National Liberation Front

The Algerian political party that led the struggle against French rule and became the country’s governing party after independence in 1962.

French Algeria: The period and system of French colonial rule in Algeria, lasting from 1830 to independence in 1962. Colonial rule supplied the political conditions the FLN sought to end.
Algerian War: The 1954–1962 conflict between France and the Algerian independence movement. The FLN’s armed campaign and political strategy operated within this war.
Ahmed Ben Bella: An Algerian nationalist leader and FLN founder who became independent Algeria’s first president. Ben Bella rose from wartime leadership to head the new state.
Algerian independence: The end of French sovereignty over Algeria in 1962 and establishment of an independent Algerian state. Independence fulfilled the FLN’s central wartime objective.
Algerian Communist Party: A political party in French Algeria that supported Algerian independence while retaining a distinct communist organization. It pursued independence politics outside the FLN’s organizational framework.
Algerian nationalism: The political movement advocating Algerian self-determination and independence from French rule. The FLN emerged as the leading organization of an existing independence movement.
National Liberation Army (Algeria): The armed wing of the Algerian National Liberation Front during the independence war. The army carried out the FLN’s military campaign inside Algeria and from neighboring countries.
Houari Boumédiène: An Algerian military officer who led the National Liberation Army’s General Staff and later became president. His army became decisive in the struggle over power after independence.
Algerian Civil War: The 1990s conflict between the Algerian government and armed Islamist groups after elections were halted. The conflict followed the FLN’s long dominance and the crisis of Algeria’s single-party system.
Algerian National Movement: The nationalist organization led by Messali Hadj that rivaled the FLN during the Algerian War. Its rivalry with the FLN became a violent contest over leadership of the independence movement.

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