On 14 June de Gaulle made his television broadcast, beginning somewhat patronisingly about the backwardness of his “old country”, which he said, must be made to “marry her time”. He spoke of a glowing future when “the Sahara natural gas, the reserves of which are inexhaustible, would be capable of transforming the existence of Algeria and influencing that of Europe”. Finally, he addressed himself, “in the name of France, to the leaders of the insurrection. I declare to them that we await them here in order to find with them an honourable end to the fighting that drags on”.

QUESTION: How did the insurrection leaders respond to this direct invitation, and what followed from it?

Horne, Alistair, A Savage War of Peace- Alge…, loc. 1189