French protectorate of Tunisia | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1881–1956 | |||||||||
| Anthem: | |||||||||
| |||||||||
| Status | Protectorate | ||||||||
| Capital | Tunis | ||||||||
| Common languages | |||||||||
| Religion | |||||||||
| Demonym(s) | Tunisian | ||||||||
| Government | Constitutional monarchy under French protection | ||||||||
| Bey | |||||||||
• 1859–1882 (first) | Muhammad III | ||||||||
• 1943–1956 (last) | Muhammad VIII | ||||||||
| Prime Minister | |||||||||
• 1881–1882 (first) | Mohamed Khaznadar | ||||||||
• 1954–1956 (last) | Tahar Ben Ammar | ||||||||
| Resident-General | |||||||||
• 1885–1886 (first) | Paul Cambon | ||||||||
• 1955–1956 (last) | Roger Seydoux[a] | ||||||||
| Historical era | Interwar period | ||||||||
| 12 May 1881 | |||||||||
| 20 March 1956 | |||||||||
| Currency | |||||||||
| |||||||||
| Today part of | Tunisia | ||||||||
.svg)
The French protectorate of Tunisia (French: Protectorat français de Tunisie; Arabic: الحماية الفرنسية في تونس al-ḥimāya al-Fransīya fī Tūnis), officially the Regency of Tunis[1][2][b] (French: Régence de Tunis) and commonly referred to as simply French Tunisia, was established in 1881, during the French colonial empire era, and lasted until Tunisian independence in 1956.
The protectorate was established by the Bardo Treaty of 12 May 1881 after a military conquest,[5] despite Italian disapproval.[6] It was part of French North Africa with French Algeria and the Protectorate of Morocco, and more broadly of the French Empire.[7] Tunisian sovereignty was more reduced in 1883, the Bey was only signing the decrees and laws prepared by the Resident General of France in Tunisia. The Tunisian government at the local level remained in place, and was only coordinating between Tunisians and the administrations set up on the model of what existed in France. The Tunisian government's budget was quickly cleaned up, which made it possible to launch multiple infrastructure construction programs (roads, railways, ports, lighthouses, schools, hospitals, etc.) and the reforms that took place during the Beylik era contributed to this,[8] which completely transformed the country above all for the benefit of the settlers, mostly Italians whose numbers were growing rapidly. A whole land legislation was put in place allowing the acquisition or the confiscation of land to create lots of colonization resold to the French colonists.
The first nationalist party, Destour, was created in 1920, but its political activity decreased rapidly in 1922. However, Tunisians educated in French universities revived the nationalist movement. A new party, the Neo Destour, was created in 1934 whose methods quickly showed their effectiveness. Police repression only accentuated the mobilization of the Tunisian people. The occupation of the country in 1942 by Germany and the deposition of Moncef Bey in 1943 by the French authorities reinforced the exasperation of the population. After three years of guerrilla warfare, internal autonomy was granted in 1955. The protectorate was finally abolished on 20 March 1956.
Cite error: There are <ref group=lower-alpha> tags or {{efn}} templates on this page, but the references will not show without a {{reflist|group=lower-alpha}} template or {{notelist}} template (see the help page).
- ^ Territories Within the Area of Responsibility of the Office of Near Eastern and African Affairs. United States Department of State. Division of Research for Near East and Africa, Office of Intelligence Research. 1949. p. 1.
- ^ Herbert Treadwell Wade, ed. (1927). "Tunis". The New International Year Book. Dodd Mead and Company. p. 733.
The government, known as the Regency of Tunis, is under the French foreign office
- ^ Non-self-governing Territories. Vol. 2. United Nations General Assembly Committee on Information from Non-Self-Governing Territories. 1950. p. 120 fn 27.
- ^
- For example in,
- Handbook of Commercial Treaties, Etc., with Foreign Powers. His Majesty's Stationery Office, 1931. p. 232.
- Treaty Information Bulletin. Issue 39. Department of State. U.S. Government Printing Office, 1933. p. 16.
- ^ Holt & Chilton 1918, p. 220-221.
- ^ Ling 1960, p. 398-99.
- ^ Balch, Thomas William (November 1909). "French Colonization in North Africa". The American Political Science Review. 3 (4): 539–551. doi:10.2307/1944685. JSTOR 1944685. S2CID 144883559.
- ^ Wesseling 1996, pp. 22–23