# Ben Youssef's Return and Expulsion (1955)

URL: https://allhistories.com/tunisia/timeline/1955-ben-youssef-s-return-and-expulsion
Location: Tunis, Tunisia
Themes: main-event

Salah Ben Youssef, secretary-general of the Neo Destour, had spent the years of repression in exile in Cairo, where he formed close ties with Gamal Abdel Nasser and the Algerian FLN. He rejected the June 1955 conventions as 'a step backwards', arguing that Tunisia should fight on alongside Algeria and Morocco for complete independence. Ben Youssef returned to Tunis on 13 September 1955 and, on 7 October, delivered a speech at the Zaytuna mosque denouncing the conventions and Bourguiba's leadership, rallying Zaytuna scholars, merchants, part of the Tunis bourgeoisie, supporters of the old Destour and many fighters of the south. Within days the political bureau of the Neo Destour expelled him from the party and stripped him of his position as secretary-general. The split turned into the 'Youssefist' crisis, a bitter struggle that divided families and regions and degenerated into armed clashes, reprisals and assassinations in 1955–56, especially in the south, where Youssefist bands took up arms. It pitted two visions of the future against each other: Bourguiba's pragmatic, Western-leaning gradualism against Ben Youssef's pan-Arab radicalism. At this point in the timeline (October 1955), the Bey of Tunis (1943–1956), King of Tunisia (20 March 1956 – 25 July 1957) was Muhammad VIII al-Amin (15 May 1943 – 25 July 1957); the French High Commissioner in Tunisia was Roger Seydoux (13 September 1955 – 20 March 1956). Government: the Prime Minister (Grand Vizier) of the Beylik of Tunis was Tahar Ben Ammar (7 August 1954 – 11 April 1956).

## Why it matters
The Bourguiba–Ben Youssef split was the deepest division of the Tunisian national movement and shaped the post-independence regime.

Ruler at the Time: [Muhammad VIII al-Amin](https://allhistories.com/tunisia/rulers/muhammad-viii-al-amin)

French High Commissioner in Tunisia: Roger Seydoux
Prime Minister (Grand Vizier) of the Beylik of Tunis: Tahar Ben Ammar (Destour)

## Sources
- [Wikipedia — Salah ben Youssef](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Salah_ben_Youssef)
- [Wikipedia — Al-Zaytuna Mosque](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Al-Zaytuna_Mosque)
- [Encyclopaedia Britannica — Salah Ben Youssef](https://www.britannica.com/search?query=Salah+Ben+Youssef)
- [Wikipedia — The French Protectorate (period overview)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/French_protectorate_of_Tunisia)