Undelivered Moroccan weapons crippled the F.L.N.’s Oran operations

Evidence

Despite being imprisoned by the French during the Tunisian struggle for independence, he seldom wavered in his francophilia, and his repeated services as a bridge between the Arabs and the Western world deserve an even greater place in history than they have achieved heretofore. Nevertheless, without Bourguiba in Tunisia, the F.L.N. would probably have been crushed—militarily—before the fall of the Fourth Republic. — Horne, Alistair, A Savage War of Peace- Algeria 1954-1962, 769 (#corroborates, via linked claim)

In September 1958 one of them, a Swiss explosives expert called Marcel Léopold, was picked up dead in the corridor of one of Geneva’s smartest hotels. An autopsy revealed that he had been shot in the neck by a tiny blowpipe dart, tipped with curare and fired from a contraption like a bicycle pump, which “The Killer” had thoughtfully left behind for the benefit of the world Press. Six months later, when Puchert was visiting Frankfurt, a limpet bomb was attached under the driver’s seat of his Mercedes and detonated by inertia. Filled with ball-bearings, it did relatively little damage to the car, but riddled the ample arms trafficker like truffles in a Perigord pâté. With the death of Puchert, freelance gun-running more or less faded away. — Horne, Alistair, A Savage War of Peace- Algeria 1954-1962, 813 (#qualifies, via linked claim)

Categorization

• XREF: connects to: Granting Tunisian and Moroccan independence without Algeria was a strategic error.; Algerian migrant wages in France funded F.L.N. weapons against French conscripts; Without Bourguiba Tunisia the FLN would likely have been crushed militarily — Horne, Alistair, A Savage War of Peace- Algeria 1954-1962, 769 (+2 more)

Related

• Without Bourguiba Tunisia the FLN would likely have been crushed militarily (similarity 0.85)
• French assassinations of key dealers ended freelance gun-running to the FLN (similarity 0.85)
• Independent Morocco and Tunisia gave the F.L.N. sanctuaries that assured its survival. (similarity 0.84)
• Bourguiba’s Tunisia was militarily decisive for F.L.N. survival (similarity 0.84)
• Granting Tunisian and Moroccan independence without Algeria was a strategic error. (similarity 0.82)
• French decolonization of Morocco and Tunisia handed the F.L.N. open frontiers (similarity 0.82)
• Algerian migrant wages in France funded F.L.N. weapons against French conscripts (similarity 0.81)
• France’s granting independence to Morocco and Tunisia in 1956 gave the F.L.N. open frontiers (similarity 0.81)
• Bourguiba’s mediation was essential to FLN military survival (similarity 0.81)
• Bourguiba survived opposing French and FLN pressures as key intermediary (similarity 0.80)
• Algeria curbed Polisario support out of fear of Moroccan fundamentalist revolution (similarity 0.80)
• Algerian refugees in Tunisia outnumbered and threatened the Tunisian state (similarity 0.80)
• Tunisia faced simultaneous French and FLN military pressure (similarity 0.80)
• Algerian fighters in Tunisia outnumbered the infant Tunisian army. (similarity 0.80)
• FLN cross-border raids from Tunisia provoked French bombing of Sakiet (similarity 0.80)

Broader Connections

• Algerian migrant wages in France funded F.L.N. weapons against French conscripts #corroborates (0.60)
• Without Bourguiba Tunisia the FLN would likely have been crushed militarily #corroborates (0.50) — Horne, Alistair, A Savage War of Peace- Algeria 1954-1962, 769
• French assassinations of key dealers ended freelance gun-running to the FLN #qualifies (0.45) — Horne, Alistair, A Savage War of Peace- Algeria 1954-1962, 813
• Algeria curbed Polisario support out of fear of Moroccan fundamentalist revolution #contradicts (0.40) — Horne, Alistair, A Savage War of Peace- Algeria 1954-1962, 1683