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 time since 1881, that the Tunisian cabinet did not include a French member. While giving speeches all around the country, Bourguiba insisted on this fundamental fact, demonstrating that the conventions gave a large autonomy to the Tunisian people in management of its affairs. Defending his strategy, he must not leave the field open to the maximalism of Ben Youssef, supported by the Communists and the Destour. On 13 September, Ben Youssef returned to the country from Cairo. Trying to bring back peace and convince Ben Youssef to reconsider his positions, Bourguiba went to the airport welcoming his "old friend". But