Blackwell Reference Online

Extract

Mohamed Ahmad Ben Bella is an Algerian politician considered to be the father of modern Algeria. He is an Arab nationalist who fought in the struggle against colonialism. Ben Bella was born December 25, 1918 in Maghnia, Algeria, into a family of Sufi Muslims. He attended school at Tlemclen where the anti-Moslem prejudice of his European teacher deeply affected him. In 1936 Ben Bella joined the French army. During the early stages of World War II he was awarded the Croix de Guerre. After the fall of France he was demobilized. He then joined a Moroccan infantry unit and fought in the Italian Campaign. He was then promoted to the rank of warrant officer and was awarded the Medaille Militaire for bravery. In 1945 Ben Bella was offered a commission in the French army but he refused it after learning of reprisals against the Algerian town of Setif following a revolt by Muslims in May of 1945. Turning instead to politics, he won election as a municipal councilor. While serving as a municipal councilor Ben Bella founded a secret organization, the Organisation Speciale, dedicated to the overthrow of French colonialism. The underground organization was the predecessor of the Front de Liberation Nationale (FLN). In 1951 Ben Bella was arrested and sentenced to prison for eight years. He escaped and fled first to Tunisia and then to Egypt. While in Egypt Ben Bella served as a member of the Revolutionary ... log in or subscribe to read full text