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Periodical article Periodical article Leiden University catalogue Leiden University catalogue WorldCat catalogue WorldCat
Title:Creation of a mass political culture in Tunisia
Author:Schaar, StuartISNI
Year:1993
Periodical:Maghreb Review
Volume:18
Issue:1-2
Pages:2-17
Language:English
Geographic terms:Tunisia
France
Subjects:resistance
colonialism
history
1910-1919
1920-1929
1930-1939
Abstract:This paper argues that the mass bases and cultural configurations for the successful nationalist movement that developed in Tunisia between 1934 and 1956 were put in place between 1918 and 1930. The Tunisian environment after World War I paved the way for the creation of a mass political culture. High expectations and relative prosperity generated by the war contrasted with the harsh local conditions in Tunisia during and after the period of demobilization. Since most of the nearly 87,000 Tunisians sent to France for the war effort came from rural areas, the survivors brought new ideas and experiences back with them when they returned to their bourgs and villages and helped stir up their communities. Journalists, actors and poets experienced a spurt of creative energy, fed on the social efflorescence of the period and harnessed their talents for political and nationalist ends. The years 1918-1921 and 1924-1925 were marked by militant workers' strikes in response to sudden increases in the cost of living and blatant inequalities inherent in the colonial system. Popular demonstrations often accompanied these strikes, so that masses of people throughout Tunisia began to respond intuitively to the poems, theatre and press reports aimed at organizing this base. Notes, ref.
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