<Li> Battle of Bouzegza </Li> <Li> Ambush of Palestro </Li> <P> 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 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 putsch was supported by former Algerian Governor General Jacques Soustelle and his activist allies . </P> <P> Carried out in the context of the Algerian War (1954--62), the putsch 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 . The crisis marked the return of Charles de Gaulle to political affairs after a decade of absence, and set in motion the events which would lead to the establishment of the Fifth Republic . </P>

The crisis in 1958 that brought the final end of france's fourth republic occurred in