Sakiet uproar and French political crisis encouraged the F.L.N.’s all-out line assault.

Evidence

The steep increase in this last figure was caused by the F.L.N.’s decision to launch an all-out offensive against the Line. The sector chosen was the so-called bec de canard, east of Souk-Ahras and not far from the scene of the Sakiet bombing in February. Its wooded hills provided ideal cover for katibas attempting to disperse once through the Line, and much of the previous barrier-crossing action had taken place in this area. Thus, also, the French forces were particularly well-prepared. But, apart from just military considerations, the F.L.N. were probably encouraged by the international uproar raised over Sakiet, as well as the accompanying political disarray in France—the Gaillard government having fallen two weeks previously, leaving the country in a vacuum. — Horne, Alistair, A Savage War of Peace- Algeria 1954-1962, 819

Categorization

• XREF: Connects to the reader’s interest in how the war’s political reverberations fed back into colonial strategy. — connects to: French political vacuum encouraged the F.L.N.’s Souk-Ahras offensive; Both F.L.N. and French leaders adopted intransigent rhetoric to placate their army hard-liners — Horne, Alistair, A Savage War of Peace- Algeria 1954-1962, 1173; F.L.N. attrition tactics stalled the war in the Aurès and frustrated the French — Horne, Alistair, A Savage War of Peace- Algeria 1954-1962, 329

Related

• French political vacuum encouraged the F.L.N.’s Souk-Ahras offensive (similarity 0.94)
• Both F.L.N. and French leaders adopted intransigent rhetoric to placate their army hard-liners (similarity 0.82)
• FLN cross-border raids from Tunisia provoked French bombing of Sakiet (similarity 0.80)
• Boumedienne rejected attritional frontal attacks on the Morice Line and won by waiting (similarity 0.79)
• Boumedienne abandoned frontal assault for pinprick harassment to freeze French troops (similarity 0.78)
• The Morice Line cut off the interior Wilayas from all exterior support. (similarity 0.78)
• De Gaulle’s conciliatory gestures angered the army while winning no concessions from the F.L.N. (similarity 0.78)
• The French bombing of Sakiet triggered the Fourth Republic’s collapse (similarity 0.78)
• Suez’s humiliating withdrawal devastated returning French troops’ morale in Algeria (similarity 0.78)
• Hard-line F.L.N. leaders read the war’s trajectory as favoring continued fighting over compromise. (similarity 0.78)
• Sakiet’s fallout made the Algerian army feel betrayed by Paris. (similarity 0.78)

Broader Connections

• Both F.L.N. and French leaders adopted intransigent rhetoric to placate their army hard-liners #corroborates (0.30) — Horne, Alistair, A Savage War of Peace- Algeria 1954-1962, 1173
• F.L.N. attrition tactics stalled the war in the Aurès and frustrated the French #corroborates (0.20) — Horne, Alistair, A Savage War of Peace- Algeria 1954-1962, 329