May 1958 crisis in France

May 1958 crisis
Date 13–29 May 1958 Location France French Algeria Result Fall of the French Fourth Republic
Belligerents
French Government	Units of French Army, French Navy and French Air Force
Commanders and leaders
René Coty Pierre Pflimlin	Général d'Armée Raoul Salan Général d'Armée Jacques Massu Général d'Armée Aérienne Edmond Jouhaud Admiral Philippe Auboyneau Jacques Soustelle Pierre Lagaillarde
Strength
Government-loyal armed force	Counter force armed force
Casualties and losses
None[citation needed]	Unknown

The May 1958 crisis, also known as the Algiers putsch or the coup of 13 May, was a political crisis in France during the turmoil of the Algerian War of Independence (1954–1962) which led to the collapse of the Fourth Republic and its replacement by the Fifth Republic led by Charles de Gaulle who returned to power after a twelve-year absence. It started as a political uprising in Algiers on 13 May 1958 and then became a military coup d'état led by a coalition headed by Algiers deputy and reserve airborne officer Pierre Lagaillarde, French Generals Raoul Salan, Edmond Jouhaud, Jean Gracieux, and Jacques Massu, and by Admiral Philippe Auboyneau, commander of the Mediterranean fleet. The coup was supported by former Algerian Governor General Jacques Soustelle and his activist allies.

The coup had as its aim to oppose the formation of Pierre Pflimlin's new government and to impose a change of policies in favor of the right-wing partisans of French Algeria.^{[citation needed]}