Chapter III – The Wrath of Europe
Peace didn’t last for long. Where the Sicilians had failed, Rome, Carthage’s old nemesis, decided to take over.
Morocco backed away this time. It had suffered much, so there was no ill feeling towards it. But the Roman declaration of war proved to be an idle threat, since not only did they not have a large enough army to threaten Tunis, not only did they not have enough transports to ferry such an army across the sea, but they didn’t even have enough ships to attempt a blockade of Tunis’ ports. So, for almost two years Tunis was in a phony war, whose only direct effect was a decrease in the rate at which its infamy from conquering Algeria was decreased. But it had a possible indirect effect in that no other European nation had declared war on Tunis, possibly waiting for Rome to take Constantine before moving in for the kill.
In that time, Tunisian scholars introduced the concept of Freedom of Trade to the court, and the economy showed a marked improvement as a result. No longer would people of all classes suffer under the strain of high taxation and high tariffs so that the government could make ends meet. Thanks to increases in productivity, tariffs were decreased to zero and taxes were reduced across the board, but mostly for the rich. In addition, administration and education could for the first time receive proper funding.
This new-found economic prosperity led to an enlargement of the army. An infantry brigade had been completely destroyed during the war with Two Sicilies, but three new ones were raised in its place, making the Army of the Bey of Tunis 5 brigades strong.
In 14 November 1841 Rome offered a white peace, and Ahmad pompously accepted. That would prove to have been a less than ideal decision, since merely 20 days later Portugal started the 2nd War of the Constantine Region Concession.
Unlike Rome, Portugal had a fleet capable enough of projecting force to Tunis, and soon three out of the four main ports of the country were under blockade.
But the Portuguese had neither the numbers nor the stomach for casualties to actually land in Tunis, so the war took the form of a protracted blockade, affecting somewhat the state of the economy but not threatening the state itself.
A greater danger came from what could not be seen, a pandemic that claimed thousands of lives and cost a fifth of the treasury in the efforts to contain it.
War with Portugal dragged on until January 1844, when a white peace was signed, and the blockade was lifted. Tunisians breathed a collective sigh of relief, but then a diplomatic envoy delivered yet another declaration of war. From Sweden.
How that distant country in the exotic north expected to subdue the Tunisians’ fighting spirit was unknown, but for the next year there was no sign of Swedish activity in the Mediterranean. Taking advantage of that phoney war, Tunis gave some attention to its educational system, after academics became acquainted with Malthusian Thought. Idealism became the next focus of study, but also the new field of invasiology.
Judging from recent experience and inferring from theory, four classes of European invasion were categorized, pertaining to Tunis. Class 1 was war with a country with no effective means of power projection to Africa. It was a phoney war, with the only side effect being a decrease in the drop of infamy and of war exhaustion. The Papal States and Sweden were examples. Class 2 was war with a country that had the capacity to blockade ports but not to land troops on the ground. That caused some economical problems in addition to the ones previously stated, and a rise in war exhaustion. Portugal was the prime example. Class 3 was war with a country that could land forces in Africa. That was an actual threat, though a manageable one if their transport capacity didn’t allow too many brigades to be transported at once. Two Sicilies was the prime example. Class 4, finally, was war with a power that either bordered Tunis on land or had the capacity to land troops in such quantities as if it had a land border; and had an army large enough to take advantage of that situation. France was the prime example, though there were fears of other Great Powers that could do the same if they so chose. A Class 4 war would mean almost certain defeat for Tunis, but France and Spain seemed to take little military interest in it, and the former even seemed to be building up relations. If Tunis could be taken under France’s wing, in its sphere of influence, then it would be protected from all other threats. But relations increased slowly and in early 1846 Sweden withdrew from the war, with the Netherlands taking their place a few days later.
A Dutch squadron appeared a few months later, and it seemed like it was going to be a typical Class 2 war. However, a year into the war clippers arrived, bringing a small Dutch army with them. They landed in Gabes in May 1847 and the Tunisian armies converged on their position.
The Dutch had artillery and better tactics, so the casualties were about the same on both sides, even though the Tunisians enjoyed a clear numerical superiority. In the end, the Tunisian army won, though with greater casualties than the enemy, and pursued the latter to three additional engagements, before forcing the last remnants to surrender in Constantine in July. After that, the Dutch continued their blockade until early 1848, when they asked for a white peace. The Bey, worried about the sightings of the return of Dutch clippers, agreed and enjoyed a few days of peace before the Romans announced their second attempt to conquer Constantine.
This time, they had Sardinia-Piedmont on their side, which proceeded to blockade Tunis’ ports in clear Class 2 fashion. That alliance caused more relief than fear in the Tunisian court, since it was obvious that the Pope had called all his allies and so it followed that France had refused to get involved. French influence was rising slowly in Tunis, but eventually it would reach a tipping point and Tunis would find security – as long as disaster didn’t strike until then.
In May 1849 Idealism shared its mysteries with the Tunisian scholars and priority was given to land military technologies, since the war with the Netherlands showed the deficiency of the Tunisian army.
In September 1849, the Bey could no longer ignore the voices crying out for political change. The predominant issue among the people, by a staggering 56%, was jingoism, an ideology espoused by the reactionary ‘Nationalist Faction’.
The conservative ‘Royal Faction’ had served Tunis to the best of its ability so far, but the people wanted something more militaristic. In addition, the Nationalists’ interventionist economic policy could prove more flexible than the Royal Faction’s state capitalism. With the country in a condition of high militancy, partly due to the prolonged blockades and partly due to continued western presence, the Nationalists were placed in power to provide some appeasement to public sentiment. However, militancy actually increased and the conservatives proposed a number of legislations that could help defuse the situation.
It was decided to invest in a health care system, so trinket health care was enacted as a social reform.
A month later, Sardinia-Piedmont offered peace, which was graciously accepted. But by then the Romans had outfitted a squadron of their own, and continued the blockade seamlessly.
On 1 January 1850, the Tunisian government enacted a radical political decision, outlawing slavery. The extra manpower, as tax-paying citizens, would help the country in its next crucial years, but the landed aristocracy resented that move and wanted something in return. After much squabbling and a steady rise in militancy throughout the year, after a white peace was made with Rome in September, the Bey reluctantly agreed to give them a say in government.
Nine days later, Portugal started the 6th War of the Constantine Region Concession. It was expected to be another Class 2 war, and the Portuguese didn’t disappoint.
However, by October 1850 the political history of Tunis was turning over a new page, with the absolute monarchy replaced by a very limited constitutionalism, but a constitutionalism all the same.
A new era dawned. But it was still clouded by the sails of Portuguese frigates…