The First Tunisian Crisis (1864)

The Italian Risorgimento was characterized by significant relations between the Kingdom of Sardinia and France. In 1859, the agreements of Plombières, sanctioned the alliance between the two Countries against the Austrian Empire, but the armistice of Villafranca, signed between Napoleon III and Francis Joseph, braked Piedmont’s projects. In 1860-1861, the French conduct was ambiguous: on the one hand, the emperor approved the Italian unification, on the other hand, the public opinion was opposed to the creation of a new power competitor in the heart of the Mediterranean Sea. In fact, the competition for the control of this important area began a few years later. In the autumn of 1864 – during the trading of “Convenzione di Settembre” - a violent revolt broke out in Tunis. The first ship to anchor in the Tunisian coast were the French, followed by English. The Italian government immediately sent its vessels in order not to leave France an easy conquest of the area. Turin and Paris, the