HISTORY OF TUNISIA

The present day Republic of Tunisia, ''al Jumhuriyah at-Tunisiyah'', has a population of close to ten million people, almost all of whom are Arab-Berber. The language is Arabic and the religion is Muslim. In size it is about 164,000 square kilometers (63,400 square miles), bounded by Libya to the east and by Algeria to the west. In the north of Tunisia are a variety of orchards and fields as well as pasturage, while in the south near the Sahara desert it becomes dryer. The economy is primarily light industry and agriculture.

Contents

Early history

Carthage

The Roman Province of Africa

Middle ages

Almohad and Hafsid Dynasties

Ottoman Empire

Modern history

Tunisia since independence

See also

Sources

Further reading

External links

Early history

'Berber Background' The Berbers (who today call themselves the ''Imazighen'' or ''Tamazight'') or their descendants have been generally the major population group to inhabit North Africa for perhaps eight thousand years.^[1] This encompasses terrain from the Nile to the Atlantic, including the vast Sahara with Ahaggar and Tibesti, and the long Mediterranean shore with the region now known as Tunisia. The twenty or so Berber languages form one of the branches of Afroasiatic or Afrasian, a world language family which itself stretches from Mesopotamia to the Niger, its other branches being: Ancient Egyptian, Semitic (which includes the Arabic language), Cushitic, and Chadic.^[2] Berber, however, is no longer widely spoken in present day Tunisia; e.g., centuries ago many Zanata Berbers became Arabized.^[3]
Rock inscriptions in the Sahara, the Capsian stone blades and tools, and small figurines, found in al-Maghrib, as well as many of the dolmens by the Mediterranean have been associated with the Berbers.^[4] Seasonal and migration routes across the Sahara evidence their prehistoric presence. Egyptian writing from early dynasties also testifies to Libyans, the Berbers of the "western desert". Anciently, the peoples of North Africa were often known collectively as Libyans.^[5] Berbers were also know as Numidians, or Mauri or Maurisi (later Moors).^[6] The Berbers developed their own ancient writing system, called today Tifinagh.^[7] Berbers particularly those of Tunisia were also well known in antiquity due to their contacts with Mediterranean traders.
'Migrating Peoples' Tunisia in its history has seen many arrivals. By three thousand years ago, the eastern Mediterranean had developed so that some regions produced an excess of population. Consequently city-states started organizing groups of the youth to migrate to where land was more available. To these migrants the western Mediterranean had underutilized land and could be reached relatively easily by ship, without intruding into neighboring territory. Such colonists began coming westward across the seas, following the lead of their commercial traders. The Greeks later came to what is now Libya, Sicily, Italy, and southern France. The earlier Phoenicians had come to Sardinia, Spain, Morocco, Algeria, Sicily, and of course, Tunisia.
Throughout history many other peoples have arrived among the Berbers to settle in what is now Tunisia, most recently the French, before them came the Ottomans, yet earlier the Arabs who brought their language and the religion of Islam, before them the Byzantines, the Vandals, the Romans whose Empire long governed, and the Phoenicians who founded Carthage close to three thousand years ago. All the while were coming in migrants from the south. Millennia prior, there were already ancient peoples established among whom the proto-Berbers mingled, from whom they would spring, during an era of their ethno-genesis.^[8]

Carthage

'Foundation' The city of Carthage (site of ruins in present day Tunisia) was iniciated by Phoenicians from the Levant. Its name ''Kart Hudesht'' in the Punic language meant "new city".^[9] Punic is a member of the west Semitic language group.^[10] A maritime city-state of Phoenicia, Tyre, founded and settled Carthage in order to enjoy a permanent station for its trade in the western Mediterranean. Legends alive in the city for centuries assigned its founding to the queen Elissa, also called Dido (heroine of the ''Aeneid'' by Virgil, e.g., the Byrsa).^[11]
'Sovereignty' Carthage had grown into a fully independent thalassocracy by the middle of the sixth century B.C. Under Mago (r., c.550-530) and later the Magonid family, Carthage came to be preeminent in the western Mediterranean, soon possessing Numidian Berber trading partners along the African coast to the west, stations in southern Sardinia and western Sicily, Ibiza in the Balearics, Lixus south of the straits, Gades north of the straits, as well as others stations in south and east Iberia. Also Carthage had an able ally in the Etruscans.^[12]
In the 530s there had been a three sided naval struggle between the Phoenicians, the Greeks, and the Etrusco-Punic allies; the Greeks lost Corsica to the Etruscans and Sardinia to Carthage. The Etruscans then unsuccessfully attacked the Greek colonies in the Campania south of Rome. As an eventual result, Rome threw off their Etruscan kings of the Tarquin dynasty. In 509 Carthage and the Roman Republic entered into a treaty which defined their commercial zones.^[13]
'Greek rivalty' The energetic presence of Greek traders and their emporia in this region led to disputes over commercial spheres of influence, especially in Sicily. This Greek threat, plus the foreign conquest of Phoenicia in the Levant, had caused many Phoenician colonies to come under the leadership of Carthage. In 480 B.C. (concurrent with Persia's invasion of Greece), Mago's grandson Hamilcar landed a large army in Sicily in order to confront Syracuse (a colony of Corinth) on the island's eastern coast, but the Greeks prevailed at the Battle of Himera. A long struggle ensued with intermittent warfare between Carthage and Syracuse which was led by the tyrant Dionysius. Later, in 310-307, Greek armies from Sicily under Agathocles invaded Cape Bon near Carthage, but with disappointing results. Greece, preoccupied with its conquest of the Persian Empire in the east, eventually became supplanted in the western Meditarranean by Rome, the new rival of Carthage.^[14]
All the while Carthage only enlarged its commercial sphere, venturing south to develop the Saharan trade, augmenting its markets along the African coast, in southern Iberia, and among the Mediterranean islands, and exploring in the far Atlantic. Carthage also established its authority directly among the Numidian Berber peoples in the lands immediately surrounding the city, which grew ever more prosperous.^[15]
'The Constitution of Carthage' The government of Carthage was undoubtedly patterned after the Phoenician, especially the mother city of Tyre, but Phoenician cities had kings and Carthage apparently did not.^[16] An important office was called in Punic the ''Suffets'' (a Semitic word agnate with the Old Hebrew ''Shophet'' usually translated as Judges as in the Book of Judges). Yet the Suffet at Carthage was more the executive leader, but as well served in a judicial role. Birth and wealth were the initial qualifications. It appears that the Suffet was elected by the citizens, and held office for a one year term; probably there were two of them at a time; hence quite comparable to the Roman Consulship. A major difference was that the Suffet had no military power. Cathagenian generals marshalled mercenary armies and were separately elected. From about 550 to 450 the Magonid family monopolized the top military position; later the Barcid family acted similarly. Eventually it came to be that, after a war, the commanding general had to testify justifying his actions before a court of 104 judges.^[17]
Aristotle (384-322, Greek) discusses Carthage in his ''Politica''^[18] describing the city as a "mixed constitution", a political arrangement with cohabiting elements of monarchy, aristocracy, and democracy. Later Polybus of Megalopolis (c.204-122, Greek) in his ''Histories''^[19] would describe the Roman Republic as a mixed constitution in which the Consuls were the monarchy, the Senate the aristocracy, and the Assemblies the democracy.
Evidently Carthage also had an institution of elders who advised the Suffets, similar to the Roman Senate. We do not have a name for this body. At times members would travel with an army general on campaign. Members also formed permanent committees. The institution had several hundred members from the wealthiest class who held office for life. Vacancies were probably filled by co-option. From among its members were selected the 104 Judges mentioned above. Later the 104 would come to judge not only army generals but other office holders as well. Aristotle regarded the 104 as most important; he compared it to the ephorate of Sparta with regard to control over security. In Hannibal's time, such a Judge held office for life. At some stage there also came to be independent self-perpetuating boards of five who filled vacancies and supervised (non-military) government administration.^[20]
Popular assemblies as well existed at Carthage. When deadlocked the Suffets and the quasi-senatorial institution might request the assembly to vote, or in very crucial matters in order to achieve political coherence. The assembly members had no ''legal'' wealth or birth qualification. How its members were selected is unknown, e.g., whether by festival group or urban ward or another method.^[21]
The Greeks were favorably impressed by the constitution of Carthage; Aristotle had a study of it made which unfortunately is lost. In the brief approving review in his ''Politica''^[22] Aristotle saw one fault: that focus on pursuit of wealth led to oligarchy. So it was in Carthage. The people were passive; popular rights came late. Being a commercial republic fielding a mercenary army, the people were not conscripted for military service, an experience which can foster the feel for popular political action. On the other hand, Carthage was very stable; there were few openings for tyrants. "The superiority of their constitution is proved by the fact that the common people remain loyal".^[23] Only when defeat by Rome devastated Carthage's imperial ambitions did the people express interest in reform. ^[24]
In 196, following the Second Punic War, Hannibal was elected Suffet. When his reforms were blocked by a financial official about to become a Judge for life, Hannibal rallied the populace against the 104 Judges. He proposed a one year term for the 104. His opponents cravenly went to Rome and charged Hannibal with conspiracy, with plotting war against Rome in league with Antiochus the Hellenic ruler in Syria. Although Scipio Africanus resisted such maneuver, eventually Roman intervention caused Hannibal to leave Carthage. Thus did the corrupt officials in Carthage efficiently block Hannibal's reforms.^[25].
The above description of the constitution basically follows Warmington. Largely it is taken from descriptions by Greek foreigners who likely would see in Carthage reflections of their own institutions. How strong was the Hellenizing within Carthage? The basic difficulty is the lack of adequate records due to the secretive nature of the Punic state and to the utter destruction of its capitol city. Another view of the constitution of Carthage is given by Picard as follows.
Mago (6th century) was ''King'' of Carthage, Punic ''MLK'' or ''malik'' (Greek ''basileus''), not merely a ''SFT'' or ''Suffet'', which then was only a minor official. Mago as ''MLK'' was head of state and war leader; being ''MLK'' was also a religious office. His family was considered to possess a sacred quality. Mago's office was somewhat similar to that of Pharaoh, but although kept in a family it was not hereditary, it was limited by legal consent; however, the council of elders and the popular assembly are late institutions. Carthage was founded by the ''King'' of Tyre who had a royal monopoly on this trading venture. Royal authority was accordingly the traditional source of power the ''MLK'' of Carthage possessed. Later, as other Phoenician ship companies entered the trading region, and so associated with the city-state, the ''MLK'' of Carthage had to keep order among a rich variety of powerful merchants in their negotiations over risky commerce across the seas. The office of ''MLK'' began to be transformed, yet it was not until the aristocrats of Carthage became landowners that a council of elders was institutionalized.^[26]
'The Punic Wars with Rome' The emergence of the Roman Republic and its developing foreign interests led to sustained rivalry with Carthage for dominion of the western Mediterranean. As early as 509 B.C. Carthage and Rome had entered into treaty status, but eventually their opposing positions led to conflict, alienation, and warfare.
The First Punic War (264-241) started in Sicily. It developed into a naval war in which the Romans learned how to fight at sea and prevailed. Carthage lost Sardinia and its western part of Sicily.^[27]
The Second Punic War (218-201) started in at Saguntum in Hispania. From Hispania Hannibal set out, leading his armies over the Alps into Italy. At first Hannibal won great victories against Rome, which all but destroyed Roman military strength. Yet most of Rome's Italian allies remained loyal, and Rome rebuilt her armies. For many years Hannible remained on campaign in Italy. Later, Roman armies under Scipio Africanus invaded Hispania successfully. Then Rome landed armies in Africa near Carthage, forcing Hannibal's return. One Numidian king Syphax supported Carthage, another Masinissa Rome. At the Battle of Zama in (202), Scipio Africanus defeated Hannibal. As a result, Carthage lost its trading cities in Hispania and the Western Mediterranean, and its influence over the Numidian Kingdoms in North Africa. Carthage became reduced to its immediate surroundings. Also it owed a large indemnity to Rome.^[28]
Carthage rivived, which caused alarm in Rome. Carthage declined new terms and the Third Punic War (149-146) began. Roman armies besieged the magnificent city of Carthage, which rejected negotiations; eventually Carthage was destroyed and its citizens enslaved.^[29]
'Afterward' The region (modern Tunisia) was annexed by the Roman Republic as the Province of Africa. Carthage was eventually rebuilt by the Romans. Long after the fall of Rome, Carthage would be again destroyed.

The Roman Province of Africa

'In the Republic' The province (basically what is now Tunisia) witnessed military activities in the neighborhood directed by several important Romans during the Republic. Gaius Marius, a wealthy ''novus homo'', was the first Roman general to enlist ''proletari'' (landless citizens); he later became Consul an unprecedented seven times (107, 104-100, 86). Marius began his career in North Africa during Rome's wars against the Numidian king Jugurtha.^[30] The optimate Lucius Cornelius Sulla, Consul (88, 80), Dictator (82-79), served under Marius in Numidia, also at the start of his career.
In 47 B.C. Julius Caesar landed in Africa in pursuit of Pompey's remnant army which was headquartered at Utica, where they had the support of the Numidian King
Juba I. Also present was Cato the Younger, a political leader of Caesar's republican opponents. Caesar's victory nearby at the battle of Thapsus nearly ended the civil war. Cato committed suicide by his sword.^[31] Caesar annexed Numidia as the province of Africa Nova.
'Within the Empire' Juba II, King of Mauretania, was restored to his kingdom by Augustus in circa 27 B.C. He married Cleopatra Selene, the daughter of Anthony and Cleopatra. Educated at Rome and a client king, he also wrote about the culture and history of Africa, and a best seller about Arabia, books unfortunately lost. Later, these lands were annexed as the Roman Provinces of Mauritania Tingitana and Mauritania Caesaria, to the west of the Province of Africa.^[32]
'Renaissance of Carthage' Begun by the Roman Emperor Augustus, Carthage was rebuilt during the 1st and 2nd centuries. It became the Capitol of the Province of Africa. Several new towns were founded, and the older Punic settlements grew. Its rich agricultural production made the province wealthy. Veterans retired there and others came from different parts of the Empire. Before long, a sizable Latin speaking population had come to share the region with those speaking the Berber languages. The Romans governed well enough that the Province of Africa became fully integrated into the Empire.
'African Emperors, 193-217' Septimus Severus (145-211, r.193-211) was born of mixed Punic Ancestry in Lepcis Magna, Tripolitania (now Libya) where he spent his youth. Although he was said to speak with a North African accent, he and his family were long members of the Roman cosmopolitan elite. His eighteen year reign was noted for frontier military campaigns. His wife Julia Domna of Emesa, Syria, was from a prominent family of priestly rulers; as empress in Rome she cultivated a salon which may have included Ulpian of Tyre, the jurist of Roman Law. After Severus, his son Caracalla (r.211-217) became Emperor; Caracalla's edict of 212 granted citizenship to all free inhabitants of the Empire. Later, two grand nephews of Severus through his wife Julia Domna became Emperors: Elagabalus (r.218-222) who brought the black stone of Emesa to Rome; and Severus Alexander (r.222-235) born in Caesarea sub Libano. Though unrelated, the Emperor Macrinus (r.217-218) came from Iol Caesarea in Mauretania (Sharshal, Algeria).^[33]
'Emperors from the Province of Africa' In 238 local proprietors rose in revolt, arming their clients and agricultural tenants who entered Thysdrus (modern El Djem) where they killed the rapacious official and his bodyguards. Then they proclaimed as co-emperors the aged Governor of the Province of Africa, Gordian I (c.159-238), and his son, Gordian II (192-238). Gordion I had served at Rome in the Senate and as Consul, and had been Governor of various provinces. The very unpopular current Emperor Maximinus Thrax (who had succeeded the dynasty of Severus) was campaigning on the middle Danube. In Rome the Senate sided with these insurgents. When the African revolt collapsed under an assault by local forces still loyal to emperor, the Senate elected two of their number, Balbinus and Pupienus, as co-emperors. Then Maximus Thrax was killed by his disaffected soldiers. Eventually the grandson of Gordian I, Gordian III (225-244), of the Province of Africa, became the Emperor of the Romans, 238-244. He died on the Persian frontier. His successor was Philip the Arab.^[34]
'Christianity' Two theologians arose in the Province of Africa, especially prominent being St. Augustine. Tertullian (160-230) was born, lived, and died in Carthage; his books were persuasive throughout the Christian world. St. Augustine (354-430), Bishop of Hippo (near Carthage), was born at Tagaste in Numidia his mother being St. Monica; at Carthage he received his education. While teaching rhetoric at Milan (then the Roman capitol) he was a Manichaean; after his conversion to Christianity he returned to Africa. His books are still widely read today by theologians.^[35]
The Donatist schism was a major disruption; it followed a severe Roman persecution of Christians ordered by the Emperor Diocletian (r.284-305). An earlier persecution had caused divisions over whether or how to accept back into the church contrite Christians who had apostatized under state threats, abuse, or torture. The Donatists became centered in southern Numidia, the Catholics in Carthage. One issue was whether a priest could perform his spiritual office if not personally worthy. The Donatist ministed in parallel churches in order to follow a purer practice than that required by the Catholic Church. Long negotiations lasted until the Catholics declared Donatism a heresy in 405, though tolerance persisted until the ban became enforced late in the 6th century.^[36]
'Fall of the Roman Empire in the West' In the 5th century the western Roman Empire was in a steep decline. Carthage and the Roman province of Africa was captured by the Vandals in 439 and became the center of their Germanic kingdom. The Byzantines, the Roman Empire in the East, eventually recaptured the province in 534. Neither the Vandals nor the Byzantines governed effectively beyond the coastal cities, so that the interior was controlled by the Berbers.

Middle ages

An Arab Muslim army entered Tunisia in 670 under the command of Uqba ibn Nafi with permanent intentions. Arriving by land the Arabs passed the Byzantine strongholds along the coast. They founded the city of Kairouan, using it as a base to subdue individual pockets of Christian and Berber resistance. In this process Carthage was again destroyed. Tunisia was considered a natural center for an Arab-Islamic regime and society in North Africa. It was the only region that had the urban, agricultural, and commercial infrastructures essential for a centralized state.
===Aghlabid Dynasty (800 - 909)===
After several generations a local Arab aristocracy emerged, which was resentful of the distant caliphate's interference in local matters. A minor rebellion in Tunis in 797 took on a more ominous nature when it spread to Kairouan. The caliph's governor was unable to restore order, but Ibrahim ibn al-Aghlab, a provincial leader, had a well-disciplined army and could. He proposed to the caliph Harun al-Rashid, that he be granted Ifriqiya as a hereditary fief, which he was acquiesced. Ibrahim bin al-Aghlab and his descendants, known as the Aghlabids, ruled Tunisia, Tripolitania, and eastern Algeria on behalf of the caliph from 800 to 909. The Aghlabid military elites were drawn from the descendants of Arab invaders, Islamized and Arabized Berbers, and black slave soldiers. The administrative staffs comprised dependent client Arab and Persian immigrants, bilingual natives, and some Christians and Jews.

Tunisia flourished under Aghlabid rule. Extensive irrigation works were installed to supply towns with water, irrigate royal gardens, and promote olive production. In the Qayrawan region hundreds of basins were constructed to store water to support horse raising. Important trade routes linked Tunisia with the Sahara, the Sudan, and the Mediterranean. The Aghlabids captured Sicily in 835. A flourishing economy permitted a refined and luxurious court life and the construction of the new palace cities of al-'Abbasiya (809) and Raqqada (877). Despite the grandiose construction projects and economic expansion, many from the Arab officer class and ulema of Kairouan were increasingly critical of the regime. The hostility in religious circles arose primarily from the contemptuous treatment of Berbers who had embraced Islam. The Islamic doctrine of equality regardless of race was a cornerstone of the Sunnite movement and the Maliki school of Islamic law which had developed in Kairouan, and was the basis of opposition to Arab-caliphal rule in North Africa.
Growing political instability was further exacerbated by the Fatimids in Egypt, who stirred a rebellion which forced the last of the Aghlabids, Ziyadat Allah III, to evacuate the palace at Raqadda in 909. The Fatimids went on to conquer much of North Africa and Egypt. After moving their capital to Cairo, the Fatimids abandoned North Africa to local Zirid (972 - 1148) and Hammadid (1015 - 1152) vassals. The region became submerged by their various quarrels, resulting in political instability that was connected to the decline of Tunisian trade and agriculture. The final blow was dealt by nomadic migrations from Arabia and Egypt, when the Banu Hilali Bedouins defeated the Zirid and Hammadid states and sacked Kairouan in 1057 . As the invaders took control of the plains the local sedentary peoples were forced to take refuge in the mountains, and in central and northern Tunisia farming gave way to pastoralism. The immigrants also assisted in the process of Arabization, with the Berber language virtually disappearing.

Almohad and Hafsid Dynasties

Anarchy made Tunisia a target for the Norman kingdom in Sicily, who between 1134 and 1148 seized Mahdia, Gabes, Sfax, and the island of Jerba. The only credible Muslim rulers in the Maghreb at the time were the Almohads (ruled 1130 - 1269) in Morocco, who responded with a counter-attack which forced the Normans to retreat to Sicily. The Almohad caliph Abd al-Mu'min (1130 - 1163) conquered Morocco, intervened in Spain, and invaded Algeria and Tunisia. Despite the power of the dynasty the religious doctrine championed by Almohad was never successfully implemented. Alternative expressions of Islam, including that of the Maliki jurists, the popular cult of saints and Sufis, and the philosophy of Averroes, were always tolerated. The Almohad empire, like its predecessors, soon dissolved in Tunisia. In 1230 they were succeeded by the Hafsids (ruled 1230 - 1574), who were recognised by Mecca, which furthermore acknowledged the ruler Al-Mustansir as caliph. In 1270 an attempted invasion by Louis IX of France was repulsed. Tunisia prospered through increasing European and Sudanese trade under Al-Mustansir, who used the money to transform Tunis, his capital, with a palace and the Abu Fihr park. The estate he created near Bizerte was said to be without equal in the world.
In 1492 Muslim and Jewish migration from Spain culminated in the fall of Muslim Granada. The new comers brought much-needed skills in agriculture and crafts. From 1534 to 1581 Tunisia become a pawn in power struggles between Spain and Turkey, and in 1574 it was incorporated into the Ottoman Empire.

Ottoman Empire

The Tunisian state was rebuilt by the imposition of Ottoman rule in the late 16th century. The Ottomans made Tunisia a province of their empire in 1574, and garrisoned Tunis with 4,000 Janissaries recruited from Anatolia, reinforced by Christian converts to Islam from Italy, Spain, and Provence. In 1591 the local Janissary officers replaced the Sultan's appointee with one of their own men, called the Dey. While the Dey dominated Tunis, a Corsican-born Tunisian tax collector (Bey) named Murad (d. 1640), and his descendants, dominated the rest of the country. The struggle for power made allies of the Dey, the Janissaries, and Bedouin tribes against the Beys, the towns, and the fertile region of the countryside. The Muradid Beys eventually triumphed, and ruled until 1705, when Hussein ibn Ali came to power. The period from 1705 to 1957 witnessed the reign of the Husseinite Beys, including the highly effective Hammouda Pasha (1781 - 1813). In theory, Tunisia continued to be a vassal of the Ottoman empire -- the Friday prayer was pronounced in the name of the Ottoman Sultan, money was coined in his honor, and an annual ambassador brought gifts to Istanbul -- but the Ottomans never again exacted obedience.

Modern history

In the 19th century, the country became mostly autonomous, although officially still an Ottoman province. In 1861, Tunisia enacted the first constitution in the Arab world, but a move toward a republic was hampered by the poor economy and political unrest. In 1869, Tunisia declared itself bankrupt, and an international financial commission with representatives from France, United Kingdom, and Italy took control over the economy.
In the spring of 1881, France invaded Tunisia, claiming that Tunisian troops had crossed the border to Algeria, France's main colony in Northern Africa. Italy, also interested in Tunisia, protested, but did not risk a war with France. On May 12 of that year, Tunisia was officially made a French protectorate with the signature of the treaty of Bardo by Muhammad III as-Sadiq and the French. The French progressively assumed the most responsible administrative positions, and by 1884 they supervised all Tunisian government bureaus dealing with finance, post, education, telegraph, public works and agriculture. They abolished the international finance commission and guaranteed the Tunisian debt, establishing a new judicial system for Europeans while keeping the sharia courts available for cases involving Tunisians, and developed roads, ports, railroads, and mines. In rural areas they strengthened the local officials (''qa'ids'') and weakened independent tribes. They actively encouraged French settlements in the country - the number of French colonists grew from 34,000 in 1906 to 144,000 in 1945, and the French occupied approximately one-fifth of the cultivable land.
Nationalist sentiment increased after World War I. The nationalist Destour Party was set up in 1920. Its successor the Neo-Destour Party, established in 1934 and led by Habib Bourguiba, was banned by the French.
During World War II, the French authorities in Tunisia supported the Vichy government which ruled France after its capitulation to Germany in 1940 . After losing a string of battles to Bernard Montgomery in 1942, and then hearing of the landings during Operation Torch, Erwin Rommel retreated to Tunisia and set up strong defensive positions in the mountains to the south. Overwhelming British superiority eventually broke these lines, although he did have some success against the "green" American troops advancing from the west. The fighting ended in early 1943, and Tunisia became a base for operations for the invasion of Sicily later that year. It was very important in World War II.
Violent resistance to French rule boiled up in 1954 .

Tunisia since independence

Independence from France was achieved on March 20, 1956, as a constitutional monarchy with the Bey of Tunis, Muhammad VIII al-Amin Bey, as the king of Tunisia. Prime Minister Habib Bourguiba abolished the monarchy in 1957 and established a strict state under the Neo-Destour (New Constitution) party. He dominated the country for 31 years, repressing Islamic fundamentalism and establishing rights for women unmatched by any other Arab nation. Bourguiba envisioned a Tunisian republic (he ended the old quasi-monarchical institution of the dey), which was secular, populist, and imbued with a kind of French rationalist vision of the state that was Napoleonic in spirit. Socialism was not initially part of the project, but redistributive policies certainly were. In 1964, however, Tunisia entered a short lived socialist era. The Neo-Destour party became the Socialist Destour, and the new minister of planning, Ahmed Ben Salah, formulated a state-led plan for the formation of agricultural cooperatives and public-sector industrialization. The socialist experiment raised considerable opposition within Bourguiba's old coalition, and it was eventually ended in the early 1970s.
"Bourguibism" was also resolutely nonmilitarist, arguing that Tunisia could never be a credible military power and that the building of a large military establishment would only consume scarce investment and perhaps thrust Tunisia into the cycles of military intervention in politics that had plagued the rest of the Middle East.
President Bourguiba was overthrown and replaced by Prime Minister Zine El Abidine Ben Ali on November 7, 1987. President Ben Ali changed little in the Bourguibist system except to rename the party the Democratic Constitutional Rally (RCD by its French acronym). In 1988 Ben Ali tried a new tack with reference to the government and Islam, by attempting to reaffirm the country's Islamic identity by releasing several Islamists activists from prison. He also forged a national pact with the Tunisian party Harakat al-Ittijah al-Islami (Islamic Tendency Movement, founded in 1981), which changed its name to an-Nahda (the Renaissance Party). An-Nahda ran strongly in the 1989 elections, and Ben Ali quickly banned Islamist political parties and jailed as many as 8,000 activists. To the present, the government continues its refusal to recognize Muslim opposition parties, and governs the country by military and police repression.
In recent years, Tunisia has taken a moderate, non-aligned stance in its foreign relations.

See also

★ Berber people

★ Phoenician languages

★ Berber languages

★ Carthage

★ Phoenicia

★ Umayyad conquest of North Africa

★ French occupation of Tunisia

★ History of Africa

★ North Africa during the Classical Period

★ Ifriqiya

★ Barbary Coast

★ List of Beys of Tunis

★ Tunisia

Sources

1. Gabriel Camps, ''Les Berberes'' (Edisud 1996) at 11-14, 65, posits a new influx around 7000-5000 B.C. that joined a pre-existing population (an archeologist, Camps founded the 'Institut d'Etudes Berberes' at the Univ.de Aix-en-Provence); Michael Brett and Elizabeth Fentress, ''The Berbers'' (Blackwell 1996) at 5, 12-13; cf., C. B. M. McBurney, ''The Stone Age in North Africa'' (Pelican 1960) at 84.
2. Joseph Greenberg, ''The Languages of Africa'' (Indiana Univ. 1966) at 42, 50; see also David Crystal, ''Cambridge Encyclopedia of Language'' (1987) at 316; A. Basset, ''La langue berbere'' (Oxford 1952, 1969).
3. Jamil M. Abun-Nasr, ''A History of the Maghrib'' (Cambridge Univ. 1971) at 8-9, 10.
4. Michael Brent and Elizabeth Fentress, ''The Berbers'' (Blackwell 1996) at 10-13, 17-20.
5. E.g., ''Genesis'' 10:13 (''Lehabim''); Galbraith Welch, ''North African Prelude'' (New York: Wm. Morrow 1949) at 39; Abun-Nasr, ''A History of the Maghrib'' at 7.
6. Strabo, ''Geographica'' at XVIII, 3, ii, cited by Rene Basset in ''Moorish Literature'' (New York: Collier 1901) at iii.
7. Brent and Fentress, ''The Berbers'' at 37-39, ''Tifinagh'' being the name now used by the Tuareg for their writing of Kabylia.
8. Camps, ''Les Berberes'' at 11-14; Brett & Fentress, ''The Berbers'' at 12-13.
9. Gilbert Picard and Colette Picard, ''Vie et mort de Carthage'' (1968) translated as ''The Life and Death of Carthgare'' (New York: Taplinger 1968) at 30 (''Carchedon'' in Greek).
10. On Punic see Serge Lancel, ''Carthage'' (Librairie Artheme Fayard 1993, Blackwell 1995) at 351-360.
11. Lancel, ''Carthage'' at 23-25.
12. Lancel, ''Carthage. A history'' at 20-25, 79-86; Gilbert Picard and Colette Picard, ''Vie et mort de Carthage'' (1968) translated as ''Life and Death of Carthage'' (New York: Taplinger 1969) at 59-72; Glenn Markoe, ''The Phoenicians'' (Univ.of California 2000) at 54-56.
13. Picard, ''The Life and Death of Carthage'' at 72-78
14. Picard, ''Life and Death of Carthage'' at 78-80, 166-171.
15. Jamil M. Abun-Naysr, ''A History of the Maghrib'' (Cambridge Univ. 1971) at 17-20; Serge Lancel, ''Carthage. A history'' (Blackwell 1992, 1995) at 88-102; E. W. Bovill, ''The Golden Trade of the Moors'' (Oxford 1958, 1968) at 18-28.
16. This discussion first follows Warmington in essence, then turns to Picard's substantially different results.
17. B. H. Warmington, ''Carthage'' (Robert Hale 1960, Pelican 1964) at 144-147.
18. Aristotle, ''Politica'' in ''The Basic Works of Aristotle'' edited by R. McKeon, translated by B. Jowett (Random House 1941) at 1113-1316, "Carthage" at Book II, Chapter 11, 1171-1174 (1272b).
19. Polybus, ''Histories'' translated as ''Rise of the Roman Empire'' (Penguin 19xy) at Chapter VI.
20. Warmington, ''Carthage'' at 147-148.
21. Warmington, ''Carthage'' at 148.
22. Aristotle, ''Politica'' at II, 11, 1272b.
23. Aristotle, ''Politica'' at II, 11, 1272b, 29-32.
24. Warmington, ''Carthage'' at 143-144, 148-150
25. Warmington, ''Carthage'' at 240-241
26. Picard, ''Life and Death of Carthage'' at 80-86
27. Picard, ''Life and Death of Carthage'' at 182-202.
28. Abun-Nasr, ''A History of the Maghrib'' at 25-28; Lancel, ''Carthage'' at 376-401; Picard, ''Life and Death of Carthage'' at 230-267; Livy, ''Ab urbe condita'' Books XXI-XXX (c.20 B.C.) translated as ''The War with Hannibal'' (Penguin 1965); Theodor Mommsen, ''Romische Geschichte'' (3 volumes, Leipzig 1854-1856) translated by Wm. Dickson as ''History of Rome'' (4 volumes 1862, 4th ed. 1894); H. H. Scullard, ''History of the Roman World, 753-146 BC'' (rev.ed. 1951).
29. Lancel, ''Carthage'' at 401-406, 409-427.
30. Sallust, ''Belum Jugurthinum'' (c.40 B.C.) translated as ''The Jugurthine War'' (Penguin 19xy).
31. H. L. Havel, ''Republican Rome'' (London 1914, reprinted 1996) at 522-524.
32. Abun-Nasr, ''History of the Maghrib'' at 31; Brett and Fentress, ''The Berbers'' at 43-44.
33. Michael Grant, ''The Roman Emperors. A biographical guide to the rulers of Imperial Rome, 31 B.C. to A.D. 476 (New York: Scribner's 1985) at 108-113, 117-136; Diana Bowder, ''Who was who in the Roman World'' (Cornell Univ. 1980).
34. Grant, ''The Roman Emperors'' at 140-155; Bowder, editor, ''Who was Who in the Roman World''.
35. Abun-Nasr, ''A History of the Maghrib'' at 38 & 43-44, 46; Bowder, ''Who was who in the Roman World''.
36. Abun-Nasr, ''A History of the Maghrib'' at 39-44, 62.

Further reading

★ Ira M. Lapidus ''A History of Islamic Societies'' 2nd ed. Cambridge University Press

External links

★ Background Note: Tunisia

★ History of Tunisia