On 24 May an astonished France learned that Massu's paras had seized power in Corsica, headed by the irrepressible Nez-de-Cuir. The coup was carried by detachments of the cloak-and-dagger 11th Shock, currently based in Corsica, without a shot being fired. When asked by journalists if there had been any casualties, Pascal Arrighi, the Gaullist deputy for Corsica who had taken part in the operation, replied: "Of course not! It was a revolution, not an election!" Only in Bastia was there a semblance of resistance by the Left, under slightly opéra bouffe circumstances. There the Socialist deputy mayor refused to accept Salan's nomination of Thomazo as military governor of the island, and refused to leave his office. Finally, as a face-saver, the deputy mayor announced he would depart either if formally under arrest, or arm-in-arm with the insurgents, singing the Marseillaise. The Marseillaise won.

Horne, Alistair, A Savage War of Peace- Alge…, loc. 896