The role of Wilaya III in solving the problem of command of the historic Wilaya I December 28, 1956 - April 2, 1957

Abstract

After the death of Mustapha ben Boulaid, the command entered into conflict over his successor and the nature of  Ben Boulaid replacement, which plunged Zone I into a leadership crisis that had an impact on the course of the revolution, and made coordination with the rest of the zones greatly difficult. At the Congress of Soummam, it was decided to send a committee composed of Zighoud Youssef, Ibrahim Mezhoudi, Ali Mellah and Amar Benaouda in order to solve the problem.

      After a series of meetings with all the conflict protagonists, the first command council of wilaya I was formed and Mahmoud Cherif was promoted to the rank of colonel to assume the political and military responsibility of wilaya I. Additionally, the first region of wilaya I undertook to make contact with wilaya III and to coordinate between them.

Key words: command, conflict, wilaya I, wilaya III