Tunis - Scene of New International Dispute -- A view over Tunis, capital of the Protectorate. These pictures, made by a staff representative, show scenes in Tunis, the French protectorate in North Africa which has became the centre of a dispute between France and Italy that has resulted in France massing thousands of troops in the territory. Tunis became a protectorate under France in 1881, though 13 years before Italians had begun to settle there. Italians now number 10,000 and the French 104,000 out of the population of 2 1/4 millions. June 18, 1941.