Saharan oil gave France a new economic motive to win the war

Evidence

Already in 1945 French oil companies had begun prospecting in the Sahara, and shortly after the beginning of the Algerian war a major strike was made at Edjelé on the Libyan frontier. With the opening up of the Hassi-Messaoud field, French oilmen predicted euphorically that they had at their fingertips resources similar to those of the Middle East. From 5 million tons in the first year, 1958, it was reckoned production would reach 14 million in 1962, and that it would suffice to satisfy all France’s oil requirements by 1980. With the menace that Suez presented to Middle East oil supplies, here was a glowing prospect of securing the nation’s need for the future, as well as solving her acute balance of payments problem. Quite quietly, France now found herself with a new motive for winning the Algerian war that went far beyond any consideration for the one million pieds noirs. — Horne, Alistair, A Savage War of Peace- Algeria 1954-1962, 753 (#corroborates, via linked claim)

Henceforth it would focus with sharpest clarity the covetous eyes of the all-powerful Anglo-American oil interests on Algeria. Not always without reason, France would be nagged by suspicions that shady deals were being done with the F.L.N. behind her back, with a view to ensuring that her rivals got in on the ground floor in an independent Algeria. Edward Behr, who was a correspondent in France at the time, recalls how “for a brief spell officer-cadets in French military schools were systematically taught a course in ‘American imperialism’, and it was stated as an incontrovertible fact that the United States had designs on the newly discovered Saharan oil deposits”. In addition to the “Anglo-Saxon” villains in this shadowy oil war, there was also Italy’s maverick oil operator, the unpredictable Enrico Mattei, who was openly to supply the F.L.N. with money and arms in return for future “considerations”. — Horne, Alistair, A Savage War of Peace- Algeria 1954-1962, 755 (#expands, via linked claim)

Categorization

• XREF: connects to: Saharan oil gave France a vastly increased economic motive for retaining Algeria; The Algerian war cost France ten times what the oil was worth; Saharan oil discovery added an economic motive to France’s Algerian war — Horne, Alistair, A Savage War of Peace- Algeria 1954-1962, 753 (+3 more)

Related

• Saharan oil discovery added an economic motive to France’s Algerian war (similarity 0.96)
• Saharan oil gave France a vastly increased economic motive for retaining Algeria (similarity 0.93)
• Severing Algeria proved a net economic gain for France (similarity 0.90)
• Saharan oil drew Anglo-American and Italian interests into the Algerian conflict (similarity 0.90)
• The Algerian war cost France ten times what the oil was worth (similarity 0.90)
• France’s Sahara claims rested on cartographic fictions until oil made it valuable. (similarity 0.88)
• Algeria’s oil nationalization triggered French economic retaliation (similarity 0.88)
• The French economy’s prosperity rested on Saharan oil and gas (similarity 0.87)
• The Sahara dispute turned on oil wealth rather than geography or history. (similarity 0.86)
• The Constantine Plan made unprecedented economic investment in Algeria (similarity 0.84)
• Aron argued the Algerian war cost ten times the oil’s value (similarity 0.83)
• The Constantine Plan proposed deep economic integration of Algeria with France (similarity 0.83)
• France claimed the Sahara was artificially drawn and never integral to Algeria (similarity 0.80)
• Algerian independence coincided with the start of France’s economic miracle. (similarity 0.79)
• Defeat in Algeria paradoxically produced a stronger France (similarity 0.78)

Broader Connections

• Saharan oil discovery added an economic motive to France’s Algerian war #corroborates (0.95) — Horne, Alistair, A Savage War of Peace- Algeria 1954-1962, 753
• Saharan oil drew Anglo-American and Italian interests into the Algerian conflict #expands (0.60) — Horne, Alistair, A Savage War of Peace- Algeria 1954-1962, 755
• Severing Algeria proved a net economic gain for France #contradicts (0.50)
• The Constantine Plan proposed deep economic integration of Algeria with France #expands (0.40) — Horne, Alistair, A Savage War of Peace- Algeria 1954-1962, 937