Robert Martel (5 March 1921 - 21 December 1997), nicknamed "the Chouan of Mitidja", was a French-Algerian farmer, counter-revolutionary French nationalist, founder member of the Union Française Nord-Africaine (UFNA) then leader of the extreme-right-wing political party the Mouvement populaire du 13-Mai (MP-13) following the coup d'état of 13 May 1958.
They infiltrated Gaullist activist fr:Léon Delbecque's 'Vigilance Committee' with the aim of overthrowing the régime of the French Fourth Republic and placing power in the hands of the army under general Raoul Salan.
Martel became a member of the 'Safety Committee' of general Jacques Massu, who had temporary command over civil and military matters in Algeria, with Salan as chair.
[1][3][4][5] Martel took part in "La semaine des barricades", a week of protests in Algiers from January 24, 1960, with about 20 000 demonstrators and reservists.
The protests led to significantly increased fighting in the Algerian War with the formation of the Organisation armée secrète (OAS), an underground dissident paramilitary terrorist force of which Martel became a leader of the Constantinois district.