Independence Day in Tunisia

On September 3, Tunisia celebrates the day of the independence movement in the country, which arose after the end of World War II This state is located in Northern Africa In terms of territory, it is slightly smaller than Great Britain: Tunisia could fit England along with Wales For many centuries before this, the country was divided between invaders from the East and colonialists from the West The local population constantly fought for freedom, but the chance to become independent appeared only after the end of the largest war in human history The history of Tunisia began with Carthage Surprised? The ruins of this ancient city are located near the capital of the modern African state This city was founded by the Phoenicians, who soon turned it into a powerful empire, which became the most powerful in the western Mediterranean The Romans destroyed Carthage After the Punic Wars with Rome, Carthage was destroyed, and in its place, by order of Julius Caesar, a new entity appeared - the Roman province of Africa Rome faced the same sad fate as Carthage The once great empire fell, and its former colony became a tasty morsel that was grabbed by the Germanic tribes who founded their kingdom here Byzantium knocked them out of their lands Former Carthage became the African Exarchate - one of the Byzantine provinces The heyday of Byzantium ended and Tunisia was recaptured by the Ottomans A year later, the Habsburgs came to these lands and recaptured the colony The Ottomans took it back, but the Spaniards encroached on the lands Tunisia changed hands several times until it finally remained under the rule of the Ottoman Empire for almost three centuries and only at the end of the 19th century the French made the country a colony again After such a rich history with endless conquests, it is not surprising that the patience of the Tunisians was ready to burst at any moment They dreamed of freedom and fought for it all the time, but the liberation movement gained strength only in the middle of the last century After the end of World War II, Tunisia was still a colony of France Already in the first years, discontent grew among the locals Social movements began to appear and gain strength, which caused concern among the French France, drained of blood after the war, could not so easily let go of its colony, which at that time was helping it restore its destroyed economy In 1951, the colonialists sent the military to Tunisia to support local authorities, suppress revolts and arrest the instigators of the nascent revolution With this, the French only added fuel to the fire Local residents, at the sight of the military, were inflamed with righteous anger, and the desire to get rid of the invaders appeared even among those who had previously been tormented by doubts Special fellah units began to operate in Tunisia They set fire to the houses of the colonialists, killed French soldiers and blew up bridges It got to the point that harvests in 1952 and 1953 on these lands were harvested under the protection of tanks The French did not plan to let go of their colony so easily 70,000 military personnel were sent to the country to maintain order, but these measures were already useless The organized Tunisian proletariat joined the struggle for independence The colonialists were forced to make concessions They granted Tunisia independence in 1955, but reserved the right to determine the foreign policy of this state A year later, the African country gained complete independence, and a few years later the monarchy was abolished From that moment on, a new history of free Tunisia began