or departments that predate the organization of the Ministry of State have been placed at the head of the fonds. The fonds initially consisting of documents 81 F 1-2415 includes a supplement of political documentation relating to documents 81 F 2416-2449, which are included in this same fonds.
In this archival description the selected documents follow the classification and arrangement established by the Archives Nationales d'Outre-Mer.
Conditions of access and use area
Conditions governing access
Some of the files in this collection are currently only accessible under exemption from the ordinary rules of communicability because of their content, which may infringe on the privacy of individuals, in accordance with the Code du Patrimoine.
Conditions governing reproduction
Language of material
- French
Script of material
Language and script notes
Physical characteristics and technical requirements
Finding aids
Allied materials area
Existence and location of originals
Existence and location of copies
Related units of description
Notes area
Alternative identifier(s)
Access points
Subject access points
Place access points
Name access points
Genre access points
Description control area
Description identifier
Institution identifier
Rules and/or conventions used
ISAD(G), second edition, Ottawa 2000.
Available online : https://www.ica.org/en/isadg-general-international-standard-archival-description-second-edition
For dates : ISO 8601, 2nd edition, 2000.
Status
Draft
Level of detail
Dates of creation revision deletion
Entry prepared in January 2022.
Language(s)
Script(s)
Sources
The sections on the contents and arrangement of the fonds include complete passages from the Detailed numerical index of the 81 F 1-2449 fonds kept at the Archives Nationales d'Outre-Mer (ANOM), [Online], accessed in January 2022. URL : http://anom.archivesnationales.culture.gouv.fr/getpdf.php?mode=view&id=FRANOM_00155&fmt=.pdf
Archivist's note
Entry prepared by Archival City.