Defeated OAS destroyed Algeria’s French-built infrastructure and institutions

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 (#corroborates, via linked claim)

To step up the offensive, Salan had ordered the “general mobilisation” of the whole French population of Algeria. Special “courts” were set up to “sanction” those refusing to co-operate; a “sanction” generally meant being turned over to Degueldre’s Deltas. By the end of February the death toll had risen to 553 for the one month. A grim pall of fear had settled over all Algiers, European and Muslim alike. — Horne, Alistair, A Savage War of Peace- Algeria 1954-1962, 1563 (#expands, via linked claim)

In Oran a new army commander, an ex-trooper called General Katz, had assumed personal control of the battle. After the killing of his Deuxième Bureau chief, Katz installed himself in the prefecture, where the windows had been shot out, put his mattress on the floor to be out of the field of snipers’ fire, and read Saint-Simon by night to distract himself from the incessant shooting and bombing outside. — Horne, Alistair, A Savage War of Peace- Algeria 1954-1962, 1605 (#complicates, via linked claim)

Categorization

• XREF: connects to: The O.A.S. aimed to make Algeria ungovernable rather than to win it; The GPRA regarded 1962 as the war’s most dangerous phase due to the OAS.; OAS violence deliberately destroyed the communities it claimed to defend (+6 more)

Related

• Defeated European settlers destroyed Algerian infrastructure out of revenge (similarity 0.88)
• Algerians could not ascribe each destroyed site to a particular side (similarity 0.87)
• The GPRA regarded 1962 as the war’s most dangerous phase due to the OAS. (similarity 0.84)
• The OAS escalated to total war against French authority to force general paralysis (similarity 0.84)
• French forces fought a pitched urban battle against the O.A.S. (similarity 0.83)
• French troops stormed Bab-el-Oued with tanks and planes to crush the O.A.S. (similarity 0.82)
• OAS violence deliberately destroyed the communities it claimed to defend (similarity 0.82)
• The O.A.S. terror campaign backfired and sped French withdrawal from Algeria. (similarity 0.81)
• France made substantial material and infrastructural improvements in Algeria (similarity 0.80)
• The OAS death toll in one month reached 553 through forced civilian mobilization (similarity 0.80)
• The OAS staged the largest bank heist in history to that date in Oran. (similarity 0.80)
• General Katz fought the OAS from within his own besieged prefecture in Oran. (similarity 0.79)
• OAS terror backfired by accelerating rather than wrecking the peace negotiations. (similarity 0.79)
• O.A.S. terror drove out the very pieds noirs it claimed to defend (similarity 0.79)
• The Ouarsenis offensive broke up the O.P.A. and left French forces controlling the territory. (similarity 0.78)

Broader Connections

• Defeated European settlers destroyed Algerian infrastructure out of revenge #corroborates (0.60) — Horne, Alistair, A Savage War of Peace- Algeria 1954-1962, 1614
• The OAS death toll in one month reached 553 through forced civilian mobilization #expands (0.50) — Horne, Alistair, A Savage War of Peace- Algeria 1954-1962, 1563
• General Katz fought the OAS from within his own besieged prefecture in Oran. #complicates (0.40) — Horne, Alistair, A Savage War of Peace- Algeria 1954-1962, 1605
• The OAS staged the largest bank heist in history to that date in Oran. #expands (0.40) — Horne, Alistair, A Savage War of Peace- Algeria 1954-1962, 1606