Collections | Migrations | The life of European immigrant communities: Egypt and Tunisia | The political and juridical framework [14 Objects]

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Introduction to the Chapter

Khedive Ismail

19th century

Bibliotheca Alexandrina

Alexandria, Egypt

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 Justification for this item

Aiming to modernise Egypt, Khedive Isma’il (1863–79) invested heavily in education and public works. He established mixed courts governed by the French civil code for cases involving foreigners and abolished consular jurisdiction. Under his rule, Egypt plunged into debt, verging on bankruptcy in 1876, and he was forced to agree to British and French supervision of Egyptian public expenditures.

Khedive Ismail

19th century

Bibliotheca Alexandrina

Alexandria, Egypt

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Muhammad 'Ali Pasha

19th century

Bibliotheca Alexandrina

Alexandria, Egypt

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 Justification for this item

As ruler of Egypt (1805–48), Mohammad \'Ali Pasha carried out an intense modernisation policy. His government hired European professionals and technicians and removed obstacles to the activities of European immigrants.

Muhammad 'Ali Pasha

19th century

Bibliotheca Alexandrina

Alexandria, Egypt

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A treaty between the Regency of Tunis and the Grand Duke of Tuscany, concerning the jurisdiction over Tuscan Jews who migrated to Tunisia

Tunis, 2 November 1846

State Archives of Florence

Florence, Italy

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 Justification for this item

This treaty amended a 1822 treaty between Tunisia and Tuscany. It decreed that while the “Grana”, Jews who had migrated to Tunisia from Livorno (Tuscany, Italy) in the 17th century, remained under the jurisdiction of the Bey; those who moved to Tunisia from Tuscany after 1822 and registered at the Tuscan Consulate were placed under Tuscan jurisdiction and protection.

The fundamental pact

1857

Archives Nationales

Tunis, Tunisia

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 Justification for this item

In 1857, under French and British pressure, the Bey of Tunisia issued a declaration of rights known as the “Fundamental Pact”. The Pact granted equal rights to subjects of different religions. It also included provisions in favour of foreigners, such as the right to reside and own real estate in the country, and freedom of trade.

The fundamental pact

1857

Archives Nationales

Tunis, Tunisia

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The 1861 constitution

1861

Archives Nationales

Tunis, Tunisia

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 Justification for this item

In 1857, the Bey of Tunisia charged a committee, headed by his prime minister, with the task of drafting a constitution. It was ratified in April 1861 – the first constitution in an Arab country. The Constitution reasserted the rights of foreigners, which had already been granted under the Fundamental Pact of 1857.

The 1861 constitution

1861

Archives Nationales

Tunis, Tunisia

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Treaty of Bardo

12 mai 1881

Archives Nationales

Tunis, Tunisia

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 Justification for this item

After the establishment of the protectorate, France created a system of French courts in Tunisia. Consular jurisdiction was abolished and only two sets of judicial systems remained: French courts for all the Europeans, and Tunisian courts for all the Tunisians, Muslims and Jews.

Treaty of Bardo

12 mai 1881

Archives Nationales

Tunis, Tunisia

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Treaty of the French Protectorate, 12 May 1881

1881

Institut Supérieur d’Histoire Contemporaine de la Tunisie

La Manouba, Tunis, Tunisia

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 Justification for this item

In 1881, French military intervention in Tunisia forced the local ruler, the Bey of Tunis, to sign the Treaty of Bardo, granting France a protectorate over the country. Nominally, the Tunisian government remained in place, but it operated under French supervision. The Bey’s decrees required the approval of the French authorities. The Treaty also gave France the power to run foreign policy on behalf of Tunisia.

Treaty of the French Protectorate, 12 May 1881

1881

Institut Supérieur d’Histoire Contemporaine de la Tunisie

La Manouba, Tunis, Tunisia

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An Italian cartoon in support of Ahmad Urabi's movement against foreign control of Egypt's finances

1882

State Library of Modern and Contemporary History

Rome, Italy

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 Justification for this item

Under Khedive Tawfiq (1879–92), 60 per cent of Egypt’s annual revenues went to pay public debts. Discontent in the country rose. In 1881, Ahmad Urabi, an army colonel of peasant origins, led a protest movement against European domination of Egypt’s affairs and in order to place constitutional limits on the Khedive’s power. In 1882, he was appointed minister of war and began working for the creation of a national assembly.

Europeans leaving Alexandria (Egypt) during the antiforeign rioting in June 1882

1882

State Library of Modern and Contemporary History

Rome, Italy

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 Justification for this item

In May 1882 the UK and France, concerned about access to the Suez Canal and their financial investments in Egypt, sent a fleet to Alexandria, hoping to weaken Urabi’s nationalist movement. The presence of the fleet only worsened tensions. In June, anti-foreigner rioting erupted in Alexandria and left several hundreds dead, including about 50 foreigners.

The Court Martial at the Palace of Justice

1882

Vallicelliana Library

Rome, Italy

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 Justification for this item

Following extensive anti-foreigner rioting, the British fleet bombed Alexandria on 11 July 1882, and two days later British troops occupied the city. Fearing for the security of the Suez Canal, the British government sent over 30,000 soldiers and a total of 40 warships to Egypt. Although formally independent, Egypt effectively became a British protectorate.

The English Consulate (Ruins)

1882

Vallicelliana Library

Rome, Italy

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 Justification for this item

Urabi positioned modern cannons to strengthen the defence of Alexandria. On 10 July the British admiral demanded that Egypt remove them. Urabi did not comply, and on 11 July the British fleet started bombing the city (the French government disagreed with the bombing and had withdrawn its ships). British ships bombed Alexandria for ten and a half hours.

The English Consulate (Ruins)

1882

Vallicelliana Library

Rome, Italy

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The Palace of the Poste Italienne (Ruins)

1882

Vallicelliana Library

Rome, Italy

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 Justification for this item

Urabi positioned modern cannons to strengthen the defence of Alexandria. On 10 July the British admiral demanded that Egypt remove them. Urabi did not comply, and on 11 July the British fleet started bombing the city (the French government disagreed with the bombing and had withdrawn its ships). British ships bombed Alexandria for ten and a half hours.

The Consuls’ Square [Alexandria, Egypt] after the Fire

1882

Vallicelliana Library

Rome, Italy

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 Justification for this item

Urabi positioned modern cannons to strengthen the defence of Alexandria. On 10 July the British admiral demanded that Egypt remove them. Urabi did not comply, and on 11 July the British fleet started bombing the city (the French government disagreed with the bombing and had withdrawn its ships). British ships bombed Alexandria for ten and a half hours.

Request for financial help to the Minister of the Interior by Filippo Codispoti, a former Italian migrant to Cairo, who had to flee Egypt with his family in 1882

Reggio Calabria, 21 September 1882

State Archives of Reggio Calabria

Reggio Calabria, Italy

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 Justification for this item

According to a 1882 census, 18,665 Italians were living in Egypt at the time. The anti-foreigner rioting that erupted in Alexandria in June 1882 pushed immigrants such as Filippo Codispoti into fleeing the country.

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Introduction to the Chapter