ABSTRACT
Tunisia was from the first a contrast to Algeria in many ways, the contrast being the more striking by reason of the geographical contiguity, and more, and the geographical similarity of the two countries. Tunisia caused more trouble in France than any other colony except Tonkin. Jules Ferry was somewhat vague on the matter, stressing the interests of the 200 French colonists in Tunisia, the border-raids on the Algerian frontier, general political interests, and the specific economic issues at stake, but mostly a vague desirability of expansion. Tunisia was always a hatching-ground for disturbances in Algeria, and an ever-present source of menace, both political and military. After prospering in the middle years of the nineteenth century, Tunisia had fallen under the anti-French Mohammed Sadak, who allowed the country to drift and commenced a regime of intrigues for the granting of concessions to foreigners.
