Tunisian national movement
Support from the powerful trade unions and the feminist movement, along with an intellectual and musical cultural revival, contributed to a strong assertion of national identity which was reinforced by the educational and political systems after independence.
They were consisted of the intellectuals Mohammed el Snoussi, and Makki Ibn Azouz, leading a movement of "progressive ulama, opposed to both foreign domination and religious decadence".
[2] 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".
[2] The latter then edited the group's journal, Le Tunisien, that aimed at defending the rights of the indigenous people of Tunisia,[3] published both in French and in Arabic.
[2] 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.
It preconized the need to separate "the legislative, judicial and executive powers",[4] equal pay for Tunisian and French officials that followed the same tasks, "freedom of press and assembly".
The economic development of the French protectorate required the formation of a Tunisian middle class; this group felt divorced from political and public life in the country.
[9] Tunisia was the first state in the Arab world influenced by modern nationalism:[10] the movement against the French occupation started from the beginning of the 20th century.
These intellectuals, mostly of Turco-Tunisians origin, who had been to Sadiki College and in some cases had received a higher education in France,[11] were inspired by the Young Turks of the same period.
[12][13] The modernist tendencies of the Young Tunisians faced disdain from a traditionalist Muslim group called the Old Turbans, who did not find cause to object to French rule as they believed the existing Protectorate preserved the Islamist institutions and traditions of the country.
[13] At the same time, Zaouche established a program for the vital sectors of education, justice and taxation, and championed it at the Tunisian Consultative Conference from February 1907.
In spite of the censorship, public opinion remained sympathetic to the Muslim cause, thanks to the private madrasas (schools) developed by Abdelaziz Thâalbi.
1911 saw the first confrontation with the authorities of the protectorate: in September the municipality of Tunis tried to register the Jellaz cemetery, provoking hostility from the locals who saw this as a violation of their rights and an insult to their religion.
[14] Yet following the fall of Premier Leon Blum, reform projects were scrapped in both Tunisia and Algeria, resulting in the Tunisian nationalists revoking their policy of collaboration with the French.
In 1950, Habib Bourgiba outlined a 7-point program that sought to afford greater responsibility to Tunisian officials while decreasing the authority of the French residency.
[5] In January 1952, the new French resident Jean de Hautecloque cancelled the Neo Destour congress, and arrested 150 members of the party, Bourguiba included.
[5] This protocole sparked anger both from the pro-French protectorate community in Tunis, but also from the general secretary of the Neo Destour, Salah Ben Youssef.
[17] Many fields other than the political one were emphasised : state secretaries for information, youth, and sport "denoted the great importance which the government and the prime minister give to these matters".
[17] Moreover, the Tunisian authorities regained total control and "complete responsibility" on internal security, and a "small national army" was formed.
[17] Polygamy was abolished as well, putting an emphasis on women's right through the publication of the code of Personal Status, and by also allowing them to vote in the municipal elections of the year following the independence.
