The Contemporary Period

1 - The French Protectorate:

In 1883, having subdued a tribal rising, the French entrusted the organization of the conquest to a resident, Paul Cambon. Become resident General in 1885, Cambon placed alongside the bey and its Prime Minister a secretary-general charged to control their decisions and replaced the Tunisian ministers by French technical directors. Its successors continued his work of "" of Tunisia. After one period of military administration (1883-1884), civil controllers from Algeria replaced the local caïds. Economic development resulted in the formation of a reformist middle-class and the rise of nationalism. Excluded from the management of their country, the Tunisians start to claim their independence. In 1907, Ali Bach Hamba and Hedi Sfar created the Young Tunisians. In 1911, a riot started in Tunis at the time of the italo-Turkish war marked the starting point of an organized opposition movement, but this was repressed immediately. The Young Tunisians movement only reappeared after 1918.

After the First World War, the freedom movement gained in strength, initiated by the Destouriens and continued by the Néodestouriens. In 1920, the Destour restarted the nationalist movement. The movement was affected by the arrest and exile, in 1925, of the leaders of the general Confederation of the Tunisian workers (CGTT). In 1933, a new force emerged in the Destour, led by Habib Bourguiba, that was specifically Tunisian, liberal and secular. In 1934, they split with the Old Destour. The Néo-Destour leaders were captured in the South and then released in 1936 by the government of Leon Blum who opened negotiations with them. These were halted by the fall of the ministry in June 1937. Violent incidents occurred in July 1937, resulting in the arrest again of the Néo-Destour leaders and the proclamation of a state of siege in 1938.

Walk towards independence:

The Second World War hardly stopped the nationalists; the movement was substantial by the end of 1940. Having tried to benefit from nationalist support, Moncef bey was exiled after the German occupation ended (November 1942 at May 1943), to be replaced by Lamine bey. In 1947, Habib Bourguiba took part in the creation of the Committee for the Release of the Maghreb in Cairo and in 1948 supported the constitution of the general Union of the Tunisian workers (UGTT). In August 1950, the bey formed a government in which the secretary-general of Néo-Destour participated. Habib Bourguiba presented a program for independence to France. The nationalists protested loudly against the assertion by the French government on December 15, 1951, " the final character of the bond which joins together Tunisia in France" faced with this, Bourguiba encouraged armed resistance. He was exiled again in January 1952, and the nationalists began the armed struggle.

In 1954, things changed abruptly with the arrival of Pierre Mendès France to the presidency of the Council: France agreed to negotiate with the nationalists. In a speech made in Carthage (July 31, 1954) Mendès France committed himself to granting internal autonomy; this was the subject of signed conventions (June 3, 1955) with the Tahar Ben Ammar government. On March 20, 1956, a protocol abolished the treaty of Bardo and recognized the independence of Regency. Néo-Destour obtained 95 % of the votes in the elections of April 1956. After becoming the leader of the government, Habib Bourguiba broke the opposition of Salah Ben Youssef (1956-1957), deposed Lamine bey and, on July 25, 1957, proclaimed the Republic of Tunisia of which he became the first president.

Independent Tunisia:

Bourguiba set up a policy, which wanted to be at the same time modern (secularization of teaching, promulgation of the Code of the personal statute with prohibition of polygamy and declaration of the equality between the men and the women), liberal (recognition of fundamental freedoms) and Socialist (land reform, planned development). The relations with France were at first difficult as revealed, in 1961, by the issue of Bizerte - the last French military base in Tunisia - which was finally evacuated of French troops on December 15, 1963. Nevertheless, this was not the last time that the independence policy caused dissatisfaction. A new series of ground nationalizations of colonists in 1964 caused the suspension of financial assistance. In September 1964, the dinar was severely devaluated. Re-elected president on November 8, Habib Bourguiba was criticized by the Arab countries for his moderate position towards Israel. Diplomatic relations were broken with Egypt in October 1967, then with Syria in May 1968. The deterioration of the relationship between the Socialist Party Destourien (PSD) and the UGTT led to the arrest and the sentencing in January 1966 of Habib Achour (1913- 1999), secretary-general of the trade union. The project of acceleration of land reform caused general dissatisfaction. In November 1969, the Prime Minister Ahmed Ben Salah was deposed and excluded from the party.

After the re-election of Bourguiba on November 2, 1969, Prime Minister Baghi Ladgham put an end to land reform, increased the wages of the workmen and lowered prices. Habib Achour was reinstated as secretary-general of the UGTT. From 1970, Tunisia approached the Arab countries again. (True to its relationship towards the Palestinian people, Tunisia welcomed the leaders of the PLO from 1982 to 1993). In May 1970, Ahmed Ben Salah was condemned to ten years of hard labour. In June, Hedi Nouira was named the head of government. During the congress of October 1971, the liberals carried it but were isolated in political office. Their leader, the Minister of Interior Department Mestiri, was excluded from the party in January 1972. In January 1974, Habib Bourguiba and colonel Kadhafi decided to amalgamate Tunisia and Libya. The project was cancelled in March, and the Masmoudi Foreign Minister was isolated within the government. Agitation quasi-permanent coed is severely repressed in April 1974. The PSD congress gave up the liberal line in September. Habib Bourguiba, elected the official life president of the PSD, excluded his opponents and adopted the single party system. Re-elected on November 3, 1974, he was elected Head of State for life in March 1975. But crisis followed crisis.

In January 1977, to stop social agitation generated by the economic crisis, the government, and the UGTT and employers signed a pact to little effect. The UGTT started a general strike on January 26, 1978, which degenerated into a riot that was brutally repressed by the army. The principal people in charge of the trade union were arrested and Habib Achour was condemned to ten years of hard labour; he was pardoned in 1979 and given residence. In April 1980, Mohammed Mezali was appointed Prime Minister and secretary-general of the PSD. The condemned leaders of the UGTT and members of the popular Movement of unit (MUP) were given amnesty (except for Ben Salah) in 1981. During the PSD congress of April 1981, Bourguiba affirmed the trade unions' rights to autonomy and announced a move towards a multi-party system. On the 1st November, a coalition between the PSD and the UGTT won all of the seats and Mohammed Mzali was confirmed as leader on November 8. The multi-party system was founded in November 1983. However, price rises of staple products caused serious riots at the beginning of 1984 so Bourguiba cancelled the rises to restore calm. In December 1984, Habib Achour again became secretary-general of the UGTT. The UGTT were subjected to repression in 1985. In 1987, two militants of the Movement of the Islamic tendency (MTI) were condemned to death.

Author

This article was kindley researched for Tunisia.com by Makrem Ben Salem.

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