Defeated European settlers destroyed Algerian infrastructure out of revenge

Evidence

Now, in its despair at realising that all was lost, the O.A.S. adopted a “scorched earth policy”. If the French cannot, or will not, remain, the O.A.S. argued, then we shall leave Algeria as it was when they arrived in 1830. After a brief respite, on 7 June the University of Algiers library was burned; then followed the destruction of schools, laboratories and hospital facilities — the finest benefits that French civilisation had bestowed on Algeria. In the biggest explosion to date, Algiers’s fine new Hôtel de Ville was blown up; finally, in June, Oran’s vast B.P. oil storage tanks went up in a great pillar of smoke. — Horne, Alistair, A Savage War of Peace- Algeria 1954-1962, 1614

Categorization

• XREF: Echoes the scorched-earth pattern of defeated settler movements generally, from Vietnam-era departures to modern partitions. — connects to: Defeated OAS destroyed Algeria’s French-built infrastructure and institutions; Algerians could not ascribe each destroyed site to a particular side; Algeria preserved but blanked out French colonial war memorials rather than demolishing them — Horne, Alistair, A Savage War of Peace- Algeria 1954-1962, 1693

Related

• Algerians could not ascribe each destroyed site to a particular side (similarity 0.96)
• Defeated OAS destroyed Algeria’s French-built infrastructure and institutions (similarity 0.88)
• Algeria preserved but blanked out French colonial war memorials rather than demolishing them (similarity 0.82)
• OAS violence deliberately destroyed the communities it claimed to defend (similarity 0.80)

Broader Connections

• Algeria preserved but blanked out French colonial war memorials rather than demolishing them #complicates (0.50) — Horne, Alistair, A Savage War of Peace- Algeria 1954-1962, 1693