" If there was one politician who personified the blood-soaked process of sudden political and social change, then it was Ben Bella" (1)

Ahmed Ben Bella (December 1916 – 11 April 2012), was the primary leader of the Algerian War of Independence (1954-1962) He serves as the first prime minister in Algerian history from 1962-1963 and then as the first president from 1963-1965.(2) On June 19, 1965, Ben Bella was dethroned from the president position by Boumedienne, who later declared himself as president. However, that could not devalue the fact that Ahmed Ben Bella was the most influential person in Algerian History. Before Ben Bella became the politician he is known for today, he, too, was a believer of French government. Ahmed Ben Bella was born in Maghnia, Algeria, and he received French education in his hometown. Ben Bella was then enlisted into French army in 1937, and was very loyal to his colonial master and his country.(3) He fearlessly combated against the nazis, fighting in battlefields all across Europe. In 1944, Ben Bella rescued his commanding officer and shortly after, he was awarded the Médaille Militaire by General Charles de Gaulle.(4) In 1945, briefly before the war ended, Ben Bella returned to Algeria with the mindset that educated western powers took great care of their colonies and allies. Unfortunately, all of Ben Bella's hopeful dreams were shattered on May 8, 1945. It was one of the bloodiest, darkest days in Algeria's history. After Germany surrendered, the Algerian citizens, who bled for the French army, displayed Algerian flag as a sign of freedom on the streets. Several French soldiers saw this "anti-colonial protest" and quickly responded by shooting, several European settlers were killed. Suddenly, a slaughter took place, and "up to 45,000 indigenous Algerians were murdered by vigilantes supported by the French army." (5) The Sétif and Guelma massacre fueled Ben Bella's determination to rebel; more importantly, it marked the beginning of the Algerian War of Independence. After the incident, Ben Bella soon became politically active, but he realized that it was impossible to achieve democratic independence through peace, especially after the rigged election of Gov. Marcel-Edmond Naegelen and French government's various attempts to assassinate him.(6) As a result, he joined forces with Messali Hadj’s underground movement and later founded the Organisation Spéciale where the organization believed that the only way to achieve independence is through violence.  

In 1950, after a failed effort to obtain funds through robbing the post office, Ahmed Ben Bella was sentenced to jail. Ben Bella managed to escape after serving only two years of his term and immediately fled to Cairo. In November 1954, Ben Bella and the Algerian émigré leaders came to two major decisions: "to create the National Liberation Front (Front de Libération Nationale [FLN]) and to order an armed insurrection against the French colonists."(7) These two decisions directly led to the Algerian War of Independence. The Algerian War of Independence was between the French army and the FLN and it lasted for 8 years, 1.5 million people were killed. The French army killed 141,000 presumed rebel combatants.(8) In 1958, 3 years before Algeria gained independence, WW2 hero De Gaulle became the leader in France, he was impressed by Algeria's self determination, and the de Gaulle government began peace negotiations with the FLN.(9) Algerian independence was officially recognized on July 5, 1962. Although Ahmed Ben Bella spent most of Algerian War in jail because he was arrested by the French military who highjacked his plane, his establishment of FLN was the most important factor to Algeria's independence. As a result, he quickly became a popular leader and was elected as the president of the country on September 15, 1963. (10)