March 18 1962
French-Algerian truce

On March 18, 1962, France and Algeria sign a truce to end the Algerian War, signaling the end of 130 years of colonial French rule. In 1954, Muslim guerrillas of the Front de Liberation Nationale (FLN) launched a war of independence in Algeria. By 1956, the FLN was threatening to overrun the colonial cites, home to Algeria's sizable European settler population, and 500,000 French troops were sent to Algeria to crush the revolt. By 1958, the FLN had been pushed back into rural areas, but a new crisis erupted when European Algerians launched massive demonstrations calling for the integration of Algeria with France and the return of Charles de Gaulle to power. On March 18, 1962, de Gaulle oversaw the signing of a truce, and the bloody Algerian War officially came to an end.