Algerian War Begins — 'Toussaint Rouge'

The FLN (National Liberation Front) launches coordinated attacks on French military and civilian targets across Algeria, beginning the Algerian War of Independence. France's brutal counterinsurgency, including the Battle of Algiers (1956–1957) and widespread use of torture, creates deep divisions in French society. The war kills an estimated 300,000–500,000 Algerians and destabilizes the Fourth Republic, leading to its collapse in 1958.