Philippeville’s slaughter convinced the F.L.N. that terror paid strategically

Evidence

Horrible as it was, there is no doubt that—on the principle set out by Carlos Marighela—for the F.L.N. this new Sétif was to prove a net gain. Though some Muslims may have recoiled in disgust, by October recruitment in the North Constantine area had risen to an estimated 1,400 “regulars”—almost the highest of any of the Wilayas—and from then on it was to remain throughout the war one of the most highly contaminated areas on the army “smallpox chart”. As Soustelle himself admitted, in the war of subversion the Philippeville massacre was a victory; for, between the two communities, “there had been well and truly dug an abyss through which flowed a river of blood”. What had hitherto been, in many respects, a “phoney war”—or drôle de révolution as some French called it—now became a full-blooded war to the end. — Horne, Alistair, A Savage War of Peace- Algeria 1954-1962, 388 (#corroborates, via linked claim)

Then Manévy was transferred to Constantine where he witnessed a terrorist grenade attack on a 14 July parade. Several paras were wounded. One of Manévy’s age panicked, fired into the crowd, and killed a Muslim woman on a balcony. Next, a hundred of the paras, some evidently fortified with anisette, broke loose, heading towards the Casbah to avenge their wounded with shouts of “Les melons! Les melons!” Unable to find any Muslims, they first smashed up a Jewish shop. At the height of the ratonnade a large French civilian intervened angrily from a nearby billiard saloon: “I am Captain Bottier; I fought myself; I did thirty-seven jumps with the Resistance.… You band of little idiots — you’re doing exactly what the F.L.N. terrorists count on you doing.…” To Manévy, Captain Bottier disclosed that he was an S.A.S. officer in from the bled, adding, “Two months of work as an S.A.S. officer are wrecked in one evening like this.” — Horne, Alistair, A Savage War of Peace- Algeria 1954-1962, 521 (#corroborates, via linked claim)

Categorization

• XREF: connects to: The Philippeville massacre proved a strategic net gain for the F.L.N.; French retaliation massacres played directly into the F.L.N.’s strategy — Horne, Alistair, A Savage War of Peace- Algeria 1954-1962, 521; The Philippeville massacre was a net gain for the F.L.N. despite its horror (+2 more)

Related

• The Philippeville massacre was a net gain for the F.L.N. despite its horror (similarity 0.97)
• The Philippeville massacre proved a strategic net gain for the F.L.N. (similarity 0.96)
• The massacre was a strategic net gain for the F.L.N. despite its horror (similarity 0.93)
• French retaliation massacres played directly into the F.L.N.’s strategy (similarity 0.90)
• FLN gained most from French brutal strike-breaking methods. (similarity 0.85)
• The F.L.N. adopted total war against French civilians in direct retaliation. (similarity 0.83)
• F.L.N. attacks on French schools were targeted war against French culture, not random savagery (similarity 0.81)
• F.L.N. terror backfired against France, not the F.L.N., abroad (similarity 0.81)
• The F.L.N. moved its terrorism into metropolitan France in summer 1958 (similarity 0.80)
• Moderate Muslim and European integrationists were driven from the field after Philippeville (similarity 0.80)
• The Palestro massacre paradoxically aided the F.L.N. by weakening French resolve for war. (similarity 0.80)
• French repression’s martyrs and the F.L.N.’s mere survival drove its 1955 recruitment (similarity 0.79)
• The Palestro massacre strengthened French arguments for negotiated peace (similarity 0.79)
• Mélouza massacre grew from F.L.N.-M.N.A. rivalry, not solely French action (similarity 0.79)
• F.L.N. killed six Muslims for every European civilian in the war’s first years (similarity 0.79)

Broader Connections

• French retaliation massacres played directly into the F.L.N.’s strategy #corroborates (0.85) — Horne, Alistair, A Savage War of Peace- Algeria 1954-1962, 521
• The massacre was a strategic net gain for the F.L.N. despite its horror #corroborates (0.85) — Horne, Alistair, A Savage War of Peace- Algeria 1954-1962, 388
• The Philippeville massacre was a net gain for the F.L.N. despite its horror #expands (0.80)
• F.L.N. hard-liners believed French weakness made continued fighting the winning strategy #corroborates (0.75) — Horne, Alistair, A Savage War of Peace- Algeria 1954-1962, 1173