Early 1957- Habib Bourguiba of the Neo Destour (New Constitution) party takes power by siding with the unions and establishes the Republic of Tunisia. He then firmly stamps out Islamic Fundamentalism and creates a one-party state.
Late 1957- While the Islamic fundamentalist went into hiding the USSR saw a chance to gain a foothold in a Mediterranean nation by supplying money and arms to a rebellion based in the disgruntled fundamentalists in the Republic of Tunisia and just across the border in Libya, and they could do this while slowly feeding them communist rhetoric.
Mid 1958- After a ruthless repression of a strike by naval contractors revealed how the Neo Destour party was not a friend to the unions like they said when they came to power. The unions turned to the secret underground movement of the Jamahiriya led by the Imam Hashim Al-Maisan. Imam Hashim Al-Maisan had absorbed much of the Communist belief but applied it to the Islamic World. He was tired of the domination of the masses of Allah’s followers by the corrupt monarchs and military leaders who took power all across the Islamic world by force of arms. That led to the socialist beliefs of the Jamahiriya. Once the unions aligned away from the Neo Destour to the Jamahiriya signaled the start of a quiet rebellion. The USSR knew that if they supported it they knew they could create permanent ties in Northern Africa and this was their best chance to do so. The Jamahiriya movement quickly jumped at the chance for arms and training from a superpower as they had a revolution to win.
Late 1958- Another strike led by the transportation workers union was forcefully ended by the third day as the military stepped in and forced them back to work. By the following week a full blown uprising arose under the leadership of Imam Hashim Al-Maisan while the unions trained in secret by the Soviets supplied the fighters.
The first major assault that started the open rebellion was a coordinated rising in the cities of Tunis, Sfax, and Nabeul. The fighting in Sfax and Nabeul was quick as the smaller garrisons were completely unaware of the several Jamahiriya cells armed with the best the USSR could supply in secret. By the end of the second day the cities were in the control of the Jamahiriya.
The other reason for the attacks in these three cities quickly became apparent as they were also home to roughly a 1/3 of the Tunisian Fleets in each port. Through the contacts of the Naval Contractors Union the Jamahiriya had quickly and quietly converted most of the Naval Officers, especially Admiral Ghalib ibn Abdulaziz over to their side.
The fighting in Tunis was much more brutal and enduring.
End 1958- Worldwide response was of the USA and the USSR spouting rhetoric preventing to the open intervention of the other. However, since the USSR had been supplying the Jamahiriya for long before the USA got wind of it, the USA knew they could only prevent the rebellion by openly entering into the conflict. The USSR was saying that if the USA entered into the conflict they would to. Since the USA had just suffered a huge reversal at the end of the Korean War due to the intervention of China they were understandably wary to start another conflict so far from home and so near the home of the enemy.
June 12th, 1959- The final troops loyal to Neo Destour party surrendered to the Jamahiriya. The fighting in Tunis lasted for over nine months and the Neo Destour party had called all their loyal troops to there as they felt that all they had to hold on to the capital or they would lose it all. Unfortunately the tactic backfired as the Jamahiriya controlled the Navy they were able to continually receive supplies from the Soviets and the Neo Destour party was effectively cut off from getting any supplies of its own.
The state of Tunisia Jamahiriya was declared and the masses had begun the rise. Admiral Ghalib ibn Abdulaziz became President Ghalib ibn Abdulaziz and Imam Hashim Al-Maisan supported the creation of a secular socialist state.
1962- After Imams trained in the Tunisia had been slowly spreading the socialism to the nearby French Algeria and Kingdom of Libya. Socialism appealed to the masses of Algeria as they were still under the control of Portugal and were looking for any way to break free from that yoke. They started a rebellion which quickly rose to levels the French could not quietly contain. The Kingdom of Morocco used the rebellion as an excuse to grab much of French Algeria to “protect the lives of Muslims under foreign imperialists.” France quickly left Algeria as they were already having trouble with the Tunisian supplied rebellion in the east and Morocco attacking from the west and the region was quickly abandoned due to the internal issues at home and the general unpopularity of the current regime already. Morocco took most of Algeria and Tunisia took only those regions nearest their border.
1969- Libya was proving more resistant to the Jamahiriya Socialist movement than Algeria. But On September 1, in a daring coup d'état, a group of about seventy young army officers and enlisted men, mostly assigned to the Signal Corps, seized control of the government and in a stroke abolished the Libyan monarchy. The coup was launched at Benghazi, and within two hours the takeover was completed. Army units quickly rallied in support of the coup, and within a few days firmly established military control in Tripoli and elsewhere throughout the country. Popular reception of the coup, especially by younger people in the urban areas, was enthusiastic. Fears of resistance in Cyrenaica and Fezzan proved unfounded. No deaths or violent incidents related to the coup were reported.
The Socialist Officers Movement, which claimed credit for carrying out the coup, was led by an officer named Muammar al Qadhafi who like all members of the Socialist Officers Movement had been heavily influenced by the Jamahiriya movement and quickly led the receptive people of Libya into a merger with Tunisia. The new nation took the name of Tunis Arab Jamahiriya.
The President Ghalib ibn Abdulaziz was still to be the President of Tunisia while Muammar al Qadhafi was given the position of Minister of the Homeland. Sadly, during the formation of the new nation on September 23rd, 1969 Imam Hashim Al-Maisan passed away in his sleep. A national week of mourning was given which in turn gave the new government a quiet period to solidify itself and establish the rule of law over Tunisia Arab Jamahiriya.
1970- The nation of Niger, which was led by President Diori, was increasingly fearful of its neighbor Tunisia and tried to execute the leaders of Tunisia. They failed in all cases but one, President Ghalib ibn Abdulaziz. Within hours Muammar al Qadhafi was given the position of President of Tunisia and he declared war on Niger. The Niger Army had taken position near the borders prior to the assassination attempts and quickly poured into Tunisia. This more than anything was seen by the international community as guilt in the assassination and was what kept the plan of laying blame for starting the war on Tunisia. President Diori had figured that he could declare the assassinations were not ordered by Niger and that this was simply a plot by Tunisia to invade Niger, but because Niger had its troops ready to pour across the border this ploy was seen for what it was. For three days the Niger Army swept through southern Tunisia and devastated and killed everyone they could. It was an unmitigated slaughter, the worst of which took place in Tajahri where the Niger Army killed over 80% of the town’s population. Once the Tunisian Army was ready for the counter blow they had nothing but revenge on their minds. The hammer blow fell on a surprised Niger Army as they came upon yet another small village to destroy, but was instead a carefully laid ambush. The battle lasted through the night and into the next day when the main Niger Army was routed.
Tunisian Forces rushed across the border and never turned back. They destroyed much infrastructure and many buildings, but generally spared the civilians of Niger. Many of whom fled to the south and the nation of the Nigeria. The war lasted until October 14th when President Diori surrendered expecting to simply have to pay reparations and give up some land. But the devastation caused by the Niger Army ran too deep and President Diori was executed for war crimes along with most of the surviving Niger officers.
The mass exodus of civilians to the Nigeria is one of the major causes of their later expansion south. Nigeria knew it could not take on Tunisia especially as expanded as it became after the annexation of Niger.
1973- By 1973 a civil war had been raging in Chad for several years already when an officer, by the name of Félix Malloum in Chad, led a coup that killed the cruel and insane reign of Tombalbaye. Félix Malloum had been quietly seeking support from Tunisia to help stabilize the nation of Chad, and after Tunisia’s success with Libya decided to help. So on April 13th, Tombalaye was killed. The citizens of Chad rejoiced as news traveled that Tombalaye was dead. Félix Malloum was an instant hero and once he announced that support for the coup to happen was given by Tunisia who had now sent a force into northern Chad to help quell the rebellion which was already petering out with the death of Tombalaye. The new socialist government of Chad was slowly integrated into Tunisia as it helped to restore peace. The official annexation of Chad was not until 1975, but experts say that by the end of 1973 Chad was for all intents and purposes already part of Tunisia.
1974- Throughout the year the citizens in the former nation of Niger and the nation of Chad who were not Islamic were converted (some outsiders say it was through force, but Tunisia said it was due to the very public conversion of Félix Malloum ) By the end of the year official estimates were 80% of both regions were practitioners of Islam.
1975- The official annexation of Chad into Tunis Arab Jamahiriya occurs on Jan 1st.
*This is the end of the birth of the nation of Tunis Arab Jamahiriya.
