Running head: ALGERIAN REVOLUTION 1

ALGERIAN REVOLUTION

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Algerian Revolution.

Thesis statement

aim of this paper is to underline how the Algerian revolution took place and what lead

the revolution. The revolution in Algeria was a result of what? And who were the pioneers of the

revolution and 50 years down the line what can be said to be the manifestation of the revolution?

Introduction

In 1945 when some of the countries were celebrating their independence, Algerians

Muslim knowns as setif were demanding for the Independence of Algeria. It all started from the

grassroots where local leaders organized for people to march on for their fight to gain

independence. Algeria was colonized by France which had a lot of influence on the ground.

France is a country where Christianity was largely practiced tried to assimilate their religion in a

country where most of the people were Muslims. The French settlers who were the main

occupants of most settlement schemes were very brutal to the locals (Murray & Wengraf 1963).

On the 1st November 1945, there was a disagreement which leads to fights between the

Colonialist and the Algerians who decided top from the Front de Liberation National (FNL)

under the leadership of Ben Bella.

Background Information

The revolution all started when the French colonialist started to oppress the poor and

trying to impose their religion upon the Algerians. In a country where the majority are

descendant of the Muslim origin from Arab countries. An imposed new rule which went against

their norms was something they couldn’t handle. So, the Algerian of the Islamic origin went

ahead and formed a resistance which was the FNL. The FNL was comprised of people who had
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great ideas who came together due to the unifying factor of freedom of independence. Although

it seemed like a strong movement it had a rift between its ranks. The aim of forming the

movement was due to the fact that many people wanted their independence but what remained

was, what’s next after this.? The revolutionary process was a hard task in making the social and

economic strategies for the country (Murray & Wengraf 1963). The leader, therefore, had to sit

down and strategize on how the next stage after the war is over, which was to transform the

initial ideas of the FNL. The ideas where they believed in making Algerian be ruled by their own

and not a foreigner. The group had a different idea on social and economic welfare. The

colonialist had made a great impact in making the people rather than to be enlightened they had

backwardness mentality. French masters use the opportunity to colonize the people through

nationalizing most of their beliefs and also centralizing their governance (sFantasia & Hirsch

1995). The FNL due to its popular vote and slit that was witnessed between the left wing of the

party who believed in the Marxist tendency. The Marxist also was divided between two camps

that of Ahmed Ben Bella and Houari Boumediene, who embraced the ideas similar to Nasserism.

Nasserism rejected the ideas of Marxian on materialism and they embraced what the Arabian

Nations were embodied in.

After the revolution was born it became prominent that there was a need to liberate the

people. One morning the local leaders of the FNL organized a march toward the capital to

sensitize the people on the need of their own independence. From the grassroots of the country to

urban centers all people participated in the walk. What started as a walk culminated into fights

and mass murder where the European settlers were murder. This mass murder of the settlers took

the colonialist by surprise. In their defense, the French retaliated by killing more than 45,000

Muslims. Then the FNL launched its army which was spread out in the whole region, they did
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issue a proclamation calling for the sovereign Algerian Nation. This did not augur well with the

French who in turn deployed their own troops to track and monitor the situation. The war

continued with the FNL using Guerilla attacks on the French government. In 1955 the FNL

began targeting their own people. The tactics of inciting fellow citizens to kill which lead to the

death of more than 120 people. This kind of tactic did not go down well as the French troops

went and called for reinforcement. The team arrived and did a retaliatory attack which lead to the

death of more than 12,000 Muslims. The combined troops of the French and the European

vigilante committee did a formidable job in subduing the revolution, but that did not end their

zeal. The then governor-general of French Algeria Jacques Soustelle did not give a chance for

the revolution to grow.

Between the years 1956-1958 the FNL became more recognized when it devised bombs

which exploded in the urban area and the city of Algiers. This resulted in the intervention of the

international bodies. Chaos then started to erupt in Algiers. The chaos leads to people of the

European origin storming the office of the governor. This revolt was due to the government

failure to suppress the revolutionists. The French army vouched for Charles De Gaulle to be

appointed as the leader whom both the Algerians Muslims and European alike did pay homage.

With the emergence of the new French leader’s thing s began to take a wrong turn. The French

control over Algeria is now becoming more strenuous to the French economy in that De Gaulle

announced that Algeria has to become Self-determinant. This did not go well with both the

Extremist of Pied-noir who are disappointed. But also, it sends mixed signals to the FNL

leadership. After this, it becomes evident that a coupe is eminent all organized by the prominent

generals which in turn becomes unsuccessful (Greenberg 1970).

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In the year 1961-1962 talks of negotiations are underway between the FNL and the

French administrations, which took place in Evian. It all turns out unproductive. The second

turns of negations which now became evident that the French were losing, they call for a

ceasefire. The ceasefire did anger the Pied-noirs who started terrorism acts on both Muslims and

French civilians. This acts of terrorism by the pied-noir made the FNL conclude with a truce. On

the July 1st, 1962, Algerian’s went to cast their ballots to approve on what was agreed during the

negotiation talks, and about 6 million did cast the vote. This marks the independence of Algeria.

The first president-elect Ben Bella had his first economic policy which was to nationalize the

industrial property and also a system where workers had their own freedom. In 1971 all the

French companies that were in the petroleum industry were nationalized to the percentage of 51.

The FNL was in its groundbreaking stage to implement most of its ideas with the takeover of

almost all its resources.

Petroleum was the main source of revenue for the FNL as it relied on it to develop an

economy structured on industrial production. This set of goals was very successful and Algerians

experienced an economic growth and the people were happy due to the fact that the living

standards were raised, education becomes more prevalent. Health care was a rare commodity

during the colonial period which many people died due to the illness which could be treated but

lacked medicine. With the FNL in power, the country’s economy was way much better than the

East Asian state. In the wake of drops in oil price worldwide, the Algerian government embarked

on the neoliberal structure of industrial policy. This policy leads to a wave of strikes by the

workforce which almost 100% of the workers participated (Clegg 1972). The strike gave FNL

no choice but to call for a multiparty election for the first time since independence.

Conclusion.
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The Algerian revolution brought a lot of bloodsheds but it was worth it. The people were

oppressed and they lacked basic life essential like, healthcare, education and good living

standards, which the FNL brought. In the wake of all these many people didn’t like the way the

French government gave the FNL a self-determination which meant that now Algerians would

be free. Many Europeans lost their share of their companies to the locals as the FNL took over

more than 51%v of the companies with 100% of gas companies going into the government. The

revolution was a sign of relief as it became one if the iconic fights in history about liberations.

The revolution came with good strategist that favored the locals and also Algeria became a force

to reckon in terms of being an economic giant. Therefore, it can be said that the revolution was a

way of bringing hope and light to those that suffered. Though faced with challenges in initial

stages I can strongly say that the revolution still lives on.
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References

Clegg, I. (1972). Workers' self-management in Algeria. Monthly Review Pr.

Fantasia, R., & Hirsch, E. L. (1995). Culture in rebellion: The appropriation and transformation

of the veil in the Algerian revolution. Social movements and culture, 144-59.

Greenberg, E. V. C. (1970). Law and the Conduct of the Algerian Revolution. Harv. Int'l. LJ, 11,

37.

Murray, R., & Wengraf, T. (1963). The Algerian Revolution-1. New Left Review, (22), 14.