Editing Houari Boumédiène (section)

==After independence==
[[File:Ben bella and Boumediene.jpg|left|thumb|230x230px|Boumediene with Ahmed Ben Bella in 1962.]]
In 1961, after its vote of self-determination, Algeria declared independence and the French announced it was independent. Boumédiène headed a powerful military faction within the government, and was made defence minister by the Algerian leader [[Ahmed Ben Bella]], whose ascent to power he had assisted as chief of staff. Boumédiène was also appointed as [[Vice President of Algeria]] in September 1963. He grew increasingly distrustful of Ben Bella's erratic style of government and ideological puritanism, and in June 1965, Boumédiène seized power in a bloodless [[1965 Algerian coup d'état|coup]].

The country's constitution and political institutions were abolished, and he ruled through a Revolutionary Council of his own mostly military supporters. Many of them had been his companions during the war years, when he was based around the Moroccan border town of [[Oujda]], which caused analysts to speak of the "Oujda Group". One prominent member of this circle was Boumédiène's long-time foreign minister, [[Abdelaziz Bouteflika]], who served as Algeria's president from 1999 until 2019.

Initially, he was seen as potentially a weak leader, with no significant power base except inside the army, and it was not known to what extent he commanded the officer corps. He remained Algeria's undisputed leader until his death in 1978. No significant internal challenges emerged from inside the government after the 1967 coup attempt.
[[File:Houari-Boumediene-standing-in-a-row-with-the-other-politicians-391852507172.jpg|left|thumb|Houari Boumediene standing in a row with the other politicians., 1965.]]