May 1958 crisis: A group of French military officers lead a coup in Algiers demanding that a government of national unity be formed with Charles de Gaulle at its head in order to defend French control of Algeria.

The May 1958 crisis, also known as the Algiers putsch or the coup of 13 May, was a political crisis in France during the turmoil of the Algerian War of Independence (1954–1962) which led to the collapse of the Fourth Republic and its replacement by the Fifth Republic led by Charles de Gaulle who returned to power after a twelve-year absence. It started as a political uprising in Algiers on 13 May 1958 and then became a military coup d'état led by a coalition headed by Algiers deputy and reserve airborne officer Pierre Lagaillarde, Generals Raoul Salan, Edmond Jouhaud, Jean Gracieux and Jacques Massu, and by Admiral Philippe Auboyneau, commander of the Mediterranean fleet. The coup was supported by former Algerian Governor General Jacques Soustelle and his activist allies.

Algiers is the capital city of Algeria as well as the capital of the Algiers Province; it extends over many communes without having its own separate governing body. With 2,988,145 residents in 2008 and an estimated 3,004,130 residents in 2025 in an area of 1,190 square kilometres (460 sq mi), Algiers is the largest city in Algeria, the third largest city on the Mediterranean, sixth in the Arab World, and 29th in Africa. Located in the north-central portion of the country, it extends along the Bay of Algiers surrounded by the Mitidja Plain and major mountain ranges. Its favorable location made it the center of Ottoman and French cultural, political, and architectural influences for the region, shaping it to be the diverse metropolis it is today.

Charles André Joseph Marie de Gaulle was a French general and statesman who led the Free French Forces against Nazi Germany in World War II and chaired the Provisional Government of the French Republic from 1944 to 1946 to restore democracy in France. In 1958, amid the Algiers putsch, he came out of retirement when appointed Prime Minister by President René Coty. He rewrote the Constitution of France and founded the Fifth Republic after approval by referendum. He was elected President of France later that year, a position he held until his resignation in 1969.