By and large the pieds noirs were led to believe and trust in the O.A.S. as an organisation protecting their interests, just as the F.L.N. had fought so successfully for Muslim interests over the past seven years. In their growing despair, and with principles distorted by the isolation in which they had so long existed, perfectly decent citizens turned to the O.A.S. to reverse the trend of history. Much as the German working classes had flocked to the Nazi party in the 1930s out of fear of the Bolshevik bogey, so the poor whites — the petits blancs — in particular now rallied strongly to the O.A.S.

XREF: Parallels the author is drawing between OAS support in Algeria and Nazi support in 1930s Germany — a comparison worth tracking back to. QUESTION: Is the historical analogy between the OAS and the Nazi party sound, or does it flatten meaningful differences between the two movements?

Horne, Alistair, A Savage War of Peace- Alge…, loc. 1487