Pre-20th-Century
History
The modern state of Algeria is a relatively recent creation.
The name was coined by the Ottoman Turks in the 16th century to
describe the territory controlled by the regency of Algiers -
initially a Turkish colony. The regency broke free of the
Ottoman Empire (which at one stage spanned much of the
Mediterranean and North Africa) and founded a military republic
of unusual stability. This endured almost 300 years until
spurious diplomatic problems prompted the French to invade in
the 19th century.
Before the arrival of the French, Algeria was known to
Europeans as the Barbary (a corruption of Berber) Coast,
notorious for the pirates who preyed on Christian shipping. The
dreaded Khayr al-Din, better known as Barbarossa, was the first
regent of Algiers during this period, and at one point he held
no fewer than 25,000 Christian captives in the city. Piracy
remained a serious problem until a Barbary fleet was defeated by
the US Navy off Algiers in 1815, and it was not eradicated
entirely until the French attacked Algiers in 1830 and forced
the ruling dey (commander or governor) to capitulate.
It took another 41 years for the French to complete their
domination of the country. The main opposition came from the
charismatic figure of Emir Abdelkader, the great hero of
Algeria's nationalist movement. Abdelkader was a sherif (descendant
of the Prophet) who ruled a large slice of western and central
inland Algeria. His forces resisted the French for almost six
years before they were defeated near Oujda in 1844; Abdelkader
himself finally surrendered in 1846 and spent the rest of his
life in exile, dying in Damascus in 1883.
The French colonial authorities set about changing the face
of Algeria. Local culture was actively eliminated, mosques were
converted into churches and the old medinas (Arab cities) were
pulled down and replaced with streets laid out in neat grids.
Symbolic of the change was the conversion of the Great Mosque of
Algiers to the Cathedral of St Philippe. French rule also saw
large-scale appropriation of prime farming land for distribution
among European settlers (known as pieds-noirs ) - Italian,
Maltese and Spanish as well as French.
Modern History
The fighting that became Algeria's war of independence began
on 31 October 1954 in Batna, led by the newly formed Front de
Libération Nationale (FLN). The struggle continued for seven
years, with terror campaigns led by both native Algerians and
pied-noir settlers; it cost at least a million Algerian lives,
until French president Charles de Gaulle agreed to a referendum
on independence in March 1962. The result was a resounding six
million in favour and only 16,000 against.
FLN candidate Ahmed Ben Bella became Algeria's first
president, promising to create a 'revolutionary Arab-Islamic
state based on the principles of socialism and collective
leadership at home and anti-imperialism abroad'. He was
overthrown in 1965 by former backer Colonel Houari Boumédienne,
effectively returning the country to military rule. Boumédienne
died in 1978 and the FLN replaced him with Colonel Chadli
Benjedid, who was reelected in 1984 and 1989.
There was very little political change under Boumédienne and
Chadli, and little evidence of opposition until October 1988,
when thousands of people took to the streets in protest against
government austerity measures and food shortages. Between 160
and 600 people were killed. The government reacted by pledging
to work towards a multiparty system. Local government elections
held in early 1990 produced landslide victories for the
previously outlawed fundamentalist Front Islamique du Salut
(FIS; Islamic Salvation Front). The initial round of Algeria's
first multiparty parliamentary elections, held in December 1991,
produced another landslide for the FIS. The FLN took only 15 of
the 231 seats. At this point the army stepped in. The second
round of elections was cancelled, and FIS leaders were arrested
while others fled into exile.
All-out civil war followed. Fresh elections were held in
1995; however, Islamic parties were barred from the poll, and
the government's sweeping victory came amid widespread claims of
fraud. Hopes for peace went unfulfilled; instead, the war became
even more brutal. The Groupes Islamiques Armés (GIA), angered by
French aid to the government, extended the war to French soil
with a series of bombings and hijackings. Eventually, government
security forces began to gain the upper hand. New elections in
April 1999 resulted in a controversial victory for establishment
candidate Abdelaziz Bouteflika, a former foreign minister, who
was elected unopposed after the rest of the field claimed fraud
and withdrew.
Bouteflika quickly called a referendum on a plan to offer
amnesty to the rebels. War-weary Algerians responded
overwhelmingly with a 98% 'yes' vote, and by the end of 1999
many groups had laid down their weapons. However, elements
within the GIA remained defiant, and were suspected of
assassinating FIS leader Abdelkader Hachani in October 1999 in
an attempt to derail the peace process.
Recent History
Parliamentary elections in May 2002, won by current prime
minister Ali Benflis of the FLN, were marred by violence and low
voter turnout. Four parties boycotted the vote, including two of
the major Berber parties. To cap all the political problems,
northern Algeria was rocked by a severe earthquake in May 2003,
killing more than 2000 people. Militants from the Salafist Group
for Call and Combat (GSPC) were responsible for kidnapping 32
European travellers in the Algerian Sahara in 2003. Bouteflika
was re-elected in 2004 and in 2005 voters backed the
government's plans for a second amnesty of those involved in the
post-1992 killings.
The spectre of terrorism remains a primary concern for
Algerians. Although the GSPC announced in March 2005 that it
could be prepared to disarm and accept the government's offers
of amnesty, it then formally allied itself with Al-Qaeda in
September 2006. In January 2007, the GSPC formally changed its
name to Al-Qaeda. And Al-Qaeda claimed responsibility for the
serious bomb attacks of April 2007 which killed dozens and
injured more than 100 people. They are believed to still have
their base in Algeria's extreme southwest, close to the border
with Mali.
