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Ahmed Ben BellaFirst President of Algeria
Date of Birth: 25.12.1918
Country:  Algeria |
Biography of Ahmed Ben Bella
Early Life and Military Service
Ahmed Ben Bella, the first President of Algeria and often regarded as the "father of the Algerian nation," was born in a small village in western Algeria into a Sufi Muslim family. In 1918, Algeria was considered an integral part of France. Ben Bella attended school in Tlemcen but was unable to complete his education. In 1936, he volunteered for the French army, as it was one of the few ways for Algerian Muslims to achieve social advancement in the colonial period. Ben Bella was sent to Marseille, where he played as a central midfielder for the football team "Olympique" from 1939 to 1940. He was offered a professional football career and the opportunity to stay with the team, but he declined. In 1940, Ben Bella reenlisted in the army and was awarded the French Military Cross. After France's defeat in 1940, he was demobilized but joined the First Moroccan Infantry Division, with which he fought in Italy. He was promoted and awarded the Military Medal for bravery. He was recommended for an officer's rank but declined after learning about the suppression of the Algerian uprising by French forces in the city of Setif and its surrounding areas in May 1945. In 1945, he joined the Algerian People's Party, founded earlier by Messali Hadj.
Political Activism and Imprisonment
In 1947, after his election, Ben Bella established an underground organization called the "Special Organization" with the goal of armed resistance against France for Algeria's independence. This organization became a precursor to the National Liberation Front (FLN) founded in 1954. In 1951, Ben Bella was arrested and sentenced to eight years in prison. He managed to escape from the Blida prison, first fleeing to Tunisia and then to Egypt. At the beginning of the Algerian War in 1954, Ben Bella was in Cairo, where a revolution had taken place two years earlier. He became one of the nine members of the Revolutionary Committee of Unity and Action that led the newly formed FLN. In 1956, his plane was intercepted and forced to land in France, resulting in his arrest and imprisonment until 1962. His arrest led to the resignation of France's Foreign Minister, Alain Savary. While in prison, he learned Arabic, despite his native language being French. Like many Arab nationalist figures of the time, Ben Bella was a follower of Nasser and advocated for close ties with Egypt.
Presidential Years and Later Life
After Algeria's independence was recognized by France, Ben Bella quickly gained popularity. In June 1962, he declared his claim to leadership. This initially sparked disputes within the FLN between his supporters and the supporters of Prime Minister Ben Youssef Ben Khedda, but these disputes quickly ended due to Ben Bella's growing popularity, particularly within the military. By September, Ben Bella effectively controlled the entire country. He won the elections on September 29, 1962, and was appointed Prime Minister. On October 8, Algeria became the 109th member of the United Nations. In 1963, during the Algerian-Moroccan border conflict, Ben Bella emerged victorious. After stabilizing the country, he began to use socialist rhetoric more frequently. He implemented agrarian reforms beneficial to poor peasants and introduced a policy of "self-management" on lands previously owned by the French. He attempted to balance the various factions within the Algerian government - the army, the FLN, former guerrilla movements, and the state bureaucracy - but gradually leaned towards authoritarian rule. His eccentric behavior and cult of personality alienated many former allies, and by 1964, he devoted more time to foreign policy than domestic affairs. On April 30, 1964, Ahmed Ben Bella was awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union. In 1965, Ben Bella was overthrown in a military coup organized by his former friend and military leader, Houari Boumédiène. He remained under house arrest until 1980 when he was allowed to travel to Switzerland. He lived in Lausanne as a political refugee for 10 years before being granted permission to return to Algeria in 1990. In 2003, Ahmed Ben Bella was elected President of the International Movement Against the Invasion of Iraq. In an interview after his return to Algeria, he described himself as an Islamist and peacemaker. Although he was the founder of a one-party state, he later advocated for democracy in Algeria. Ben Bella was a controversial political figure but earned widespread respect for his role in the anti-colonial struggle, and many Arab intellectuals consider him one of the last founders of Arab nationalism. In his later years, Ahmed Ben Bella served as the Chairman of the Council of Elders of the African Union, an organization aimed at resolving and preventing conflicts and mediating on behalf of the African Union Commission.
