The Congress of Soummam was the founding act of the modern

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

n State, and a crucial element of success of the Algerian war for independence. It took place on 20 August 1956 when the FLN's leadership within Algeria met secretly in the ''Soummam valley'' (Ighbane and Ifri at Ouzellaguen) to compose a common platform and create a new organizational structure.

The Soummam platform

The ''Soummam platform'' reaffirmed the international strategy first outlined by Aït Ahmed. Rather than a military victory, it looked for "the total weakening of the French army to make victory by arms impossible." In the process, the FLN would establish their bona fides as Algeria's legitimate government and adhere to international law. To that end, the ''Congress of Soummam'' formed a five-man ''Comité de Coordination et d'Exécution'' (CCE) consisting of

Abane Ramdane Abane Ramdane (June 10, 1920 – December 26, 1957) was an Algerian political activist and revolutionary. He played a key role in the organization of the independence struggle during the Algerian war. His influence was so great that he was know ...

, Ben M'hidi, Krim Belkacem,

Benyoucef Benkhedda Benyoucef Benkhedda ( ar, بن يوسف بن خدة; February 23, 1920 – February 4, 2003) was an Algerian politician. He headed the third GPRA exile government of the National Liberation Front (FLN), acting as a leader during the Algerian W ...

and

Saad Dahlab Saad Dahlab (b. in Ksar Chellala, April 18, 1918 - d. December 16, 2000 in Algiers) was an Algerian nationalist and politician. A long-time national activist, he played a part in virtually all the early Algerian nationalist movements: L'Étoile ...

—the last two formerly Central Committee members of the MTLD. A larger ''Conseil National de la Révolution Algérienne'' (CNRA) would serve as the supreme authority. In the meantime, the FLN intended to engineer such social and economic disruption in the metropole and Algeria as to make it impossible for France to continue the war. Equally important, it would work for "the political isolation of France—in Algeria and in the world. The three guiding principles of the FLN were codified: the primacy of the political over the military; the primacy of the interior over Exterior; and the concept of collective leadership at all echelons. Measures to increase support among the Algerian population and to eliminate opposing groups were adopted, and terms were laid down for any future peace negotiations with the French, including the very important provision that there should be no cease-fire before the French recognized Algerian independence. The negotiating points adopted at Soummam were subsequently adhered to without modification until independence was achieved in 1962.

Titular members

The National Council of the Algerian Revolution, designed after the conference was composed of 34 members: 17 titular, and 17 alternates. * Mostefa Ben Boulaïd * Youssef Zighout * Belkacem Krim * Amar Ouamrane * Larbi Ben M’Hidi * Rabah Bitat *

Mohamed Boudiaf Mohamed Boudiaf (23 June 1919 – 29 June 1992, ar, محمد بوضياف; ALA-LC: ''Muḥammad Bū-Ḍiyāf''), also called Si Tayeb el Watani, was an Algerian political leader and one of the founders of the revolutionary National Liberat ...

* Ramdane Abane *

Ahmed Ben Bella Ahmed Ben Bella ( ar, أحمد بن بلّة '; 25 December 1916 – 11 April 2012) was an Algerian politician, soldier and socialist revolutionary who served as the head of government of Algeria from 27 September 1962 to 15 September 1963 ...

* Mohamed Khider * Hocine Aït Ahmed * Med Lamine Debaghine * Idir Aïssat *

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 ...

* M’hamed Yazid *

Benyoucef Ben Khedda Benyoucef Benkhedda ( ar, بن يوسف بن خدة; February 23, 1920 – February 4, 2003) was an Algerian politician. He headed the third GPRA exile government of the National Liberation Front (FLN), acting as a leader during the Algerian W ...

* Taoufik El Madani

Alternate members

* Ben Boulaïd's Assistant *

Lakhdar Ben Tobbal Slimane Bentebal (1923, Mila, Algeria – 21 August 2010), better known as Lakhdar Bentobal, is a former Algerian resistance fighter. Biography Lakhdar Bentobal was a member of the nationalist Parti du peuple Algérien (PPA), and later moved ...

* Saïd Mohammedi * Slimane Déhilès *

Abdelhafid Boussouf Abdelhafid Boussouf ( ar, عبد الحفيظ بوصوف; 17 August 1926, Mila, Algeria – 31 December 1980 Paris, France) was an Algerian nationalist and a leader of the Front de libération nationale (FLN) during the Algerian War of Indepe ...

* Ali Mellah * Saâd Dahlab * Salah Louanchi * Mohammed Ben Yahia *

Abdelhamid Mehri Abdelhamid Mehri (April 1926 – 30 January 2012) was an Algerian resistance fighter, soldier and politician.Rabah Beldjenna, Abdelhamid Mehri est décédé lundi à Alger, ''El Watan'', 30 January 2012 Born into a destitute family in Constant ...

* Tayeb Thaâlibi * Mohammed Lebdjaoui *

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 ...

* Aïssa Ben Atallah *

UGTA The General Union of Algerian Workers (UGTA, French: ''Union Générale des Travailleurs Algériens'', Arabic: الاتحاد العام للعمال الجزائريين) is the main Algerian trade union, established February 24, 1956 with the obj ...

* Brahim Mezhoudi * Abdel-Malek Temmam

References

{{Reflist Algerian War 1956 in Algeria 1956 conferences