May 1958 Crisis

The May 1958 crisis (or Algiers putsch or the coup of 13 May) was a political crisis in France during the turmoil of the Algerian War of Independence (1954–62) which led to the return of Charles de Gaulle to political responsibilities after a twelve-year absence. It started as a coup attempt led at Algiers on 13 May 1958, by a coalition of Algiers deputy and reserve airborne officer Pierre Lagaillarde, French Generals Raoul Salan, Edmond Jouhaud, Jean Gracieux, Admiral Auboyneau supported by General Jacques Massu's 10th Airborne Division and Jacques Soustelle's activist allies.

Carried out in the context of the Algerian War (1954–62), the putsch had as its aim to prevent the constitution of Pierre Pflimlin's government and to impose a change of policies in favor of the right-wing partisans of French Algeria. The putsch marked the return of Charles de Gaulle to political affairs after a decade of absence; it also set in motion the events which would lead to the establishment of the Fifth Republic.