Fear of castration conditioned brutal French reprisals against Algerians.

Evidence

The nationalist movements were virtually decapitated by the seizure of their leaders — Messali Hadj deported to the French Congo, Ferhat Abbas under house arrest. Messali’s M.T.L.D. in particular had been disrupted by French repression, and all groups were more disunited than ever before, with the liberals fiercely reproaching the M.T.L.D. for their role in the disastrous revolt of 1945. … As rage succeeded frustration with the sabotaging of the 1947 statute, so the support for Abbas and his liberals began to slip away, and Abbas himself was forced to move steadily to a less moderate position. The returning war heroes who had fought so fiercely under Marshal Juin were particularly disillusioned to discover how little things had changed at home after all they had seen and learnt in the outside world. Many gravitated towards the more extreme doctrines of Messali, and began to clamour for yet more direct action than even the M.T.L.D. was proposing. A new post-war generation was emerging that had acquired some knowledge of Marxist revolutionary techniques; that was impatient with interminable political dialogues, meaningless manifestos and unfulfilled promises; that respected strength and force, and that, in short, would not flinch from violence. — Horne, Alistair, A Savage War of Peace- Algeria 1954-1962, 224 (#expands, via linked claim)

Quickly he realised both that poverty was far more dire and that the revolt was far more serious than metropolitan France yet appreciated. “Terror had taken hold. No one spoke,” he wrote later. “The population as a whole, without throwing in its lot with the rebels … remained frightened and noncommittal.” He also saw the futility of General Cherrière’s grandiose and elephantine ratissages, the ill-named Operations “Véronique” and “Violette” that were then under way, and agreed with the analysis Vaujour prepared for him on his return to Algiers: “To send in tank units, to destroy villages, to bombard certain zones, this is no longer the fine comb; it is using a sledgehammer to kill fleas. And what is much more serious, it is to encourage the young — and sometimes the less young — to go into the maquis.” — Horne, Alistair, A Savage War of Peace- Algeria 1954-1962, 342 (#expands, via linked claim)

But, as indicated by the examples above, the fierce reprisal and the cruel, indiscriminate injustice did take place on the French side — as indeed they take place in every similar war. What is equally sure is that, as the S.A.S. captain pointed out to Alain Manévy, such acts usually militated against French interests in the long run. Looked at from the other side of the lines, this is confirmed by Herb Greer. Reporting a particularly brutal French reprisal in which women were killed, he quotes a member of the F.L.N. as declaring: “Voilà, we’ve won another battle. They hate the French a little more now. The stupid bastards are winning the war for us.” — Horne, Alistair, A Savage War of Peace- Algeria 1954-1962, 525 (#expands, via linked claim)

Categorization

• XREF: connects to: Brutal French reprisals backfired by deepening Algerian hatred of France — Horne, Alistair, A Savage War of Peace- Algeria 1954-1962, 525; Algerians read the retreat of colonialism from settler fear and anger; Heavy-handed military reprisals in Algeria drove more Algerians to join the rebels. — Horne, Alistair, A Savage War of Peace- Algeria 1954-1962, 342 (+5 more)

Related

• Heavy-handed military reprisals in Algeria drove more Algerians to join the rebels. (similarity 0.91)
• Brutal French reprisals backfired by deepening Algerian hatred of France (similarity 0.89)
• French repression pushed postwar Algerian nationalism toward armed extremism (similarity 0.88)
• Closing legal channels of protest pushed Algerians toward violent resistance. (similarity 0.87)
• French countermeasures such as ratissages and prison drove Algerians into the F.L.N. (similarity 0.87)
• Disillusioned war veterans radicalized into a new violent Algerian generation. (similarity 0.86)
• France’s refusal to restrain settler fascism drove liberal Algerians to the F.L.N. (similarity 0.85)
• The national conflict canalized Algerian anger that had previously surfaced as common crime (similarity 0.83)
• Regroupment camps won militarily but drove Algerians into F.L.N. ranks (similarity 0.83)
• Rapidly shifting loyalties in wartime France weakened Algerian trust in any authority (similarity 0.82)
• France’s rejection of moderate Algerian reformers radicalized them into revolutionaries (similarity 0.82)
• A lingering Algerian hatred of French rule simmers until it erupts into war (similarity 0.81)
• French repression’s martyrs and the F.L.N.’s mere survival drove its 1955 recruitment (similarity 0.81)
• Algeria’s post-independence ‘peace’ proved as savage as its war (similarity 0.81)
• Rural Algerians underwent a profound revolutionary politicization that French administrators could not reverse. (similarity 0.80)

Broader Connections

• Heavy-handed military reprisals in Algeria drove more Algerians to join the rebels. #expands (0.60) — Horne, Alistair, A Savage War of Peace- Algeria 1954-1962, 342
• French repression pushed postwar Algerian nationalism toward armed extremism #expands (0.60) — Horne, Alistair, A Savage War of Peace- Algeria 1954-1962, 224
• Brutal French reprisals backfired by deepening Algerian hatred of France #expands (0.55) — Horne, Alistair, A Savage War of Peace- Algeria 1954-1962, 525
• Colonial reprisals restored European Algerians’ race prejudice and arrogance. #expands (0.50) — Frantz Fanon, A Dying Colonialism, 191
• Algerians read the retreat of colonialism from settler fear and anger #qualifies (0.45)