ABSTRACT
The decision made by Algerian nationalist leaders to achieve decolonization through military means, thereby waging a war against the French government, had a similar impact on women and men as did the French invasion of Algeria by French troops in 1830. How a woman entered the decolonization movement depended on her family circumstances, chance or direct recruitment by the National Liberation Front (FLN). Frantz Fanon, the first analyst of women's participation in the movement, presented an interpretation that is close to the FLN's official position on this issue, yet is also very personal. To understand the relationship between gender and nationalism within the Algerian context, it is crucial to unravel its connecting links with colonialism. The concept of nationalism may very well be a misnomer when its aim is to achieve decolonization. It has become commonplace at feminist meetings to cite Algerian women's participation in the war as having been for nought.
