Debt and Imperialism in Pre-Protectorate Tunisia, 1867-1870. A Political and Economic Analysis

Historians are familiar with the story of Tunisia’s debt crisis between 1867 and 1870 and its political and economic implications at both national and international levels.1 However, a less-well-known aspect of the debt crisis concerns the creditors, principally Italian and British protégés, who held Tunisian local financial guarantees and debt. The financial collapse of the Regency led to a complex diplomatic struggle among European powers – above all Italy, Britain, and France – backing their respective nationals’ competing claims on Tunisian assets that the Regency had granted them. This paper examines how between 1867 and 1870 the debt crisis led to the establishment of an international financial commission to adjudicate creditors’ claims and to handle Tunisian finances following the economic collapse of the Regency, and it analyzes the political and economic implications of the entity in which Italy, Britain, and France participated. *