Early political career of Habib Bourguiba Early political career of Habib Bourguiba The early political career of Habib Bourguiba began in the early 1930s when he joined the main political party of the Tunisian national movement, the Destour. His political beginnings were characterized with a "battle" in newspapers such as "L'Étandar Tunisien" and "La voix du Tunisien", while defending Tunisia's integrity and the preservation of its national identity. Shocked by the 1930 International Eucharistic Congress of Carthage, Bourguiba and his mates decided to start a press campaign to denounce the event. They soon acquired an unprecedented popularity, and stood out from the elders of Destour. They
Habib Bourguiba Bourguiba decided to react by sabotaging Thaalbi's meetings. In Mateur, the fight ended with numerous deaths and injured but Bourguiba succeeded in strengthening his positions and appearing as the unique leader of the nationalist movement, rejecting, once and for all Pan-Arabism and anti-occidentalism. The split up was, therefore, final between both parties. Fearing attacks, the Destourian party gave up public meetings, using newspapers to respond their opponents. However, Bourguiba chose moderation regarding the relation with France. Meanwhile, within the party, two factions appeared: The first one, moderate, was led by El Materi, Guiga and Sfar, favoring dialogue while the second