The uprising of November 1, 1954, began a war that lasted until 1962. This sequence includes an earlier view of colonial Algiers, a portrait of the organizers, later wartime photographs, an official document and a diplomatic arrival. Each image carries its own date; none is presented as a photograph of the opening attacks.
Topic: Algerian War and independence
01 / 06
The colonial city before the uprising
This photochrom view looks toward Algiers from the admiralty around 1899, more than half a century before the war. Its color was produced by a photomechanical printing process. The image establishes the older colonial city behind the 1954 confrontation; it does not show the conditions or crowds of November 1.
Photo details
Date
Circa 1899; underlying photograph made before 1899
Location
Algiers, French Algeria
Photographer
Unknown photographer; photochrom by Photoglob Zürich
Archive / collection
Library of Congress, Photochrom Print Collection, ppmsc.05513
Unknown photographer; photochrom by Photoglob Zürich / Library of Congress, Photochrom Print Collection, ppmsc.05513. Public domain; Library of Congress reports no known restrictions on reproduction.
02 / 06
Six organizers before November 1
The 1954 studio portrait brings together six leading organizers. Standing from left are Rabah Bitat, Mostefa Ben Boulaïd, Didouche Mourad and Mohamed Boudiaf; seated are Krim Belkacem and Larbi Ben M’hidi. The photograph predates the uprising, although the precise day is not recorded.
Photo details
Date
1954, before the uprising; exact day not recorded
Location
Bab El Oued, Algiers, French Algeria
Photographer
Unknown photographer
Archive / collection
Algerian Ministry of Moudjahidines; historical scan via Wikimedia Commons
Unknown photographer / Algerian Ministry of Moudjahidines; historical scan via Wikimedia Commons. Public domain under the archive’s PD-Algeria-photo-except designation.
03 / 06
The urban network two years later
This group photograph is cataloged to about 1956. It includes Djamila Bouhired, Yacef Saadi, Hassiba Ben Bouali, Samia Lakhdari, Ali la Pointe and Zohra Drif, together with Saadi’s nephew Omar. It belongs to the later urban struggle in Algiers, not to the initial attacks of November 1954.
Photo details
Date
Circa 1956
Location
Algiers, French Algeria
Photographer
Unknown photographer
Archive / collection
Reproduced in Jacques Massu, La vraie bataille d’Alger, Plon, 1971; Wikimedia Commons
Unknown photographer / Reproduced in Jacques Massu, La vraie bataille d’Alger, Plon, 1971; Wikimedia Commons. Public domain under the archive’s PD-Algeria-photo-except designation.
04 / 06
Algerians serving with the French army
An official French military photograph shows armed Harkis moving along a ridge near Nemours, now Ghazaouet. These Muslim Algerian auxiliaries served with French forces. The archive dates the scene to about 1960, although its digital upload is much later. Their presence complicates any simple picture of two uniform national camps.
Photo details
Date
Circa 1960; exact date uncertain
Location
Near Nemours, now Ghazaouet, Algeria
Photographer
Unidentified French military photographer
Archive / collection
State Archives of North Carolina, Richard M. Hunt Papers, MMP 1
Unidentified French military photographer / State Archives of North Carolina, Richard M. Hunt Papers, MMP 1. No known copyright restrictions, as stated by the State Archives of North Carolina.
05 / 06
The ceasefire in the official record
The French Official Journal published this page on March 20, 1962. It records the arrangements associated with Évian, reached on March 18, with the ceasefire beginning March 19. A published agreement is evidence of a political settlement; it should not be read as proof that every act of violence stopped on that date.
Journal officiel de la République française / Journal officiel, page 3019, March 20, 1962. Licence Ouverte 1.0; credit the French Official Journal.
06 / 06
Independent Algeria at the White House
Ahmed Ben Bella walks with President John F. Kennedy during an arrival ceremony on October 15, 1962. Algeria had become independent that summer. The photograph closes the sequence with diplomatic recognition rather than a battlefield: a movement that announced its aims in 1954 was now represented abroad by the head of a government.
Photo details
Date
October 15, 1962
Location
White House, Washington, D.C., United States
Photographer
Abbie Rowe
Archive / collection
White House Photographs, John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum, Boston; AR 7540-H
Abbie Rowe / White House Photographs, John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum, Boston; AR 7540-H. Public domain: work of a United States federal government employee in official duties.
