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1st Anniversary of Independence

On July 5, 1963, the green and white flag, bearing the red star and crescent, has symbolized for a year the regained freedom of the Algerian people and the sovereignty of a nation which has suffered from 132 years of colonization. Independent Algeria lives to the rhythm of popular jubilation, festivities and parades of men, women and children chanting slogans celebrating the National Liberation Front (FLN) and singing the national anthem. In this first celebration of the country's independence, there is a mixed feeling of pride, joy and sadness. The pride of having achieved a victory over one of the most powerful armies in the world; the joy of having gained independence, the fruit of a tenacious and heroic fight to recover one's dignity as a woman and a man; finally the sadness of counting hundreds of thousands of chouhada who made the ultimate sacrifice to liberate Algeria. Recollection in memory of the martyrs of the Revolution is observed in towns and villages across the national territory, because no one forgets the sacrifices of a million and a half martyrs who fell with weapons in their hands so that Algeria may live free and independent. After the departure of nearly a million Europeans in 1962, the country was gradually reorganized and young Algerians put in charge to initiate development. On the political level, the adoption by referendum of the first Constitution of Algeria, on May 8, 1963, gave the Algerian Republic an eminently socialist vocation and established the foundations of the State. A State whose election of the first Constituent Assembly in September 1962, the proclamation of the democratic and popular Algerian Republic, as well as the constitution of the first government drew the contours and prepared for the accession of Algeria, on October 8, 1962, to the UN. An entry through the front door into the concert of nations.