Algerian nationalists in the French political arena and beyond: the Etoile nord-africaine and the Parti du peuple algerien in interwar France.

During the interwar period, North Africans in France had established a tradition of anti-colonial political struggle and nationalism. Their political discourse was structured around a common denominator: their identity as Arabs and Muslims fighting against French colonial oppression. The Algerian anti-colonial movement, born within the structures of the French Communist Party in the mid-1920s was to distance itself slowly from the direct influence of this party. The Etoile nord-africaine developed a discourse that initially encapsulated all North Africans, but soon evolved to focus mainly on Algerian issues: the construction of a 'modern' Algerian identity and the struggle for independence. Through an analysis of El Ouma, the newspaper of the nationalist organisation, and of French colonial archives, this article explores some key aspects of the nationalist discourse of the Etoile nord-africaine (ENA) and the Parti du peuple algerien (PPA) on their relationship with the French left. It also assesses some of the ways in which international events such as the invasion of Ethiopia by Mussolini's Italy and the Palestinian question were both evoked to frame their nationalist struggle within the wider anti-colonial agenda of part of the left and establish links with other anti-imperialist and nationalist organisations in France and beyond. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]