ABSTRACT
The Ksar Hellal Congress of 1934 did not mark a turning-point in the history of the Tunisian nationalist movement either in terms of program or in terms of the social background of the leadership. The Neo-Destour adopted as its own the Destour program of March 1933. Fundamental lessons had been learned from the 1910–1912 period characterized by the Djellaz riots and from the 1930–1933 anti-naturalization movement. The first lesson was that when the masses took to the streets the Protectorate authorities turned to dialogue with the nationalist leaders. The idea was to use the power of the masses to bring about dialogue. The realistic assessment of relations between Tunisia and France showed that the balance of power was overwhelmingly in the favour of France. As Secretary General of the Neo-Destour, it fell to the lot of Bourguiba to devote himself full time to the task of initiating and harnessing the masses to the actions proposed by the Neo-Destour.
