The Sahara dispute turned on oil wealth rather than geography or history.

Evidence

Already in 1945 French oil companies had begun prospecting in the Sahara, and shortly after the beginning of the Algerian war a major strike was made at Edjelé on the Libyan frontier. With the opening up of the Hassi-Messaoud field, French oilmen predicted euphorically that they had at their fingertips resources similar to those of the Middle East. From 5 million tons in the first year, 1958, it was reckoned production would reach 14 million in 1962, and that it would suffice to satisfy all France’s oil requirements by 1980. With the menace that Suez presented to Middle East oil supplies, here was a glowing prospect of securing the nation’s need for the future, as well as solving her acute balance of payments problem. Quite quietly, France now found herself with a new motive for winning the Algerian war that went far beyond any consideration for the one million pieds noirs. — Horne, Alistair, A Savage War of Peace- Algeria 1954-1962, 753 (#corroborates, via linked claim)

In simplest terms, the French view was that the Algerians had no more right to the vast desert under-belly than the Indians had to Texas. Pedantically, Joxe explained how the frontiers of the Sahara were purely artificial, created arbitrarily by French cartographers. Historically, geographically and racially it had never had any connection with Algeria, and what was understood by Algeria was that narrow strip bounded by the Atlas mountains and the Mediterranean; traditionally the Algerians, claimed Joxe, had always been drawn northwards rather than southwards. Meanwhile, France had consistently accorded the Sahara special status. — Horne, Alistair, A Savage War of Peace- Algeria 1954-1962, 1437 (#contradicts, via linked claim)

Categorization

• XREF: connects to: France’s Sahara claims rested on cartographic fictions until oil made it valuable.; De Gaulle abandoned the Sahara as an artificial construction in September 1961.; Saharan oil discovery added an economic motive to France’s Algerian war — Horne, Alistair, A Savage War of Peace- Algeria 1954-1962, 753 (+1 more)

Related

• France’s Sahara claims rested on cartographic fictions until oil made it valuable. (similarity 0.96)
• France claimed the Sahara was artificially drawn and never integral to Algeria (similarity 0.93)
• Saharan oil discovery added an economic motive to France’s Algerian war (similarity 0.90)
• De Gaulle abandoned the Sahara as an artificial construction in September 1961. (similarity 0.88)
• The French economy’s prosperity rested on Saharan oil and gas (similarity 0.86)
• Saharan oil gave France a new economic motive to win the war (similarity 0.86)
• The Algerian war cost France ten times what the oil was worth (similarity 0.85)
• Saharan oil gave France a vastly increased economic motive for retaining Algeria (similarity 0.84)
• Severing Algeria proved a net economic gain for France (similarity 0.81)
• Aron argued the Algerian war cost ten times the oil’s value (similarity 0.81)
• Algeria’s oil nationalization triggered French economic retaliation (similarity 0.79)
• Saharan oil drew Anglo-American and Italian interests into the Algerian conflict (similarity 0.78)

Broader Connections

• Saharan oil discovery added an economic motive to France’s Algerian war #corroborates (0.85) — Horne, Alistair, A Savage War of Peace- Algeria 1954-1962, 753
• France claimed the Sahara was artificially drawn and never integral to Algeria #contradicts (0.70) — Horne, Alistair, A Savage War of Peace- Algeria 1954-1962, 1437