The
Algerian War, also known as the
Algerian War of Independence or the
Algerian Revolution (
Berber:
Tagrawla Tadzayrit;
Al-thawra Al-Jazaa'iriyya; or
Révolution algérienne) was a war between
France and the
Algerian independence movements from 1954 to 1962, which led to Algeria gaining its independence from France. An important
decolonization war, it was a complex conflict characterized by
guerrilla warfare,
maquis fighting,
terrorism, the use of
torture by both sides, and
counter-terrorism operations. The conflict was also a
civil war between loyalist Algerians supporting a
French Algeria and their insurrectionist Algerian nationalist counterparts.