French protectorate of Tunisia
France gained an important foothold in Tunisia in 1869 by means of a tripartite Debt Commission, constituted with the United Kingdom and Italy to manage the country's financial commitments to its creditors. In April 1881, a border incident with French Algeria involving raids by Khroumire tribesmen who were subjects of the Bey provided the final pretext for the dispatch of a French expeditionary force which took El Kef, and for the landing of French troops at Bizerte on 1 May. The French army occupied Tunis on 11 May. The Bey was therefore compelled to sign the Treaty of Bardo on 12 May, establishing the French protectorate of Tunisia.