The Algerian War of Independence

A brutal eight-year war that ended 132 years of French rule in Algeria.

Background

Algeria was legally part of France, but most Muslim Algerians were denied equal political and economic rights while a European settler minority held privileges. Hopes for reform after the Second World War were disappointed, and repression of protests in 1945 hardened attitudes.

Course of events

The National Liberation Front launched attacks on 1 November 1954. The war involved guerrilla actions, urban conflict such as the Battle of Algiers, and the widespread use of torture by French forces. It also toppled the French Fourth Republic in 1958. The Évian Accords of March 1962 led to independence in July.

Legacy

Estimates of the number of dead vary widely, but the toll was very large. Most of the European settlers left Algeria, and the war left deep marks on both countries and influenced anti-colonial movements elsewhere.