The French invaded Ottoman Algeria in 1830 and made it an integral part of Metropolitan France within its colonial empire. For the next century, the native population were given very few political rights. Consequently, a nationalist movement began in the 1920s and gained traction after World War II, when a commitment by the government to grant French Algeria autonomy failed to materialize. A prominent member of this movement was Moufdi Zakaria, a Mozabite Berber poet affiliated with the Algerian People's Party (PPA). He was jailed and tortured on several occasions between the 1920s and 1962. It was during one of these experiences, in April 1955, that he penned the words to "Kassaman". Since he did not have access to paper or writing instruments while incarcerated in Barberousse Prison, Zakaria reportedly wrote the lyrics with his own blood on the walls of his jail cell. The musical portion of the anthem was subsequently composed by Mohamed Fawzi, who was asked to undertake this effort after two earlier submissions by other composers – one of which was by – were rejected.