and 1984. As the 1980's drew to a conclusion, Islamic fundamentalism was developing into a potent political and social force in Algeria. A new generation of Arab youth, borne amidst deteriorating economic conditions and secular disaffection, increasingly turned to radical Islamic clerics for political guidance. The push to implement a strict fundamentalist rule by Islam had grown from infancy to adulthood in a matter if years. However, The true political implications of this fundamentalist force on Algerian stability would not be realized until the crucial elections of 1991 and 1992.

The Elections of 1991 and 1992
Perhaps the most important moments in the postcolonial history of Algeria revolve around the attempt at free elections in 1991 and 1992. At this point in their history, there was a distinct possibility that the Algerians would democratically elect their first parliamentary body using a multi party system. There was also a strong possibly that the military elite which had dominated Algerian politics through strong-armed repressive measures would finally be swept aside in favor of civilian rule. However, at this crucial and important moment of Algerian history, the specter of a fundamentalist political victory led to a military coup and the cancellation of elections. The inability of secular organizations to cooperate combined with the extremely effective efforts by the fundamentalists at organizing their political party had led to monumental advances by the fundamentalists at the polls. Fearing its own demise, the army reacted by cracking down on political statement. The escalating violence that has resulted in the past decade can be directly traced back to this moment.

The events of late 1991 and 1992 can themselves be traced back to the social unrest of the late 80's. The plummeting Algerian economy turned the social tension of the 70's into outright hostility by the 80's. The Algerian GNP turned negative and state budgets began to fall into serious deficits by 1986. By 1988 the estimated Algerian unemployment rate was around 25%. Chronic food shortages began to occur throughout Algeria (Ruedy, 1992, p.246). In order to deal with this economic catastrophe, Algeria implemented IMF advised economic reforms that dismantled the state run economy and moved toward market capitalism. Many of these reforms only magnified, in the short term at least, the hardships felt by everyday Algerians.

At the same time a variety of opposition groups including leftists and liberal factions were growing and becoming more public as a result of the worsening economic conditions. The most important of these new burgeoning opposition factions was the Islamic fundamentalists. (Ruedy, 1992 p.231). With increasing frequency opposition protests were becoming larger and more violent. In 1985 there was serious rioting in the Algiers Casbah. It is important to remember that this was the original source of rioting prior to the revolution. Students staged a variety of massive nonviolent and violent protests throughout 1986. Many of the protests began to spread to the general population by 1987 (Ruedy, 1992, p.248).

While the riots of 1986 and 1987 were serious, the events of late 1988 would mark the beginning of a crucial turning point for Algeria. The economy of Algeria in 1988 was still shrinking, but, because of market reforms, a small number of venture capitalists were becoming wealthy while the majority of Algerians suffered. This led to a variety of industrial strikes in September of 1987. These strikes were, in turn, met with violent police repression measures. The strike quickly spread and by October 5^th thousands of young men were storming through the streets of Algiers destroying everything related to the government and FLN party. The rioting spread further and resulted in an "unprecedented" wave of violent clashes between labour leaders, students, fundamentalists, and government security forces (Ruedy, 1992 p.231). At this point, the military decided to take all measures necessary to quell the unrest:

"On October 6^th, the government declared a state of siege and the repression began in earnest. In addition to billy clubs and tear gas, the security forces began using live fire, and ultimately resorted to several kinds of automatic weapons. Before order was more or less restored on October 10^th, hundreds of Algerians, mostly young men, had died and thousands had been taken into custody, where many were tortured" (Ruedy, 1992 p.249).

The effect was tremendous public disillusionment with the military at levels never seen before:

"The country was first stunned and then infuriated. Its anger was directed especially at the forces of order, and particularly the military security, for the brutality they had displayed. The army, whose officers permeated every major political institution of the country and which had long been viewed not only as the maker of the revolution but as its guarantor, came out of "Black October" seriously diminished" (Ruedy, 1992 p.249).

The events of "Black October" mark a moment where the public distrust for the military and police had made these elites vulnerable; a moment where the potential for democratic elections could be more