This Week In History

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CWA # 1369, 1 July 2024
This Week In History
05 July 1962: Algeria declares its independence, ending 132 years of French occupation

  Deepika Seervi

On 05 July 1962, after a protracted war with France that lasted around seven years, Algeria declared its independence. French rule began in 1830 after a successful invasion (1830-1848) to being a part of France. Under colonialism, the Algerian people endured prejudice, exclusion, and exploitation leading towards a full-fledged movement. In November 1954, the National Liberation Front (FNL) began a guerrilla war against France, and attacked military and civilian targets, and called on Muslims in Algeria to join a national struggle for the restoration of the Algerian state.

From an Ottoman Empire province to French Colony
Algeria was an independent province of the Ottoman Empire for more than three centuries, beginning in 1518 when the empire assisted in the overthrow of Algeria's Spanish captives. The US dispatched a navy to fight Algeria in 1815 across the Atlantic. The English and Dutch attempted to undermine Algeria's might the next year by sending a second joint fleet, but they were unable to overcome Algeria's tactical superiority. In 1830, the French invaded and successfully suppressed Algeria, capturing the capital port city of Algiers. In 1834, Algeria was annexed as a colony of France.

Under the French rule, Algerians could not leave their houses or even convene in public. French rule allowed only French citizens or other white people to hold specialized employment and positions in social institutions (from the government to the police), keeping Algerians at the bottom of society as servants, unskilled workers, and peasants.

After the Russian Revolution, the Algerian Communist Ahmed Messali Hadj began underground struggles to build a revolutionary movement to overthrow French colonialism. By the Second World War, Ferhat Abbas, once a well-known Algerian social-democratic reformist, became a Communist and joined with Hadj to build a militant workers’ party – Friends of the Manifesto and Liberty.

A group of charismatic and inspirational leaders spearheaded the independence movement, each bringing special talents and viewpoints to the cause.
•    Ahmed Ben Bella, a founding member of the National Liberation Front (FLN), was instrumental in bringing the Algerian cause widespread public support and worldwide attention. Later, the nation would elect him as its first president.
•    The astute military tactician Houari Boumédiène, who planned sabotage and guerilla warfare against French forces, directed the armed wing of the FLN.
•    French philosopher and revolutionary Frantz Fanon, the author of seminal works like "The Wretched of the Earth," contributed his moral and intellectual support to the Algerian struggle
•    French President Charles de Gaulle eventually awarded Algeria independence, but not before a violent and protracted conflict.

The Algerian War of Independence: Significant Milestones
The global campaign against colonialism saw a turning point during the Algerian War of Independence (1954–1962). Throughout the battle, French forces carried out several atrocities, such as extrajudicial killings, forced disappearances, and torture. In response, the FLN attacked French military and civilian objectives using guerilla warfare, ambushes, and urban terrorism. The UN and the global public began to denounce French activities more and more, showing support for Algeria. 

Following are some key turning points in Algeria's struggle for independence.
1914–1918: During World War I, the formal independence movement commenced
1939–1945: Following World War II, the movement gained traction when France fell short of its pledge to provide Algeria with more autonomy.
1947: Laws were changed to allow Muslims to become French citizens with equal rights.
1954: The National Liberation Front (FLN) began a guerrilla war against France.
1955: The FLN carried out the Philippeville Massacre, killing 121 people—including women and children.
1956–1957: Fighters from the FLN carried out a series of brutal urban attacks during the "Battle of Algiers."
1958: Charles de Gaulle became president of the newly established Fifth Republic in France after the collapse of the Fourth Republic. He granted Algerians the right to self-determination in 1959.
1960: Algiers and other cities hosted large-scale pro-independence demonstrations.
1962 saw the signing of the Évian Accords, which gave Algeria independence from France.

5 July 1962: Independence of Algeria
After 132 years of colonial domination, Algeria formally declared its independence from France on 5 July 1962. The eight-year independence struggle resulted in the execution of more than a million Algerian guerrillas and civilians, as well as the deaths of 100,000 French soldiers and settlers.  

Ahmed Ben Bella became Algeria's first president, winning the backing of National Liberation Army chief of staff Colonel Houari Boumédiène. The FLN, Algeria's only political party, proclaimed Algeria an Arab-Islamic socialist state. Centralised economic planning, comprehensive land reforms and nationalisation of the private properties started at the same time. The revolution liberated women from their previous restrictions, granted freedom of religion to all, and acknowledged Islam and Arabic as the "essential spiritual force" (only Muslims could hold the office of president of the Republic). The president held an immense amount of influence, whereas grassroots democratic organisations were virtually non-existent. In 1963, a constitution was approved through an open referendum to achieve this goal. 

In the series:
06 June 1944: Allied forces land in Normandy, turning the tide in World War-II
21 May 1991: LTTE human bomb assassinates Rajiv Gandhi
20 May 1948: Vasco da Gama, a Portuguese explorer lands in Calicut in India’s west coast
20 May 2002: East Timor becomes an independent country
30 April 1975: Saigon falls to North Vietnam troops, leading to the reunification of Vietnam
21 April 1526: The First Battle of Panipat leads to the emergence of the Mughal Empire in India
17 April 1895: The Treaty of Shimonoseki ends the first Sino-Japan War (1894-95)
17 April 1975: Khmer Rouge captures Phnom Penh in Cambodia, establishing the Pol Pot regime
16 April 1917: Lenin issues “April Theses”
04 April 1968: Martin Luther King Jr assassinated
18 March 2014: Russia annexes Crimea
14 March 1879: Albert Einstein born in Germany
14 March 1849: The Sikh Army surrenders to the British
12 March 1918: Lenin shifts the capital to Moscow
11 March 1985: Mikhail Gorbachev becomes the General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union

About the author
Deepika Seervi is an undergraduate student from Kristu Jayanti College, Autonomous, Bengaluru.

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