A Blog by the Editor of The Middle East Journal

Putting Middle Eastern Events in Cultural and Historical Context

Thursday, November 1, 2012

Toussaint Rouge, Algeria, 1954

Fifty-eight years ago today the Algerian War of Independence (or the Algerian Revolution as Algerian nationalists know it), began with a series of attacks by the National Liberation Front (FLN) that became known as Toussaint Rouge, or "Bloody All Saints' Day," after the Catholic feast on November 1. Some 30 separate attacks left seven people dead; the date is traditionally marked as the beginning of the long war that ultimately divided France, brought on the Fifth Republic, and culminated in Algerian independence in 1962, Today it is celebrated as the Anniversary of the Revolution.

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