A vacuum of government authority let the insurrection proceed unopposed.

Evidence

Lacoste ordered that under no circumstances were the insurgents to be fired upon. But beyond Lacoste no helpful authority was forthcoming; the outgoing Gaillard felt he was no longer responsible, and Pflimlin had not yet been sworn in. In an attempt to pacify the mob, Ducournau—unable to make his voice heard—appeared on the balcony with a blackboard bearing the words: “I have just telephoned Paris to call for a government of public safety.” The crowd applauded, but continued with its sack of the building. — Horne, Alistair, A Savage War of Peace- Algeria 1954-1962, 869

Categorization

• XREF: The interim-window theory of coup success—no one with authority dares to order force—echoes the systemic weakness of the Fourth Republic Horne establishes throughout. — connects to: Insurgent pressure shaped the commissioners’ actions more than their own ideals; A leader can defuse an insurrection through cathartic rhetoric rather than concessions. — Horne, Alistair, A Savage War of Peace- Algeria 1954-1962, 1120; Even defeated uprisings persist through the hidden act of keeping arms — Frantz Fanon, A Dying Colonialism, 53
• QUESTION: Was the ‘government of public safety’ formula drawn from the French Revolution deliberately, as the reader is tracking the revolution’s ideological afterlife?

Related

• Insurgent pressure shaped the commissioners’ actions more than their own ideals (similarity 0.83)

Broader Connections

• A leader can defuse an insurrection through cathartic rhetoric rather than concessions. #complicates (0.50) — Horne, Alistair, A Savage War of Peace- Algeria 1954-1962, 1120
• Even defeated uprisings persist through the hidden act of keeping arms #complicates (0.40) — Frantz Fanon, A Dying Colonialism, 53