In March 1954 Ahmed Ben Bella, an ex-sergeant in the French army, joined eight other Algerian
exiles in Egypt to form a revolutionary committee that later became known as the National Liberation
Front (Front de Libération Nationale, FLN). A few months later (November 1), the FLN launched its
bid for Algerian independence by coordinated attacks on public buildings, military and police posts,
and communications installations.

A steady rise in guerrilla action over the next two years forced the French to bring in reinforcements;
eventually, 400, 000 French troops were stationed in Algeria. FLN strategy combined Abd al-Qadir's
guerrilla tactics with deliberate use of terrorism. The guerrilla tactics effectively immobilized superior
French forces, while indiscriminate murders and kidnappings of Europeans and Muslims who did not
actively support the FLN created a climate of fear throughout the country. This in turn brought
counterterrorism, as colons and French army units raided Muslim villages and slaughtered the civilian
population.

In 1956 the war spread to the cities. In Algiers, cafés, schools, and shops became targets, as the
nationalists sought to weaken colon morale and draw international attention to their cause. The
Algiers uprising was ruthlessly put down. Elsewhere, the French gradually gained the upper hand by
using new tactics. Collective punishment was meted out to whole villages suspected of aiding
guerrillas. Other groups were deported to guarded refugee camps. Electrified fences along the
Tunisian and Moroccan borders cut off the main FLN army from units inside Algeria.

Despite their military superiority, the French were unable to find a political solution satisfactory to
both the colons and the FLN. International criticism of France increased, and its allies in the North
Atlantic Treaty Organization worried about the commitment of French forces to an unpopular war.

In May 1958 the colons and French army officers joined hands in Algiers to overthrow the French
government, charging it with vacillation. A Committee of Public Safety demanded the return to office
of General Charles de Gaulle, the wartime leader of the Free French, as the only one who could settle
the war and preserve French Algeria. De Gaulle, however, was a realist. Once in power, he
recognized that the war was unwinnable. In 1959 he announced his intention of allowing Algerians to
choose between independence and continued association with France.

The plan struck the colons like a thunderbolt. Outraged, they staged an unsuccessful revolt against de
Gaulle early in 1960, and in 1961 a group of army generals again tried to overthrow him. Both times,
however, the bulk of the army remained loyal to the government. Associated with the generals' plot
was a group of military and colon extremists, called the Secret Army Organization, which at the same
time carried on a brutal campaign of counterterrorism against both the FLN and French authorities.

In March 1962 a cease-fire was finally arranged between government and FLN representatives at
Evian, France. In the long-awaited referendum, held the following July, Algeria voted overwhelmingly
for independence. The colons began a mass evacuation; before the end of the year most of them had
left the country.

from the Black World Profiles