Pied noir resistance killed the Blum—Viollette assimilation bill.

Evidence

Deeply aware of the stirrings of discontent beneath the then apparently placid surface of Algeria, he issued this prophetic warning the year after the centenary: “before twenty years are up we will know the gravest of difficulties in North Africa”. Five years later, Viollette succeeded in getting a set of liberal reforms tabled by the Assembly, the Blum—Viollette Bill. His declared ideal was that “Muslim students, while remaining Muslim, should become so French in their education, that no Frenchman, however deeply racist and religiously prejudiced he might be… will any longer dare to deny them French fraternity”. It spelt, in one word, “assimilation”. The provisions of his bill, however, were once again extremely modest, notably offering citizenship to no more than 25,000 (out of some six million) Muslims, without renouncing their statutory rights to Islamic law. … But the well-oiled mechanism of pied noir protest began to run; the Algerian Press fulminated against the “explosive situation” provoked by Parisian ignorance; the anciens combattants marched through the streets; the mayors threatened to resign; the powerful lobbies in Paris burrowed away. “We will never tolerate that in even the smallest commune an Arab might be mayor” was a not untypical pied noir reaction. Under pressure at home and the threat of Hitler abroad, Leon Blum’s Popular Front hesitated, and finally collapsed before the bill could be passed. — Horne, Alistair, A Savage War of Peace- Algeria 1954-1962, 102

Categorization

• XREF: Connects to the broader failure of all French assimilation reform efforts between 1909 and 1954, which the reader is tracking across claims in this chapter. — connects to: The failed Blum-Viollette Bill empowered pied noir obstruction of French reforms — Horne, Alistair, A Savage War of Peace- Algeria 1954-1962, 115; Soustelle’s integration policy differed from Blum-Viollette assimilation by granting Algeria its own personality. — Horne, Alistair, A Savage War of Peace- Algeria 1954-1962, 343

Related

• The failed Blum-Viollette Bill empowered pied noir obstruction of French reforms (similarity 0.93)
• Soustelle’s integration policy differed from Blum-Viollette assimilation by granting Algeria its own personality. (similarity 0.87)
• Every reform attempt between 1909 and 1954 was thwarted, dashing Muslim hopes. (similarity 0.86)
• Thwarted assimilation reforms repeatedly converted Muslim hopes into despair (similarity 0.86)
• Pied noir control of the Algerian Assembly blocked every major reform since 1909. (similarity 0.85)
• Pied noir denial and metropolitan distraction forestalled any French response to the revolt (similarity 0.84)
• Soustelle’s integration program dismantled the two-college system and communes mixtes (similarity 0.84)
• Every French reform effort in Algeria was blocked by pied noir pressure groups (similarity 0.83)
• France’s refusal to restrain settler fascism drove liberal Algerians to the F.L.N. (similarity 0.80)
• Soustelle’s integration policy recognized Algeria’s distinct personality while keeping it French (similarity 0.79)
• Pied noir soldiers balked at shooting Muslim demonstrators to save Algérie française (similarity 0.79)
• Pressure from the settler right and Paris politics crushed moderate reform from both sides (similarity 0.78)

Broader Connections

• The failed Blum-Viollette Bill empowered pied noir obstruction of French reforms #corroborates (0.80) — Horne, Alistair, A Savage War of Peace- Algeria 1954-1962, 115
• Soustelle’s integration policy differed from Blum-Viollette assimilation by granting Algeria its own personality. #expands (0.40) — Horne, Alistair, A Savage War of Peace- Algeria 1954-1962, 343