Africa

ALGERIA - HISTORY

From 8000 BCE: First traces of people living in what is today’s Algeria. These were probably the forefathers of today’s Berbers.
From 1100 BCE: Start of Phoenician influence in the region. Colonies established in today’s Tunisia.
Around 200 BCE: Kingdom of Numidia is established by Massinissa, who operates as an ally of Rome, motivated by the growing force of Carthage (today’s Tunisia).
106 BCE: Numidia is subdued by Rome. A prosperous time for the region begins, but it is Romans living in the area who benefits most from this. Numidia is supplying Rome with grain, wine, fruits and olive oil.
4th century CE: Economical decline in the Roman empire results in a dramatic fall in revenues in Numidia.
310-330: Christian Donatist movement, which was a rebellion against Rome’s supremacy.
430: Vandals destroyed the Roman rule in North Africa, and the region was dissolved into many small kingdoms.
534: Algeria is conquered by Justinian, and becomes a part of the East Roman Empire.
Around 670: Arab conquest. The woman Kahina is leading the Berber resistance.
8th century: Berbers form their own kingdoms, and take Shi’i Islam as their creed.
1060-1143: Almoravids rule. They extend their kingdom to Spain.
1130-1269: Almohads are ruling, with Tlemcen as their capital. While the ruling structures were dissolved slowly, Algeria prospered economically and culturally.
1269: With the fall of the Almohads, city states rule independently, but there are strong competition between them. Many Algerian ports prosper from income from sea piracy.
1492: With the fall of Grenada, Moors take refuge in Algeria, settling mainly in the west.
1509: Spain starts taking over control of important ports in Algeria.
1510: Tlemcen becomes a vassal state under Spain.
1519: Most of Algeria is conquered by the Ottomans, who were called for by the Muslims, in order to liberate them from the Spaniards. Some of the most important ports remain Spanish for yet some decades. Algeria enjoys much freedom under the Ottomans, and continues to prosper from corsair activities. The old Roman name ‘barbar’, which they had used for all foreigners, is in this period used more and more for the people of North Africa, eventually naming the peoples of this region ‘Berber’.
Late 18th century: European powers get more and more advanced compared to Algeria, and can suppress the corsair activities of the North African ports.
1815: American attacks on Algiers, in revenge of piracy.
1816: Joint British- Dutch attack on Algeria, weakening the military power of the country.
1830: French occupation of Algiers, Oran and Annaba.
1834: France annexes Algeria, and has soon taken control over other ports on the Algerian coast.
1839: Abdu l-Qadir declares Jihad against the French occupants. The French had been trying to keep up the old Ottoman system of not controlling the Algerian interior by its own force, but through agreements with leaders of these regions. Abdu l-Qadir had used the years until then to build up his own strong force, which could face the French troops with the help of smart tactics as well as the hard climate.
1840: The number of Europeans present in Algeria passes 100,000.
1847: After years of burning and destroying Algerian villages the support of Abdu l-Qadir’s fight has swindled to proportions too small for a continuation. Abdu l-Qadir is arrested by the French, and eventually exiled to Damascus, Syria. From this time on, the French colonization starts for real, but it would last for more than 50 years before the entire Algeria was controlled. The Algerian economy favours Europeans in all aspects of life, and the agriculture activities of the country were fitted to the needs of France.

1870: Rebellion in the Kabylies, with the son of Abdu l-Qadir as one of the leaders. This happens at the very same time as there is a war between France and Germany. The rebellion is cruelly suppressed, and the best soil of the Kabylies is taken from the population and given to European settlers.
1879: Northern Algeria is declared part of France. Europeans living in Algeria could receive full citizenship, but the Algerians could only obtain this after renouncing Islam. But while all Algerians were considered French subjects, they could not hold public meetings, carry weapons, or move around the country without permission.
1901: Algeria gets economical autonomy.
1920s: Algerian nationalism is developed among Algerians who were disappointed by not receiving full equality with the French, even after they had adjusted to French culture.
1930: The Muslim population passes 5 millions.
1942: Algeria becomes the seat of de Gaulle’s exiled government, during World War 2.
1945: Clash in Constantine, where several thousand Algerians are killed, as well as more than one hundred Europeans.
1947: Algerian parliamentary assembly, with equally many Muslims as Europeans, is set. But this institution never gets sufficient support from either side to become effective.
1954: The committee, that soon came to be called Front de Libration Nationale, FLN, is established in Egypt, by Algerian exiles. The FLN starts guerrilla activities and terrorism in Algeria, mainly in the countryside. France responds by installing troops in Algeria, and at the most they had 400,000 stationed in the country. The strategy of FLN to create fear, is soon copied by the French, and horrible acts are committed from both sides.
1956: The fights spread to the cities. The French are gaining ground.
1958: Heavy pressure is put on the French government from French opposition and French settlers in Algeria to find a solution to the conflict.
-May 2: De Gaulle is asked to form a new government in France, as there is a deep political crisis in the country.
1959: De Gaulle surprises the Europeans of Algeria, with declaring that he would allow Algeria to chose between independence or continued association with France.
1960, 1961: Unsuccessful revolts against de Gaulle in France, performed by army generals.
1961 January 8: 70% in Algeria, and 76% in France, votes for geographically restricted independence for Algeria.
1962 March 18: The agreement of Evian. FLN, the French government, and the Algerian exile government, agrees that independence is to be given to Algeria after a transitional period, and after referendums in both Algeria and France. 100,000 French and about 1,000,000 Algerians are estimated to have been killed in the 8 years of fighting.
April 8: 91% votes in favour of Algerian independence. The French nationalists do not accept this, and continues with terror attacks.
April 20: The leader of the French nationalists, Raoul Salan, is arrested and transported to France.
July 1: 99,7% Algerians vote for independence.
July 3: Independence is proclaimed. Mass emigration of Europeans starts, even if their protection and full civil rights are guaranteed. Algeria is left with a desperate lack of skilled labour.
August 3: FLN and the exile government GPRA join forces, and agrees on arranging elections.
September 28: Ahmed Ben Bella forms the first government of free Algeria.
1965: Minister of defence Houari Boumedienne arranges a coup, where Ben Bella is evicted, but without bloodshed. Ben Bella’s power had for some time been growing on the cost of the National Assembly. Boumedienne takes supreme power for himself. Algeria makes full use of its oil resources, and enters the international arena, as a revolutionary, effective, fast growing third world country.
1976: Algeria is declared a socialist state, under control of the FLN. Boumedienne gets himself elected president.
1978 December 27: Boumedienne dies. Benjedid Chadly is elected as the new president. His politics becomes a continuation of Boumedienne’s, but with less fierce control of the country.
1980: “Spring of Kabyle”, where a rebellion against Arab cultural and political dominance, takes place in Tizi Ouzou, and also in Bejaa. Nobody gets killed, but this incidence is very important for Kabyle identity, facing the Arabization of Algeria.
1988: Protests in Algiers and some other cities against the politics of the government. At least 500 youths get killed in Algiers.
1989: A new constitution allows other political parties than FLN.
1990: Front Islamique du Salut, FIS, wins the provincial and municipal elections, and defeat FLN with a large margin.
1992: After the first round of the national elections, where the FIS wins clearly, Chadly is forced to resign by a group of military and civilian officials. Elections are cancelled, and state of emergency is declared. Muhammad Boudiaff is elected new president, but he is assassinated later the same year. After him a five member presidency is acting in the place of the president. Fights commence, where the Islamists attack all associated with the governments, people acting in what they see as an immoral manner, as well as foreigners from selected countries (countries supporting the governments France is one of the main targets). The government sends military troops and police forces against the Islamists, as well as their supporters.
1994: Liamine Zeroual is named new president of Algeria. He chooses a hard line politics facing the Islamists.
1995: The government forces are getting the upper hand in the fights, and the FIS is losing much of its popular support.
November 16: Multi-party elections are held with Liamine as the winner, with around 60% of the ballots. The elections were strongly criticised by several political groups in Algeria, with accusations on falsification of the results, but foreign observers declared the elections to be free and fair.
1996: Less fighting than earlier years, but killing of 7 Christian monks in April destroyed much of the image of FIS among Algerians, even if FIS declared that they had nothing to do with this. Since August there have been several actions with as much as 100 people killed. Most of these actions have been between Islamist groups and government troops, but there were attacks on civilians in northeastern Algeria in August leaving many people dead. The authenticity of some of the actions have been questioned.
November 28: It is reported that the referendum on a new constitution gave an overwhelmingly majority for the president Zeroual’s line. The new constitution involves that religiously founded parties are not allowed to participate in Algerian politics. Therefore several Islamist groups called on a public boycott, as well as some threatening with killing people casting ballots. However, it appears that as much as 75% participated in the referendum.
December 17: Algeria’s national assembly carries a decision to have the country arabized by 1998.
1997: The first half of this years sees a number of very violent actions, leaving hundreds of civilians killed, after activity from mainly the Islamist group GIA. This appeared to be especially connected to the upcoming parliamentary elections.
June 5: Parliamentary elections, that leaves Algeria with a pluralist parliament, with 10 parties represented in the 380 seat large unicameral body. No party receives majority, and there is a need for forming a coalition government. The party of president Liamine Zeroual, RND, became the largest party with 155 seats, and would probably become the strongest of the two parties forming the new government. The legal Islamist party got 69 seats. A number of aspects of the elections were criticized by Algerian and foreign observers, but in general it is believed that they were free and fair.
July 22: The leader of GIA, Antar Zouabri, is killed by government soldiers in a village west of Algiers.
August 28: In the largest massacre to date in the civil strife, 256 were killed in one village. GIA is accused for the killings.
September 22: Around 200 people were killed and many wounded in attacks in Barak county. GIA is accused for the killings.
October 23: RND wins the local elections with more than 50% of the votes. The former government party, FLN, gets 20%. There are many reports on election fraud.
1998 January 1: 412 people are killed in Reliziane province, in the worst massacre to date in the civil strife.
June 1: The new leader of GIA, Mohammad Kabaili is reported killed while trying to perform an attack in the outskirts of Algiers.
December 15: Smail Hamdani is appointed new prime minister, following Ahmad Ouyahia.
1999 April 15: Abdelaziz Bouteflika is elected new president of Algeria. All his opposing candidates withdrew their candidacy right before the election day.
June 12: FIS and AIS approves for a peace accord with the Algerian government.
July 3: Bouteflika declares amnesty for thousands of prisoners.
2000 January: FIS disbands their armed fraction, and has a majority of their militants surrender in a government amnesty program.
2001 April: Widespread protests in Kabylia, ignited by the killing of a young Berber by local police.