- Firsts of November 1954 /1962

- November the 1st 1954, Algerians decide to free themselves, after 124 years of waiting

- a people tries to hold its head high and raise its hands to call heaven as witness.

- November the 1st 1954, Algeria entered into armed combat.

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- Repression is not long in coming, a heavy military equipment is set up,

- the iron fist descends upon, terrible, deadly, ruthless.

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- Throughout the country, day and night, reprisal operations continue.

- From Aures to Kabylie, from Collo to Tlemcen, Algeria's djebels are tinged with the blood of martyrs.

- Villages erased from the map of Algeria, mechtas reduced to ashes, men and women shredded by hails of bullets and fire, the setting of the war that spares no one.

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- The enemy has further strengthened its war potential, it flooded the country with men and equipment,

- combed the arid mountains and fertile plains, it burned forests and orchards are dead.

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- And hatred became rage and rage run amok, then from north to south, from east to west,

- men, women and children were shuffled, dispersed.

- To the west and east, north and south of Algeria,

- the exodus began, death and its shroud watched all along the road.

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- And then came relief, came safety found among friendly countries, and tears on relaxed faces did not have the same meaning here.

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- But armies, planes, guns and barbed wire have not slowed down the ardour of combatants, they swooped down on the enemy,

- harassed it day and night, and the NLA became for each enemy the acronym of nightmare and fear.

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- October the 22nd 1956, act of international piracy. The aircraft with Ben Bella, Khider, Boudhiaf, Ait Ahmed and Lachref is captured in midair.

- Ben Bella and his companions are taken prisoner.

- The enemy hopes it will strike the revolution a blow.

- Quite the contrary, the People's National Army strengthens its troops, provides them with modern weapons and a rational equipment, the combat continues.

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- Convoys, Katibas companies of ALN are crossing borders,

- their progress is silent and quick, machine guns’ strips hurt the shoulders.

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- Suffering and hunger, bite of bullets, knees that flex feeling tired,

- it doesn’t matter when one finds his kind in the village, drinks water and breaks the bread of friendship and brotherhood,

- no matter the sacrifice when one feels the same flame in all the hearts and one takes youth in his arms.

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- December 1960, engaged on all fronts, in countryside and in cities,

- inside and outside of Algeria, the struggle for independence go into a decisive phase.

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- December 1960, the revolutionary struggle enters a new stage with mass demonstrations.

- Thousands, hundreds of thousands of Algerians,

- all shout their desire for independence and freedom, for the first time since the beginning of the armed combat the green and white flag flaps free in the sky of Algeria.

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- This human wave is so powerful, so compelling, that forces of repression concentrate in large cities, to stem the tide of the wave.

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- And hands stretch to the sky.

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- A great hope is born, the end of the struggle and suffering is near. At the international level, diplomatic activity is intense.

- This activity soon leads to a positive result, negotiations as equals in Evian.

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- Inside this castle of Aulnoy, that Ben Bella and his companions made famous, men are working to establish a cease-fire plan.

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- And agreements on cease-fire and cooperation are signed, it is March the 19th, 1962, 5:00 p.m.

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- And these companions of Aulnoy are released as thousands of brothers who hoped in prisons and internment camps.

- At the borders, the People's National Army prepares its battalions for the parade.

- And here especially, in the camp of Menag near Kahf,

- Ben Bella and hundreds of refugees attend a military ceremony commanded by Colonel Boumediene.

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- Sounds of war and explosions gradually faded, then they turned off.

- Sick, bent by more than 7 years of war, Algeria slowly tends its wounds.

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- The borders are opened again, returns are organized with the help of the People's National Army, joy is in the heart and impatience on faces,

- and the homeland is near, it is behind these rails, and secular olive tree kept the freshness of yesteryear.

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- Soon July the 1st, 1962, and a page of Algerian history will be turned, new slogans,

- the color of hope covers the walls of cities and villages.

- End of June 1962, the two communities of Algeria regain confidence,

- Christians and Muslims learn again to live together.

- Cities shake off the dust amassed during the long months of war,

- the new face of Algeria takes shape, hastily Algerians install themselves, get back to the street, the apartment, for a moment forgotten.

- July the 1st 1962, with their massive vote, nearly 6 million of Algerians will resolutely move Algeria towards his fate of young free nation.

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- The exile is over, and here in Setif, Ferhat Abbas finds peace on highlands.

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- July the 5th 1962, Algeria is independent, in the whole country it is the excitation of a people who dared.

- Throughout Algeria, songs of joy have replaced shouts of anger.

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- These sufferings have vanished before the enthusiasm of the crowd, a smile lit up its face, he found its native land,

- and around him a voluntary people, and it is the triumphal march of Mr. Ben Bella to Algiers.

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- In its turn, the People's National Army headed by Colonel Boumediene enters the capital.

- For months, city-dwellers have followed day by day efforts of these fighters in djebels and today they are there before them.

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- The ballot for the election of the first National Assembly knows the same enthusiasm than on July the 1st.

- Christians and Muslims, with the same want to build the country, rush to polling stations.

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- Algeria is now out of provisional arrangement, it became the People's Democratic Republic of Algeria,

- the first Algerian government was born, with Mr. President Ahmed Ben Bella.

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- But revolution is not over, it took on a different face, and many problems arose, urgent, almost insurmountable.

- Cities and countryside had to be cleaned up, schools had to be reopened and Algerian children have returned to school.

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- A Court of Justice and a First Chamber have been established.

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- Factories had to be reopened, and workers have run machines once again.

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- Agriculture had to be revitalised, and tractors have ploughed the furrows.

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- Abroad, the diplomacy does not relax in its efforts, and this is the departure of Algerian delegation to New York.

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- And the admission of the Democratic Republic of Algeria into the UN,

- the wise and enlightened speech of President Ben Bella.

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- The return to Algiers of the delegation is triumphant, Algeria goes on proudly towards its destiny.

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- Algerian flag has been hoisted to the mast of United Nations, and nothing or nobody now can prevent it from flapping.

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