French occupation of Tunisia

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The French occupation of Tunisia began in spring 1881, and would end only with the independence of Tunisia in 1956.

Mr. Jules Aimé Bréart entered Tunis between May 3 and May 6, 1881. He had in his possessions the Bardo Treaty establishing a protectorate on Tunisia, cabled to him on the eve by the French government. On May 11, General Bréart, the general consul Théodore Roustan and the General Pierre Léon Mauraud, accompanied by an armed escort, presented to the bey of Tunis, residing in Ksar Saïd, the clauses of the Bardo Treaty. Surprised, Sadok Bey requested several hours for reflexion, and immediately gathered his cabinet. Some of its members insisted that the bey should escape towards Kairouan to organize the resistance, but Sadok Bey finally decided to accept the protectorate. The Bardo Treaty was signed by both parties, under the threat of the French troops.