Ahmed Bey's Economic policy and its Implications in Tunisia

Abstract

Tunisia's conditions were stable during the reign of Hammouda Pasha (1782-1814), and it lived in economic prosperity due to his control over resources, the flourishing of internal and external trade and political stability. However, the holding of the two international conferences (Vienna 1815 and Aux La Chapelle 1818) affected Tunisia during the reign of Ahmed Bey (1837-1855) who deprived Tunisia of its most important maritime resources by preventing its maritime jihad in the Mediterranean, which led to many problems in its economy and its entry into the cycle of political conflict and difficult economic conditions. Ahmed Bey began to modernize the army in exchange for spending a lot of money to meet the large expenditures of the army, so he turned To the large taxes on the population, and he developed the commitment system that burdened them, which contributed to the interest of a limited group represented by the Bey and his entourage, the obligated, and the number of beneficiaries from the application of that system while it was in control of the people, and did not take into account the economic and living conditions they are going through.