ABSTRACT
Following one of the bloodiest wars of independence in modern history, Algeria won its freedom in 1962. While Algerians dreamed of a new, peaceful era, the complexity of the society as well as the unsettled history of the nationalist movement brought out various sociopolitical contradictions that the war against colonialism had concealed. These issues have been at the center of political and military conflict in Algeria ever since, providing the roots for the civil war that was to break out exactly 30 years later.
