Following his takeover in 1965, Boumedienne remained firmly in power, challenged once only by an abortive uprising led by Colonel Zbiri in 1967. Then, on December 27th, 1978, he died prematurely of a rare disease, and was succeeded by Chadli Bendjedid. The coming of Bendjedid in itself marked a break with the past; instead of succeeding a forcibly deposed incumbent, this relatively unknown wartime colonel was elected peaceably by the Council of the F.L.N. The fourteen post-war years of Boumedienne, however, left a deep imprint which needs to be recorded in any study of the Algerian war; for modern Algeria is inseparably the child of wartime Algeria.

XREF: Connects to the study of decolonization and how wartime leadership structures carry over into post-independence state formation.

Horne, Alistair, A Savage War of Peace- Alge…, loc. 1676