Needstrat: Tunisia gets independence 1956

On 20 March 1956 France grants Tunisia independence. Habib Bourguiba becomes Prime Minister. On 25 July the next year a republic is declared and Bourguiba elected President. Very popular during the first years he stays in the position until 1987. He implements his ideas of secular rule, recognition of women’s rights and extending education. The military is under civilian rule, and after experimenting with socialism an export-oriented policy is implemented.

His foreign policy is pragmatic and Tunisia co-operates with France, the US, Arab countries as well as the Soviet bloc. He becomes more and more authoritarian , and repress liberals and the Islamic movement. Finally in 1987 his Prime Minister Ben Ali makes a constitutional coup, removes him declaring him mentally unfit and takes over the presidency. Ben Ali also promises political liberalization, but wins elections by 99% and all seats in the parliament. The Arab Spring of 2011 sweeps him away and into exile. Finally a more democratic Tunisia has seen the light 55 years after independence.

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/c0/Bourguiba_Bizerte.jpg

Habib Bourguiba giving a speech in the city of Bizerte, 1952.

Background
Tunisia became a French protectorate in 1881. Formally a Tunisian bey (king) ruled, but the real power lay with the French resident general and administration. Italian and French settlers bought up the most fertile lands and started cultivation for export. Phosphate was extracted from mines. In the 1890s a group called Jeunes Tunisiens (Young Tunisians), inspired by the Young Turks, started to ask for reforms and more Tunisian participation in government. They ran Le Tunisien newspaper. In 1911 they protested against the Italian invasion of Libya and the French exiled their leaders. After World War I they came back and created a political party Destour (Constitution) in 1920 demanding the reinstatement of the 1861 constitution Tunisia had before the French takeover. The bey supported this, but the French resident general surrounded the palace and the demand was withdrawn.

Geography of Tunisia

Habib Bourguiba comes
Even modest requests for reforms were turned down and this radicalized some of the nationalists. A young lawyer Habib Bourguiba came back from studies in Paris in 1927. He was a Destour member, but broke as he saw its methods as too weak and formed a new party Neo-Destour in 1934. He organized a mass party with support all over the country and from different groups including the unions, women and students. The French continued to repress the nationalists and Bourguiba was imprisoned and exiled. During World War II France was occupied by Germany and a collaborationist government in Vichy continued to rule the colonies and protectorates. The Tunisian bey Moncef tried to stay neutral, but after the Allied invasion of Tunisia in 1943 he was removed many nationalists were arrested and Neo-Destour prohibited. Bourguiba went into exile in Cairo to get foreign support. Farhat Hached, the leader of the nationalist labour union UGTT, was assassinated by a French group in 1952. Mass demonstrations followed both in Tunisia and Morocco. In 1954 France lost Indo-China (Vietnam) and wanted to concentrate their efforts on keeping Algeria. So the French government promised complete autonomy to both Morocco and Tunisia. Bourguiba came back from exile, and when full independence was given in 1956 he was chosen prime minister. The last bey Muhammad VIII al-Amin was deposed and the country declared a republic in 1957.