Democratic Union of the Algerian Manifesto (in French: ''Union Démocratique du Manifeste Algérien'') was a political party in colonial

Algeria ) , image_map = Algeria (centered orthographic projection).svg , map_caption = , image_map2 = , capital = Algiers , coordinates = , largest_city = capital , relig ...

founded in 1946 by

Ferhat Abbas Ferhat is a Turkish given name and the Turkish spelling of the Persian name Ferhad ( fa, فرهاد, ''farhād''). It may refer to: Given name Ferhad * Ferhad Ayaz (born 1994), Turkish-Swedish footballer * Ferhad Pasha Sokolović 16th-century Ott ...

, who was then elected deputy. The UDMA reflected the change in Abbas' point of view. He considered that after the failure of the implementation of significant reform, the assimilation of the

Algerian people This article is about the demographic features of the population of Algeria, including population density, ethnicity, education level, health of the populace, economic status, religious affiliations and other aspects of the population. Ninety-on ...

into

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

as French citizens was no longer a viable alternative. He then advocated an autonomous state within the French framework; no longer would Algeria be considered a province of

; rather it would be an autonomous state within the French federalist system. UDMA won the elections to the Constituent Assembly in June 1946, by gaining 11 of the 13 seats devoted to the colonized population of Algeria. After 1948, fraud in the elections prevented nationalist parties from any significant success in the elections. Nevertheless, the UDMA took part in the electoral campaign. After the creation of the FLN (National Liberation Front) and the beginning of the War for Independence, negotiations took place to discuss the UDMA's merging with the FLN. In the end, it was decided that the UDMA, like the

Algerian Communist Party The Algerian Communist Party (french: Parti Communiste Algérien; ar, الحزب الشيوعي الجزائري) was a communist party in Algeria. The PCA emerged in 1920 as an extension of the French Communist Party (PCF) and eventually beca ...

, would dissolve and that its members would individually join the FLN. Ferhat Abbas and

Ahmed Francis Ahmed Francis (12 November 1910 – 31 August 1968) was an Algerian politician and nationalist, born in Relizane in a family originally from Miliana. After studying medicine in Paris, France, where he got his doctorate in 1939, Ahmed retur ...

, two of the most prominent party leaders, fled to Cairo and joined the FLN leadership.

Sources

*Tlemcani, Rachid, ''State and Revolution in Algeria''. Boulder: Westview Press, 1986. *Rahal, Malika, « Reconsidérer l’UDMA, la place des réformistes dans le mouvement national algérien », ''Vingtième siècle. Revue d’histoire'', n°83, 2004. 1946 establishments in Algeria Defunct political parties in Algeria Political parties established in 1946 Political parties with year of disestablishment missing {{Algeria-party-stub