trigger for the collapse of the Fourth Republic was the Algiers crisis of 1958. France was still a colonial power, although conflict and revolt had begun the process of decolonization. French West Africa, French Indochina, and French Algeria still sent representatives to the French parliament under systems of limited suffrage in the French Union. Algeria in particular, despite being the colony with the largest French-identifying population, saw rising pressure for separation from the . The situation was complicated by those in Algeria, such as the Pieds-Noirs, who wanted to stay part of France, so the Algerian War became not just a separatist movement but had elements of a civil war. Further complications came when a section of the French Army rebelled and openly backed the movement to defeat separation. Revolts and riots broke out in 1958 against the French government in Algiers, but there were no adequate and competent political initiatives by the French government in support of military efforts to end the rebellion owing to party politics. The feeling was widespread that another debacle like that of Indochina in 1954 was in the offing and that the government would order another precipitous pullout and sacrifice French honour to political expediency. This prompted General Jacques Massu to create a French settlers' committee to demand the formation of a new national government under General DeGaulle, who was a national hero and had advocated a strong military policy, nationalism and the retention of French control over Algeria. General Massu, who had gained prominence and authority when he ruthlessly suppressed Algerian militants, famously declared that unless General DeGaulle was returned to power, the French Army would openly revolt; General Massu and other senior generals covertly planned the takeover of Paris with 1,500 paratroopers preparing to take over airports with the support of French Air Force units. Armoured units from Rambouillet prepared to roll into Paris. On 24 May, French paratroopers from the Algerian corps landed on Corsica, taking the French island in a bloodless action called . Operation Resurrection would be implemented if DeGaulle was not approved as leader by the French Parliament, if DeGaulle asked for military assistance to take power, or to thwart any organized attempt by the French Communist Party to seize power or stall DeGaulle's return. DeGaulle, who had announced his retirement from politics a decade before, placed himself in the midst of the crisis, calling on the nation