The hijacking saved the F.L.N. from an interior-exterior split

Evidence

From France’s point of view, in retrospect, much more might have been achieved by leaving Ben Bella well alone. For if there was any satisfaction gained from the whole episode, paradoxically it lay in the ranks of the F.L.N. leaders themselves. Overtly expressing outrage at the hijacking, privately Abane and the “interior” were delighted. The major split within the F.L.N., threatened as a consequence of Soummam, had been miraculously avoided; unity had been restored and all argument about the primacy of the “interior” resolved — because now the “exterior” had simply ceased to exist. — Horne, Alistair, A Savage War of Peace- Algeria 1954-1962, 489 (#corroborates, via linked claim)

Categorization

  • XREF: connects to: The Algiers defeat exposed a fatal interior-exterior rift in F.L.N. leadership; The hijacking unintentionally healed the FLN’s threatened internal split. — Horne, Alistair, A Savage War of Peace- Algeria 1954-1962, 489

Broader Connections