A two-and-a-half-hour military parade was held in front of heads of state from neighboring countries. President Tebboune wanted to mark the night of November 1, 1954, which launched the Algerian War of Independence, with a true demonstration of force. On that night, the National Liberation Front carried out around thirty attacks against symbols of French colonial presence, resulting in ten deaths.
This date is remembered in French history as “Red All Saints’ Day” and in Algerian history as the “Glorious Revolution,” which led to the country’s independence in 1962. This bloody war claimed one and a half million Algerian “martyrs” according to Algiers, or 500,000 deaths, including 400,000 Algerians according to French historians.
Before the parade started, attended by the presidents of Tunisia, Kais Saied, Mauritania, Mohamed Ould Cheikh El Ghazouani, and Libya’s Presidential Council, Mohamed el-Menfi, Tebboune emphasized the importance of this “memorable anniversary embodying glory, dignity, and pride.” He stated, “It’s an opportunity to remind that Algeria, which triumphed over colonialism in the past, continues to achieve victories with confidence.” He added, “We ensured that this military parade was commensurate with the dimensions and symbolism of this 70th anniversary and the sacrifices of the artisans of the 1954 uprising.”
Abdelmadjid Tebboune did not mention the new phase of freeze with France, the former colonial power, triggered by Paris’s announcement at the end of July of its “enhanced support” for a Moroccan autonomy plan under “Moroccan sovereignty” for the disputed territory of Western Sahara, where Algeria supports the Polisario Front independence fighters, whose leader Brahim Ghali was also present in the stands in Algiers.
There were also no official comments on President Emmanuel Macron’s announcement recognizing the 1957 assassination of one of the heroes of the November 1 uprising, Larbi Ben M’hidi, “by French soldiers.”
After laying a wreath at the Martyrs’ Monument in Algiers, President Tebboune, standing in an open-top vehicle, reviewed the military formations accompanied by General Said Chengriha, the Chief of Staff. The show began with air parades over the Bay of Algiers by tactical transport planes, reconnaissance aircraft, and fighter jets and bombers. The Algerian army also paraded missiles, dozens of tanks, as well as columns of soldiers and security forces along the vast avenue adjacent to the Great Mosque of Algiers, to the applause of thousands.
In 2023, Algeria’s defense budget, one of Africa’s main military powers, had more than doubled from the previous year to $22 billion, a level maintained this year. For 2025, the finance law projects an increase in the budget to approximately $25 billion. Russia is Algeria’s primary supplier of military equipment.
