How the most decorated soldier in French history became a convicted traitor

History · Published 3 October 2026 Swipe more like this →

In short: Raoul Salan rose from the trenches of World War I to command French forces in Indochina, earning more medals than any other soldier in his nation's history. Yet, this celebrated general ended his career as a fugitive, leading a terrorist campaign to overthrow the government he once served.

Born in 1899, Raoul Salan’s military trajectory spanned the most turbulent decades of the twentieth century. After graduating from the Saint-Cyr academy during the First World War, he spent the interwar years within the Ministry of Colonies. His career accelerated during the Second World War, where he served with Free French forces in Africa before participating in the 1944 Allied invasion of France. By the early 1950s, he had ascended to commander-in-chief of French forces in Indochina, solidifying his reputation as a formidable colonial strategist.

Salan’s downfall began with the collapse of the French Fourth Republic. In 1958, he was a key figure in the military uprising that brought Charles de Gaulle to power, believing the new president would preserve French Algeria. However, as de Gaulle shifted toward granting Algeria independence, Salan viewed the policy as a profound betrayal. In April 1961, he joined three other generals in an abortive military putsch. When the insurrection failed, Salan went underground to lead the Organisation de l’Armée Secrète (OAS), a clandestine group that waged a brutal campaign of sabotage and terror across France and Algeria.

Captured in April 1962, Salan was tried for treason and sentenced to life imprisonment. His story, however, did not end in a cell. He was released in 1968 under a general amnesty and, in a controversial move in 1982, President François Mitterrand restored his full military rank and pension. Despite his conviction for leading a terrorist organization, Salan remains a polarizing figure; even decades after his 1984 death, former OAS members continue to visit his tomb to pay their respects, highlighting the deep, unresolved scars left by the Algerian War.

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