The FLN won self-determination just when it faced 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. won its main war goal despite impending military defeat; The F.L.N. won the decisive political round just as the army defeated it militarily — Horne, Alistair, A Savage War of Peace- Algeria 1954-1962, 1061; The F.L.N.’s defeat in Algiers forced a strategic pivot that later yielded victory (+10 more)

Related

• The F.L.N. won its main war goal despite impending military defeat (similarity 0.95)
• The F.L.N. won the decisive political round just as the army defeated it militarily (similarity 0.94)
• Military victory in the Battle of Algiers ultimately aided F.L.N. long-term goals. (similarity 0.91)
• Political struggle continues after military defeat on political terrain (similarity 0.89)
• Rejecting the paix des braves is what ultimately let the F.L.N. win (similarity 0.86)
• Military defeat of guerrilla bands shifted rather than ended the revolution’s political impact (similarity 0.86)
• The F.L.N. achieved its original war objectives as framed at Soummam. (similarity 0.86)
• Military defeat of the rebellion coincided with its growing political entrenchment among civilians (similarity 0.86)
• Military success on the battlefield coexisted with a sense that political betrayal was imminent. (similarity 0.85)
• The French army won militarily while losing the political and world battle (similarity 0.85)
• Melun gave the F.L.N. a political victory over de Gaulle. (similarity 0.85)
• Winning militarily while losing politically doomed the French army in Algeria (similarity 0.85)
• Military victory elevated the army to ultimate political arbiter in Algeria (similarity 0.83)
• The French army in Algeria transformed from clumsy to effective by 1956 (similarity 0.82)
• The F.L.N. framed independence as seized, not granted. (similarity 0.82)

Broader Connections

• The F.L.N. won its main war goal despite impending military defeat #corroborates (0.95)
• The F.L.N. won the decisive political round just as the army defeated it militarily #corroborates (0.90) — Horne, Alistair, A Savage War of Peace- Algeria 1954-1962, 1061
• The French army won militarily while losing the political and world battle #corroborates (0.85) — Horne, Alistair, A Savage War of Peace- Algeria 1954-1962, 1653
• Winning militarily while losing politically doomed the French army in Algeria #corroborates (0.80)
• Military defeat of the rebellion coincided with its growing political entrenchment among civilians #corroborates (0.75)
• Military victory in the Battle of Algiers ultimately aided F.L.N. long-term goals. #corroborates (0.70)
• A militarily victorious counterinsurgency can still lose due to non-battlefield factors #corroborates (0.70)
• Military defeat of guerrilla bands shifted rather than ended the revolution’s political impact #expands (0.65)
• Military pacification ended and politics dominated as the war wound down #expands (0.60) — Horne, Alistair, A Savage War of Peace- Algeria 1954-1962, 1291
• Without Bourguiba Tunisia the FLN would likely have been crushed militarily #contradicts (0.55) — Horne, Alistair, A Savage War of Peace- Algeria 1954-1962, 769
• The F.L.N.’s defeat in Algiers forced a strategic pivot that later yielded victory #qualifies (0.50)
• Porous frontiers enabled FLN sanctuary and French political collapse. #corroborates (0.45)