70 year ago today, the Algerian Revolution announced itself in a rumble of explosions and attacks that shook the then-French territory. The men who launched this new “National Liberation Front” (L to R) were Rabah Bitat, Mostefa Ben Boulaïd, Didouche Mourad, Mohammed Boudiaf, and, seated, Krim Belkacem and Larbi Ben M’Hidi. The conflict quickly escalated into a brutal war, marked by guerrilla warfare, urban bombings, and heavy French military violence.
The French government responded with harsh counterinsurgency tactics, deploying hundreds of thousands of soldiers and implementing widespread repression. Torture became a common method used by French forces to extract information from FLN members and suspected supporters. Detainees endured beatings, electric shocks, and waterboarding, practices that were later admitted and condemned. French forces also conducted mass arrests, forced relocations, and raids on villages suspected of supporting the FLN, resulting in widespread suffering and displacement among the Algerian population. The war caused the deaths of between 400,000 and 1.5 million Algerians. The French destroyed over 8,000 villages and relocated over 2 million Algerians to concentration camps.
The revolution continued for nearly eight years, with both sides suffering heavy casualties. International pressure and changing attitudes within France eventually led to peace negotiations, resulting in the 1962 Evian Accords. Algeria gained its independence on July 5, 1962, ending over a century of colonial rule.