History Of Bizerte
Bizerte has a very diverse history, which befits its location in the heart of the Mediterranean. In this section we have a look back through the important events and periods of Bizerte, which is the oldest city in Tunisia.com.
Ancient Beginnings Circa 1000BC
Bizerte was first settled by the Phoenicians from the ancient city of Tyre, which was a leading empire of the time with its base in which is now Southern Lebanon. The Phoenicians where an intrepid people whom set out to explore the Mediterranean sea and set up new colonies. Tyre was also the birthplace of the famous Dido who was to be the founder of Carthage, Tunisia’s most famous ancient city. Their civilisation would bring the alphabet and structured language to Tunisia for the first time.
Logically given its great position and bountiful forests the port developed over the years and became converted during the changes of empire over the years that followed.
Agathocles: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Agathocles Syracuse empire circa 310 BC
“those who by their crimes come to be princes” in Chapter VIII of Niccolò Machiavelli’s treatise on politics, The Prince (1513)
The ruler of an empire centred on Sicily was Agathocles who in ambitious (and rare for the time) style raised himself from the son of a potter to King of Sicily and a number of areas located around. A extremely gifted and expansionist leader he naturally made enemies and came to blows with the now increasingly important Empire of Carthage (near Modern Tunis)
During this time Bizerte was built from a small port to one with fortifications to withstand attack.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Agathocles
Carthage and the Punic Wars
With the eventual defeat of Agathocles Bizerte came under the influence of Carthage which eventually came into conflict of the great Roman civilisation. During the first Punic war Bizerte became a logical possession of Carthage (new town in ancient Phoenician language).
For over 23 years the Punic wars raged in the western Mediterranean sea and the Punic wars themselves lasted for more than one hundred years.
Carthage Empire map: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carthage
Roman Empire circa 203 BC
Bizerte remained part of the Carthage empire until it was captured by Rome and under the name Hippo Diarrhytus it lost some of its status to the nearby city of Utica which greatly benefitted from its earlier friendly relations with the Roman Empire.
There are a few roman age buildings in Bizerte good examples being the theater and old mosque in the medina which features a lot of what could be described as borrowed parts from ancient buildings.
The First Arab Conquest 7th Century
The Arabs first came to Bizerte in the seventh century having arrived from the East.
647 is given as the year that Bizerte fell into Arab hands in which it remained being fought and passed between dynasties until.
The Spanish Protectorate Circa 1535 AD
The previous years before the taking of Bizerte by the forces of Charles V of the house of Happisberg saw an influx if refugees from previously Muslim areas of Southern Spain.
Charles V was referred to as the "Holy Roman Emperor" a title which he fulfilled spending a great deal of his time and fortune fighting the Islamic forces of the Turkish Sultan.
Charles inherited a lot of lands that included modern day spain, southern Europe and parts of central Europe. Below is a clip of that territory showing the area around Tunisia.
Given their ideal positions Charles defended Bizerte and Tunis even though he did not hold the areas around them. This highlights the excellent strategic position of Bizerte.
The Turkish Period Circa 1574
During the religious wars the Turks gained the upper hand in the Western Mediterranean and Bizerte became an important base for them. As their grip on power became looser the port then became a corsair port which meant that islamic privateers/pirates sailed out of the port to raid nearby shipping and foreign lands.
You can imagine when walking the port of Bizerte that hundreds of years before Corsairs would have brought their ships into the port to unload their booty of goods and slaves.
Bankruptcy and the French 1861 > 1881
By nineteenth century trade had opened up with other western countries in the region and the Government of Tunisia borrowed money for modernization this lead to a defaulting on payment and finally resulted in foreign powers assuming control of the finances of the country. The subject of Tunisia was raised between the superpowers of the day with France and Italy emerging as the main suitors for ownership of Tunisia. In 1881 the French constructed a suitable rouse and marched into Tunisia where in 1881 a treaty was signed that ceded control of many of Tunisia's sovereign powers to France.
For Bizerte this was not necessarily a bad thing as the port had fallen in decay and ha lost some importance. The French proceeded to invest funds in the city widening the entrance to the lake improving the port and building many buildings in the town centre many of which can been seen still standing today.
World War 2
Bizerte was occupied by the Germans during World War II, and was retaken by American troops on 7 May 1943 their are number of war cemeteries in the area for both the allied and axis forces.
The Battle of Bizerte
In 1956 Tunisia gained independence from France however the French did not want to concede control of Bizerte at all given the excellent location and the sizable military installations that had been built over the years. Additionally France was involved in a nasty conflict in Algeria and Bizerte was part of the support plans. France admitted that Bizerte as part of Tunisia but frustrated the Tunisian government with additional works to the fortifications and the airport which gave the impression of years of continuing to squat on Tunisian land.
In 1961 Tunisian forces blockaded the Area of bizerte and demanded French withdrawal what was supposed to be a face off turned nasty when a french helicopter took off and was fired upon. This resulted in reinforcements being brought in and when these where fired upon France took decisive and violent action against the brave but inferior Tunisian forces. Using state of the art weapons and decisive force the french took Bizerte and Menzel Bourguiba resulting in the loss of life during the three days of 700 Tunisians (1200 wounded) and 24 French (100 wounded).
The world was shocked at the severity of the attack and following meetings at the UN security council along with international pressure on France agreement was reached and the French presence was ended on the 15th october 1963.
There is a beautiful cemetery in Bizerte which commemorates the lost young lives during this conflict
Modern Bizerte
Today Bizerte is the fifth largest city in Tunisia and is both an important trading port and a key site of foreign investment and development. The city has a trade free zone called bizerte economic park and is also awaiting the exciting arrival of a new marina which promises to make Bizerte again a coveted location in the Med.
References
http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,938175,00.html
http://en.wikipedia.org
http://www.asmbizerte.com/
