Tunisia through History:
Tunisia was inhabited since prehistoric times. Traces of human presence have been discovered in the deep layers of the Paleolithic. Its first known inhabitants are Berbers.
- 814 BC: Foundation of Carthage by Phoenician settlers led by Queen Dido, also called ELYSSA.The new city is developing rapidly becoming a major center of civilization and a formidable power that worries Rome.
- 264-146 Av JC: Three wars against Rome - passed down to posterity under the name of Punic Wars are involved giving rise, among other things, to the fantastic expedition led by Hannibal crossed the Alps with his elephants ( 218-202 BC). These wars ended with the defeat of Carthage.
- 146 Av JC-439: Establishment of the first Roman colony Africa. The country has boomed. Agriculture and urbanization are growing.
- 439: Conquest of Carthage by the Vandals. 533: Takeover of Carthage by the Byzantines.
- 647-698: Early Arab-Islamic era. Foundation of Kairouan by Oqba Ibn Nafaa (670) and capture of Carthage by the Arabs (in 698).
- 800-909: Expansion of Islam and establishment of the Dynasty Aghlabids (construction of the Zaytuna Mosque, Tunis). Kairouan is then the political and intellectual center of the Maghreb.
- 909-1159: Fatimid and Zirid. Mahdia, founded in 921, became the capital of the country.
- 1159-1230: Almohads unite the countries of the Maghreb and Muslim Andalusia.
- 1236: The Hafsids, vassals Almohad declare themselves independent and founded a new dynasty in Tunis who will reign until 1574. - 1574: Tunisia is annexed to the Ottoman Empire. - 1705: Founding of the Dynasty Husaynid (fallen 25 July 1957).
The main events of the time are the construction of the Great Mosque in Tunis, now University of Zaytuna, the urban development of the country, the emergence of great thinkers such as Ibn Khaldun, historian and father of modern sociology, whose work is still taught, and the arrival of the Moors and Jews Andalusian Muslims expelled from Spain by the Reconquista in the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries. In the sixteenth century, Tunisia was annexed to the Ottoman Empire. The French Protectorate:
- 1881-1956: French Protectorate, established May 12, 1881. The anti-colonial resistance persisted for all 75 years of French rule. Led initially by the party Destourien (1920), the struggle gained new momentum with the neo-Destour from 1934.
- 1956 (March 20): Tunisia gained independence.
- 1957 (July 25): Proclamation of the Republic of Tunisia. Habib Bourguiba became president of independent Tunisia.
- 1959 (June 1): adoption of the first constitution of the Republic of Tunisia.
- 1963 (l5 October): The French evacuate Bizerte, their last base in the country.
- 1987 (November 7): In accordance with the Constitution, Prime Minister Zine El Abidine Ben Ali, succeeds President Bourguiba, judged by his doctors unable to continue his duties. President Zine El Abidine Ben Ali was sworn in by Parliament as President of the Republic.
- 1989 (April 2): Presidential and legislative elections. Election of President Ben Ali by universal suffrage.
- 1994 (March 20): Presidential and legislative elections. Re-election of President Ben Ali and access of the opposition in Parliament, for the first time in the history of independent Tunisia.
- 1999 (October 24): Re-election of President Ben Ali following the first multiparty presidential election in the history of the Tunisie. The opposition wins 20% of the 182 seats in the House of Representatives through the reform of the Election Code . The number of women in Parliament increased from 11 to 21 ..
- 2002 (May 26) Nearly three and a half million voters took the polls to participate in the first referendum in the history of Tunisia on the proposed fundamental reform of the Constitution proposed by President Zine El Abidine Ben Ali the Tunisian people to say his last word about it.
- 2002 (June 1): President Zine El Abidine Ben Ali promulgates the constitutional law on the reform of the Constitution after its approval by the Tunisian people in a referendum held May 26, 2002.
2004 (October 24): President Zine El Abidine Ben Ali was elected October 24, 2004 for a fourth term, after the second multiparty presidential election in the history of Tunisia
In the nineteenth century, Tunisia was the first Arab country to adopt a constitution and abolish slavery. But the economic difficulties, political and Beys ruinous foreign interference cause severe financial and political crisis. In 1881, France invaded Tunisia and the Bey imposes its protectorate, thus provoking a strong reaction against colonialism in the country.
Independence:
In 1920, the Constitutional Liberal Party (the Destour) was founded by the Tunisian nationalists. Neo-Destour, established in 1934, quickly became the main force working for the independence of Tunisia. After several years of struggle marked in particular by armed resistance, independence was proclaimed on 20 March 1956.
Cotemporaine Period:
July 25, 1957: The republic is proclaimed and 1 June 1959 the first Constitution of the Republic of Tunisia is adopted.
On November 7, 1987: Prime Minister Zine El Abidine Ben Ali, accessed under the Constitution to the highest office and became President of the Tunisian Republic. The succession of power has occurred in the context of constitutional legality and peaceful way. The new system has worked since 1987 to consolidate the democratic process and to achieve, by a multifaceted and coordinated, development and revitalization of economic, social and cultural. His achievements in various fields have been welcomed by the highest international bodies.
