User:Yba99/sandbox

Key actors of the movement
Different actors organised the nationalist movement. However, it was the intellectual circles that gave the first impulse to it. They comprised the shaykhs Mohammed el Snoussi, and Makki Ibn Azouz, leading a movement of “progressive ulama, opposed to both foreign domination and religious decadence”. Their ideas were influenced by “pan-islamism, nationalism and constitutionalism”.

Second, a group named the Young Tunisians had a considerable influence on the movement; yet it was limited to a certain strata of the society that is the “educated upper, often clerical classes”. This group was formed in 1907, under the initiative of the Bash Hamba brothers, and Abdelaziz Thâalbi. The latter then edited the group’s journal, Le Tunisien, that aimed at defending the rights of the indigenous people of Tunisia, both in french and in Arabic. The Young Tunisians were opposed to the French authority, and to the “Old Turbans”, the defenders of religious traditionalism, present in the intellectual circles. They fought for the “restoration of beylical authority”, supported by the establishment of a democratic society.

Another actor that became increasingly important over time was the Destour Party. The destour party collected ideas of “muslim reformism, with an important middle class national consciousness”. They incarnated the compromise between the Young Tunisians, too centred over a small portion of a population, and the religious intellectual circles. They displayed an eclectic dualism by mixing Western modernism and traditional Islam in their ideas. The Destour group was led by Abdelaziz Thâalbi, that pleaded for a constitutional regime guaranteeing liberal freedoms, through a legislative assembly, equality before the law, and compulsory education. Later on, the Destour party faced some internal disagremeents on the process of independence, which led to the creation of the Neo Destour in 1933. The Neo Destour was “under the leadership of Habib Bourguiba and Taher Sfar”, and was less willing to compromise than the Destour. The party was more dynamic, and enacted a list of “eight immediate demands, called a successful general strike” (ibid), provoking in this regard strong countermeasures provoking the anger of the French authorities, and “culminating in the exile of Bourguiba”. During the Second World War, they successfully continued their operations underground. The 9 point program enacted by the Destour party comprised different elements. It preconized the need to separate “the legislative, judicial and executive powers”, equal pay for Tunisian and French officials that followed the same tasks, “freedom of press and assembly”. Contrarily to the Old Destour, that was highly panarabic and muslim, and focused on the elite and privileged class, the Neo Destour was more inclusive. The recruitment of members was made through small bureaucrats, and public servants. It was focused on national sovereignty, religious neutrality, and the separation of powers.

Unfolding of the events
The independence came rather incrementally, through small steps. In September 1949, Bourguiba was allowed to come back to Tunisia. A few months later, he put into place programme in seven points, confirming that a cooperation between the French authorities and the Tunisians was necessary. The Neo Destour followed this plan of negotiation, and in 1950, a Tunisian government was formed with Mohammed Chenik, and Salah Ben Youssef, to negotiate the successive attempts of independence. In January 1952, the new French resident Jean de Hautecloque forbids the Neo Destour congress, and arrested 150 members of the party, Bourguiba included. As a response, the UGTT declares a general strikes, therefore putting pressure on the French authorities  and riots broke out.

In may 1952, Tunisian ministries are expanded, and the new French resident Voizard decides to relax the regime and laws upon the Tunisians, and liberate some political prisoners. Two years later, Pierre Mendès France became the president of the Conseil in France, and approves in July the government of internal autonomy in Tunisia , however still partially under the legal status of protectorate. At this time, he demanded the constitution of a ministry to discuss the modalities of the autonomy. This protocole sparked anger both from the members of the French in Tunis, but also from the general secretary of the Néo-destour, Salah Ben Youssef. Ben Youssef saw these incremental changes as too minor, and saw this as a slur against the Arabism, and integral independence, not only in Tunisia but in the whole Maghreb. This created a split between the Old Destour, and the Neo Destour, and Salah Ben Youssef was excluded from the Neo Destour party because he disagreed on the processes of independence. In 1956, negotiations were brought up again with the new French government, and propose a treaty. On the 20th of March of 1956, the treaty of May 1881 stipulating that Tunisia was under French category was deemed obsolete, and Tunisia was recognised as fully independent. On July 1957, Bourguiba proclaimed the end of the monarchy, and the establishment of the Republic of Tunisia.

Aftermath of the independence
Post independence in Tunisia, it was extremely difficult to readjust the economic life of the country, since it was tied up with that of France for many decades.

A constitution was drafted, and elected by universal male suffrage (ibid). The official religion of the state was decided to be islam, and the official language was French. All sorts of freedoms were guaranteed such as individual freedom, freedom of belief, and freedom of free speech, which appear to be at odds with future regimes. The authority was concentrated in the hands of one party, namely the Neo- Destour, which was initially a national liberation movement. Policy-wise, the party was based on Bourguiba’s ideals, who is also “president of the council”. Many fields other than the political one were emphasized : state secretaries for information, youth, and sport “denoted the great importance which the government and the prime minister give to these matters”. Moreover, the Tunisian authorities regained total control and “complete responsibility” on internal security, and a “small national army” was formed. One year after the independence, the most salient issue remaining was the Algerian war, as a threat to “a reconciliation of French and Tunisian interests”. The reforms taken by the new regime had more modernist tendencies, by the supervision of the religious foundations by the civil administration. Polygamy was abolished as well, putting an emphasis on women’s right by also allowing them to vote in the municipal elections of the year following the independence.