Algerian Civil War in the context of "History of Algeria"

Algeria, officially the People's Democratic Republic of Algeria, is a country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It is bordered to the northeast by Tunisia; to the east by Libya; to the southeast by Niger; to the southwest by Mali, Mauritania, and Western Sahara; to the west by Morocco; and to the north by the Mediterranean Sea. The capital and largest city is Algiers, located in the far north on the Mediterranean coast.

Algeria has been at the crossroads of numerous cultures and civilisations for millennia, including the Phoenicians, Numidians, Romans, Vandals, and Byzantine Greeks. Its modern identity is rooted in centuries of Arab Muslim migration since the seventh century and the subsequent Arabisation of indigenous Berber populations. Following a succession of Islamic Arab and Berber dynasties between the eighth and 15th centuries, the Regency of Algiers was established in 1516 as a largely independent tributary state of the Ottoman Empire. After nearly three centuries as a major power in the Mediterranean, the country was invaded by France in 1830 and formally annexed in 1848, though it was not fully conquered and pacified until 1903. French rule brought mass European settlement that displaced the local population, which was reduced by up to one-third due to warfare, disease, and starvation. The Sétif and Guelma massacre in 1945 catalysed local resistance that culminated in the outbreak of the Algerian War in 1954. Algeria gained independence in 1962. It descended into a bloody civil war from 1992 to 2002, remaining in an official state of emergency until the 2010–2012 Algerian protests during the Arab Spring.

The National Liberation Front (Arabic: جبهة التحرير الوطني, romanized: Jabhat at-Taḥrīr al-Waṭanī; French: Front de libération nationale), commonly known by its French acronym FLN, is a nationalist political party in Algeria. It was the main nationalist movement during the Algerian War and the sole legal and ruling political party of the Algerian state until other parties were legalised in 1989.

The FLN was established in 1954 following a split in the Movement for the Triumph of Democratic Liberties from members of the Special Organisation paramilitary; its armed wing, the National Liberation Army, participated in the Algerian War from 1954 to 1962. After the Évian Accords of 1962, the party purged internal dissent and ruled Algeria as a one-party state. After the 1988 October Riots and the Algerian Civil War (1991–2002) against Islamist groups, the FLN was reelected to power in the 2002 Algerian legislative election, and has generally remained in power until 2007, when it started forming coalitions with other parties.

Air France Flight 8969 (Operation Rock Climber) was an Air France flight that was hijacked on 24 December 1994 by the Armed Islamic Group of Algeria (GIA) at Houari Boumediene Airport, Algiers. The militants murdered three passengers and their intention was either to detonate the aircraft over the Eiffel Tower or the Tour Montparnasse in Paris. When the aircraft reached Marseille, the GIGN, a tier one counterterrorism and hostage rescue unit of the French National Gendarmerie, stormed the plane and killed all four hijackers. The incident led to Air France halting their flights to Algeria until 2004, two years after the end of the Algerian Civil War.

Algeria, officially the People's Democratic Republic of Algeria, is a country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It covers an area of over 2,381,741 square kilometres (919,595 sq mi), and is the largest country in Africa and the tenth-largest country in the world by land area. With a population of 47 million, Algeria is the tenth-most populous country in Africa. It is bordered to the northeast by Tunisia; to the east by Libya; to the southeast by Niger; to the southwest by Mali, Mauritania, and Western Sahara; to the west by Morocco; and to the north by the Mediterranean Sea. Algeria's largest city is Algiers, located in the far north on the Mediterranean coast.

Algeria has been at the crossroads of numerous cultures and civilisations for millennia, including the Phoenicians, Numidians, Romans, Vandals, and Byzantine Greeks. Its modern identity is rooted in centuries of Arab Muslim migration since the seventh century and the subsequent Arabisation of indigenous Berber populations. Following a succession of Islamic Arab and Berber dynasties between the eighth and 15th centuries, the Regency of Algiers was established in 1516 as a largely independent tributary state of the Ottoman Empire. After nearly three centuries as a major power in the Mediterranean, the country was invaded by France in 1830 and formally annexed in 1848, though it was not fully conquered and pacified until 1903. French rule brought mass European settlement that displaced the local population, which was reduced by up to one-third due to warfare, disease, and starvation. The Sétif and Guelma massacre in 1945 catalysed local resistance that culminated in the outbreak of the Algerian War in 1954. Algeria gained independence in 1962. It descended into a bloody civil war from 1992 to 2002, remaining in an official state of emergency until the 2010–2012 Algerian protests during the Arab Spring.

The 1992 Algerian coup d'état took place on 11 January 1992. Concerned by the FIS (Islamic Salvation Front) victory in the first round of the 1991 parliamentary election, the army took action and cancelled the electoral process to prevent the forming of an Islamic state in Algeria. The army forced president Chadli Bendjedid to resign and brought in the exiled Mohamed Boudiaf to serve as the new president.

The military argued that they had done this to "safeguard Algeria's republican institutions from political and radical Islamists" and to prevent Algeria from turning into a theocratic state. The coup led to the start of the Algerian Civil War.

The following is a list of Algerian journalists who have been assassinated by Islamist terrorism in Algeria.

The Kabyle people (/kəˈbaɪl/, Kabyle: Izwawen or Leqbayel or Iqbayliyen, pronounced [iqβæjlijən], Arabic: القبائل, romanized: al-qabā'il) are a Berber ethnic group indigenous to Kabylia in the north of Algeria, spread across the Atlas Mountains, 160 kilometres (100 mi) east of Algiers. They represent the largest Berber population of Algeria and the second largest in North Africa.

Many of the Kabyles have emigrated from Algeria, influenced by factors such as the Algerian Civil War, cultural repression by the central Algerian government, and overall industrial decline. Their diaspora has resulted in Kabyle people living in numerous countries. Large populations of Kabyle people settled in France and, to a lesser extent, Canada (mainly Québec) and United States.

The 1988 October Riots were a series of street-level disturbances and riotous demonstrations by Algerian youth, which started on 5 October 1988 and ended on the 11th. The riots were "the most serious" since Algeria's independence", and involved thousands of youth who "took control of the streets". Riots started in Algiers and spread to other cities, resulting in about 500 deaths and 1000 wounded although the official death count reports that 159 were killed with 154 protesters injured.

The riots indirectly led to the fall of the country's one-party system (Front de Libération Nationale (FLN) party had been in power since 1962) and the introduction of democratic reform, but also to a spiral of instability and increasingly vicious political conflict, ultimately fostering the Algerian Civil War.