Melun gave the F.L.N. a political victory over de Gaulle.

Evidence

A sleepy spa on the French side of Lake Geneva, opposite Lausanne, Evian had been chosen carefully out of deference to F.L.N. susceptibilities, so that the Algerians should not feel themselves “prisoners in a golden cage” as they had within the confines of the prefecture at Melun the previous summer. In fact, if anything (it was indicative of trends) the Algerian delegates were accommodated in rather greater luxury than their French opposite numbers. Guests of the opulent Emir of Qatar at his charming and sumptuous Swiss chateau of Bois d’Avault, surrounded by lush meadows, the F.L.N. representatives were ferried each day across the lake to Evian by Swiss army helicopters. — Horne, Alistair, A Savage War of Peace- Algeria 1954-1962, 1423 (#expands, via linked claim)

But to the most simpleminded member of the G.P.R.A. it must have been self-evident that one of the most important rounds in the war had been won, on the brink of military defeat. To his hard-pressed djounoud of the interior, the F.L.N. Minister of Defence, Belkacem Krim, issued a communiqué declaring: “Your struggle has obliged the enemy to talk of self-determination, thus renouncing the oft-repeated myth of Algérie française. His retreat is the fruit of your efforts.” The principle of “self-determination” conceded, all the F.L.N. had to do now was to fight an obdurate battle to ensure that they, and no one else, would be the interlocuteur valable with whom de Gaulle would be forced to negotiate it. — Horne, Alistair, A Savage War of Peace- Algeria 1954-1962, 1061 (#corroborates, via linked claim)

Categorization

• XREF: connects to: The F.L.N. won the decisive political round just as the army defeated it militarily — Horne, Alistair, A Savage War of Peace- Algeria 1954-1962, 1061; The F.L.N. won its main war goal despite impending military defeat; Military victory in the Battle of Algiers ultimately aided F.L.N. long-term goals. (+2 more)

Related

• Evian was chosen over Melun to avoid caging the F.L.N. delegation (similarity 0.88)
• Military victory in the Battle of Algiers ultimately aided F.L.N. long-term goals. (similarity 0.86)
• The F.L.N. won the decisive political round just as the army defeated it militarily (similarity 0.86)
• The FLN won self-determination just when it faced military defeat (similarity 0.85)
• The F.L.N. won its main war goal despite impending military defeat (similarity 0.84)
• Rejecting the paix des braves is what ultimately let the F.L.N. win (similarity 0.84)
• The F.L.N. achieved its original war objectives as framed at Soummam. (similarity 0.81)
• De Gaulle misjudged the F.L.N.’s political rather than military nature. (similarity 0.80)
• Military victory elevated the army to ultimate political arbiter in Algeria (similarity 0.80)
• De Gaulle regarded the Evian settlement as an exit, not a victory. (similarity 0.79)
• De Gaulle’s conciliatory gestures angered the army while winning no concessions from the F.L.N. (similarity 0.79)
• France’s Algerian military dominance coexisted with its political weakness at home (similarity 0.79)
• Algeria’s 1959 campaign rehearsed the Ludendorff pattern of battlefield success and strategic failure (similarity 0.78)
• De Gaulle’s mystical self-assurance blinded him to the F.L.N.’s political character. (similarity 0.78)

Broader Connections

• Evian was chosen over Melun to avoid caging the F.L.N. delegation #expands (0.80) — Horne, Alistair, A Savage War of Peace- Algeria 1954-1962, 1423
• The F.L.N. won the decisive political round just as the army defeated it militarily #corroborates (0.75) — Horne, Alistair, A Savage War of Peace- Algeria 1954-1962, 1061
• The F.L.N. won its main war goal despite impending military defeat #corroborates (0.70)
• De Gaulle misjudged the F.L.N.’s political rather than military nature. #expands (0.65) — Horne, Alistair, A Savage War of Peace- Algeria 1954-1962, 946
• Military victory in the Battle of Algiers ultimately aided F.L.N. long-term goals. #corroborates (0.55)