Military History of Algeria - War of Independence

War of Independence

The Algerian War of Independence was a series of uprisings and guerilla warfare by Algerian Nationalists against the French administration and army, the pied-noir community of European descent, and pro-French Muslim militias (Harkis). During the war the French Fourth Republic collapsed and Charles de Gaulle established a new Republic. Algeria gained independence in 1962 with Ahmed Ben Bella as the first President. The conflict has had a lasting impact on France and Algeria because of the atrocities committed on both sides.

The nationalist Armee de Liberation Nationale (ALN) (see below) came to number about 150,000 lightly armed troops by 1962, serving both in Algeria and beyond its borders. The bulk of actual fighting was carried out by varying numbers of "internal" irregular fighters who comprised six regional commands. While beaten in most direct clashes, notably after 1957, the poorly equipped and outnumbered internal forces were able to maintain an effective opposition to a French Army of nearly half a million troops, throughout an extended struggle that cost up to a million Algerian lives.