Beylical Debt
As the 19th century commenced, the Husaynid Bey continued as the hereditary ruler the country, which since the early 18th century had been relatively autonomous, although still officially an Ottoman province. Commerce and trade with Europe began to increase dramatically after the Napoleonic wars, with western merchants, most often Italians, arriving to establish businesses in the major cities. Italian farmers, tradesmen, and laborers also were immigrating. With the increase in contacts with Europe, foreign influence grew.
Ahmad Bey (r.1837-1855) initiated the extensive modern reform programs. In 1861, Tunisia promulgated the first constitution in the Arab world. Yet the Tunisian drive toward modernizing the state apparatus and the national economy was frustrated, encumbered by comfort-seeking insiders, by rural poverty, by regional discontent, and by political disorganization. Later Hayreddin Pasha (chief minister 1873–1877) became the leading reformer.
European banks advanced money to the Beylical government for civil improvements, the military, public works, and development projects, including those personal to the Bey, but the loans were frequently at unfavorable terms. Repayment of this foreign debt eventually grew very difficult to manage. In 1869, Tunisia declared itself bankrupt; a Commission Financière Internationale was thereafter formed, whose representatives led by France included Italy and Britain. This commission then took control over the Tunisian economy.
Read more about this topic: History Of French-era Tunisia
Famous quotes containing the word debt:
“Even the poor student studies and is taught only political economy, while that economy of living which is synonymous with philosophy is not even sincerely professed in our colleges. The consequence is, that while he is reading Adam Smith, Ricardo, and Say, he runs his father in debt irretrievably.”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)