Historical Organization
FLN
FLN
Details
Organization Timeline
Nationalist organisers decide to launch the FLN
📅 10 October 1954A meeting of nationalist organisers resolved to transform the CRUA into the Front de libération nationale (FLN) and to begin an armed uprising on 1 November. The decision followed years of political...
The FLN launches an armed uprising against French rule
📅 1 November 1954Coordinated attacks and the FLN’s declaration marked the beginning of the war for independence. The uprising challenged French claims that Algeria was an integral part of France and demanded...
Mourad Didouche is killed in combat
📅 18 January 1955Mourad Didouche, one of the FLN’s historic organisers and a commander in the northeast, was killed during a French military operation. His death demonstrated the risks faced by the movement’s early...
The FLN launches a major offensive in North Constantine
đź“… 20 August 1955The FLN and allied villagers attacked police, military, and settler targets in North Constantine in an effort to break the image of a contained rebellion and draw attention to Algeria internationally....
The FLN’s Soummam Congress adopts an organisational platform
📅 20 August 1956Delegates met in the Soummam Valley and adopted a platform that strengthened the revolution’s political and military organisation, established national bodies, and divided the country into wilayas....
Bombs in Algiers cafés kill civilians and widen the urban war
📅 30 September 1956Bombs placed by FLN militants in the Milk Bar and Cafétéria in Algiers killed and injured civilians, including European settlers. These attacks targeted public places and must be named as violence...
French forces divert an aircraft carrying five FLN leaders
đź“… 22 October 1956French authorities intercepted and forced the landing of a civilian Moroccan aircraft carrying Ahmed Ben Bella, Mohamed Boudiaf, Hocine AĂŻt Ahmed, Mohamed Khider, and Mostefa Lacheraf. The five...
An eight-day strike demonstrates mass support for independence
đź“… 28 January 1957The FLN called a general strike that began on 28 January during the United Nations debate on Algeria. Many Algerians closed shops and withdrew from public life despite threats and military coercion....
French paratroopers arrest FLN leader Larbi Ben M’hidi
📅 23 February 1957French paratroopers arrested Larbi Ben M’hidi, a central FLN leader, during the Battle of Algiers. He was interrogated in military custody and later killed extrajudicially. French authorities...
French forces kill Larbi Ben M’hidi in custody
📅 4 March 1957Larbi Ben M’hidi was killed by French forces after being held in custody; the death was disguised as suicide. His killing was part of a wider pattern of torture, disappearance, and extrajudicial...
FLN forces massacre villagers associated with the rival MNA
📅 28 May 1957FLN fighters attacked villagers in the Melouza area, many of whom were associated with Messali Hadj’s rival Mouvement national algérien (MNA). The killings formed part of violent competition between...
A French army explosion kills Ali la Pointe and residents of the Casbah
đź“… 8 October 1957French paratroopers detonated explosives in a building in the Casbah where Ali Ammar, known as Ali la Pointe, and other FLN members were hiding. The blast killed Hassiba Ben Bouali, Mahmoud Bouhamidi,...