Ksar Hellal Congress

1934 Neo Destour Congress
مؤتمر قصر هلال
Delegation attending the event.
GenreParty Congress
Date(s)March 2, 1934 (1934-03-02)
Location(s)Ksar Hellal
CountryTunisia
Next eventCourt Street Congress
Participants60 Delegates
Organized byHabib Bourguiba
Mahmoud El Materi
Tahar Sfar
Bahri Guiga
M'hamed Bourguiba
Outcome
Creation of the Neo Destour party
Renewal of the Tunisian national movement
Colonial repression of 1934

The Ksar Hellal Congress was the first and founding congress of the Neo Destour party. The 1934 Neo Destour Congress was organized by the secessionist members of the Destour party, in Ksar Hellal, on March 2, 1934. It ended, that very night, with the creation of a new political party.

Upon the weakening of the Destour, that adopted a "shy" policy towards the Residence, the colonial French administration in Tunisia, a new generation of provincial thirties, with a European education and a close relationship with the French socialists, emerged. Mainly compounded of Habib Bourguiba, Mahmoud El Materi, Bahri Guiga, Tahar Sfar and M'hamed Bourguiba, it acquired a huge popularity thanks to its bold articles in newspapers, such as L'Action Tunisienne. However, the differences they had with the elders of the party led them to resign from the executive committee, the party's leadership, following the Tunisian naturalization issue.

The congress was held on March 2, 1934 to discuss the continuity of this youth's activism which ended with the founding of their own new political party, the Neo Destour, starting, thanks to its new methods, the renewal of the Tunisian nationalism and its movement.