Hisn Al-Mateen Bloc marks the 70th anniversary of the outbreak of the 1 November 1954 Revolution

The Hisn Al-Mateen Bloc Institution is celebrating today, Friday, the 70th anniversary of the outbreak of the Liberation Revolution, a historic event that highlights the standing of a victorious Algeria after a long struggle that began on 1 November 1954 and lasted seven and a half years, culminating in independence and the restoration of national sovereignty.

The spark of the greatest liberation movement in modern history was a simple proclamation, in which its authors stated that this movement, embraced by the Algerian people, placed “the national interest above all petty and mistaken considerations of persons and prestige” and that “the struggle will be long, but victory is certain”.

The November Revolution was the last chapter of a resistance that began when the colonisers set foot in Algeria in 1830. The crimes against humanity committed by the French war machine, especially the massacres of 8 May 1945, weighed heavily in shaping the idea of armed struggle. National consciousness grew with the founding of parties and associations, then the Special Organisation, up to the historic meeting of the Group of 22 on 23 June 1954 in the heights of Algiers, which gave rise to the Group of Six that prepared the Revolution on 23 October 1954 — showing the world that this was an organised revolution, not the guerrilla war claimed by the French administration.

After a hard struggle and great sacrifices, the Algerian people overcame one of the mightiest colonial powers, and have since kept the same determination, inherited from their moudjahidine and martyrs, to defend their homeland against all plots targeting its security, stability and unity.

Since the change brought about by the Algerian people five years ago, with the election of Abdelmadjid Tebboune as President of the Republic, the country has seen historic achievements in every field, driven by the ambition of a victorious Algeria — “an Algeria with its head held high, an Algeria of patriotism and dignity”, as the President stressed in his message on National Emigration Day.

Seventy years after the 1 November 1954 Proclamation, the founding document of a sovereign, democratic and social Algerian State within the framework of Islamic principles, Algeria remains committed to its spirit, a cornerstone of its new Constitution, for the values of national cohesion, unity and inclusive dialogue it enshrines. That is why President Tebboune insists on strengthening the internal front and on a participatory approach, having announced an open national dialogue to “plan together the course the country will take towards genuine democracy”.

While looking to the future, Algeria celebrates the 70th anniversary of its glorious Revolution firmly attached to truth and fairness on the memory file, which extremist circles seek to falsify or consign to oblivion, at a time when the question of memory needs a new spirit of courage and integrity to overcome the complex of the colonial past.