The Ben Bella kidnapping may mark the French army’s first self-directed political coup

Evidence

Lacoste was away on leave in the Dordogne, and to this day there remains some mystery as to whether the coup was in fact a first major instance of the French military acting on its own initiative, in disregard of the civil authorities, expressly with a view to torpedoing the peace negotiations; as to whether Lacoste turned a blind eye; or whether there was some degree of complicity even by the Mollet government, now deeply committed to the Suez adventure. The relevant orders are said to have been destroyed. — Horne, Alistair, A Savage War of Peace- Algeria 1954-1962, 485

Categorization

• XREF: Foreshadows the 1958 military putsch and the army’s drift toward autonomous political action against civilian authority. — connects to: Mollet’s political-warfare policies propelled the French army into politics.; A French army had not directly intervened in national politics since Napoleon’s coup; French ruse diverted Ben Bella’s plane to Algiers where all five were captured — Horne, Alistair, A Savage War of Peace- Algeria 1954-1962, 486

Related

• A French army had not directly intervened in national politics since Napoleon’s coup (similarity 0.89)
• The Ben Bella hijacking sealed off any negotiated end to the war. (similarity 0.85)
• Boumedienne seized power from Ben Bella in a 1965 army coup. (similarity 0.83)
• French ruse diverted Ben Bella’s plane to Algiers where all five were captured (similarity 0.83)
• A coup plot against civil government in Algeria emerged in late 1956 (similarity 0.81)
• Mollet’s political-warfare policies propelled the French army into politics. (similarity 0.80)
• Mollet lacked the political strength to release Ben Bella as peace negotiators. (similarity 0.80)
• Suez and the Ben Bella affair destroyed Mollet’s Algerian policy. (similarity 0.80)
• The Ben Bella hijacking backfired by pushing Tunisia and Morocco firmly behind the FLN. (similarity 0.79)

Broader Connections

• French ruse diverted Ben Bella’s plane to Algiers where all five were captured #expands (0.60) — Horne, Alistair, A Savage War of Peace- Algeria 1954-1962, 486