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🪵 The Threshold

Severing Algeria proved a net economic gain for France

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tagsja-picks, contrarian_or_surprising, singleton, xref, category/contrarian-or-surprising
aliases@horne_savage_1977, loc. 8

4 min read

Severing Algeria proved a net economic gain for France

Evidence

The war in Algeria (which lasted nearly eight years—almost twice as long as the “Great War” of 1914–18) toppled six French prime ministers and the Fourth Republic itself. It came close to bringing down General de Gaulle and his Fifth Republic and confronted metropolitan France with the threat of civil war. Yet, when defeat led to the cession of this corner-stone of her empire where she had been “chez elle” for 132 years, out of it arose an incomparably greater France than the world had seen for many a generation. — Horne, Alistair, A Savage War of Peace- Algeria 1954-1962, 8 (#corroborates, via linked claim)

If one excludes the imponderable factor of the loss of the oil resources developed by French knowhow and capital, the ending of the war and the severance of Algeria must be reckoned a net gain to France’s economy. Certainly it was from the date of Algerian independence in 1962 that France’s own economic “miracle” stems — even though after that moment she continued still to bolster Algeria to the extent of approximately £700,000 a day. — Horne, Alistair, A Savage War of Peace- Algeria 1954-1962, 1637 (#corroborates, via linked claim)

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 (#complicates, via linked claim)

Categorization

  • XREF: connects to: Defeat in Algeria paradoxically produced a stronger France; Saharan oil gave France a new economic motive to win the war; Algerian independence coincided with the start of France’s economic miracle. — Horne, Alistair, A Savage War of Peace- Algeria 1954-1962, 1637 (+3 more)

Broader Connections

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