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Battle for Algeria: Welcome

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Sources

Primary Source Collections:

  • Mt Holyoke Collection of Documents
  • Voices of Decolonization  - Includes the following - Mohammed Dib: The Fire, National Liberation Front: Proclamation, Francois Mitterand: Speech in Response to FLN Actions, Slimane Azem: Locust, Leave My Country, Muslim Population of Tebessa: Letter to Robert Lacoste, Renee Massigli: French Intelligence Analysis of British Public Opinion on the Algerian Conflict, Charles de Gaulle: Presidential Press Conference, Frantz Fanon: The Wretched of the Earth, Visitor: Lift Up the Torch of United Africa, U.N. General Assembly: Declaration on the Granting of Independence to Colonial Countries and Peoples

Individual Primary Source Documents:

Secondary Sources:

 

Background Information

"The Algerian War: Cause Célèbre of Anticolonialism" from JSTOR Daily, presented as bullet points:

  • Algeria's Independence: On July 5, 1962, Algeria declared independence after 132 years of French occupation, marking the end of a seven-and-a-half-year war.Wikipedia+5JSTOR Daily+5JSTOR Daily+5

  • Global Awareness: The Algerian struggle was internationally recognized, highlighted by films like Gillo Pontecorvo’s The Battle of Algiers and figures such as Djamila Bouhired and Frantz Fanon.

  • FLN's Strategy: The National Liberation Front (FLN) aimed to internationalize the conflict, aligning it with Cold War dynamics to gain Eastern Bloc support and bring attention to the United Nations.JSTOR

  • Evian Agreements: Signed on March 18, 1962, these agreements initiated a ceasefire and a transitional period leading to a self-determination referendum on July 1, 1962.JSTOR Daily+3Wikipedia+3Wikipedia+3

  • Symbolic Independence Date: July 5 was chosen for the official celebration of independence, symbolically reversing the French capture of Algiers on the same date in 1830.Wikipedia+1JSTOR Daily+1

  • Ahmed Ben Bella's Statement: Algeria's first president referred to colonization as "an accident in history," suggesting that independence restored the nation's historical trajectory.

  • Celebrations: Despite attempts to delay festivities until July 5, widespread celebrations occurred, with reports of extended festivities and nationwide revelry.

  • Socialist Experiments: Post-independence, Algeria pursued socialist policies, including agrarian reform and self-management, influenced by FLN's 1962 platform adopted in Tripoli.JSTOR Daily

  • International Solidarity: Algeria became a hub for global revolutionaries, offering training and support to figures like Nelson Mandela and receiving aid from countries like Cuba.JSTOR Daily

  • Algiers as a Revolutionary Center: The capital became known as the "Mecca of revolutionaries" in the 1960s and 1970s, attracting activists worldwide to contribute to Algeria's post-colonial development.JSTOR Daily

Additional Primary Sources

From a dictionary of Contemporary World History

On 1 November 1954, hostilities broke out between the Christian colonists of French descent and Algerian Muslim nationalists who were organized into the Front de Libération Nationale (FLN) under Ben Bella. Despite its initial inferiority, the brutality of the well-armed French and colonists' troops soon brought the FLN agrarian mass support. The FLN continued to rely on guerrilla attacks, which spread to Algiers in late 1956. . . Read more

AP image

 

French Foreign Legion in Algeria, 1960

 

Front de Libération Nationale (FLN) revolt,

November 1, 1954