| 1965 Algerian coup d'état | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 | |||||||
| |||||||
| Casualties and losses | |||||||
| No casualties reported. | |||||||
  Nexus of coup in Algiers (marked green), Algeria | |||||||
The1965 Algerian coup d'état brought ColonelHouari Boumédiène to power as Chairman of theRevolutionary Council inAlgeria. The bloodlesscoup d'état saw Algeria's first President,Ahmed Ben Bella, arrested and his closest supporters imprisoned by Boumédiène and his allies, principally in theAlgerian Land Forces. The arrest of Ben Bella occurred on 19 June 1965.
.jpg)
Following theAlgerian War of Independence (1954–1962), with the help of thenChief of Staff Houari Boumédiène and theNational Liberation Army (ALN), Ahmed Ben Bella was elected as Prime Minister in September 1962, ousting former Prime MinisterBenyoucef Benkhedda. Owing to his support of Ben Bella, Boumédiène was appointed Defense Minister by Ben Bella and remained in this position until 1976.[1]
From 1962 to 1965, Ben Bella governed in an often erratic manner and centralized more and more government institutions by appointing himself the Secretary General of theParty, minister of the Interior, and the head of other bodies.[1] Concerns of Ben Bella's demagogic behavior pervaded the Algerian government, with many government cadres coming to Boumédiène to voice their worries and complaints about the President.[2]
Boumédiène spent time traveling in early 1965, making trips toBaghdad,Cairo, andMoscow. In Cairo, he represented Algeria at a summit ofArab countries and met withSoviet leadership in Moscow.[3] In April 1965, Ben Bella ordered local police to report directly to him rather than through the normal channels in the Ministry of Interior. The interior minister, Ahmed Medeghri, one of Boumédiène's closest associates, resigned in protest.[4] By late May, Boumédiène had begun having serious conversations with leading government figures, mostly in the army, on removing Ben Bella. The three central initial conspirators allied to Boumédiène were Abdelkader Chabou, Djamel, and Hocine, however by early June the circle of conspirators had grown to include Chief of Staff of the ANP, Tahar Zbiri, the commander of the 1st military region ("l'Algerois"), and other regional officers throughout Algeria.[1]
Final impetuses for the coup include:
By mid June, there was a feeling of emergency within the army, leading many commanders to agree to execute a plan that they had no real knowledge of. The coup plan was designed carefully, with Boumédiène's goal being to execute "the most elegant coup d'etat" in recent memory.[9] A friend of Ben Bella attempted to warn him about the coup on the 16th, but Ben Bella dismissed him. "Marionnettes (puppets) such as them are not capable of carrying out a coup," he replied.[10]
On the evening of 18 June 1965, the leaders of the coup set the plan to remove Ben Bella in motion. That night, Boumédiène remained at his office where he supervised the coup execution that was broadly entrusted to commander Chabou, one of the first conspirators. As president, Ben Bella took residence at a place named the ‘Villa Joly’, located in Algiers. Typically, guards of the Compagnies nationales de securite (CNS) protected the compound and the guards changed shifts at 8:00pm every night; however, on 18 June Ahmed Draia, director of security, ensured that the new guards for the night shift weredjounoud loyal to the military.[11]
At 1:00am, Boumédiène orderedtanks to be deployed throughout thecapital at strategic positions such asGrande Poste d'Alger,Radio-Télévision Algérienne, andPlace de l'Émir-Abdelkader [fr] (the seat of the party at the time).[12] The filmThe Battle of Algiers was being shot in the capital at the time, and many onlookers thought the military movement was connected to shooting the movie.[13] Around 1:30am, Tahar Zbiri, Said Abid, and colonel Abbes approached Villa Joly and were let in by the replacement guards at the entrance. Tahar Zbiri awoke Ben Bella, who slept on the sixth floor, and stated “On behalf of the Revolutionary Council, I have orders to arrest you on the charge of high treason.” The three military officers allowed Ben Bella to get dressed and then took him in a car to a location in the city of Maison-Carrée, 20 kilometers from Algiers, where he was placed underhouse arrest. Zbiri reported to Boumédiène: "Mission accomplished."[7][12] Ben Bella would remain under house arrest until 1980 and would not return publicly to Algeria until 1990.[14]
By 3:00am on 19 June, the coup was effectively over with no bloodshed.
On 19 June, Boumédiène broadcast a radio address which stated that the removal of Ben Bella was necessary to ensure continuity of the revolution. He accused Ben Bella of attempting to hijack the Afro-Asian Unity Conference for personal gain without regard to the other countries of the organization. Boumédiène announced that Algeria would not be able to host the conference under these circumstances but expressed his support for the ideals of the organization.[15] However, the Pan-African Cultural Festival (PANAF) with attendees from all over the world, including theBlack Panthers, would be organized by the Boumédiène administration in 1969 and held in Algiers. In the speech he also called Ben Bella acharlatan and an adventurist, possibly a reference to Ben Bella's support ofNiger rebels using Algeria as a safe haven for their activity against theDiori government in Niger, something Boumédiène never supported.[16] Another radio announcement by Kaïd Ahmed on the same day stated that the "instability, demagogy, anarchy, lies, and improvisation" of Ben Bella's government were over.[17]
On 19 and 20 June people began protesting against the coup and chanting pro-Ben Bella slogans; the new government attempted to disperse the protests, but the local police, not military elements were used to maintain order in most instances.[18][19] In Algiers, between two and three thousand people roamed the streets, calling for the assassination of Boumédiène. Radio addresses repeatedly called for calm, and sometimes threatened the protesters. Several people were arrested, including 50 French far-left supporters of Ben Bella.[13]
On 5 July, Boumédiène announced the creation of the Revolutionary Council (RC) with himself serving as president of the RC,Minister of Defense, and President of the Council of Ministers. Boumédiène announced that the RC's two main goals were economic self-reliance and independent of foreign influence to the Algerian people and internally the RC sought to endregionalism, solidify thestate, and to reform thewilayahs.[18]
Boumédiène's first travel abroad was in September 1965 toCasablanca at an Arab summit followed by a summit for theOrganization of African Unity (today theAfrican Union) in October. The RC began the country's firstcensus in December at the same time Boumédiène visited Moscow for the second time in 1965. On the anniversary of the coup, he addressed the Algerian people again and reemphasized his goals to end regionalism, move progressively toward socialism, keep Algeria 'Algerian', resist foreign influence, support former freedom fighters, and remove remaining French bases from the Sahara.[20] One year after the coup, Boumédiène pursued these goals by visiting the Eastern, Western,Tiaret, andOasis wilayahs and progressively nationalizing industries such as mining to guard against foreign interference. He also reorganized the FLN in June 1966.[3] In 1965, there were 2 million unemployed workers and Boumédiène pursued arealist-based policy approach to stabilize the Algerian economy, state, and society while building "a socialism which conforms to the realities of the country."[21]
