Military commanders privately authorized bombing and collective responsibility in Algeria.

Evidence

In his book Les Français d’Algérie, Pierre Nora recounts an episode that was to become, depressingly enough, perhaps not so exceptional as the war dragged on: near Sidi-Bel-Abbès a Foreign Legion patrol systematically searched a pied noir farm where they believed fellaghas were hiding, and discovered two in the corner of a barn. They were interrogated, with blows of rifle butts, but appeared not to understand French. This enraged the Foreign Legion lieutenant, who accused nine agricultural workers on the farm of complicity. After further interrogation had produced nothing, the two rebels, plus the nine farmhands, were put against a wall forthwith and shot in the presence of wives and children, according to the pied noir proprietor (who told the story). — Horne, Alistair, A Savage War of Peace- Algeria 1954-1962, 360 (#exemplifies, via linked claim)

On 19 December the new team arrived in Algiers; Delouvrier, the “Delegate-General” (a less imposing title than “governor-general” to show a break with the past) was clad conspicuously in civilian clothes, carrying a black “Anthony Eden” hat; Challe, in uniform, walked equally conspicuously one or two paces to the rear. It was a symbolic demonstration of the civil over the military, of Paris over Algiers. De Gaulle had at least made this point forcefully and clearly. — Horne, Alistair, A Savage War of Peace- Algeria 1954-1962, 953 (#contradicts, via linked claim)

Categorization

• XREF: connects to: Post-1959 torture in Algeria became a private, unsanctioned practice.; De Gaulle symbolically asserted civilian control over the military in Algeria — Horne, Alistair, A Savage War of Peace- Algeria 1954-1962, 953; Military commanders seized power in both Algeria and France at the same moment (+6 more)

Related

• Post-1959 torture in Algeria became a private, unsanctioned practice. (similarity 0.85)
• Military commanders seized power in both Algeria and France at the same moment (similarity 0.85)
• Collective responsibility led French units to execute innocent Arab farmhands (similarity 0.85)
• De Gaulle symbolically asserted civilian control over the military in Algeria (similarity 0.84)
• Army officers saw the Algerian war as both career security and a noble cause. (similarity 0.83)
• France’s collective responsibility doctrine mirrored the principle behind Nazi massacres. (similarity 0.81)
• Algeria’s post-independence regime was captured by its wartime armed wing. (similarity 0.81)
• The F.L.N. mirrored French collective responsibility with collective reprisals (similarity 0.81)
• Heavy-handed military reprisals in Algeria drove more Algerians to join the rebels. (similarity 0.81)
• Algeria’s 1990s civil war echoed the war of liberation in scale and tactics. (similarity 0.80)
• Torture became institutionalized in the French army during the Battle of Algiers (similarity 0.79)
• French military contempt and complacency blinded them to the coming revolt (similarity 0.79)
• The Algerian army command openly threatened to replace de Gaulle over self-determination. (similarity 0.79)
• The Battle of Algiers marked the end of any possibility of negotiated settlement (similarity 0.79)
• A single commander’s purge executed as many as three thousand Algerians (similarity 0.79)

Broader Connections

• Collective responsibility punished entire Algerian villages for individual rebel acts. #corroborates (0.80)
• Collective responsibility led French units to execute innocent Arab farmhands #exemplifies (0.75) — Horne, Alistair, A Savage War of Peace- Algeria 1954-1962, 360
• De Gaulle symbolically asserted civilian control over the military in Algeria #contradicts (0.60) — Horne, Alistair, A Savage War of Peace- Algeria 1954-1962, 953
• Military commanders seized power in both Algeria and France at the same moment #contradicts (0.55)
• Algeria’s post-independence civil conflict replicated both the OAS bombings and French counter-terror patterns #expands (0.55) — Horne, Alistair, A Savage War of Peace- Algeria 1954-1962, 1695
• Military victory elevated the army to ultimate political arbiter in Algeria #expands (0.50) — Horne, Alistair, A Savage War of Peace- Algeria 1954-1962, 685
• FLN leaders justified civilian bombing as equivalent to French aerial bombardment. #exemplifies (0.50) — Horne, Alistair, A Savage War of Peace- Algeria 1954-1962, 559