Granting Tunisian and Moroccan independence without Algeria was a strategic error.

Evidence

Whereas, in the 1950s, Tunisia and Morocco were endowed with established systems of government and administration, when Algerian independence came her government had existed only in exile. Thus she was afflicted by a lack of cadres and a lack of experience; but, worst of all, the many latent rifts within the leadership now burst through the thin papering with which the exigencies of war had covered them heretofore. — Horne, Alistair, A Savage War of Peace- Algeria 1954-1962, 1628 (#corroborates, via linked claim)

To begin at the beginning, in November 1954 France was caught at a major disadvantage because, in contrast to Britain over India, no French politician, not even Mendès-France or Mitterrand, let alone the Communists, could contemplate any kind of French withdrawal from Algeria. Mollet the Socialist echoed Mendès-France the Radical: “France without Algeria would be no longer France.” Throughout those critical first years, when a compromise peace might have been conceivable, France was hobbled by the ball-and-chain of Algeria forming an integral part of French territory. From then on she was hobbled by what the army wanted, or would not permit. — Horne, Alistair, A Savage War of Peace- Algeria 1954-1962, 1649 (#corroborates, via linked claim)

Categorization

• XREF: connects to: Franco-Algerian coexistence was destroyed by accumulated missed chances — Horne, Alistair, A Savage War of Peace- Algeria 1954-1962, 1611; Algeria lacked the established governing structures that Tunisia and Morocco enjoyed — Horne, Alistair, A Savage War of Peace- Algeria 1954-1962, 1628; French assimilation destroyed Algerian leadership cadres that could have been negotiating partners — Horne, Alistair, A Savage War of Peace- Algeria 1954-1962, 317 (+7 more)

Related

• Algeria lacked the established governing structures that Tunisia and Morocco enjoyed (similarity 0.91)
• France could not contemplate Algerian withdrawal because Algeria was legally part of France (similarity 0.87)
• French assimilation destroyed Algerian leadership cadres that could have been negotiating partners (similarity 0.85)
• Independent Morocco and Tunisia gave the F.L.N. sanctuaries that assured its survival. (similarity 0.84)
• Francisation destroyed Algeria’s native political cadres, leaving no negotiating partners. (similarity 0.84)
• Franco-Algerian coexistence was destroyed by accumulated missed chances (similarity 0.84)
• French decolonization of Morocco and Tunisia handed the F.L.N. open frontiers (similarity 0.84)
• Winning militarily while losing politically doomed the French army in Algeria (similarity 0.84)
• Algeria would be lost on France’s interior political front, not on the military front (similarity 0.83)
• France’s refusal of a Maghreb confederation doomed compromise peace efforts (similarity 0.83)
• France’s granting independence to Morocco and Tunisia in 1956 gave the F.L.N. open frontiers (similarity 0.83)
• Without Bourguiba Tunisia the FLN would likely have been crushed militarily (similarity 0.83)
• Defeat in Algeria paradoxically produced a stronger France (similarity 0.83)
• France’s crushing victory at Bizerta destroyed its key Tunisian ally. (similarity 0.83)
• The Battle of Algiers marked the end of any possibility of negotiated settlement (similarity 0.83)

Broader Connections

• Algeria lacked the established governing structures that Tunisia and Morocco enjoyed #corroborates (0.60) — Horne, Alistair, A Savage War of Peace- Algeria 1954-1962, 1628
• France’s incorporation of Algeria into the Republic created an inescapable colonial trap. #corroborates (0.60)
• Franco-Algerian coexistence was destroyed by accumulated missed chances #qualifies (0.55) — Horne, Alistair, A Savage War of Peace- Algeria 1954-1962, 1611
• France could not contemplate Algerian withdrawal because Algeria was legally part of France #corroborates (0.55) — Horne, Alistair, A Savage War of Peace- Algeria 1954-1962, 1649
• French assimilation destroyed Algerian leadership cadres that could have been negotiating partners #complicates (0.50) — Horne, Alistair, A Savage War of Peace- Algeria 1954-1962, 317
• Winning militarily while losing politically doomed the French army in Algeria #exemplifies (0.50)
• Undelivered Moroccan weapons crippled the F.L.N.’s Oran operations #complicates (0.50)
• Without Bourguiba Tunisia the FLN would likely have been crushed militarily #complicates (0.45) — Horne, Alistair, A Savage War of Peace- Algeria 1954-1962, 769
• France’s crushing victory at Bizerta destroyed its key Tunisian ally. #qualifies (0.45)
• French refusal to recognise the G.P.R.A. freed Algeria from binding commitments #qualifies (0.40) — Horne, Alistair, A Savage War of Peace- Algeria 1954-1962, 1436