Mohamed Ahmed Ben Bella (
Muhammad Ahmad Bin Balla) (
) (born December 25 1918,
MaghniaMaghnia is a town in Tlemcen Province, northwestern Algeria, near the border with Morocco. It is known for the Treaty of Lalla Maghnia between France and Abderrahman, Sultan of Morocco, which established the boundaries between Algeria and Morocco.-History:Archeologists have found evidence of...
,
AlgeriaAlgeria , officially the People's Democratic Republic of Algeria, is a country located in North Africa. It is the largest country on the Mediterranean sea, the second largest on the African continent and the eleventh-largest country in the world in terms of land area.It is bordered by Tunisia in...
) was the first
President of AlgeriaThe President is the head of state and chief executive of Algeria, as well as the commander-in-chief of the Algerian armed forces.-Powers:The President is the chairman of the Council of Ministers and the High Security Council. The President is elected to a five year term and is constitutionally...
.
Youth
Ben Bella was born in a small village in western Algeria during the height of the
FrenchFrance , officially the French Republic , is a country located in Western Europe, with several overseas islands and territories located on other continents. Metropolitan France extends from the Mediterranean Sea to the English Channel and the North Sea, and from the Rhine to the Atlantic Ocean...
colonial period to a Sufi
Muslim:A Muslim , , is an adherent of the religion of Islam. The feminine form is Muslimah . Literally, the word means "one who submits ". Muslim is the participle of the same verb of which Islam is the infinitive. Muslims believe that there is only one God, translated in Arabic as Allah...
family. He attended school in
TlemcenTlemcen is a town in Northwestern Algeria, and the capital of the the province of the same name. Its population is 132,341 as of the 1998 census. Located inland, it is located in the center of a region known for its olive plantations and vineyards. The city has developed leather, carpet, and...
and was disturbed by the discrimination towards Muslims by his European teacher. He failed his
brevet exam, and subsequently dropped out of school.
Service with French Army
Ben Bella volunteered for service in the
French ArmyThe French Army, officially the Armée de Terre , is the land-based component of the French Armed Forces and its largest. As of 2008, the army employs 133,947 regular soldiers and 24 000+ civilians...
in 1936. The Army was one of the few avenues of advancement for Algerian Muslims under colonial rule and voluntary enlistment was common. Posted to
MarseilleMarseille , formerly known as Massalia , is the 2nd most populous French city as well as the oldest city in France...
he played center mid-field for
Olympique de MarseilleOlympique de Marseille Olympique de Marseille Olympique de Marseille (also known as l'OM, is a professional French football club based in Marseille. Founded in 1899, they play in Ligue 1 and have spent most of their history in the top tier of French football...
in 1939–1940. He was offered a professional spot on the team, but rejected the offer.
Ben Bella's eldest brother had also served in the French Army during
World War IWorld War I , also known as the First World War, the Great War, and the War to End All Wars, was a global military conflict which involved most of the world's great powers, assembled in two opposing alliances: the Triple Entente and the Triple Alliance...
and died of his wounds. Two other brothers died at young ages. In 1940 Ben Bella enlisted again and was awarded the
Croix de Guerre. He was demobilised after the fall of France but joined a regiment of Moroccan tirailleurs (infantry) with whom he saw service throughout the Italian campaign. Ben Bella was promoted to the rank of
warrant officerA Warrant Officer is a member of a military organization holding one of a specific group of ranks.The rank was first used in the English Royal Navy and is today used in many other countries, essentially the Commonwealth and USA...
and received the
Medaille Militaire for bravery. He refused to accept an officer's commission after learning of the harsh French repression that followed a Muslim rising in the small Algerian town of Setif in May 1945.
Before independence
Following election as a municipal councillor Ben Bella became a founder member of an underground organisation pledged to fight colonial rule, known as the
Organisation Spéciale. This was the immediate predecessor of the
Front de Libération NationaleFront de Libération Nationale may refer to:* National Liberation Front * National Liberation Front...
. Arrested in 1951 and sentenced to eight years imprisonment Ben Bella escaped from Blida prison, making his way to Tunisia and then Egypt.
At the outbreak of the Algerian War in 1954 Ben Bella was based in Cairo where he had become one of the nine members of the Revolutionary Committee of Unity and Action which headed the
Front de Liberation Nationale. He was arrested by the French in 1956, after his airplane had been controversially intercepted and brought to France, and released in 1962. His arrest led to the resignation of
Alain SavaryAlain Savary was a French Socialist politician, deputy during the Fourth and Fifth Republic, chairman of the Socialist Party and who held ministerial functions in the 1950s and in 1981, when he was nominated by President François Mitterrand as Minister of National Education.- Life :In 1940, as...
, opposed to
Guy MolletGuy Mollet was a French Socialist politician. He led the French Section of the Workers' International party from 1946 to 1969 and was Prime Minister in 1956-1957.-Early life and World War II:...
's policies. While in prison he was elected a vice-premier of the Algerian
provisional governmentA provisional government is an emergency or interim government set up when a political void has been created by the collapse of a previous administration or regime. The early provisional governments were created to prepared for the return of royal rule...
. Ben Bella's first language was
FrenchFrench is a Romance language globally spoken by about 65 million people as a first language , by 50 million as a second language, and by about another 200 million people as an acquired foreign language, with significant speakers in 57 countries. Most native speakers of the language live in France,...
, not
ArabicArabic is a Central Semitic language, thus related to and classified alongside other Semitic languages such as Hebrew and the Neo-Aramaic languages. In terms of speakers, the Arabic macrolanguage is the largest member of the Semitic language family. It is spoken by more than 280 million people as...
. He learned Arabic while in prison. While in Egypt, Ben Bella met the Egyptian president, Gamel Abdel Nasser. When Abdel Nasser brought Ben Bella to speak for the first time to an Egyptian audience, he broke into tears because he could not speak
ArabicArabic is a Central Semitic language, thus related to and classified alongside other Semitic languages such as Hebrew and the Neo-Aramaic languages. In terms of speakers, the Arabic macrolanguage is the largest member of the Semitic language family. It is spoken by more than 280 million people as...
. It has been said that he refused to teach his own daughter French because he wanted her to learn Arabic first and not be in the same position he was. Like many
ArabArab people or Arabs are an ethnic group whose members identify along linguistic, cultural or genealogical grounds...
militants of the time, he would come to describe himself as a "
NasseristNasserism is an Arab nationalist political ideology based on the thinking of the former Egyptian President Gamal Abdel Nasser. It was a major influence on pan-Arab politics in the 1950s and 1960s, and continues to have significant resonance throughout the Arab World to this day. It also...
" and developed close ties to Egypt even before independence was achieved. Abdel Nasser's material, emotional and political support of the Algerian movement would come to cause him troubles, as it played a major role in France's choice to wage war on him during the 1956
Suez CrisisThe Suez Crisis, also referred to as the Tripartite Aggression, was a military attack on Egypt by Britain, France, and Israel beginning on 29 October 1956....
.
Due to Pakistan's support to the cause of Algerian struggle for self determination and independence, Ben Bella was given a Pakistani diplomatic passport in order to make his foreign travels possible in the face of the international hunt down by the French and their allies. Ben Bella also traveled on a Pakistani diplomatic passport during the years of his exile from Algeria in 1980's.
Algerian independence
After
AlgeriaAlgeria , officially the People's Democratic Republic of Algeria, is a country located in North Africa. It is the largest country on the Mediterranean sea, the second largest on the African continent and the eleventh-largest country in the world in terms of land area.It is bordered by Tunisia in...
's independence was recognized, Ben Bella quickly became more popular, and thereby more powerful. In June 1962, he challenged the leadership of Premier
Benyoucef BenkheddaBenyoucef Benkhedda was an Algerian politician. He headed the third GPRA exile government of the National Liberation Front , acting as a leader during the Algerian War...
; this led to several disputes among his rivals in the FLN, which were quickly suppressed by Ben Bella's rapidly growing number of supporters, most notably within the armed forces. By September, Bella was in control of Algeria by all but name, and was elected as premier in a one-sided election on 20 September, which was recognized by the United States on September 29.
AlgeriaAlgeria , officially the People's Democratic Republic of Algeria, is a country located in North Africa. It is the largest country on the Mediterranean sea, the second largest on the African continent and the eleventh-largest country in the world in terms of land area.It is bordered by Tunisia in...
was admitted as the 109th member of the
United NationsThe United Nations is an international organization whose stated aims are facilitating cooperation in international law, international security, economic development, social progress, human rights, and the achieving of world peace...
on 8 October 1962.
In 1963 he was elected President in an uncontested election, and also led Algeria's costly but ultimately victorious defense against
MoroccanA Moroccan is something of, from, or related to Morocco, a country in North Africa.The term may also refer to:* A person from Morocco, or of Moroccan descent. For information about the Moroccan people, see Demographics of Morocco and Culture of Morocco...
invasion in the
Sand warThe Sand War or Sands War occurred along the Algerian-Moroccan border in October 1963, and was a Moroccan attempt to claim the Tindouf and the Bechar areas that France had annexed to French Algeria a few decades earlier.- Background :...
. After stabilizing the country, Ben Bella embarked on a series of popular but somewhat anarchic land reforms to the benefit of landless farmers, and increasingly turned to socialist rhetoric. His policy of Autogestion, or self-management, was adopted after the peasants seized former French lands. In balancing factions within the Algerian government, notably the FLN army, the former guerrillas and the state bureaucracy, his rule became increasingly autocratic. Eccentric and arrogant behaviour towards colleagues is said to have alienated many former supporters, and, while he promoted the development of his own cult of personality, by 1964 he was dedicating more time to foreign affairs than local political developments. In 1965, Ben Bella was deposed by army strongman and close friend
Houari BoumédiènneHouari Boumediène served as Algeria's Chairman of the Revolutionary Council from 19 June 1965 until 12 December 1976, and from then on as President of Algeria to his death on 27 December 1978.- Background :Mohamed Ben Brahim Boukharouba was born near...
in 1965, and placed under house arrest until 1980, when he was granted exile in
SwitzerlandSwitzerland , officially the Swiss Confederation , is a federal republic consisting of 26 states named cantons, with Bern as the seat of the federal authorities...
. He lived for 10 years in
LausanneLausanne is a city in Romandy, the French-speaking part of Switzerland, situated on the shores of Lake Geneva , and facing Évian-les-Bains and with the Jura mountains to its north-west. Lausanne is located some northeast of Geneva. It is the capital of the canton of Vaud and of the district of...
, but was allowed to return to his homeland in 1990.
Ahmed Ben Bella was awarded the title
Hero of the Soviet UnionThe title Hero of the Soviet Union was the highest distinction in the Soviet Union, awarded personally or collectively for heroic feats in service to the Soviet state and society.-Overview:...
on April 30 1964
Recent activities
Ben Bella was elected President of the
International Campaign Against Aggression on IraqThe International Campaign Against Aggression on Iraq is a campaign umbrella group launched in Cairo 2003, at the Cairo Anti-war Conference, to oppose the invasion of Iraq....
at its
CairoCairo is the capital of Egypt and the largest city in the Arab World. Nicknamed "The City of a Thousand Minarets" for its preponderance of Islamic architecture, Cairo has long been a center of the region's political and cultural life...
Conference. Ben Bella has described himself numerous times in interviews as an Islamist of a mild and peace loving flavor. Despite his former one party state he now vocally advocates democracy in Algeria. He has described the militant voice rising in the Islamic world as having developed from an incorrect and faulty interpretation of
IslamIslam Islam Islam ( al-’islām,
[There are ten pronunciations of Islam in English, differing in whether the first or second syllable has the stress, whether the s is or , and whether the a is pronounced as in father, as in cat, or (when the stress is on the i) as in the a of sofa...]
. He is a controversial figure, but widely respected for his role in the anti-colonial struggle, and seen by many Arab intellectuals as one of the last original
Arab nationalistsArab nationalism is a nationalist ideology which rose to prominence amongst Arabs from the early 20th century onwards. Its central premise is that the peoples and countries of the Arab World, from the Atlantic Ocean to the Arabian Sea, constitute one nation and are bound together by their common...
.
President Ben Bella is currently Chairperson of the African Union Panel of the Wise, which serves the purpose of a conflict prevention and mediation unit of the AU Commission.
External links
- Ben Bella's biography from rulers.org
- Profile of the ruler
- French Biography
- BBC on June 20, 1965 – on the coup against Ben Bella.
- The Liberation of the People in the South is still Unachieved by Ahmed Ben bella, Voltaire Network
The Réseau Voltaire is an international non-profit organisation, based in Paris. It states that it aims at promoting freedom and secularism , that is separation of church and state, faith and politics. Chaired by Thierry Meyssan, new changes in the group's political orientation led to a split in...
, May 9 2006
- Che Guevara, Cuba, And The Algerian Revolution by Ahmed ben Bella, The Militant, Vol. 62 / no 4, February 2 1998