You can help expand this article with text translated from the corresponding article in French. Click [show] for important translation instructions.
Machine translation, like DeepL or Google Translate, is a useful starting point for translations, but translators must revise errors as necessary and confirm that the translation is accurate, rather than simply copy-pasting machine-translated text into the English Wikipedia.
Consider adding a topic to this template: there are already 6,111 articles in the main category, and specifying|topic= will aid in categorization.
Do not translate text that appears unreliable or low-quality. If possible, verify the text with references provided in the foreign-language article.
You must provide copyright attribution in the edit summary accompanying your translation by providing an interlanguage link to the source of your translation. A model attribution edit summary is Content in this edit is translated from the existing French Wikipedia article at [[:fr:Crise de Bizerte]]; see its history for attribution.
You should also add the template {{Translated|fr|Crise de Bizerte}} to the talk page.
For more guidance, see Wikipedia:Translation.
Bizerte crisis
Part of the decolonisation of Africa and the spillover of the Algerian War
Bizerte in 1961
Date
19–23 July 1961
Location
Bizerte, Tunisia
Result
French victory
Territorial changes
Evacuation of the Bizerte base on 15 October 1963
Belligerents
France
Tunisia
Commanders and leaders
Charles de Gaulle Maurice Amman
Habib Bourguiba Noureddine Boujellabia Abdelhamid Ben Cheikh
The Bizerte crisis (French: Crise de Bizerte; Arabic: أحداث بنزرت, romanized: ʾAḥdāth Bīzart) occurred in July 1961 when Tunisia imposed a blockade on the French naval base at Bizerte, Tunisia, hoping to force its evacuation. The crisis culminated in a three-day battle between French and Tunisian forces that left 630 Tunisians and 24 French dead.
Military zone of Bizerte–FerryvilleMilitary zone in southern Tunisia
Background
After Tunisia gained independence from France in 1956, France remained in control of the city and its naval base, a strategic port on the Mediterranean, which played an important part in French operations during the Algerian War. France had promised to negotiate the future of the base, but had so far refused to remove it. Tunisia was further infuriated upon learning that France planned to expand the airbase.
In 1961, Tunisian forces surrounded and blockaded the naval base in hopes of forcing France to abandon its last holdings in the country. After Tunisia warned France against any violations of Tunisian airspace, the French defiantly sent a helicopter. Tunisian troops responded by firing warning shots. In response to the blockade, 800 French paratroopers were sent in by the French as a show of force.
However, when the transport planes with the paratroopers landed on the airfield, Tunisian troops engaged them with targeted machine gun fire. In response, French jets supported by troops armed with 105 mm howitzers attacked the Tunisian roadblocks, destroying them completely. French tanks and armoured cars then rolled into Tunisian territory, and fired into the town of Ferryville, killing 27 soldiers and civilians. The following day, the French launched a full-scale invasion of the town of Bizerte. The Tunisians' few artillery posts were destroyed by rockets fired by French planes. Tanks and paratroopers penetrated into the city from the south, while marines stormed the harbour from landing craft. Three French cruisers were positioned offshore. Tunisian soldiers, paramilitaries,[3] and hastily organised civilian volunteers engaged the French in heavy street fighting, but were forced back by vastly superior French forces. The French overran the town on 23 July 1961.
Aftermath
Bizerte Martyrs monument
Initially the United Nations was unable to carry out any sort of substantial action against the French, which angered the Tunisian authorities.[4] The French finally handed Bizerte on 15 October 1963, after the conclusion of the Algerian War.
^"Answers - The Most Trusted Place for Answering Life's Questions". Answers.com. Retrieved 26 April 2019.
^Brady, Thomas F. (31 July 1961). "Tunisians Bitter Over U.N. Failure On Bizerte Crisis; Say Council Is 'Incapable' of Concrete Decisions – Assembly Call Expected". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 26 April 2019.
External links
"Tunisia: The Wages of Moderation". Time. 28 July 1961.
France
Tunisia
