War II, it did however share some of its flaws, in particular the lack of an army and therefore the means to enforce its charter. Decolonization While Félix Éboué believed that his support of Free France would lead to a new relationship between France and French Africa, the French were initially inclined to dismiss the considerable contribution of African units to the war effort. In fact, on 1 December 1944, gendarmes mowed down a regiment of Tirailleurs Senegalais at the Thiaroye camp for complaining of poor conditions and demanding their back pay. Morocco and Tunisia, which were French protectorates in World War II, and with the exception of Casablanca, played a more limited role in the war, primarily in the Western Desert campaign, were able to negotiate their independence from France relatively quickly. Algeria, however, which had since 1848 been considered an integral part of France, and had a sizeable population of French settlers, suffered through an extensive and bloody war of independence. A series of events beginning 8 May 1945, the same day that Nazi Germany surrendered, triggered growing demand for independence. About 5,000 Muslims paraded in Sétif, a market town west of Constantine, to celebrate the victory. The local French gendarmerie tried to seize banners attacking colonial rule and rioting broke out. The ensuing indiscriminate French reprisals sparked further denunciations of colonial rule. See also 1940 in France 1941 in France 1942 in France 1943 in France 1944 in France 1945 in France Foreign policy of Charles de Gaulle France–Germany border French Liberation Army Liberation of Europe Military history of France during World War II Post–World War II economic expansion Rene Bousquet Royal Air Forces Escaping Society SOE F Section networks Timeline of the Battle of France Timeline of the liberation of France 20th-century French art Notes References Works cited --> Further reading Aron, Robert. France reborn; the history of the liberation, June 1944 – May 1945 (1964) online Diamond, Hanna, and Simon Kitson, eds. Vichy, resistance, liberation: new perspectives on wartime France (Bloomsbury, 2005). Gordon, Bertram M. Historical Dictionary of World War II France: The Occupation, Vichy, and the Resistance, 1938–1946 (1998). Jackson, Julian. France: The Dark Years, 1940–1944 (Oxford UP, 2004). Paxton, Robert. Vichy France: Old Guard, New Order, 1940–1944 (Knopf, 1972). online Allies Berthon, Simon. Allies at War: The Bitter Rivalry among Churchill, Roosevelt, and . (2001). online Bourque, Stephen Alan. Beyond the Beach: The