The military defeat of the maquis shifted resistance into political clandestine organization among villagers.
Evidence
As hardship and casualties compounded took an increasing toll of the battle-trained moudjahiddine, their replacements — often drafted direct from the fidayine, or village militia, because nothing but a trickle of reinforcements was getting through the Morice Line — showed a distinct drop in combat value. By the time of the Melun negotiations in the middle of 1960, war-weariness and a defensive mentality had made their greatest impact on the interior and, from the A.L.N.’s point of view, the war was definitely running down. Therefore, on this tangible and readily discernible evidence Challe could well claim to have been proved right in all his calculations. Yet, paradoxically, while the armed rebellion might be seen to be “withering away”, at the same time the political imprint of the revolution was imposing itself more and more indelibly on the population. As the katibas disintegrated under Challe’s pressure, their members would filter back to their own villages and often, far from abandoning the cause, they would there reinforce the political struggle by establishing new clandestine cells under the Organisation Politico-Administrative. — Horne, Alistair, A Savage War of Peace- Algeria 1954-1962, 1228
Categorization
- XREF: Connects to the ‘revolution in the revolution’ theme and to how decapitation-style counterinsurgency redistributes rather than extinguishes resistance — parallels guerrilla-to-political phase-shift literature. — connects to: Military defeat of the rebellion coincided with its growing political entrenchment among civilians; Heavy-handed counterinsurgency sweeps drove the young into the maquis; Military defeat of guerrilla bands shifted rather than ended the revolution’s political impact (+1 more)
Related
- Heavy-handed counterinsurgency sweeps drove the young into the maquis (similarity 0.95)
- Local republics sustained resistance after their formal armies collapsed. (similarity 0.94)
- Military defeat of the rebellion coincided with its growing political entrenchment among civilians (similarity 0.91)
- Military defeat of guerrilla bands shifted rather than ended the revolution’s political impact (similarity 0.82)
- By 1956 rebel bands stood and fought instead of melting into the maquis (similarity 0.82)
- Challe’s countersurgency sought permanent occupation of rebel strongholds rather than one-off victories (similarity 0.80)
- Heavy-handed military reprisals in Algeria drove more Algerians to join the rebels. (similarity 0.80)
- Political struggle continues after military defeat on political terrain (similarity 0.79)
- Kabyle insurgents fragmented into small units that escaped the army comb initially (similarity 0.79)
- Challe’s military victories proved hollow because Boumedienne was rebuilding rebel strength abroad (similarity 0.79)
- Challe’s military victory was illusory because guerrilla forces could regenerate. (similarity 0.78)