v42_0949 - TUNISIE - PROTECTORAT FRANÇAIS - MOHAMED LAMINE Essai-piéfort de 5 francs en bronze-aluminium 1946 Paris

PROVISIONAL GOVERNEMENT OF THE FRENCH REPUBLIC - TUNISIA - FRENCH PROTECTORATE

In August 1950, Mohamed Lamine formed a government in which Bourguiba participated. The latter demands autonomy, then independence. He was again arrested in 1952. The arrival of Pierre Mendès France at the head of the French government, two years later, changed the situation: France agreed to negotiate with the nationalists. In a speech delivered in Carthage on July 31, he undertakes to grant internal autonomy. On March 20, 1956, a protocol abolished the Treaty of Bardo which had been signed between the Bey of Tunis and the French government on May 12, 1881 and which had established the protectorate of France over Tunisia. On March 20, 1956, Tunisia became independent. The Republic was proclaimed on July 25, 1957 and the bey abdicated..