The revolution forced even arch-moderate Abbas to abandon gradualism

Evidence

Undoubtedly the most important single acquisition to the F.L.N. during this period was the person of the arch-apostle of moderation, Ferhat Abbas himself. In the spring of 1955 Abbas had made a powerful speech at the small port of Djidjelli that had come as a shock to Soustelle. If there were any “outlaws” in Algeria today, declared Abbas, they were to be found within the “colonialist regime”: “They are the prefects, they are the mayors, they are the administrators of the communes mixtes.” — Horne, Alistair, A Savage War of Peace- Algeria 1954-1962, 432 (#expands, via linked claim)

It marked a long march from Abbas’s oft-quoted statement of 1936 — “I will not die for the Algerian nation, because it does not exist.” A few weeks later, Abbas had an “exploratory” meeting with Abane, Krim and Ouamrane in Algiers. With outright frankness, Abane told him: “The revolution has been unleashed, and it is the work of neither Messali, nor the U.D.M.A. All that is out of date. Your duty is to join the Front.” When Abbas asked Abane what precisely he should do, he was told: “Dissolve the U.D.M.A., and announce that you are going over to the Front.” — Horne, Alistair, A Savage War of Peace- Algeria 1954-1962, 434 (#expands, via linked claim)

At a clinic where Soustelle was shown a child with its eyes eaten away by trachoma, his own feelings were voiced by an aide who was heard to murmur: “Do we really have to bombard such poor devils?” It was typical of the conflicting emotions that the sight of actual suffering, or inhumanity, invariably aroused in Soustelle. Meanwhile, in Paris, resistance to his “integration” concept was gathering momentum as opponents warned of the implications that parliament would eventually be “swamped” by the populous Muslims; that, in its present delicate state of balance, the Assembly might find the casting vote held steadily by a cohesive Algerian bloc. — Horne, Alistair, A Savage War of Peace- Algeria 1954-1962, 362 (#complicates, via linked claim)

Categorization

• XREF: connects to: The moderate Abbas moved to the F.L.N. because reform failed — Horne, Alistair, A Savage War of Peace- Algeria 1954-1962, 432; Pressure from the settler right and Paris politics crushed moderate reform from both sides — Horne, Alistair, A Savage War of Peace- Algeria 1954-1962, 362; Abbas’s 1943 Manifesto abandoned assimilation for Algerian self-government demands — Horne, Alistair, A Savage War of Peace- Algeria 1954-1962, 121 (+1 more)

Related

• The moderate Abbas moved to the F.L.N. because reform failed (similarity 0.93)
• The moderationist Ferhat Abbas relinquished his party to join the F.L.N. (similarity 0.92)
• Defeated reformism pushed moderate nationalists toward the F.L.N. and total independence (similarity 0.91)
• Abane forced Abbas to dissolve his party and join the F.L.N. (similarity 0.88)
• Abbas’s 1943 Manifesto abandoned assimilation for Algerian self-government demands (similarity 0.87)
• Pressure from the settler right and Paris politics crushed moderate reform from both sides (similarity 0.87)
• France’s refusal to restrain settler fascism drove liberal Algerians to the F.L.N. (similarity 0.84)
• The 1943 Manifesto marked Algerian nationalism’s break with assimilation (similarity 0.83)
• France’s rejection of moderate Algerian reformers radicalized them into revolutionaries (similarity 0.82)
• French rejection of moderates repeatedly drove them toward revolutionary extremism (similarity 0.82)
• Liberal moderates in Algeria became revolutionaries through successive disillusionments (similarity 0.82)
• European liberal intellectuals in Algeria faced impossible conscience conflicts as the war radicalized. (similarity 0.82)
• Closing legal channels of protest pushed Algerians toward violent resistance. (similarity 0.80)
• Messali’s revolutionary populism later flowed into the FLN and modern Algeria. (similarity 0.80)
• Soustelle’s moderate third path was squeezed by both sides (similarity 0.80)

Broader Connections

• The moderate Abbas moved to the F.L.N. because reform failed #expands (0.75) — Horne, Alistair, A Savage War of Peace- Algeria 1954-1962, 432
• Abane forced Abbas to dissolve his party and join the F.L.N. #expands (0.65) — Horne, Alistair, A Savage War of Peace- Algeria 1954-1962, 434
• Pressure from the settler right and Paris politics crushed moderate reform from both sides #complicates (0.60) — Horne, Alistair, A Savage War of Peace- Algeria 1954-1962, 362
• Abbas’s 1943 Manifesto abandoned assimilation for Algerian self-government demands #exemplifies (0.50) — Horne, Alistair, A Savage War of Peace- Algeria 1954-1962, 121