The army’s anti-Communist doctrine threatened French democracy by courting fascism

Evidence

In real life “Boisfeuras” had his opposite number in Colonel Antoine Argoud, another para whose extremity in belief and deed were to bring him notoriety later on. “We want to halt the decadence of the West and the march of Communism,” declared Argoud in court during the Barricades Trial of November 1960: “That is our duty, the real duty of the army. That is why we must win the war in Algeria. Indo-China taught us to see the truth.…” To men like “Boisfeuras” and Argoud the war against Communism was a permanent and unceasing phenomenon; while nationalism, in the Indo-Chinese and Algerian context, was largely equated with Communism. Theirs was a doctrine, says Edward Behr, “which, if carried to its logical conclusion, would have led to fascism not only in Algeria but in France as well”. Certainly, in the army’s contempt for the men of the Fourth Republic and the sense of its destiny to restore the grandeur of France, it was to be led close to destroying the nation’s democratic functions. — Horne, Alistair, A Savage War of Peace- Algeria 1954-1962, 532

Categorization

• XREF: Connects directly to the reader’s goal of understanding how the Algerian war ideology was ‘fought back’ inside France. — connects to: Mollet’s political-warfare policies propelled the French army into politics.; French officers equated Algerian nationalism with a permanent communist menace; The French government’s secret parley with Yacef deepened army distrust of civil rule — Horne, Alistair, A Savage War of Peace- Algeria 1954-1962, 680 (+2 more)
• SEED: Angle: how a defense-of-civilization ideology can push an army toward destroying its own nation’s democratic order — parallels and contrasts with other anti-communist crusades.

Related

• French officers equated Algerian nationalism with a permanent communist menace (similarity 0.82)
• Army disaffection and Fourth Republic decay were visible inside the state before 1958 (similarity 0.80)
• Fear of another Indochina made the army resent the Fourth Republic’s political system (similarity 0.79)
• Mollet’s political-warfare policies propelled the French army into politics. (similarity 0.79)
• French counterinsurgency repeatedly traded military advantage for political costs (similarity 0.78)

Broader Connections

• French officers equated Algerian nationalism with a permanent communist menace #corroborates (0.70)