III.

The Outbreak of War

On November 1, 1954, FLN committees coordinated bomb attacks and assaults throughout Algeria. Almost immediately, Paris sent military reinforcements to track down suspects in rural areas. Under FLN command Algeria was divided into military zones, or wilayat, each headed by a colonel. These were Wilaya I: the Aurès Mountains in northeastern Algeria; II: the city of Constantine and the northeastern coastline; III: the Berber region of Kabylia; IV: the capital Algiers; and V: the city of Oran and western Algeria.

The first problem the FLN experienced in its expansion was a shortage of arms. Additionally, in the harsh winter of 1954 to 1955, the leader of Wilaya II was killed and the Wilaya IV commanders were imprisoned. In March 1956 another FLN colonel was killed by a booby-trapped radio. During 1954 to 1956 the French strengthened security forces throughout Algeria. Retaliations against Algerian villages were waged by both French paratroop regiments and colons and were often indiscriminate. The FLN in turn staged counterattacks, creating a climate of terror to pressure Algerians into joining them. The French government, under intensified pressure from colons, repeated assurances that Algeria would never be abandoned. Nevertheless, a new French representative, Jacques Soustelle, was sent to negotiate reforms with Algerian political moderates.