Frances Vietnam gets little mention in the history books..I figured on the 60th anniversery of Europes liberation someone should mention how WW2 helped set dozens of countries on the road to freedom:
Algerians remember the 1945 massacre
Thousands of Algerians marched in the eastern town of Setif on Sunday to commemorate the 60th anniversary of the massacre of thousands of pro-independence demonstrators by French forces there. The cortege followed the same route that the ill-fated protesters took on May 8, 1945, calling for an end to French rule in Algeria. That same day, across the Mediterranean, Europe feted the Allied victory over Nazi Germany.
French forces quickly stepped in to crack down on the Setif demonstration, leaving 45,000 people dead, according to Algerian historians. Western researchers put the death toll at between 15,000 and 20,000.
“We wanted to pay tribute to the martyrs of May 8, 1945, by taking the same route,” said Abdelhamid Salakdji, local representative of the May 8 Foundation, created in a bid to force France to admit its responsibility for the killings. “We want to send a message to (French President) Jacques Chirac. Germany asked for France’s forgiveness. Why doesn’t France do the same thing in Algeria?” Salakdji asked.