French protectorate in Morocco
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French protectorate in Morocco Protectorat français au Maroc ( Arabic )Al-himayat al-faransiat fi al-maghrib | |||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1912–1956 | |||||||||
Anthem: | |||||||||
Status | Protectorate of France | ||||||||
Capital | Rabat | ||||||||
Official languages | French | ||||||||
Common languages | |||||||||
Religion | Roman Catholicism | ||||||||
Government | Absolute monarchy (under colonial administration) | ||||||||
Sultan | |||||||||
• 1912–1927 | Yusef | ||||||||
• 1927–1953 | Mohammed V | ||||||||
• 1953–1955 | Mohammed Ben Aarafa[a] | ||||||||
• 1955–1956 | Mohammed V | ||||||||
Resident-General | |||||||||
• 1912–1925 (first) | Hubert Lyautey | ||||||||
• 1955–1956 (last) | André Louis Dubois | ||||||||
Historical era | Interwar period | ||||||||
30 March 1912 | |||||||||
• Independence | 7 April 1956[3] | ||||||||
Currency | Moroccan rial (1912–1921) Moroccan franc (1921–1956) French franc (de facto official) | ||||||||
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The French protectorate in Morocco,
The French protectorate lasted until the dissolution of the Treaty of Fez on 2 March 1956, with the Franco-Moroccan Joint Declaration.[6] Morocco's independence movement, described in Moroccan historiography as the Revolution of the King and the People, restored the exiled Mohammed V but it did not end French presence in Morocco. France preserved its influence in the country, including a right to station French troops and to have a say in Morocco's foreign policy. French settlers also maintained their rights and property.[7]
The French protectorate shared territory with the
Prelude
Despite the weakness of its authority, the
French activity in Morocco began at the end of the nineteenth century. In 1904 the French government was trying to establish a protectorate over Morocco and had managed to sign two bilateral secret agreements with Britain (8 April 1904, see
First Moroccan Crisis: March 1905 – May 1906
The First Moroccan Crisis grew out of the imperial rivalries of the great powers, in this case, between Germany on one side and France, with British support, on the other. Germany took immediate diplomatic action to block the new accord from going into effect, including the dramatic visit of Wilhelm II to Tangier in Morocco on 31 March 1905. Kaiser Wilhelm tried to get Morocco's support if they went to war with France or Britain, and gave a speech expressing support for Moroccan independence, which amounted to a provocative challenge to French influence in Morocco.[11]
In 1906 the Algeciras Conference was held to settle the dispute, and Germany accepted an agreement in which France agreed to yield control of the Moroccan police, but otherwise retained effective control of Moroccan political and financial affairs. Although the Algeciras Conference temporarily solved the First Moroccan Crisis it only worsened international tensions between the Triple Alliance and the Triple Entente.[12]
French invasion
The French military conquest of Morocco began in the aftermath of Émile Mauchamp's assassination in Marrakesh on 19 March 1907.[13] In the French press, his death was characterized as an "unprovoked and indefensible attack from the barbarous natives of Morocco."[14] Hubert Lyautey seized his death as a pretext to invade Oujda from the east.[14]
In the summer of 1907, tribes of the
Hafidiya
The sultan,
Agadir Crisis
In 1911, a rebellion broke out against Abd al-Hafid. By early April 1911, the Sultan was besieged in his palace in
History
French protectorate (1912–1956)
History of Morocco |
---|
In establishing their protectorate over much of Morocco, the French had behind them the experience of the conquest of
Morocco was also unique among the North African countries in possessing a coast on the
Although being under protectorate, Morocco retained -de jure- its personality as a state in international law, according to an International Court of Justice statement, and thus remained a sovereign state, without discontinuity between pre-colonial and modern entities.[25] In fact, the French enjoyed much larger powers.
Under the protectorate, French civil servants allied themselves with the French
World War I
France recruited infantry from Morocco to join its troupes coloniales, as it did in its other colonies in Africa and around the world. Throughout World War I, a total of 37,300–45,000 Moroccans fought for France, forming a "Moroccan Brigade."[27][26] Moroccan colonial troops first served France in the First Battle of the Marne, September 1914,[26] and participated in every major battle in the war,[28] including in Artois, Champagne, and Verdun.[27] Historians have called these Moroccan soldiers "heroes without glory" as they are not and have not been given the consideration they merited through valor and sacrifice in the war.[27] Brahim El Kadiri Boutchich identified the participation of Moroccan soldiers in the service of France in WWI as "one of the most important moments in the shared history of Morocco and France."[27]
Lyautey and the Protectorate (1912–1925)
...offend no tradition, change no
custom, and remind ourselves that in all human society there is a ruling class, born to rule, without which nothing can be done...[we] enlist the ruling class in our service...and the country will be pacified, and at far less cost and with greater certainty than by all the military expeditions we could send there...
Lyautey's vision was ideological: A powerful, pro-French, Westernized monarchy that would work with France and look to France for culture and aid. Unlike in Algeria, where the entire nobility and government had been displaced, the Moroccan nobility was included in Lyautey's plans. He worked with them, offering support and building elite private schools to which they could send their children; one notable product of this schooling was Thami El Glaoui.[29]
Lyautey allowed the Sultan to retain his powers, both nominal and practical: He issued decrees in his own name and
In Morocco, there is only one government, the sharifian government, protected by the French.
Walter Burton Harris, a British journalist who wrote extensively on Morocco, commented upon French preservation of traditional Moroccan society:[29]
At the Moorish court, scarcely a European is to be seen, and to the native who arrives at the Capital [sic] there is little or no visible change from what he and his ancestors saw in the past.
Lyautey served his post until 1925, in the middle of the failed revolt of the Republic of the Rif against the Franco-Spanish administration and the Sultan.
Economic exploitation
Agriculture
Learning from experiences in
Infrastructure
The Compagnie franco-espagnole du chemin de fer de Tanger à Fez built a standard gauge railroad connecting Fes and Tangier,[31] while Compagnie des chemins de fer du Maroc (CFM) built standard gauge railways connecting Casablanca, Kenitra, and Sidi Kacem, and Casablanca and Marrakech, completed in 1928.[32] Compagnie des Chemins de Fer du Maroc Oriental created narrow-gauge railroads east of Fes.[33]
La Compagnie de Transports au Maroc (CTM) was founded 30 November 1919 with the goal of accessing "all of Morocco." Its services ran along a new colonial road system planned with the aim of linking all major towns and cities.[34] It continues to offer intercity bus services nationwide.
Natural resources
The
Industry
Industry during the early period of the protectorate on focused food processing for local consumption: there were canneries, a sugar refinery (Compagnie Sucriere Marocaine, COSUMA),[35] a brewing company (Société des Brasseries du Maroc, SBM),[36] and flour mills.[37][34] Manufacturing and heavy industry, however, were not embraced for fears of competing with Metropolitan France.[34]
Opposition to French control
Zaian War
The
With the outbreak of the First World War, France withdrew troops for service in Europe, and they lost more than 600 in the Battle of El Herri. Over the following four years, the French retained most of their territory despite the Central Powers' intelligence and financial support to the Zaian Confederation and continual raids and skirmishes reducing scarce French manpower.
After
Rif War
Nationalist parties
Amid the backlash against the
World War II
During World War II, the badly divided nationalist movement became more cohesive, and informed Moroccans dared to consider the real possibility of political change in the post-war era. The Moroccan Nationalist Movement (الحركة الوطنية المغربية) was emboldened by overtures made by Franklin D. Roosevelt and the United States during the 1943 Anfa Conference during World War II, expressing support for Moroccan independence after the war. Nationalist political parties based their arguments for Moroccan independence on such World War II declarations as the Atlantic Charter.[40]
However, the nationalists were disappointed in their belief that the Allied victory in Morocco would pave the way for independence. In January 1944, the Istiqlal Party, which subsequently provided most of the leadership for the nationalist movement, released a manifesto demanding full independence, national reunification, and a democratic constitution.[41] Sultan Muhammad V had approved the manifesto before its submission to the French resident general Gabriel Puaux, who answered that no basic change in the protectorate status was being considered.[42]
Struggle for independence
The innovative fact about Moroccan nationalists is that they globalized the Moroccan question through transnational activism.[43] This way they created a vibrant and wide global coalition of supporters who advocated their cause. This way they also managed to make their concerns global ones.[43] Among their active international supporters was Robert E. Rodes who fought actively in the US Congress for gaining support for the Moroccan cause.[44]
In the late 1940s and early 1950s, with political and nonviolent efforts proving futile, the Moroccan struggle for independence became increasingly violent, with massacres, bombings, and riots, particularly in the urban and industrial center, Casablanca.
Tangier Speech and Casablanca Tirailleurs Massacre
In 1947, Sultan Muhammad V planned to deliver a speech in what was then the Tangier International Zone to appeal for his country's independence from colonialism and for its territorial unity.[46]
In the days leading up to the sultan's speech, French colonial forces in Casablanca, specifically Senegalese Tirailleurs serving the French colonial empire, carried out a massacre of working class Moroccans. The massacre lasted for about 24 hours from 7–8 April 1947, as the tirailleurs fired randomly into residential buildings in working-class neighborhoods, killing 180 Moroccan civilians. The conflict was instigated in an attempt to sabotage the Sultan's journey to Tangier, though after having returned to Casablanca to comfort the families of the victims, the Sultan then proceeded to Tangier to deliver the historic speech, in the garden of the Mendoubia palace, on 9 April.[47][48]
Murder of Farhat Hached
The assassination of the Tunisian labor unionist
Revolution of the King and the People
Glaoui's attempted coup
In 1953, Thami El Glaoui attempted to orchestrate a coup against Sultan Muhammad V with the support of the French protectorate.[52] The 1953 Oujda revolt broke out ten days after his "electoral" campaign passed through the city.[53]
Exile of Sultan Muhammad
The general sympathy of the sultan for the nationalists had become evident by the end of the war, although he still hoped to see complete independence achieved gradually. By contrast, the residency, supported by French economic interests and vigorously backed by most of the colonists, adamantly refused to consider even reforms short of independence. Official intransigence contributed to increased animosity between the nationalists and the colonists and gradually widened the split between the sultan and the resident general.
Muhammad V and his family were transferred to Madagascar in January 1954. His replacement by the unpopular Mohammed Ben Aarafa, whose reign was perceived as illegitimate, sparked active opposition to the French protectorate both from nationalists and those who saw the sultan as a religious leader.[54] By 1955, Ben Aarafa was pressured to abdicate; consequently, he fled to Tangier where he formally abdicated.[55]
The French executed 6 Moroccan nationalists in Casablanca on 4 January 1955.[56] The aggressions between the colonists and the nationalists increased from 19 August – 5 November 1955, and approximately 1,000 people died[56]
Later on, faced with a united Moroccan demand for the sultan’s return, on a great scale, rising violence in Morocco, and the deteriorating situation in Algeria, Muhammad V was returned from exile on 16 November 1955, and declared independence on 18 November 1955. In February 1956 he successfully negotiated with France to enforce the independence of Morocco, and in 1957 took the title of King.[citation needed]
1956 independence
In late 1955, Muhammad V successfully negotiated the gradual restoration of Moroccan independence within a framework of French-Moroccan interdependence. The sultan agreed to institute reforms that would transform Morocco into a
In the months that followed independence, Muhammad V proceeded to build a modern governmental structure under a constitutional monarchy in which the sultan would exercise an active political role. He acted cautiously, having no intention of permitting more radical elements in the nationalist movement to overthrow the established order. He was also intent on preventing the Istiqlal Party from consolidating its control and establishing a one-party state. In August 1957, Muhammad V assumed the title of king.
Monetary policy
The French minted coinage for use in the Protectorate from 1921 until 1956, which continued to circulate until a new currency was introduced. The French minted coins with denomination of francs, which were divided into 100 centimes. This was replaced in 1960 with the reintroduction of the dirham, Morocco's current currency.
The Algeciras Conference gave concessions to the European bankers, ranging from a newly formed State Bank of Morocco, to issuing banknotes backed by gold, with a 40-year term. The new state bank was to act as Morocco's Central Bank, but with a strict cap on the spending of the Sherifian Empire, with administrators appointed by the national banks that guaranteed the loans: the German Empire, United Kingdom, France and Spain.[62]
Repression
Hubert Lyautey established the Native Policy Council (Conseil de politique indigène),[63] which oversaw colonial rule in the protectorate.
Under the protectorate, Moroccans were prevented from attending large political gatherings.[64] This was because colonial forces deemed they might "hear things beyond their capacity to understand."[64][65]
French authorities also forbade Arabic-language newspapers from covering politics, which sparked claims of censorship.[64] Under the French protectorate, entire articles were censored from the Istiqlal Party's Arabic Al-Alam newspaper, which was printed with blocks of missing text.[66]
Postal history
A French postal agency had sent
The first stamps of the protectorate appeared 1 August 1914, and were just the existing stamps with the additional overprint reading "PROTECTORAT FRANCAIS".[69] The first new designs were in an issue of 1917, consisting of 17 stamps in six designs, denominated in centimes and francs, and inscribed "MAROC".[citation needed]
Railways
Morocco had from 1912–1935 one of the largest 600 mm (1 ft 11+5⁄8 in) gauge networks in Africa with total length of more than 1,700 kilometres.
Legacy
French colonialism had a lasting impact on society, economy, language, culture, and education in Morocco. There are also lingering connections that have been described as neocolonial.[71][72] As a francophone former colony of France in Africa, Morocco falls into the cadre of Françafrique and la Francophonie.[73] In 2019, 35% of Moroccans speak French—more than Algeria at 33%, and Mauritania at 13%.[74]
There are approximately 1,514,000 Moroccans in France, representing the largest community of Moroccans outside of Morocco.[75] The INSEE announced that there are approximately 755,400 Moroccan nationals residing in France as of October 2019, representing 20% of France's immigrant population.[76]
The former Residence-general, designed for Lyautey by architect Albert Laprade and completed in 1924, is now the seat of the Moroccan Ministry of Interior.
See also
- French conquest of Morocco
- List of French residents-general in Morocco
- Spanish protectorate in Morocco
- History of Morocco
- France–Morocco relations
- French protectorate of Tunisia
- French Algeria
- List of French possessions and colonies
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في التاسع عشر من ماي 1953 أصدر الباشا الكلاوي بيانا معلنا فيه صداقته وإخلاصه للحماية الفرنسية مطالبا إياها بإبعاد السلطان محمد الخامس
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Further reading
- Gershovich, Moshe (2000). French Military Rule in Morocco: colonialism and its consequences. ISBN 0-7146-4949-X.
- Roberts, Stephen A. History of French Colonial Policy 1870-1925 (2 vol 1929) vol 2 pp 545–90 online
- Bensoussan, David (2012). Il était une fois le Maroc: témoignages du passé judéo-marocain. iUniverse. ISBN 978-1-4759-2608-8.