History of modern Tunisia
[1][2] Its first modern leader, President Habib Bourguiba brought to the office hard-won political experience, after many decades of service in the leadership of the independence movement.
An independence movement lasting many decades eventually prevailed, leading to the end of the French protectorate (commenced in 1881).
The agreed Convention of April, 1955, stated that France would retain control of the army and foreign affairs while granting autonomy, which was to begin the following year.
This compromise, however, split the Neo Destour; eventually it led to suppression of its left wing, and expulsion of its radical, pan-Arab leader Salah ben Youssef (or Yusuf), who later fled to Egypt.
Already scheduled elections were held on 25 March 1956; due to secret arrangements negotiated by Bourguiba with the Bey the voters choose only party lists, not candidates.
He governed with programs yielding stability and economic progress, repressing Islamic fundamentalism, and establishing rights for women unmatched by any other Arab nation.
[9] The political culture would be secular, populist, and imbued with a kind of French rationalist vision of the state that was buoyant, touched with élan, even Napoleonic in spirit.
Yet, what may be called an inclination to arbitrary methods when making government decisions, and to a kind of personality cult, detracted from Bourguiba's insight and substantial achievements.
[11] Bourguiba's great asset was that "Tunisia possessed a mature nationalist organization, the Neo Destour Party, which on independence day held the nation's confidence in hand."
Yet as a result of his strong opposition to the Neo Destour leadership during their negotiations with France for autonomy prior to independence, Ben Youssef was removed from his position as secretary-general and expelled from the party.
Nonetheless, he rallied disaffected union members, students, and others, enough to put 20,000 youssefists into the street during the next congress of the Neo Destour party.
Socialism was not initially a major part of the Neo Destour project, but the government had always held and implemented redistributive policies.
Ahmed Ben Salah was eventually dismissed in 1970, and many socialized operations (e.g., the farm cooperatives) were returned to private ownership in the early 1970s.
After independence, Tunisian economic policy had been primarily to promote light industry and tourism, and develop its phosphate deposits.
[17] On 1 October 1985, in Operation Wooden Leg, Israeli Air Force F-15s bombed the PLO's Tunis headquarters, killing more than 60 people.
In 1983 the International Monetary Fund (IMF) forced the government to raise the price of bread and semolina, causing severe hardship and protest riots.
Civil disturbances, including those by the Islamists, were repressed by government security forces under General Zine El Abidine Ben Ali.
Algeria was trying to diversify its foreign policy, feeling isolated by Spain and by Mitterrand's accord with Morocco and Libya over Chad.
Finally, Ben Ali was singled out as possible replacement for Bourguiba: as chief of the Tunisian secret services and as Minister of Interiors, he had opposed plans for rough justice execution of fundamentalists.
SISMI's action did not have the consent of René Imbot, head of the French secret service, and the United States were not informed.
[27] In 1994, following the Tangentopoli scandal and the Mani Pulite inquiry, Bettino Craxi fled from Italy to Hammamet in Tunisia, and remained a fugitive there, protected by Ben Ali's government.
Subsequently, An-Nahda claimed to have run strongly in the 1989 elections, giving it the appearance of being unfair; official results gave the RCD every seat in the legislature.
As president, Ben Ali championed economic reforms that strengthened Tunisia's economy and increased foreign investment.
[30] Stable increases in GDP growth continued through positive trade relations with the European Union, a revitalized tourism industry and sustained agricultural production.
Privatization, increasing foreign investment, improvements in government efficiency and reduction of the trade deficit remained challenges however.
Left out of the relative prosperity were many rural and urban poor, including small businesses facing the world market.
During Ben Ali's presidency, Tunisia pursued a moderate foreign policy promoting peaceful settlement of conflicts.
[35] President Ben Ali mostly retained his predecessor's pro-western foreign policy, though he improved ties with the Arab-Moslem world.
As mass protests grew, Ben Ali declared a state of emergency in the country, dissolved the government on 14 January 2011 and promised new legislative elections within six months.
Later on that same day Prime Minister Mohammed Ghannouchi went on state television to say he was assuming power in Tunisia and said that the President had left the country.
