The French protectorate of Tunisia (French: Protectorat français de Tunisie; Arabic: الحماية الفرنسية في تونس Al-Ḥimāyah Al-Fransiyyah fī Tūnis) was established in 1881, during the French colonial Empire era, and lasted until Tunisian independence in 1956. Tunisia formed a province of the decaying Ottoman Empire but enjoyed a large measure of autonomy under the bey Muhammad III as-Sadiq. In 1877, Russia declared war on the Ottoman Empire.