Algeria's Liberation Struggle (1830-1954): Resistance Movements and Popular Uprisings
الشروق أونلاين
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1819
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Algeria has a long history of lofty struggle and embedded revolutionary tradition. Many foreign powers have sought to impose their domination on the Algerian people, but neither the Romans nor the Turks, least of all the French, have succeeded in staying long.
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France’s invasion of Algeria territory in 1830, triggered off large – scale resistance movements and popular uprisings, which were first organized under Emir Abdelkader in the western and central provinces of Oran, Medea and Miliana, then in Kabylia under El Mokrani in alliance with Cheikh Haddad and Boumezrag around 1871 as well as under many other nationalist figures throughout the country.
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In 1881, a general rebellion was sparked off but as the Algerians were ruined economically, the resistance fighting was only sporadic. So, until the First World War, the Algerian people had no other alternatives but to live under a repressive system geared solely towards the interests of the French settlers.
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After the First World War, the Algerian resistance gathered momentum under the unifying banner of Islam and several movements and parties began to voice the Algerian people’s profound aspirations for national identity.
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All in all, there were 3 main groupings the traditionalists, the moderates and the progressives who waged a political struggle for the recognition of the legitimate Algerian rights.
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The traditionalists, or Ulema whose leader was Abdelhamid Ibn Badis, reiterated the difference between Moslem and colonial cultures; the moderates led by the grandson of Emir Abdelkader whose program included the equality of rights and the suppression of exception laws, and the third major grouping, l’Etoile Nord Africaine who called for Algeria’s outright independence.
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It was under these 3 groupings that the Algerian nationalist movement came to assert itself as a potent popular force.
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“8th May 1948: Hideous massacre of thousands of Algerians by French colonial soldiery”.
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On May 8th 1945, the Algerian population took to the streets of every town and city to protest against France’s failure to abide by its promises for greater equality for the Algerian majority.
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The ensuing peaceful demonstrations were harshly repressed and about 45 thousand Algerians were savagely massacred by the French colonial Army in the eastern towns of Guelma, Kherrata and Sétif.
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The brutal French repression led the Algerian people, to realize that the only alternative left to achieve their legitimate rights, was the armed struggle and this realization, gave fresh impetus to the nationalist movement.
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“Algerian nationalist movement gaining momentum in the fifties”.
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Several political parties, including the Algerian people’s party – PPA -, the democratic union for the Algerian manifest – UDMA -, and the movement for the triumph of democratic liberties – MTLD -, agreed to form a single platform.
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But it was within the MTLD that a trend emerged, which considered the armed struggle, to be the only appropriate means to shake off the harsh yoke of colonialism.
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The advocates of the armed struggle were within a revolutionary committee for Union and action, known as “CRUA”. It was on October 1st 1954 that the date of the outbreak of the armed revolution was set, with the national territory being divided into 6 military provinces, and the enemy targets clearly defined.
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