Historical independence

History: Algeria

From the FLN's 1954 launch of the war, through its rivalry with the MNA and the OAS's campaign against independence, the Évian Accords, the July 1962 referendum, independence, the pied-noir exodus and harki killings, to UN membership and one-party FLN rule.

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The war begins: FLN, MNA and OAS

The Front de libération nationale (FLN) launched the Algerian War of Independence on 1 November 1954 with roughly 70 coordinated attacks, an episode known as "Toussaint Rouge."[1]

· Other

Toussaint Rouge, 1954

The FLN launched roughly 70 coordinated attacks across Algeria, marking the start of the Algerian War of Independence.

The FLN fought not only France but also the rival Mouvement National Algérien (MNA), founded in Paris in December 1954 by Messali Hadj; the fratricidal FLN-MNA conflict is estimated by one scholarly source at over 6,000 dead and around 12,000 wounded, and included the May 1957 Melouza massacre. The MNA was excluded from the nationalist coalition by mid-1956 and from the eventual Évian negotiations.[2]

From January/February 1961, the Organisation de l'armée secrète (OAS), a settler paramilitary founded in Madrid by colon activists and dissident French military figures, waged a campaign of bombings and assassinations to prevent Algerian independence, to which one source attributes roughly 2,000 deaths between 1961 and 1962.[3]

The Évian Accords

France and the Algerian Provisional Government (GPRA) signed the Évian Accords on 18 March 1962 at Évian-les-Bains, ending the Algerian War of Independence. The accords provided for a ceasefire from 19 March 1962 and a referendum on Algerian self-determination.[4]

· Agreement

Évian Accords, 1962

France and the Algerian Provisional Government signed the Évian Accords, ending the Algerian War of Independence and providing for a ceasefire and a self-determination referendum.

French voters approved the accords in a domestic referendum on 8 April 1962, with 90.75% in favour.[4]

The 1962 referendum and independence

Algerians voted on 1 July 1962 on whether Algeria should become an independent state co-operating with France. Of votes cast, 99.72% were for independence, on a turnout of 91.88% of registered voters.[5]

· Referendum or popular consultation

Algerian self-determination referendum, 1962

Algerians voted on 1 July 1962 on whether Algeria should become an independent state co-operating with France under the terms of the Évian Accords; 99.72% of votes cast were for independence.

France declared Algeria independent on 3 July 1962.[6]

· Declaration

Independence of Algeria, 1962

France declared Algerian independence on 3 July 1962, two days after the self-determination referendum.

Published estimates of total war deaths vary enormously: the Algerian state's official figure is 1.5 million; French historian Benjamin Stora and other French scholarship put the toll at roughly 400,000-500,000; and the wider range cited across sources runs from about 350,000 to over 1 million. This history does not adopt any single figure as fact.[7]

The 1962 exodus and post-independence transition

Independence brought a mass exodus of roughly 800,000 French settlers (pieds-noirs) to France in the summer of 1962, far exceeding French government projections of 200,000-300,000.[8]

French-sourced estimates put the number of harkis (Algerian Muslims who had served French forces) killed by the FLN after independence at more than 60,000, out of roughly 250,000 present in Algeria in 1962; only a minority reached France.[9]

The FLN established a one-party state: Ahmed Ben Bella became prime minister in 1962, and a new 1963 constitution declared the FLN the sole legal party; Ben Bella was elected president unopposed in September 1963 with 99.61% of the vote.[10]

United Nations membership

The Security Council recommended Algeria's UN membership on 4 October 1962, and the General Assembly admitted the Democratic and Popular Republic of Algeria on 8 October 1962.[11][12]

· Recognition

Admission of Algeria to the United Nations, 1962

Following the Security Council's recommendation, the General Assembly admitted the Democratic and Popular Republic of Algeria as a member of the United Nations.

Recent French acknowledgment, without apology

In the 2020s, France partially acknowledged the war following a January 2021 report commissioned by President Emmanuel Macron from historian Benjamin Stora, but Macron has repeatedly stated, including in January 2023, that France will not issue a formal apology for the colonisation of Algeria or the war.[13]

Sources for this page

Each number marks a specific claim. Notes give the source, its locator and how it relates to the claim.

  1. 1.

    Claim: The Front de libération nationale (FLN), formed from the earlier Comité révolutionnaire d'unité et d'action (CRUA), launched the Algerian War of Independence on 1 November 1954 with roughly 70 coordinated attacks across Algeria, an episode known as "Toussaint Rouge" ("Red All Saints' Day").

    • National Liberation Front (Algeria) (Wikipedia) link, Founding and 1 November 1954 launch section. Source record
  2. 2.

    Claim: The Mouvement National Algérien (MNA) was founded in Paris in December 1954 by Messali Hadj, splitting from the earlier MTLD, in reaction to the FLN's launch of the war; the resulting fratricidal FLN-MNA conflict has been estimated by one scholarly source at over 6,000 dead and around 12,000 wounded on both sides of the Mediterranean, including the May 1957 Melouza massacre, and the MNA was excluded from the nationalist coalition by mid-1956 and from the 1962 Évian negotiations.

    • Algerian National Movement (Wikipedia) link, Founding and exclusion section. Source record
    • The FLN-MNA conflict during the Algerian War of Independence (British Journal of Middle Eastern Studies (Taylor & Francis)) link, Casualty estimate and Melouza massacre section. Source record
  3. 3.

    Claim: The Organisation de l'armée secrète (OAS) was founded in January/February 1961 in Madrid by colon activists Pierre Lagaillarde and Jean-Jacques Susini, with military leadership including Generals Raoul Salan, Edmond Jouhaud and Marie-André Zeller, in response to the 8 January 1961 self-determination referendum, waging a campaign of bombings and assassinations intended to keep Algeria French; one source attributes roughly 2,000 deaths to this campaign between April 1961 and April 1962.

    • Organisation armée secrète (Wikipedia) link, Founding, leadership and campaign section. Source record
  4. 4.

    Claim: The Évian Accords were signed on 18 March 1962 at Évian-les-Bains, France, by Louis Joxe for France and Krim Belkacem for the Algerian Front de libération nationale (FLN) and Provisional Government (GPRA), ending the Algerian War of Independence; the accords provided for a ceasefire from 19 March 1962, phased French military withdrawal (excluding the Mers El Kébir naval base), and a referendum on Algerian self-determination, and were approved by French voters in a domestic referendum on 8 April 1962 with 90.75% in favour.

    • Horne, Alistair, A Savage War of Peace: Algeria 1954-1962 (Viking Press, 1977) , chapters on the Évian negotiations. Source record
  5. 5.

    Claim: A referendum on Algerian self-determination was held on 1 July 1962, asking "Do you want Algeria to become an independent state, co-operating with France under the conditions defined in the declarations of 19 March 1962?" Of 6,017,680 votes cast (91.88% of 6,549,736 registered voters), 5,975,581 (99.72%) were for independence and 16,534 (0.28%) were against.

    • Nohlen, Dieter; Krennerich, Michael and Thibaut, Bernhard, Elections in Africa: A Data Handbook (Oxford University Press, 1999) , Algeria chapter, election results table. Source record
  6. 6.

    Claim: France declared Algeria independent on 3 July 1962.

    • Horne, Alistair, A Savage War of Peace: Algeria 1954-1962 (Viking Press, 1977) , concluding chapter. Source record
  7. 7.

    Claim: Published estimates of total deaths in the Algerian War of Independence (1954-1962) vary enormously by source: the Algerian government's official figure is 1.5 million "martyrs"; French historian Benjamin Stora and related French scholarship estimate roughly 400,000-500,000 Algerian deaths; and the wider range cited across sources runs from about 350,000 to over 1 million. No single figure is adopted as fact in this bundle; each is presented as attributed to its source.

  8. 8.

    Claim: In the summer of 1962, approximately 800,000 French settlers (pieds-noirs) fled Algeria for France, far exceeding French government projections of 200,000-300,000 temporary returnees.

  9. 9.

    Claim: Approximately 250,000 harkis (Algerian Muslims who had served French forces) were present in Algeria in 1962; only around 40,000-90,000 (including later family reunification) reached France, and French-sourced estimates cited by Franceinfo put the number killed by the FLN after independence at more than 60,000.

    • 60 ans des accords d'Évian (Franceinfo) link, Harki population and casualty estimates section. Source record
  10. 10.

    Claim: Following independence, Ahmed Ben Bella became prime minister in 1962; a new constitution adopted in 1963 declared the FLN the sole legal party, and Ben Bella was elected president unopposed on 15 September 1963 with 99.61% of the vote on an 89% turnout.

    • Ahmed Ben Bella (Wikipedia) link, Premiership and 1963 presidential election section. Source record
  11. 11.

    Claim: On 4 October 1962 the Security Council, having examined Algeria's application for UN membership, recommended to the General Assembly that the Democratic and Popular Republic of Algeria be admitted, by 10 votes to none with one abstention (China).

    • United Nations Security Council, Security Council resolution 176 (1962) (United Nations, 4 October 1962) link, resolution text and voting record. Source record
  12. 12.

    Claim: The UN General Assembly decided to admit the Democratic and Popular Republic of Algeria to membership in the United Nations at its 1146th plenary meeting on 8 October 1962, following the Security Council's recommendation of 4 October 1962.

    • United Nations General Assembly, General Assembly resolution 1754 (XVII): Admission of the Democratic and Popular Republic of Algeria to membership in the United Nations (United Nations, 8 October 1962) link, operative paragraph and meeting note. Source record
  13. 13.

    Claim: Following a report on the Algerian War commissioned from historian Benjamin Stora and released in January 2021, French President Emmanuel Macron stated there would be "no repentance nor apologies" for the French occupation or the war, while pledging symbolic acts of acknowledgment; he reiterated in January 2023 that he would not apologise for the colonisation of Algeria.

    • Macron will not apologise for French colonisation of Algeria (Al Jazeera) link, Macron statement section. Source record

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Printed from https://independenceatlas.com/movements/algeria/history · last substantive update 24 September 2026.