French military pressure by 1958 drove A.L.N. morale collapse and mass defection

Evidence

“One could no longer move,” stated one of Mohand Ou El-Hadj’s lieutenants: … One no longer ate. I was so weak that I could no longer even manage to carry my sub-machine-gun. The establishment of military posts, the multiplying of self-defence communities and intelligence agents was making life impossible, and even survival itself…. It was only by executing traitors one after the other that we did manage to survive. But one was never able to regain the initiative. — Horne, Alistair, A Savage War of Peace- Algeria 1954-1962, 1015 (#corroborates, via linked claim)

On the balance sheet, Challe’s own forces had suffered losses rarely exceeding a ratio of one to ten, a few hundred killed; while on his departure he reckoned that over half the regular katibas of the interior had been destroyed in the course of the past year’s offensives. The proportion of prisoners to killed had, significantly, risen to forty-two per cent from twenty-seven for the previous year, and a number of those who gave themselves up switched allegiances to join the harkis. In arms, the French claimed to have collected five for every one lost to the rebels (also a significant change from the early months of the war; the A.L.N. were losing 300 weapons net per month, and it was estimated that by September 1959 their logistic potential had sunk more than twenty per cent over the past year). Thus, statistically, the A.L.N. looked defeated by the time of Challe’s departure in 1960. — Horne, Alistair, A Savage War of Peace- Algeria 1954-1962, 1019 (#corroborates, via linked claim)

Categorization

• XREF: connects to: The A.L.N. reached peak military strength in 1958 despite heavy losses; French offensives shattered the F.L.N.’s interior command-and-control network by 1959; F.L.N. propaganda caused mass defections within French-native army units (+13 more)

Related

• By 1960 French operations had destroyed most regular A.L.N. katibas inside Algeria (similarity 0.92)
• The A.L.N. reached peak military strength in 1958 despite heavy losses (similarity 0.92)
• French operations had reduced the interior A.L.N. to 8,000 scattered men (similarity 0.90)
• Challe’s net starved the A.L.N. into losing the operational initiative (similarity 0.89)
• Pre-Challe French tactics wasted vast firepower while letting the A.L.N. slip away intact (similarity 0.89)
• French offensives shattered the F.L.N.’s interior command-and-control network by 1959 (similarity 0.88)
• The A.L.N. appeared statistically defeated by early 1960 (similarity 0.87)
• The Challe Plan’s pressure drove the A.L.N. near starvation and defensive paranoia. (similarity 0.86)
• Political crisis in Algiers interrupted Challe’s offensive just as the A.L.N. neared collapse (similarity 0.85)
• F.L.N. propaganda caused mass defections within French-native army units (similarity 0.83)
• The A.L.N. peaked in 1958 even as French killed or captured 25,534 effectives. (similarity 0.83)
• Defeat in Algiers pushed the F.L.N. leadership toward internal collapse. (similarity 0.82)
• French double-agent infiltration starved the A.L.N. by making villagers withhold supplies. (similarity 0.82)
• de Gaulle’s backing of moderates collapsed as hard-liners took over the F.L.N. (similarity 0.81)
• The French army in Algeria transformed from clumsy to effective by 1956 (similarity 0.81)

Broader Connections

• The Challe Plan’s pressure drove the A.L.N. near starvation and defensive paranoia. #corroborates (0.85) — Horne, Alistair, A Savage War of Peace- Algeria 1954-1962, 1015
• The A.L.N. appeared statistically defeated by early 1960 #corroborates (0.75) — Horne, Alistair, A Savage War of Peace- Algeria 1954-1962, 1019
• By 1960 French operations had destroyed most regular A.L.N. katibas inside Algeria #corroborates (0.70)
• French operations had reduced the interior A.L.N. to 8,000 scattered men #corroborates (0.70) — Horne, Alistair, A Savage War of Peace- Algeria 1954-1962, 1160
• The A.L.N. peaked in 1958 even as French killed or captured 25,534 effectives. #complicates (0.60) — Horne, Alistair, A Savage War of Peace- Algeria 1954-1962, 978
• Political crisis in Algiers interrupted Challe’s offensive just as the A.L.N. neared collapse #qualifies (0.60) — Horne, Alistair, A Savage War of Peace- Algeria 1954-1962, 1159
• French double-agent infiltration starved the A.L.N. by making villagers withhold supplies. #corroborates (0.60) — Horne, Alistair, A Savage War of Peace- Algeria 1954-1962, 1014