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A war of liberation, the first spark of which was launched on November 1, 1954, 124 years after France’s colonization of Algeria in 1830, and ended with the declaration of independence on July 5, 1962, crowning 7 years of armed struggle that resulted in the martyrdom of one and a half million Algerians.

Causes of the Algerian revolution

The Algerian liberation revolution was the culmination of a long path of popular political and armed resistance against the French occupation of the country, beginning with the resistance of Emir Abdelkader of Algeria (1832 to 1847), then the resistance of Ahmed Bey (1837 to 1848), passing through the resistance of Zaatasha (1848 to 1849) and Lalla Fatima. Nessoumer and Cherif Boubaghla (1851 to 1857), up to the resistance of Sheikh Al-Maqrani and Sheikh Bouamama (1871 to 1883).

Other popular movements are also added to this: Throughout the Algerian geography, until the features of the national movement were formed in the 1930s, with the “Movement of the North African Star,” which was founded in 1926 in Paris under the leadership of Messali El-Hajj, before it transformed in 1937 into the “Algerian People’s Party,” and then into the “Movement Victory of Democratic Liberties” in 1946.

Within the body of the Freedom Movement, a secret military organization was formed consisting of some activists eager to launch an armed revolution, against the backdrop of internal and external circumstances that they considered to be favorable, especially after the massacres of May 8, 1945 (which claimed the lives of 45 thousand martyrs), committed by France against the Algerians demanding the right to freedom. Independence following the victory over Nazism in World War II.

The defeat of the French army at Dien Bien Phu also represented; In Indochina in 1952, it was an important impetus for launching an Algerian revolution, in line with the growth and spread of liberation movements in the world.

The beginnings of the Algerian liberation revolution

Four months before the start of the liberation revolution, on June 23, 1954, 22 members of the youth of the National Movement met in a house in the upper reaches of the Algerian capital, to present the idea of ​​a “military solution” as an alternative to what they considered a failure in the peaceful political path within the National Movement.

As a result of this meeting - which was chaired by Mustafa Ben Boulaid - the decision emerged to appoint a small group to carry out the final preparations for launching the revolution, so that October 23, 1954 was the date for the meeting of the group of six (Mohamed Boudiaf, Mustafa Ben Boulaid, Larbi Ben M’hidi, Mourad Didouche, Rabah Bitat and Karim Belkacem), who chose the name “National Liberation Front” for their armed liberation organization; It works towards the independence of the country, with November 1, 1954, at zero o’clock (the night of October 31) being the date for the beginning of the revolution.

The most prominent stations of the Algerian revolution

With a number of 1,200 people involved in the revolution, and approximately 400 weapons, the first bullet was fired from the Aures Mountains in eastern Algeria on the specified date, and armed operations continued in different regions of the country, with leaflets distributed in Arabic and French, and the colonial administration counted that night “30 incidents; the most serious of which were in The regions of Aures, Kabylia, the capital, Constantinople in the north and Oran in the west.

The French administration's first reaction to these events was to issue a decree on November 5, 1954, dissolving all Algerian political organizations and bodies and arresting more than 500 members of the National Movement's fighters and officials, beginning a series of persecutions that coincided with several armed operations. Against French sites, bodies and figures, it was adopted by the National Liberation Army, the military arm of the National Liberation Front. This period was also marked by the assassination of the Front's most prominent leaders, such as the freedom fighter Didouche Murad (January 18, 1955).

Leaders of the Algerian National Liberation Front during a meeting in the city of Oujda in eastern Morocco in 1962 (French)

One of the most prominent stages of the revolution in 1955 was the August attacks in northern Constantinople, which contributed to the internationalization of the Algerian issue. By getting the United Nations General Assembly to register the “Algerian issue” on the agenda of the 1955 session.

The “Soumam Conference” came on August 20, 1956, to rearrange the house of the revolution, after the French army restricted its most important outlets in the eastern Algerian region. On the recommendation of the conference, the country was divided into 6 states, which in turn were divided into regions, each region into districts, and each district into divisions, which operated in accordance with the orders and instructions of the leadership of the revolution.

The Liberation Front introduced new methods in dealing with the French restrictions on its members in the mountainous regions, by adopting guerrilla warfare and individual strikes in major cities, similar to Algiers, which witnessed, beginning in 1957, focused strikes on French targets, in the context of what was known as With the “Battle of Algiers”, then came a comprehensive strike from (January 28 to February 4, 1957); The leadership of the revolution called for it, and it received great response from the people.

In the wake of this great impact that the War of Liberation had on the French authorities, in villages and cities, came President Charles de Gaulle’s speech on June 4, 1958 in Algeria, in which the leaders of the Liberation Front publicly called for reconciliation.

This “French acquiescence” resulted in the announcement in Cairo of the formation of the interim government of the Algerian Republic on September 19, 1958.

This political step did not prevent the French authorities from extending the war of genocide they launched against the Algerian people. Another 4 years, before sitting at the negotiating table and signing the Evian Agreements in Switzerland with the leaders of the Liberation Front, on March 18, 1962.

The most prominent leaders who sparked the Algerian liberation revolution

Mustafa Ben Boulaid (1917-1956)

He began his struggle career with union work, and was compulsorily conscripted into the French army for 5 years (1939-1944), which was a good opportunity to develop his fighting skills. He joined the ranks of the "People's Party" and ran for the Algerian Council elections in 1948, and won the first round, but the French authorities resorted to fraud and an attempt to assassinate him.

He turned to armed action by joining the secret organization. He contributed to collecting weapons and training volunteers in order to prepare for the revolution. He contributed to the establishment of the Revolutionary Committee for Unity and Action on March 23, 1954, and he was among the group of six that engineered the bombing of the revolution.

With the outbreak of the revolution in 1954, he continued to work as commander of the Aures region, until his arrest in Tunisia on February 11, 1955, and he was sentenced to life imprisonment with hard labor, but he escaped from “Kediya Prison” accompanied by a number of mujahideen and returned to the command center, where he supervised He fought fierce battles, until his martyrdom on March 22, 1956.

Karim Belkacem (1922-1970)

He grew up in a well-off family in the Kabylie region. His father was offered the position of “commander” (a local official in authority) under French colonialism, but he refused. He was educated in French schools in the capital; Then he joined the ranks of the People's Party early, and later joined the secret organization.

He was one of the revolution's bombers and commander of the Third District. He fought a number of military operations, during which he was able to stabilize the third region in the path of the revolution. He participated in the “Somam Conference” and became a member of the Coordination and Implementation Committee.

He assumed the position of Minister of the Armed Forces after the establishment of the Algerian interim government, then Minister of Foreign Affairs. He played a major role at the head of the Algerian delegation in the Evian negotiations, in their various rounds, and signed the ceasefire declaration. He was assassinated after independence in Germany under mysterious circumstances.

Mohamed Boudiaf (1919-1992)

He completed his secondary studies in his hometown of M'sila, in the east of the country, which qualified him to obtain an administrative job in the tax collection departments. He was conscripted in 1942 into the French army to participate in the battles of World War II in Italy, in 1944.

He joined the Algerian People's Party, then participated in founding the secret organization in 1947. Before the revolution, he returned to Algeria and continued implementing his revolutionary choice by working with the Group of 22 in preparation for detonating the revolution.

He assumed membership in the Revolutionary Council during the work of the Soumam Conference, until he was arrested in October 1956 during a flight between Rabat and Cairo, accompanied by Ahmed Ben Bella, Muhammad Kheidar, Hussein Ait Ahmed, and Mustafa Al-Ashraf.

He remained in prison until Algeria's independence, and in 1963 he was arrested. Before he stopped political activity and settled in Morocco.

He returned to Algeria during its political crisis in 1992, and was appointed president of the country, before he was assassinated during a public meeting in the city of Annaba, east of the country, on June 29, 1992.

Didouche Murad (1927-1955)

He received formal training in parallel with his learning of the Holy Qur’an, so he obtained a civil certificate and worked for the Algiers Railway Company. He joined the People’s Party and from there inevitably joined the armed organization. He moved to Constantine, in the east of the country. He was appointed responsible for the People's Party during the years 1948-1950.

After the secret organization was discovered by the French authorities, he joined the Aures Mountains and trained in weapons. In 1952, he returned to the capital and was subjected to constant harassment by the French police.

He traveled to France under an assumed name, then returned to Algeria before the revolution, to be one of the group of 22, and responsible for launching the revolution in northern Constantinople. His martyrdom came quickly on the battlefield on January 18, 1955 in the “Boukerker” area, 78 days after The start of the revolution.

Rabeh Bitat (1925-2000)

He received his first education in his hometown of Ain El Karma in Constantine, east of the country. He was able to get a job in a tobacco factory. He joined the ranks of the People’s Party at a young age, then became one of the most important active members of the secret organization. In 1950, he was sentenced in absentia to 10 years in prison. Years.

He participated in preparing to bomb the revolution in the Algerian capital, and due to his great activity, he was arrested months after the start of the revolution, and sentenced to life imprisonment with hard labor. He continued his struggle despite being in prison, and went on hunger strike several times as a political prisoner, but he was not released until the day after independence.

After independence, he participated in a number of ministerial positions. He also headed the Algerian National People’s Assembly for 4 legislative terms until his resignation in 1990. He passed away in Algiers on April 10, 2000.

Larbi Ben M'hidi (1923-1957)

He finished his primary education in his hometown of Ain Melilla district of Oum El Bouaghi in the east of the country. When he was young, he also joined the Islamic Scouts and became the leader of the boys’ team.

He joined the People's Party in 1942 and participated and was arrested in the demonstrations of May 8, 1945. He was one of the first young men to join the secret organization. Until he became the chief of staff of this organization in 1950, and after discovering the organization, he moved to Oran in the west of the country until the formation of the Revolutionary Committee for Unity and Action.

After the start of the revolution, he became the commander of the Fifth District in Oran, west of the country. He worked to convene the Soumam Conference and continue organizing the revolution. He was appointed a member of the Coordination and Implementation Committee, which represented the supreme leadership of the revolution.

At the beginning of 1957, he led the Battle of Algiers until his arrest and martyrdom under torture in March 1957. His executioner, French General Marcel Béjard, said about him, “If I had three like Larbi Ben M’hidi, I would conquer the world.”

Results of the Algerian revolution

Seven years after the first shot was fired in the Algerian Aures Mountains, the leaders of the Algerian revolution sat at the negotiating table. Facing the representatives of the French administration, to hear their response to deciding the fate of the Algerians, through a referendum held within a period ranging from 3 to 6 months from the date of publication of the text of the agreement, starting from March 19, 1962 (the date of the ceasefire).

The date of the referendum was set on July 1, 1962, and the Algerians responded by overwhelmingly voting in favor of an “independent state” starting on July 5, 1962, with a memory that counted 1.5 million martyrs and 132 years of French colonialism.

Source: Al Jazeera + websites