The History of Algeria: Colonization, Resistance, and Independence
Fexingo History · North Africa
The History of Algeria: Colonization, Resistance, and Independence
Algeria’s past is a crucible of civilizations, from the Numidian kingdoms and Roman Africa to the rise of the Rustamid imamate and the Ottoman regency. This show, hosted by Lucas and Luna, plunges into the violent rupture of French colonization after 1830 — the conquest that devastated the indigenous society, the land seizures that turned peasants into sharecroppers, and the settler colonialism that created a two-tiered world. We trace the resistance of Emir Abdelkader, the Kabyle uprisings, and the crushing of the Mokrani Revolt. The 20th century brings the rise of the Parti du Peuple Algérien (PPA), the Sétif massacre of 1945, and the formation of the FLN. The war of independence (1954–1962) is explored in its brutality: the Battle of Algiers, the use of torture, the internment camps, and the OAS counter-terror. Independence under Ben Bella gives way to Boumediene’s military state, the ‘socialist’ experiment, the black decade of the 1990s civil war against the FIS and GIA, and Bouteflika’s rehabilitation. We also examine the enduring legacies: the hirak protest movement, the trauma of the war of memory with France, and the struggle for democracy today. The Casbah of Algiers and the Atlas mountains stand as silent witnesses. This is not a linear timeline but a conversation about power, identity, and the long shadow of empire.
