Soustelle’s integration program dismantled the two-college system and communes mixtes

Evidence

The equally resented communes mixtes (which Soustelle saw as being “the heart of the political problem” in Algeria) were to be suppressed and broken up into elected rural communes; while to remedy the acute problem of under-administration whereby many an Algerian never encountered a representative of France, Soustelle created an entirely new corps, the Sections Administratives Specialisées or S.A.S. On the cultural scene, Arabic was to be made an official, obligatory language in Muslim schools, and the school-building programme was to be doubled. In agriculture, an embryo agrarian reform was to be initiated; while on the industrial scene a credit of five milliard francs ($148 million) was to be earmarked for the creation of public works, aimed at achieving Soustelle’s top-priority goal — “to breach the front of misery” — Horne, Alistair, A Savage War of Peace- Algeria 1954-1962, 344 (#expands, via linked claim)

Modest as were the reforms it would have introduced, the abortion of the Blum-Viollette Bill undoubtedly marked a vital turning-point for the Algerian nationalist movement. At the same time it also bestowed on the pieds noirs a first dangerous awareness that they could call the tune on any reform initiated by a government in Paris. — Horne, Alistair, A Savage War of Peace- Algeria 1954-1962, 115 (#complicates, via linked claim)

Categorization

• XREF: connects to: Soustelle’s integration policy rejected assimilation while promising perpetual French provincehood; Soustelle’s integration program paired military control with sweeping social and economic reform — Horne, Alistair, A Savage War of Peace- Algeria 1954-1962, 344; The failed Blum-Viollette Bill empowered pied noir obstruction of French reforms — Horne, Alistair, A Savage War of Peace- Algeria 1954-1962, 115

Related

• Soustelle’s integration program paired military control with sweeping social and economic reform (similarity 0.93)
• Soustelle’s integration policy differed from Blum-Viollette assimilation by granting Algeria its own personality. (similarity 0.90)
• Soustelle’s integration policy recognized Algeria’s distinct personality while keeping it French (similarity 0.89)
• The failed Blum-Viollette Bill empowered pied noir obstruction of French reforms (similarity 0.87)
• Pied noir resistance killed the Blum—Viollette assimilation bill. (similarity 0.84)
• Soustelle’s moderate third path was squeezed by both sides (similarity 0.80)
• Pied noir control of the Algerian Assembly blocked every major reform since 1909. (similarity 0.80)
• Post-independence Arabization made French integrationist dreams seem never realistically possible (similarity 0.79)
• Every French reform effort in Algeria was blocked by pied noir pressure groups (similarity 0.79)
• Integration would have demographically swamped metropolitan France (similarity 0.79)
• Algerian integration would numerically swamp metropolitan France politically. (similarity 0.79)
• Thwarted assimilation reforms repeatedly converted Muslim hopes into despair (similarity 0.78)

Broader Connections

• Soustelle’s integration program paired military control with sweeping social and economic reform #expands (0.75) — Horne, Alistair, A Savage War of Peace- Algeria 1954-1962, 344
• The failed Blum-Viollette Bill empowered pied noir obstruction of French reforms #complicates (0.50) — Horne, Alistair, A Savage War of Peace- Algeria 1954-1962, 115