History of French-era Tunisia - Tunisian Politics

Tunisian Politics

Relating chiefly to the initiation and early decades of the French Protectorate, the political factors discussed here persisted throughout the course of French rule in Tunisia. Their relative strengths, one to the other, however, changed markedly over time.

In appraising the great significance of the French era on Tunisia, an expanatory reason might be the large number of Europeans who became permanent residents in the country. Compared with the Ottomans, who settled perhaps several tens of thousands from their empire in Tunisia, the French and their Italian 'allies' settled hundreds of thousands.