France's colonial Empire before World War Two was second in size only to that of Britain. It had a population one and a half times the size of it homeland and was twenty percent larger. By 1962 however the colonial empire was little more than a remnant of what had been . The process of de-colonization had been a long and arduous one with France fighting tooth and nail to maintain all that it could of its …showed first 75 words of 1327 total…

…showed last 75 words of 1327 total…protested against giving Algeria its independence. The colons were deploying an average of 120 bombs a day. Their efforts did nothing an on June 17, 1962 they declared a truce with the FLN. Half a month later on July 1 a referendum was held in which Algerians were allowed to decide whether to remain a French colony or become an independent state. The vote was virtually unanimous, and on July 3, 1962 Charles De Gaulle triumphantly declared Algeria an independent nation.