France’s nuclear modernization coincided with the last troops leaving Algeria

Evidence

In equally brutal language he was soon torpedoing Macmillan’s hopes for a Free Trade Area in Europe; while to his intimates he was revealing his ambitions to create a truly modern army at the earliest opportunity: “As soon as the Algerian war is ended, I shall form five atomic divisions….” — Horne, Alistair, A Savage War of Peace- Algeria 1954-1962, 954 (#expands, via linked claim)

The war in Algeria (which lasted nearly eight years—almost twice as long as the “Great War” of 1914–18) toppled six French prime ministers and the Fourth Republic itself. It came close to bringing down General de Gaulle and his Fifth Republic and confronted metropolitan France with the threat of civil war. Yet, when defeat led to the cession of this corner-stone of her empire where she had been “chez elle” for 132 years, out of it arose an incomparably greater France than the world had seen for many a generation. — Horne, Alistair, A Savage War of Peace- Algeria 1954-1962, 8 (#expands, via linked claim)

Categorization

• XREF: connects to: De Gaulle planned five atomic divisions once the Algerian war ended — Horne, Alistair, A Savage War of Peace- Algeria 1954-1962, 954; De Gaulle leveraged Algeria to demand France’s nuclear and NATO independence; Defeat in Algeria paradoxically produced a stronger France (+1 more)

Related

• De Gaulle planned five atomic divisions once the Algerian war ended (similarity 0.91)
• De Gaulle leveraged Algeria to demand France’s nuclear and NATO independence (similarity 0.88)
• Defeat in Algeria paradoxically produced a stronger France (similarity 0.86)
• Algeria’s loss paradoxically produced a stronger postcolonial France (similarity 0.84)
• De Gaulle’s Algerian independence was framed as a victory over French self (similarity 0.82)
• France ending Algeria was a victory over itself, not a defeat (similarity 0.82)
• Algeria was only one element of de Gaulle’s larger ambitions. (similarity 0.81)
• De Gaulle’s pursuit of national grandeur required sacrificing Algeria. (similarity 0.81)
• France’s Algerian military dominance coexisted with its political weakness at home (similarity 0.81)
• Algeria would be lost on France’s interior political front, not on the military front (similarity 0.80)
• The French army in Algeria transformed from clumsy to effective by 1956 (similarity 0.80)
• Severing Algeria proved a net economic gain for France (similarity 0.80)
• De Gaulle’s allies saw Algeria as subordinate to the French state’s crisis (similarity 0.80)
• The Battle of Algiers marked the end of any possibility of negotiated settlement (similarity 0.80)
• Military pacification ended and politics dominated as the war wound down (similarity 0.80)

Broader Connections

• De Gaulle planned five atomic divisions once the Algerian war ended #expands (0.60) — Horne, Alistair, A Savage War of Peace- Algeria 1954-1962, 954
• De Gaulle leveraged Algeria to demand France’s nuclear and NATO independence #expands (0.50)
• Defeat in Algeria paradoxically produced a stronger France #expands (0.50)
• Algeria’s loss paradoxically produced a stronger postcolonial France #expands (0.50) — Horne, Alistair, A Savage War of Peace- Algeria 1954-1962, 8