Messali Hajj

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Messali Hajj

Ahmed Ben Messali Hadj ( Arabic مصالي الحاج, DMG Maṣālī al-Ḥāǧǧ ; * March 16, 1898 in Tlemcen , Algeria ; † June 3, 1974 in Gouvieux , France ) was an Algerian nationalist politician who dedicated himself to the independence of his homeland from France. He was a co-founder of the Étoile Nord-Africaine , Parti du peuple algérien and the "Mouvement pour le Triomphe des Libertés Democratiques" before he broke away from the armed struggle for independence in 1954. He was also the founder of the "Mouvement national Algérien", which sought to counteract the efforts of the " Front de Liberation Nationale " (FLN).

origin

Messali was the son of a shoemaker. He left both French and Arabic educational institutions without qualifications, but spoke High Arabic and French fluently. He was a member of the Sufi order of the Derkawa, who propagated an egalitarian society without rich and poor. During the First World War, Messali was drafted into the French army.

background

In 1927 Messali Hadj became the leader of an Algerian workers' association founded in Paris . In the same year he took part in the anti-imperialist congress organized by the League Against Imperialism in Belgium and met Ho Chi Minh in Vietnam . After returning to France and in his native Algeria, Messali helped organize an underground movement to achieve Algeria's independence. In the 1920s he founded the Étoile Nord-Africaine (North African star), one of the first nationalist organizations in Algeria, and in 1937 the Parti du peuple algérien (PPA). Both groups were persecuted in France; Messali was tried in November 1937 and imprisoned for several years.

Radicalization in Algeria

In May 1945 national uprisings and clashes between French troops and Algerians during World War I celebrations led to explosions of violence; Tens of thousands of Algerians were killed. Many concluded that independence could not be achieved by peaceful means.

Messali founded the Mouvement pour le Triomphe des Libertés Démocratiques (MTLD) in 1946 . He was under house arrest in Brittany , France and was not allowed to travel to Algeria. His group was considered moderate, but his revolutionary ideals alienated parts of Algeria as conservative applicable Muslim society. Messali became the main symbol of Algerian nationalism among Algerian workers in France, while the FLN and other grassroots groups increased their influence in Algeria.

Leader of the MNA

After the outbreak of the Algerian War of Independence in 1954, which was started against his will, Messali founded the Mouvement national Algérien MNA ( Algerian National Movement ). There were clashes between the supporters of Messalis and the FLN; he led the only socialist party that did not take part in the struggle for independence. The armed wing of the FLN, the Armée de Liberation Nationale (ALN), switched off the MNA guerrilla warfare apparatus in Algeria at the beginning of the war; the hand-to-hand struggle continued in France during the so-called " café wars " over control of the expatriate community. In 1958, Messali backed President de Gaulle's proposals , and France presumably tried to play up the internal rivalries of the nationalist movement. During the mediation talks in 1961, the FLN refused MNA participation, causing new outbreaks of violence.

After independence

When Algeria gained independence from the Charles de Gaulle government in 1962 , Messali tried to turn his group into a legitimate political party , but to no avail - the FLN seized power over Algeria as a one-party state .

Messali Hadj remained in exile near Paris with little influence on Algerian politics. He died in 1974. Tlemcen - Zenata - Messali El Hadj airport was named after him.

literature

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ [1] www.bookrags.com English
  2. ↑ Martin Evans: Algeria - France's undeclared war , Oxford, 2012, pp. 57f
  3. ↑ Georges Fleury: La Guerre en Algérie, 2nd edition, Paris, 2006 p. 21
personal data
SURNAME Messali Hajj
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Messali Hadj, Ahmed Ben
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Algerian nationalist politician
DATE OF BIRTH March 16, 1898
PLACE OF BIRTH Tlemcen
DATE OF DEATH 3rd June 1974
Place of death Gouvieux