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An illusory alliance: revolutionary legitimacy and Sino-Algerian relations, 1958–1962

2014/01/10 by Kyle Haddad-Fonda · 1 voice
Arts and Humanities · Social Sciences · #Communism, Protests, Social Movements #North African History and Literature #Vietnamese History and Culture Studies

paper · doi:10.1080/13629387.2013.870039

openalex publication_date 2014/01/10 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/22

Abstract

Beginning in 1958, the communist regime of the People's Republic of China forged an alliance with the provisional government of the Algerian Front de Libération Nationale (FLN). China's willingness to patronise the FLN posed a sharp challenge to France and other Western powers, but it was in the domestic politics of China and Algeria that this partnership had its most profound effect. Embroiled in the Great Leap Forward, the Chinese government used its support for Algeria to reaffirm its claim to embody a genuinely revolutionary ideology. The FLN, which was eager to legitimise its control over the Algerian nationalist movement, relied on the Chinese government to endorse its political and military strategy. Thus, the relationship between China and the FLN was for both sides a convenient means by which to articulate ideologies of nationalism, unity, and revolution.

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