In North Africa, Tunisia becomes a French protectorate.
The French protectorate of Tunisia (French: Protectorat franais de Tunisie; Arabic: al-imya al-Fransya f Tnis), commonly referred to as simply French Tunisia, was established in 1881, during the French colonial Empire era, and lasted until Tunisian independence in 1956.
In the decades leading up to the French incursion, Tunisia was a province of the declining Ottoman Empire that enjoyed a large measure of autonomy under the bey, Muhammad III as-Sadiq. In 1877, Russia declared war on the Ottoman Empire. Its resulting victory in the Russo-Turkish War (18771878) triggered the dismemberment of large portions of Ottoman territory, including independence for several Balkan possessions and international discussions about the future of the North African provinces. The Berlin Congress of 1878 convened to resolve the Ottoman question. Britain, although opposed to total dismantling of the Ottoman Empire, offered France control of Tunisia, in return for Cyprus. Germany, seeing the French claim as a way to divert French attention from vengeful action in Europe after the Franco-Prussian War, and little concerned about the southern Mediterranean, agreed to allow French control of Tunisia. These discussions surrounding France's role in Tunisia were kept secret from the Kingdom of Italy, which was deeply opposed to French intervention.The French presence in Tunisia came five decades after their occupation of neighboring Algeria, the time when the French were still inexperienced about and lacked the knowledge of how to develop a colony. Both of these countries had been possessions of the Ottoman Empire for three centuries, yet each had long ago attained political autonomy from the Sultan in Istanbul. Before the French arrived, Tunisia had begun a process of modern reforms, but financial difficulties mounted until the installation of a commission of European creditors. After their occupation, the French government assumed Tunisia's international obligations. Major developments and improvements were undertaken by the French in several areas, including transport and infrastructure, industry, the financial system, public health, and administration. Yet French business and its citizens were favored, not to the liking of Tunisians. Their preexisting national sense was early expressed in speech and in print; political organization followed. The independence movement was already active before World War I, and continued to gain strength against mixed French opposition. Its ultimate aim was achieved in 1956.
Ottoman Tunis, or Ottoman Tunisia, refers to the episode of the Turkish presence in Ifriqiya during the course of three centuries from the 16th century until the 18th century, when Tunis was officially integrated into the Ottoman Empire as the Eyalet of Tunis (province). Eventually including all of the Maghrib except Morocco, the Ottoman Empire began with the takeover of Algiers in 1516 by the Ottoman Turkish corsair and beylerbey Oruç Reis. The first Ottoman conquest of Tunis took place in 1534 under the command of Barbarossa Hayreddin Pasha, the younger brother of Oruç Reis, who was the Kapudan Pasha of the Ottoman Fleet during the reign of Suleiman the Magnificent. However, it wasn't until the final Ottoman reconquest of Tunis from Spain in 1574 under Kapudan Pasha Uluç Ali Reis that the Turks permanently acquired the former Hafsid Tunisia, retaining it until the French occupation of Tunisia in 1881.
Initially under Turkish rule from Algiers, soon the Ottoman Porte appointed directly for Tunis a governor called the Pasha supported by janissary forces. Before long, however, Tunisia became in effect an autonomous province, under the local Bey. This evolution of status was from time to time challenged without success by Algiers. During this era the governing councils controlling Tunisia remained largely composed of a foreign elite who continued to conduct state business in the Ottoman Turkish language.
Attacks on European shipping were made by Barbary pirates, primarily from Algiers, but also from Tunis and Tripoli, yet after a long period of declining raids, the growing power of the European states finally forced its termination after the Barbary Wars. Under the Ottoman Empire, the boundaries of Tunisia contracted; it lost territory to the west (Constantine) and to the east (Tripoli). In the 19th century, the rulers of Tunisia became aware of the ongoing efforts at political and social reform in the Ottoman capital. The Bey of Tunis then, by his own lights but informed by the Turkish example, attempted to effect a modernizing reform of institutions and the economy. Tunisian international debt grew unmanageable. This was the reason or pretext for French forces to establish a Protectorate in 1881.
A remnant of the centuries of Turkish rule is the presence of a population of Turkish origin, historically the male descendants were referred to as the Kouloughlis.