The regulation and supply stage 1956 AD - 1958 AD

The zones’ leaders  decided to meet six months after the outbreak of the revolution, however the circumstances prevented it from happening, the mains ones were the following: imposing a state of emergency across the whole national territory, in addition to the martyrdom of Didouche Morad on January 18th 1955 in the “Boukerker” battle near Ismendo.

First: The congress

On August 20th 1956, some of the zones’ leaders attended the meeting, and some others were absent for security reasons. The objective of the meeting was to put a uniform regime for the military and political action for all the zones to follow, clarifying the objectives of the November 1st call, with the study of the updates of the Algerian political configurations and the French authorities. Those who attended the meeting were: Zighoud Youcef, Abban Ramdane, Karim Belkacem, Ammar Ouamrane, Amirouche, Larbi Ben M’hidi, Lakhdar Ben Tobal, Mostefa Ben Aouda.

Second: The congress decisions

The congress took many important decisions in many aspects:

a.   The political organizations:

The National Council of the Algerian Revolution NCAR

The supreme body is considered as the revolution’s parliament, in which all the spectrums were represented except for the communists, and it included 30 members where half of them were permanent: Ait Ahmad Hocine, Farhat Abbas, Ahmad Ben Bella, Abban Ramdane, Youcef Ben Khedda, Larbi Ben M’hidi, Rabah Bitat, Mohamed Boudiaf, Saad Dahlab, Mohamed Khaidar, Karim Belkacem, Ahmad Taoufik Al-Madani, Zighoud Youcef, Mohamed Lamine Debaghine. The other 15 were adjunct members: Abdelhamid Mehri, Mohamed Benyahia, Ammar Laskri, Ben Aouda, Ben Tobal, Boussouf, Mohamed Cherif, Slimane Dehiles, Ahmad Francis, Lamouri, Ahmad Mehsas, Ali Mellah, Ibrahim Mazhoudi and Tayeb Taalibi.

Moreover, the council was holding its meetings outside of the country, the first cycle was set off in 1957 in Cairo, the second one between December and January 1959 in Tripoli, and the third one in February 1962 in Tunisia. The council’s missions were as it follows:

–To guide the policy of the internal and external Liberation Front.

–The council was the only body that had the right to take any desired  crucial decisions about the country.

–Only the council  had the right to order to either cease-fire or continue the war.

The coordination and execution committee CEC: It represented the executive authority of the revolution and it was composed of 5 members in the beginning, who were:

Larbi Ben M’hidi, Youcef Ben Khedda, Karim Belkacem, Abban Ramdane, Saad Dahlab and Laarbi Ben M’hidi was the leader. This committee was accountable to the national council of the Algerian revolution whose tasks were as it follows:

– To execute the decisions of the national council of the Algerian revolution, to whom it was accountable.

–The coordination between the cities, and between the inside and the outside of the country. It operated on the national territory in the beginning, then had to out-migrate in July 1957 after the death of Laarbi ben M’hidi, and the arrest of the leaders abroad  on October 22nd 1956 AD.

It also identified its tasks in the political field:

–Organizing and leading people.

–Publicity and Media.

–The psychological warfare: Reaching out to people, the European minority, and the war’s prisoners.

–Financing and supplying.

–Administration and People’s councils that were composed of 5 members and their president shall elect, and be responsible for the civil status, and the Judicial, religious, financial, political affairs, in addition to the security.

Also in the military organization field:

b.   The military organizations:

The military organizations consisted of:

Algeria was divided into six war states,and each state was divided into zones, and each zone into sides, and each side into sectors

–First state: Al Aouras, Nememcha

–Second state: North Constantine

–Third state: Kabylie

–Fourth state: The capital Algiers and suburbs

–Fifth state: The Algerian west

–Sixth state: The desert

The organization of the National Liberation Army: Establishing a staff body, and military interests group specialized in military, security, political, economical, and social affairs. Then, the army was divided as the following:

1– The Mujahideen:

2– The sacrificer and the guerilla: They practiced armed action with the civil uniform, and their missions were to organize the genocide operations and to provide the army with information, news, and different services.

Organizing the army in units

The congress decided to make regiments composed of 11 soldiers including one sergeant and two corporals, and half of the regiments was composed of 5 soldiers including one lance corporal. The group included 35 soldiers (three regiments, their leader and his delegate). The battalion was composed of 110 soldiers and 5 senior officials). The corps was formed of 350 soldiers (three battalions and 20 senior officials)

The ranks:

Lance Corporal: who is distinguished by an reversed red V sign put on the right arm.

Corporal: two reversed V signs.

Lance Corporal: Three reversed V signs.

Adjunct: a V sign with a white mark on the bottom.

sergent: one white star.

Sub-Lieutenant:

Lieutenant: one red star, and one white star.

Captain: two red stars.

Commandant: two red stars and one white star.

Colonel : three red stars.

Leader of the state: the colonel and his deputies in the rank of commandants.

Leader of the zone: a captain and his three delegates in the rank of lieutenant.

Leader of the side: sub-lieutenant and his three delegates in the rank of a sergeant.

Leader of the sector: an adjunct and his three delegates in the rank of corporal.

The signs are a star and red crescent on the hat.

The Soummam congress’ outcome:

– It allowed the revolution to put a global regulatory system politically and militarily.

– Clarified the revolutionary path for the internal and external public opinion.

– It gave a new and big impulse to the revolution.

– It was a crucial political victory.

– It allowed to bridge the gaps that the revolution experienced since the outbreak.

The revolution’s evolution from 1956 to 1958

Due to the Soummam congress, the revolution was more coherent and structured, and it expanded across the country to include most of the cities in addition to the desert. Moreover, the liberation army encouraged the agriculturists to increase their production to meet the needs of the revolution, and it also opened schools, established hospitals, and provided aid for the refugees and the disaster victims.

In this stage, the revolution’s emphasis was on the following four fronts:

a.   To continue the Jihad on the conventional front, so the Mujahideen were on a winning streak in the battles, including: The Ammoura mountain battle (October 1956), Collo (May 1957), Bouzagza (August 1957), Tighrine-Akbou (October 1957), Timimoun (November 1957), Al-Khaifa mountain (March 1958), and Annaba (1958) where 60 Mujahid faced thousands of French soldiers, they killed hundreds of them and shot 3 aircraft down for 33 martyrs. Furthermore, in October 1956, France diverted an airplane belonging to the Moroccan Airways that was on a flight from Morocco to Tunisia, and hijacked the leaders of the revolution who were on board, including: Ben Bella, Ait Ahmad, Boudiaf, and Khaidar, thinking that it would be able to destroy the revolution through this piracy, however, it did not affect the path of the revolution whose popularism was manifested and was able to make thousands of leaders due to the Algerian people’s determination to gain freedom and independence. Consequently, the Moroccan counter-attacked and killed a number of French people in Meknes city, and France’s attempt to strike the rearguard of the revolution, by conducting aggressive raids on the village “Sakiet Sidi Youcef'' located on the Tunisian borders that resulted in the death of more than 100 unarmed civilians on the pretext of the alleged shooting of their aircraft.

b.   The capital served as space for revolutionary actions with doubling the genocide actions. It reached its peak during the first seven months of 1957, and in its midst the martyr Laarbi ben M’hidi was arrested and assassinated in March 1957 AD.

c.   The visibility of the political entity of the revolution on the international stage to gain a position worthy of a state, and the revolution was able to make its voice and affair reach the liberals of the world, and international forums. Therefore, it embraced the General Assembly of the United Nations in its eleventh round on February 17th 1957 AD, and on December 12th and 13th 1957 recommendations about searching for a peaceful, democratic, and equitable settlement for the Algerian matter were submitted. Adding to that, the National Liberation Front participated in the Tenger conference in Maghreb Al-Aqsa from the 27th to April 4th 1958 along with the independence party (Morocco) and the constitutional party (Tunisia), and it gained the support of the attendees for the principle of establishing an interim Algerian government.

d.     Political action in France to attract our community there, also to gain the sympathy of the progressive authorities, and it was the first time a revolution moved the war to the enemy’s territory.