Habib Bourguiba personality and that it had to be preserved until the country got emancipated. This statement surprised liberals like the French unionist Joachim Durel. The controversy that followed opposed him to Bourguiba for nearly a month, Bourguiba writing in "L'Étendard tunisien" while Durel responded in "Tunis socialiste". The year 1930 was the peak of French colonization in North Africa, which led France to celebrate the centenary of the French conquest of Algeria, by organizing a eucharistic congress in Tunisia. On this occasion, millions of Europeans invaded the capital city and went to the Saint-Lucien de Carthage cathedral, disguised as crusaders, which
Habib Bourguiba Cairo, Egypt, where he lived from 1945 to 1949. However, his attempts were in vain as the Arab countries were preoccupied with Israeli–Palestinian conflict. When he returned to the country, Bourguiba found himself weakened by the ascending of Moncefism and the party's efforts to drive him away, as it restructured around Salah Ben Youssef. He became leader of the nationalist movement and decided to negotiate with France. However, the talks proved to be a total failure and Bourguiba, convinced that the rupture was confirmed, traveled the world seeking for support in order to introduce the case to the United Nations.