Conquered
by the Vandals about A.D.
440, it fell from a high
state of civilization to
virtual barbarism, from
which it partly recovered
after an invasion by Arabs
about 650. Christian during
its Roman period, the
indigenous Berbers were then
converted to Islam. Falling
under the control of the
Ottoman Empire by 1536,
Algiers served for three
centuries as the
headquarters of the Barbary
pirates. Ostensibly to rid
the region of the pirates,
the French occupied Algeria
in 1830 and made it a part
of France in 1848.
Algerian independence
movements led to the
uprisings of 1954–1955,
which developed into
full-scale war. In 1962,
French president Charles
de Gaulle began the
peace negotiations, and
on July 5, 1962, Algeria
was proclaimed
independent. In Oct.
1963, Ahmed Ben Bella
was elected president,
and the country became
Socialist. He began to
nationalize foreign
holdings and aroused
opposition. He was
overthrown in a military
coup on June 19, 1965,
by Col. Houari
Boumédienne, who
suspended the
constitution and sought
to restore economic
stability. After his
death, Boumédienne was
succeeded by Col. Chadli
Bendjedid in 1978.
