When is Evacuation Day?
Evacuation is a national holiday in Tunisia on October 15th each year.
This holiday commemorates the retreat of last French soldiers from Bizerte on this day in 1963.
History of Evacuation Day
France occupied Tunisia in 1881, as part of a partition plan of the Western powers, led by Great Britain and France, known as the 'scramble for Africa'. The French more or less occupied the Maghreb region of North Africa.
Following independence from France in 1956, France had maintained control of the city of Bizerte, a strategic location south of Sicily. France also kept land farmed by colonists in Tunisia’s most fertile areas.
In July 1961, Tunisian forces blockaded the city in an attempt to wrest control of the city from France. After a few days of fighting, the French took control of Bizerte.
Evacuation Day commemorates the eventual retreat of the last French soldiers from Bizerte on October 15th 1963, when French Admiral Maurice Amman left the city, announcing the end of the French colonial phase in Tunisia.
After the 2011 revolution, Tunisian authorities marked this historic date by making it a national holiday.
