The French Revolution abolished torture outright before Algeria reignited it

Evidence

In 1949, for instance, Governor-General Naegelen in an official circular ordered: “strong-arm techniques must be absolutely prohibited as a method of investigation. I am determined to punish with the utmost severity not only those members of the public service found guilty of using violence but also their superiors.” In 1955 Mendès-France declared categorically that all “excesses” “must stop everywhere and at once”, and Soustelle during his stewardship issued strict instructions that “every offence against human dignity…be rigorously forbidden”, and in his memoirs he insists that any proven cases of brutality or summary executions “did not rest without punishment”. — Horne, Alistair, A Savage War of Peace- Algeria 1954-1962, 581 (#corroborates, via linked claim)

Categorization

• XREF: connects to: French governors repeatedly and publicly prohibited torture in Algeria despite its prevalence — Horne, Alistair, A Savage War of Peace- Algeria 1954-1962, 581; Without slave revolt, the French Revolution would not have abolished slavery; The ideals of the French Revolution inspired various European movements. — Winston Churchill, A History of the English-Speaking…, 1637 (+1 more)

Related

• French governors repeatedly and publicly prohibited torture in Algeria despite its prevalence (similarity 0.89)
• French governors repeatedly ordered torture prohibited before the Battle of Algiers (similarity 0.86)
• Post-1959 torture in Algeria became a private, unsanctioned practice. (similarity 0.86)
• Torture in Algeria left a lingering poison in the French system (similarity 0.81)
• The Battle of Algiers exposed torture as a lasting poison for France (similarity 0.81)
• Torture in Algeria threatened France with state self-destruction (similarity 0.80)
• A senior French official recommended institutionalizing torture in 1955 (similarity 0.80)
• Torture became institutionalized in the French army during the Battle of Algiers (similarity 0.80)
• Torture’s contested truth made it a lasting canker for France (similarity 0.80)
• Torture won the Battle of Algiers but lost the war for France (similarity 0.79)
• Torture more than any single factor caused France’s Algerian defeat (similarity 0.78)
• Torture boomeranged against France in the Algerian war (similarity 0.78)
• Massu admitted Algerian torture existed but denied it was institutionalized (similarity 0.78)
• A senior French official recommended institutionalizing torture methods as unexceptional (similarity 0.78)
• Perpetrators of torture carried its moral damage home to France in person (similarity 0.78)

Broader Connections

• French governors repeatedly and publicly prohibited torture in Algeria despite its prevalence #corroborates (0.60) — Horne, Alistair, A Savage War of Peace- Algeria 1954-1962, 581
• The F.L.N. leadership’s internal liquidation replicated the French Revolution’s terror against its own #responds-to (0.40)
• Without slave revolt, the French Revolution would not have abolished slavery #corroborates (0.30)
• The ideals of the French Revolution inspired various European movements. #expands (0.30) — Winston Churchill, A History of the English-Speaking…, 1637