French commander in the First Indochina War and leader of the OAS.
Salan commanded French forces in Indochina in 1952–53 and later served as the French government's delegate in Algeria. Opposed to Algerian independence, he joined the generals' April 1961 coup; after its failure, he went underground and founded and led the clandestine Organisation armée secrète (OAS), which sought to keep Algeria French and carried out attacks and violence in Algeria and France. Arrested in 1962, he was sentenced to life detention and pardoned and amnestied in 1968.
Activities and affiliations
- Military command · France state institutions
Career Timeline
- 1952–1953Commander-in-chief of French forces in Indochina
- 1958–1960French government's delegate in Algeria
- 1961–1962Participant in April coup; subsequently OAS leader
- 1962Arrested and sentenced to life detention
- 1968Pardoned and amnestied
Related historical events
The 1961 coup and leadership of the OAS
Opposed to the de Gaulle government’s policy of accepting Algerian independence, Salan left his post as the government’s delegate in Algeria in June 1960 and went to Spain. On April 21–22, 1961, he joined André Zeller, Edmond Jouhaud and Maurice Challe in an attempted coup in Algeria, which the authorities defeated four days later. Challe and Zeller were arrested; Salan and Jouhaud went underground and assumed leadership of the OAS. According to France 24’s historical account, the OAS sought to keep Algeria French, and opponents of independence tried from August 1961 to provoke violence within France and elicit a forceful crackdown on the FLN. Salan was arrested in Algiers on April 22, 1962, and sentenced to life detention. He was pardoned and released in 1968, then rehabilitated in November 1982.