French diplomatic restraint on atrocity propaganda crippled its U.N. fight

Evidence

Jacques Soustelle complained that, when sent to New York by Mollet in 1956, he had found in the French delegation offices a cupboard stuffed with unused material and photographs on F.L.N. atrocities in Algeria, sent by Lacoste for propaganda purposes at the United Nations. “But these were never used by us, for fear of offending the niceties of diplomacy. So how could you win the diplomatic war when you were fighting with your hands tied like this?” — Horne, Alistair, A Savage War of Peace- Algeria 1954-1962, 764

Categorization

• QUESTION: Soustelle’s complaint raises whether French ‘niceties’ were principled or foolish — worth examining how self-constraint lost the propaganda war.
• XREF: connects to: F.L.N. propaganda won by telling more truth than the French did; The F.L.N.’s U.N. lobbyists won influence through cosmopolitan charm networks; F.L.N. terror backfired against France, not the F.L.N., abroad (+2 more)

Related

• The F.L.N.’s U.N. lobbyists won influence through cosmopolitan charm networks (similarity 0.88)
• F.L.N. propaganda won by telling more truth than the French did (similarity 0.84)
• F.L.N. terror backfired against France, not the F.L.N., abroad (similarity 0.80)
• France won the 1957 U.N. battle to keep Algeria an internal affair (similarity 0.79)

Broader Connections

• France won the 1957 U.N. battle to keep Algeria an internal affair #contradicts (0.70) — Horne, Alistair, A Savage War of Peace- Algeria 1954-1962, 766
• Terrorist attacks boosted the F.L.N.’s diplomatic standing despite revulsion #complicates (0.60) — Horne, Alistair, A Savage War of Peace- Algeria 1954-1962, 765
• F.L.N. terror backfired against France, not the F.L.N., abroad #complicates (0.55)