ALGERIA: A MODERN HISTORY

1830s: Algeria is conquered by the French. 1842: France annexes the country. November 1954: National Liberation Front (FLN) begins war for independence. March 1962: French government agrees to cease-fire. July 3: Independence is declared. August: Provisional government transfers functions to political bureau of FLN. September: National constituent assembly is elected and republic proclaimed. New government is formed with Ahmed Ben Bella, founder of FLN, as prime minister. September 1963: Constitution is approved; Ben Bella is elected president. But failure of FLN as active political force leaves power with bureaucracy and Army. June 1965: Defense Minister Houari Boumedienne deposes Ben Bella in bloodless coup and becomes president. December 1978: Boumedienne dies. Ruling Revolutionary Council chooses Col. Chadli Benjedid as party leader. February 1979: Benjedid is elected president. January 1986: New National Charter seeks to balance socialism and Islam as state ideology. July 1988: Riots erupt over government austerity measures. November 1988: Constitutional reforms passed.