Ben Bella played an important role during theAlgerian war of independence againstFrance, leading theNational Liberation Front (FLN), organizing the shipment of foreign weapons and coordinating political strategy fromCairo. Despite not being present in Algeria, French authorities tried to assassinate him multiple times. Once Algeria gained independence in 1962, Ben Bella'sOujda Group seized power fromBenyoucef Benkhedda'sprovisional government, and Ben Bella became prime minister of Algeria withFerhat Abbas as acting president. Ben Bella succeeded Ferhat Abbas on 15 September 1963 after rapidly sidelining him, and was elected president after winningan election with 99.6 percent of the votes.
Ahmed Ben Bella was born on 25 December 1916 in the commune ofMaghnia.[6] His father was a farmer and small-time trader. He had four brothers and two sisters. His oldest brother died from wounds received in theFirst World War, during which he fought for France. Another brother died from illness and a third disappeared in France in 1940, during themayhem of the Nazi victory.[7]
Ben Bella began his studies in Maghnia, where he went to the French school, and continued them in the city ofTlemcen, where he first became aware of racial discrimination. Disturbed by the animus against Muslims expressed by his European teacher, he began chafing againstimperialism andcolonialism and criticized the domination of French cultural influence over Algeria. During this period, he joined thenationalist movement.[8]
Ben Bella first volunteered for service in theFrench Army in 1936. The Army was one of the few avenues of advancement for Algerians under colonial rule and voluntary enlistment was common. Posted toMarseille, he played center midfield forOlympique de Marseille in 1939–1940.[9] His only appearance for the club was in a game againstFC Antibes in theCoupe de France on 29 April 1940 in Cannes,[10] during which he scored a goal.[11] Club officials offered him a professional spot on the team, but he rejected the offer. He also played forIRB Maghnia.[12]
Ben Bella enlisted again in 1940, believing that the French Army offered the best opportunity for non-discriminatory treatment of Algerians. Fighting for France during theSecond World War, he was decorated twice, receiving theCroix de Guerre after manning an anti-aircraft post during theNazi invasion in 1940. He was demobilised after the fall of France, but joined a Free French regiment ofMoroccantirailleurs (infantry) with whom he saw service throughout the Italian campaign. In Italy, he was decorated for bravery demonstrated at theBattle of Monte Cassino, during which he dragged a wounded commissioned officer to safety, assuming control of his battalion.[13] For this, he was promoted to the rank ofwarrant officer and received theMédaille militaire, the highest decoration of the Free French forces, directly fromCharles de Gaulle.[14]
On 8 May 1945, while France was celebrating Germany's surrender, widespread protests erupted in the Algerian town ofSétif. The war had intensified colonial repression of the Algerians, prompting a backlash that led to the deaths of more than 100 Europeans and around 1,500 Algerians, according to official reports.[7] Anti-colonial insurgents, however, put the number of Algerian deaths at around 10,000. The fallout from the Sétif uprising shocked Ben Bella and his Algerian companions, as they realized that France would not recognize their claim to equal treatment despite their wartime service.[15]
After theSétif and Guelma massacre in 1945, Ben Bella returned to Algeria, becoming politically active in the opposition movement against the French regime. French authorities sent assailants with the intention of assassinating him on his farm.[citation needed]
The attempt against his life failed, but the farm was confiscated and he went into hiding. After the nationalist parties had achieved great success in local elections in 1947, this was followed by the fixing of the Algerian Assembly elections in 1948 by French officials, agreed to and justified by the Socialist Governor-GeneralMarcel-Edmond Naegelen, Ben Bella became convinced that achieving democratic independence through peaceful means was illusory. Together withMessali Hadj and his party, he helped to found theOrganisation Spéciale (OS), a paramilitary organization whose strategic aim was to take up arms against the French colonial regime as quickly as possible. This group became the immediate predecessor of theNational Liberation Front. He was in charge of organizing thewilayas (regional military sections of the FLN) and supplying weapons to insurgents and getting financial support from friendly Arab countries.[16]
On 4 April 1949, Ben Bella led a robbery of the central post office in Oran to gain funds for the organization, obtaining 3 million francs which he used to buy weapons. He was eventually caught in 1950 and sentenced to eight years' imprisonment inBlida jail. In captivity, he was exposed to the writings ofSultan-Galiev, which greatly influenced him in the future.[17] He escaped soon afterwards in 1952 by cutting through his prison window bars with a knife that had been smuggled into jail in a loaf of bread, making his way toTunisia and then toEgypt, reachingCairo by 1952 where he was granted sanctuary by the presidentGamal Abdel Nasser.[18]
At the outbreak of theAlgerian War in 1954, Ben Bella was based in Cairo, where he had become one of the nine members of theRevolutionary Committee of Unity and Action that headed theFront de Liberation Nationale (FLN), founded in November that year during a secret meeting of Algerian leaders in Switzerland. The FLN soon began armed insurrection against the French colonists,[19] which became a guerilla war in Algeria.
A meeting planning for the transfer of weapons from east base to the Algerians Freedom Fighters. Ben Bella is the second from the left.
Ben Bella played an important role during the war, leading the FLN, organizing the shipment of foreign weapons and coordinating political strategy. Although he was not present in Algeria, assassination attempts against him by French authorities persisted. After national independence, he was named vice president of Algeria inBenyoucef Benkhedda's cabinet.[20]
Ben Bella and his associates were responsible for developing a system of bases and routes for providing theNational Liberation Army (ALN) in Algeria with weapons, ammunition and other supplies. The ALN logistical system was focused in Egypt and Libya in the early years of the war. Once the French occupation of Tunisia and Morocco ended in 1956, Ben Bella and his associates established a system of camps in both countries for training men and sending them into Algeria.[21]
Ben Bella felt excluded from theSoummam conference on 20 August 1956, and thus rejected it for its "secularism", the decision to integrate the European minority in independent Algeria, and the misrepresentation of delegates.[22] According toAbane Ramdane, Ben Bella's rejection of the charter was due to the fact that it was drafted byKabyles.[22] Ben Bella was also accused of not providing enough money and weapons for the cause.[16]
In 1956, he refused to receive a package delivered by taxi to his hotel in Cairo. A bomb exploded inside the taxi as it drove away, killing the driver. That same year, while in his hotel inTripoli, apied noir gunman with links to French intelligence called Jean David entered his room and fired, wounding but not killing him. The shooter was later killed by guards while fleeing, at the Libyan border.[23]
Ben Bella (far left) after his arrest by theFrench army
In October 1956, he was arrested inAlgiers by French military authorities, whohijacked the plane on which he was flying. He was kept prisoner until theEvian accords in 1962, and released on 5 July. His arrest earlier had led to the resignation ofAlain Savary, who was opposed toGuy Mollet's policies; as a prisoner during the height of the FLN terror campaign, he remained relatively untarnished by his association with the organization.
At the FLN conference in Tripoli in May–June 1962, Ben Bella repealed the Soummam conference and gave priority to the implementation of a national Arab-Islamic culture and identity of Algeria.[22]
Like manyArab revolutionaries of the time, he came to describe himself as a "Nasserist" and developed close ties to Egypt even before national independence was achieved. Nasser's material, moral and political support of the Algerian movement became a source of geopolitical trouble for Egypt, as it played a major role in France's decision to wage war against him during the 1956Suez Crisis.[24]
Due to Pakistan's support for the FLN, Ben Bella had been given aPakistani diplomatic passport to make his foreign travels possible in the face of an international manhunt co-ordinated by the French and their allies.[25][26][27] Ben Bella also traveled on a Pakistani diplomatic passport during the years of his exile from Algeria in the 1980s.[26]
After Algeria's independence, Ben Bella quickly became a popular leader. In June 1962, he challenged the leadership of the premier, Benyoucef Benkhedda. This led to several disputes among his rivals in the FLN, which were quickly suppressed by Ben Bella's rapidly growing number of supporters, most notably within the armed forces, whose chief wasHouari Boumédiènne. Boumédiènne marched his supporter troops to Algiers and Ben Bella seized power on 4 August in a coup d'état.[28] By September 1962, Bella was in control of Algeria in all but name. He was elected premier in a one-sided election on 20 September, which was recognized by the United States on 29 September. Algeria was admitted as the 109th member of the United Nations on 8 October 1962.
As prime minister, Ben Bella arranged to legalize the seizures ofautogestion spontaneously undertaken by Algerian workers. In March 1963, he drew up (with his circle of advisers) a set of decrees to nationalize all previously European-owned land. In his words, the "Tripoli program remained a dead letter, and independence and revolution made no sense, as long as Algerian soil was in hands of the big landowners".[29]
He used his position to push for the approval of the constitution drawn up by the FLN, and alienated allies.Mohammed Khider andFerhat Abbas resigned their political offices in 1963, dismayed by the dictatorial tendencies on display in Ben Bella's proposed constitution, which enshrined a one-party state and rejected political pluralism.[30] Nevertheless, this action presented no problem to the Algerian people:the constitution was approved and, on 15 September 1963, Ben Bella waselected president of the country, unopposed and with an immense majority.[31]
During his presidency, Ben Bella was confronted with the challenge of building a postcolonial state infrastructure from the ground up; the country had no independent state traditions and its senior civil servants had always been staffed by the French. Despite a predisposition toward anegalitarian way of governing and a lifestyle lacking in extravagance (he did not live in the governor's palace, and maintained an open-door policy with Algerian citizens), Ben Bella's actions in government did not always match his intentions. After stabilizing the country, he embarked on a series of initially popular but chaotically handled land reforms for the benefit of landless farmers, and increasingly turned tosocialist rhetoric.
His policy of autogestion, or self-management, was adopted after Algerian peasants seized former French lands and was inspired byMarxist Yugoslavian leaderJosip Broz Tito. He also worked on the development of his country, instituting reforms, undertaking campaigns for nationalliteracy, andnationalizing several industries[32] and calling for socialization of the economy andArabization.[33]
On many occasions, however, he improvised government policy as he went, as with his National Solidarity Fund, for which he asked the Algerian people to "voluntarily" hand over jewellery and banknotes.
In international relations, he had to maintain connections with the former colonial master France, and also accepted economic aid from both the US and theSoviet Union, as each sought to move his regime into its orbit and into opposition to the other. At the same time, Ben Bella wished Algeria to become a leader ofThird World liberation movements and of the Third World itself.[7] To strengthen relations with other colonies and former colonies, Algeria joined theNon-Aligned Movement under Ben Bella's regime, and he forged links with such African leaders as Gamal Abdel Nasser,Kwame Nkrumah,Modibo Keita andSekou Toure to aid rebel movements throughout Africa.[34]
He also established good relations withFidel Castro,Che Guevara and Cuba. After his 1962 visit, Cuba sent a health mission to Algeria, with doctors and medical help, and later sent weapons and soldiers as aid during theSand War against Morocco.[35] He was awarded the titleHero of the Soviet Union on 30 April 1964.[36]
During his tenure, Ben Bella encountered political struggles with former leaders of the FLN, including Mohammed Khider, Ferhat Abbas,Mohammed Boudiaf andHocine Aït Ahmed. Ahmed founded the Front des Forces Socialistes (Socialist Forces Front) (FFS) to confront Ben Bella, and the others joined after being alienated by Ben Bella's dictatorial leadership. In 1963, the FFS called for an armed revolt against the regime. However, it had force only in theKabylia region, and by the summer of 1964 the revolt was controlled and FFS leaders were arrested.[37]
In addition to political resistance, Ben Bella faced religious opposition. The Association of the AlgerianUlema claimed that the "state Islam" that Ben Bella wanted to achieve was not an application of true Muslim values, but rather an attempt to please the population.[38]
His government wasoverthrown in June 1965 while he was planning to host an Afro-Asian international meeting, in abloodless coup led by his defense ministerHouari Boumédiène. He was held for eight months in an underground prison, then for the next 14 years lived under house arrest.[39]
After being deposed in 1965, Ben Bella was detained for eight months in prison. He was then transferred to an isolated villa in Birouta, where he was placed under house arrest for 14 years. He was, however, permitted a private life there, and in 1971 he married Zohra Sellami, an Algerian journalist; their meeting was arranged by Ben Bella's mother. They became religiously observant Muslims, and adopted two girls, Mehdia and Nouria.[3] After Boumedienne's death in 1978, restrictions on him were eased in July 1979, and he was freed on 17 January 1980. Ben Bella briefly resided in France but was then expelled in 1983. He moved toLausanne, Switzerland, and launched theMouvement pour la Démocratie en Algérie (MDA), a moderate Islamic opposition party, in 1984. In September 1990, he returned to Algeria, and, in 1991, led the MDA in the first round of the country's abortiveparliamentary elections. He led campaigns in support of thePalestinian cause, againstUnited States foreign policy, and expressed support for theIraqi invasion of Kuwait bySaddam Hussein in 1990. The MDA was banned in 1997.[3]
In 2003, Ben Bella was elected president of theInternational Campaign Against Aggression on Iraq at its Cairo Conference. He described himself numerous times in interviews as anIslamist of a "mild and peace-loving flavour". Despite his former establishment of aone-party state after Algeria gained its independence, he became a vocal advocate for democracy in Algeria. He described the militant tendency arising in the Islamic world as having developed from an incorrect and faulty interpretation of Islam. Despite controversies, he was respected for his role in the anti-colonial struggle and was seen by many Arab intellectuals as one of the last originalArab nationalists.[original research?]
He was also the chairperson of theAfrican UnionPanel of the Wise, which is mandated to advise the AU Commission on issues relevant to conflict prevention, management and resolution. The other members of the panel at the time were PresidentMiguel Trovoada (former president of São Tomé and Príncipe), Dr.Salim A. Salim (former Secretary-General of the OAU), Dr.Brigalia Bam (Chair of South Africa's Electoral Commission) andElisabeth Pognon (former President of the Constitutional Court of Benin).[original research?]
In February 2012, Ben Bella was admitted to a hospital for medical checks. At the same time, a report circulated that he had died, but this was denied by his family.[40]
Ben Bella died on 11 April 2012 at his family home in Algiers.[41] Though the reasons of his death were unknown, he had been treated for respiratory illnesses twice at Ain Naadja. His bodylay in state on 12 April before the funeral atEl Alia Cemetery on 13 April. Algeria declared eight days ofnational mourning.[42]
Heads of state and government present at state funeral
^Robert Merle,Ahmed Ben Bella, Edició de Materials, 1965.
^Ottaway, Professor Marina; Ottaway, David; Ottaway, Marina (15 December 1970)."Algeria: The Politics of a Socialist Revolution". University of California Press.Archived from the original on 21 May 2024. Retrieved15 December 2019 – via Google Books.
^Jeffrey James Byrne, "Our Own Special Brand of Socialism: Algeria and the Contest of Modernities in the 1960s", inDiplomatic History, volume33, issue 3 June 2009, pg. 433
^Evans, Martin; Phillips, John,The anger of the dispossessed,Yale University Press, 2008, 74.
^Kang, Mani Singh, "The Legacy of the Revolutionary Algerian Statesman Ahmed Ben Bella (1916 – 2012)", on The Washington Report on Middle East Affairs, American Educational Trust, Washington, 2012,42.
^Evans, Martin; Phillips, John, The anger of the dispossessed, Yale University Press, 2008, pg. 75.
^Kang, Mani Singh, "The Legacy of the Revolutionary Algerian Statesman Ahmed Ben Bella (1916 – 2012)", onThe Washington Report on Middle East Affairs, American Educational Trust, Washington, 2012, pg. 43.
^Evans, Martin; Phillips, John, The anger of the dispossessed, Yale University Press, 2008, pg. 76.
^Evans, Martin; Phillips, John,The anger of the dispossessed, Yale University Press, 2008, pg. 77.
^Gregory, Joseph R. (11 April 2012). "Ahmed Ben Bella, Revolutionary Who Led Algeria After Independence, Dies at 93".The New York Times.
^"Algeria's first president 'in good health': daughter".The Daily Star. 23 February 2012.Archived from the original on 24 February 2012. Retrieved23 February 2012.'He left hospital today and is at home and in good health, considering he is 95,' Mehdia Ben Bella told AFP, dismissing the reports about her father's demise as 'scandalous'.
Aussaresses, General Paul,The Battle of the Casbah: Terrorism and Counter-Terrorism in Algeria, 1955–1957. New York: Enigma Books, 2010. 978-1-929631-30-8.
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