The F.L.N. won its main war goal despite impending military defeat

Evidence

But to the most simpleminded member of the G.P.R.A. it must have been self-evident that one of the most important rounds in the war had been won, on the brink of military defeat. To his hard-pressed djounoud of the interior, the F.L.N. Minister of Defence, Belkacem Krim, issued a communiqué declaring: “Your struggle has obliged the enemy to talk of self-determination, thus renouncing the oft-repeated myth of Algérie française. His retreat is the fruit of your efforts.” The principle of “self-determination” conceded, all the F.L.N. had to do now was to fight an obdurate battle to ensure that they, and no one else, would be the interlocuteur valable with whom de Gaulle would be forced to negotiate it. — Horne, Alistair, A Savage War of Peace- Algeria 1954-1962, 1061 (#corroborates, via linked claim)

From the French army’s point of view, their tragedy was that at various points they could see with agonising clarity (and not without reason) that they were winning the war militarily. But (not unlike the American commanders in Vietnam) it was not given them to perceive that, at the same time, their chances of winning the war politically and on the wider world stage were growing ever slimmer. — Horne, Alistair, A Savage War of Peace- Algeria 1954-1962, 1653 (#corroborates, via linked claim)

Categorization

• XREF: connects to: The F.L.N.’s defeat in Algiers forced a strategic pivot that later yielded victory; Rejecting the paix des braves is what ultimately let the F.L.N. win; The FLN won self-determination just when it faced military defeat (+8 more)

Related

• The FLN won self-determination just when it faced military defeat (similarity 0.95)
• Military victory in the Battle of Algiers ultimately aided F.L.N. long-term goals. (similarity 0.93)
• The F.L.N. won the decisive political round just as the army defeated it militarily (similarity 0.93)
• The F.L.N. achieved its original war objectives as framed at Soummam. (similarity 0.93)
• Rejecting the paix des braves is what ultimately let the F.L.N. win (similarity 0.87)
• The French army won militarily while losing the political and world battle (similarity 0.86)
• Melun gave the F.L.N. a political victory over de Gaulle. (similarity 0.84)
• A militarily victorious counterinsurgency can still lose due to non-battlefield factors (similarity 0.84)
• Political struggle continues after military defeat on political terrain (similarity 0.84)
• Military success on the battlefield coexisted with a sense that political betrayal was imminent. (similarity 0.84)
• French counterinsurgency repeatedly traded military advantage for political costs (similarity 0.83)
• Winning militarily while losing politically doomed the French army in Algeria (similarity 0.83)
• The F.L.N. framed independence as seized, not granted. (similarity 0.82)
• F.L.N. hard-liners believed French weakness made continued fighting the winning strategy (similarity 0.82)
• The political moment must always prevail over the military in strategy (similarity 0.82)

Broader Connections

• The F.L.N. won the decisive political round just as the army defeated it militarily #corroborates (0.85) — Horne, Alistair, A Savage War of Peace- Algeria 1954-1962, 1061
• The French army won militarily while losing the political and world battle #corroborates (0.80) — Horne, Alistair, A Savage War of Peace- Algeria 1954-1962, 1653
• A militarily victorious counterinsurgency can still lose due to non-battlefield factors #expands (0.75)
• The F.L.N. achieved its original war objectives as framed at Soummam. #expands (0.60)
• The FLN committed to total war for full independence, not concessions #qualifies (0.50)