FLN

FLN most commonly refers to the Front de Libération Nationale, the Algerian National Liberation Front. It was a nationalist movement and later a political party that fought to end French colonial rule in Algeria. The organization was founded in 1954 and organized the struggle through the armed wing known as the National Liberation Army (ALN). The FLN carried out guerrilla warfare, urban attacks, and political mobilization, seeking international support and legitimacy for Algerian independence. The conflict, known as the Algerian War, lasted until Algeria achieved independence in 1962, after which the FLN emerged as the leading force in the new state.

After independence, the FLN became the sole legal political party from 1962 to 1989 and led Algeria's state-building, economy, and diplomacy. Its leadership included prominent figures such as Ahmed Ben Bella, who served as the first president, and Houari Boumediene, who led after 1965. The party pursued a socialist-leaning, secular state model, allied with trade unions and peasant organizations, and played a central role in shaping post-colonial Algerian policy. In the late 1980s, Algeria introduced political reforms that opened space for multiparty politics; the FLN retained governance in a multi-party system but faced internal factions and challenges, including a civil conflict in the 1990s following the cancellation of elections initially won by Islamist parties.

Today, the FLN remains a major political party in Algeria, though its influence has varied with political change, regional dynamics, and reform movements. The acronym FLN may also refer to other organizations or uses in different languages, but the Front de Libération Nationale is the most widely recognized meaning.