Moroccan History: French Protectorate (1912-56)


Figure 1.--.

European countries by the mid-19th century were demanding special rights in Morocco a country which do to its geographic situation was of considerable strategic impotyance. The industrial revolutuon transforming Europe did not touch Morroco. Here backward rulers and Islamic scholars played roles in maintaning Moricco as a virtually fedudal state. The industrial revolution radically transformed the balance of power between Morocco and the European powers. Spain was the first country to intervebe n Morocco. Spain intervened to enforce such demands and defeated Moroccan forces (1860). They were soon followed by the French. The Europeans by the 20th century had colonized virtually all of Africa and much of Asia. An indedpendent Morocco was an anomaly. One reason for this was that the European powers could not agree over who should take possession of Morocco. This was asituation that the Europeans moved to correct. With a weakened Sultan, the Europeans move to actually colonize Morocco. France established a protectorate along the lines of Tunisia (1912). The French rule in Morocco as in Algeria and Tunisia was maintained by the French Army, but there were substantial differences. A fiction of Moroccan ruke was mauntained with the Sultn. The Sultan had a degree of authority unlike any figure in either Algeria or Tunisia. It was the French-appointed resident general, howwever, who held the real authority in Morocco. The Sultan was forced to work through newly created ministeries staffed by French officials. The Spanish created a smaller protectorate in Morocco.

Morocco

Morocco is often grouped with the four other Mediterranean North African Arab states. There are some factors making Morocco unique. Morocco had a thousand-year old recird of independence. Morocco was part of the Islamic Caliphate, but not a part of the Ottoman Empire. There was also a history of relations with Spain. This was most pronounced during the centuries of Islamic rule in Spain, but continued even after the Reconquista creating a unique relationship between the two countries. Geography also made Morocco different. It was the only North African country with an Atlantic coast. This affected the outlook of Moroccans. In addition the status of Tangiers as an internatijal cuty provided contacts with Europeans that other North African countries did not have. br>

Sultan's Declining Authority

Sultan Sidi Mohammad died (1790). Struggles for the sucession lead to civil war. Factions in both Fez and Marrakech struggle for control. After several years of disorder,sultan Moulay Slimane establishes his authority, including control of Fez and Marrakech. Sultan Moulay Slimane is able to control Morocco, but was not a modern ruler abd turned Morocco in on itself. He saw Europeans as a distruptive non-Islamic influence. He thus broke relations with European countries. Morocco at the time had been treated by the Europeans as an equal state actor. This put Morocco completely outside the world of European powers. As a result of the Sultan's actions, Morocco was completely cut off from the science and learning sweeping Europe. The Sultn even banned exports to Europe. This significantly weakened the Moroccan economy.

French Empire

France after the Napoleonic War becam to construct a new empire. All that was left od the old empire were a few small islands, mostly located in the Caribbean. The first new acquisition was Algeria (1830s). Next was Tunisia which they ruled as a protectorate through the nominal authority of the Sultan. France moved to gain control of Morocco which because of the imperal desires of Gemany caused an international incident.

European Involvement

European countries by the mid-19th century were demanding special rights in Morocco a country which do to its geographic situation was of considerable strategic impotyance. The industrial revolutuon transforming Europe did not touch Morroco. Here backward rulers and Islamic scholars played roles in maintaning Moricco as a virtually fedudal state. The industrial revolution radically transformed the balance of power between Morocco and the European powers. Spain was the first country to intervebe n Morocco. Spain intervened to enforce such demands and defeated Moroccan forces (1860). Morocco had to transfer Sidi Ifni to Spain unfder the Treaty of Tetouan. More European demands followed. The European powers next demanded coincessions in Tangier. The Madrid Conference essentially turned Tangier into an international city administered by a European coinsortium. Both Spain and France had by this time interfered in Morocco to support various claims by its citizens. Sultan Moulay Hassan died (1894). His son Abdu l-Aziz was only 10 years old and unable to effectively execise his authority as sultan. European advisors became the major influences at court. Provincial rulers exerted their influence as the Sultan's influence becomes limited largely to the capital where foreign troops are garisoned.

Colonial Control

The Europeans by the 20th century had colonized virtually all of Africa and much of Asia. An indedpendent Morocco was an anomaly. One reason for this was that the European powers coul not agree over who should take possession of Morocco. This was asituation that the Europeans moved to correct. With a weakened Sultan, the Europeans move to actually colonize Morocco. The major colonial powers (Britain, France, and Italy) settled on going colonial border disputes. As part of this arrangement, Morocco was recognized as following with the French zone of influence. The problem was that the German's with their increasibly powerful fleet were not included. This led to an international incident (1905). This was finally resolved by the Algeciras Conference (1906). Here German investments were guaranteed and the French and Soanish granted police power.

French and Spanish Encroachments

French troops occupied Oujda which was near the border with French controlled Algeria (1907). Next French troops moved into Casablanca. Sultan Abdu l-Aziz was deposed by his brother Moulay Hafiz. He proves no more successful in opposing the French encroachments. Spain moved 90,000 troops into Melilla in northeastern Morocco (1909). The following year the French traped and detain Sultan Moulay Hafiz and force him to sign an agreements recognizing their control of Morocco. Problems continued with the Germans. The most serious occurance was the Agadir Incident. This was finally resolved when the Germans recognized a Fench protectorate in exchange for territoirial concessions in Africa (1911).

Treaty of Fez (1912)

The French protectorate over Morocco was finalized with the Treary of Fez (1912). The Sultan coinferred on France the right to defend his country. The Sultan signed a similar treaty was signed with Spain which took possession of much of the northern coast as well as areas in the far south.

French Protectorate

France established a protectorate along the lines of Tunisia (1912). The French rule in Morocco as in Algeria and Tunisia was maintained by the French Army, but there were substantial differences. A fiction of Moroccan ruke was mauntained with the Sultn. The Sultan had a degree of authority unlike any figure in either Algeria or Tunisia. It was the French-appointed resident general, howwever, who held the real authority in Morocco. The Sultan was forced to work through newly created ministeries staffed by French officials. The Moroccan government (makhzan) was largely a fiction. Muhammad al-Muqri was the grand vizier when the protectorate was created (1912). He still held that post when Morocco recovered its independence. He was by that time over 100 years old. French authorities establisjed country districts administered by contrôleurs civils. There were a few exceptions. In some areas like Fès officers with the rank of general supervised the administration. The French conceded a degree of autonomy in the south. There French authorities granted a degree of autoinomy to several Amazigh chiefs (qa'ids). The most notable was Thami al-Glaoui. The system was very similar to that the French used in Tunisia. There were differences between the French administration in Morrocco than either Tunisia or Algeria. French rule was established

World War I (1914-18)

Morocco became a protectorate of Spain and France just before the War (1912). At the time, Morocco was surrounded by French West Africacto the south and French-controlled Algeria to the east. Morocco was thus aligned with the Allies during the War. Moroccan regiments fought as part of the French Armée d'Afrique on the Western Front. We can not find much information about them. We believe that they were all volunteers. We are not sure why Moroccans would have volunteered to fight in the French army during the War. Pay may have been a factor. Moroccan Goumiers were auxilleries to the French forces in Morrocco and elsewhere in Africa. The Goumiers enabled General Hubert Lyautey to withdraw an important portion of the regular French military forces from Morocco for deployment on the Wesrern Front. They remained separate from the Armée d'Afrique. Moroccan soldiers fought alongside U.S. Marines at some of the major engagements of the war winning Allied Hundred Days Campaign, including Chateau Thierry, Mont Blanc and Soissons (1918). One estimates places Moroccan war deaths at 6,000 men. After the War attitudes toward colonialism began to change in France. This combined with Morocco's history and other factors meant that French authority in Morocco was more tenuous than either Algeria and Tunisia.

Spanish Protectorate

The extreme north of Morocco, withabout 10 percent of the area, became a Spanish protectorate. This included both an Atlantic and Mediterranean coast as well as the desert province of Tarfaya in the southwest which bordered on the Spanish Sahara. It was from Spanish Morocco which had asubstantial Spanish Army garrison that Francisco Franco woukd launch the Spanish Civil War (1936).

Rebellion (1921)

Resistace to the Europeans, especially the Spanish, began in the Rif mountains. The rebellion was launched by Abdu l-Karim. It went on for 5 years until finally being put down by combined Spanish-French expedition totaling 360,000 troops.

Jews Under the Protectorate

We are not sure of the intiual Jewish reaction to the French. Most Mproccan Jews spoke Arabic and were not westernized. And Jews were caught in the crossfire in fighting betweem Moroccan troops and French forces when the began to occupy the country. The Moroccand conducted a Pogrom at Fez. Muslims in Fez attacked the mellah in retaliation. The Protectorate brought elements of secular French law to Morocco. Under Muslim rule, Moroccan Jews and Christians had the status of dhimmi, essentially tolerated vassals. The condition of the Jews did not improve until the establishment of the French Protectorate in 1912, when Jews and Christians were given equality and religious autonomy. Jews for the first time became Moroccan citizens. Morocco unlike Algeria did not become an actual part of France as the nominal ruler was still the Sultan. Moroccans thus remained subjects of the Sultan rather than citizens of France as was the case in Algeria. The the political equality the Jews received under the Protectorate was therefore tenous because of Koranic passages which are the basis of the dhimmi system.

World War II

France in the early 20th century expanded its position in Morocco. Morocco became a French protectorate under the terms of the Treaty of Fes (1912). Morocco was the scene of provicative incidents with Germany. Moroccan units fought for France in World war I. Oposition to French colonial rule increased during the inter-war era. After the War began, the fall of France shocked many nationalists (June 1940). The situation did not immetiately change because ynder the Franco-German Armistice the Vicht regime retained control of France's colonial dependencies. Moroccan authorities continued to cooperate with Vichy officials. The Allied Torch landings changed the situation radically as Morocco was rapidly occupied by American forces (November 1942). Morocco was used as a supply base for the Allied forces driving east toward Tunisia. The Allies held one of the most important conferences of the War at Casablanca (January 1943). Roosevelt, Churchill, and DeGualle attended, but Stalin declined. It was at Casablanca that the call for "unconditional surrender" was issued and the decession to launch an expanded strategic bombing campaign was made. President Roosevelt gave personal assurances to King Mohammed V, that the United states swould support independence. The French in Morocco rapidly went over to the Free French and Allied side. The Allies promised Morocco independence within 10 years if they cooperated with the Allies. France after the War, however, did not honor the pledge. Nationalist groups later based their campaign for independence on such Allied pronouncements as the Atlantic Charter. The Istiqlal (Independence) Party issued a manifesto demanding independemce (1944).

Vichy (1940-44)

Te Germans launched their long anticipated Western offensive (May 10, 1940). Te Dutch immediated surrendered. The Belgians hekd out 2 weeks until King Leopold III surendered. The Germans crossed the Meuse and broke through French lines, reaching the Channel. After the Dunkirk evacuation (May 28-31), the Germands turned south and crossed the Seine. The French declared Paris and open city (June 14). Premier Paul Reynaud suggested that the government should move to North Africa and continue the War. Vice-premier, Henri-Philippe Petain, and the commander of the armed forces, General Maxime Weygand, opposed this. They insisted that the government should remain in France and seek an armistice with the Germans. , Reynaud resigned and President Albert Lebrun, appointed Petain as France's new premier. He immediately opened negotiations with the advancing Germans. The French signed an armistice (June 22, 1940). The Armistice left southern France unoccupied with a capital at Vichy. French colonies were also unoccupied and left under Vichy control, including Morocco. This meant thst the colonies came under Vichy administration and law. This included the new race laws which Vichy passed. The Revolutionary and Repoublican principles of "Liberty, Equality, Fraternity" were replaced by Vichy's "Work, Family, Fatherland". Petain did not want the Army to be blaned for the disaster. He blamed France's fall on soclialidsrs and communists as well as foreign elerments--a code term for Jews. He launched a major revolutioin in French life to promote traditonal, Catholic values. important figures in Vichy became Pierre Laval, Jean-Francois Darlan, and Joseph Darnand.

The Holocaust

Morocco in 1940 was a French protectorate, nominally rulled by the Sultan. After the fall of France (June 1940), a French Government was established in an unoccupied zone with a capital at Vichy. This Government while not totally controlled by the Germans, but collaborated with them in many ways. One of these was the Holocaust. A Vichy law of October 4. 1940 provided that "foreign nationals of the Jewish race" would be detained in "special concentration camps". The Sultan of Morocco wa a French client, however, the German victory provided an opportunity to expand his perogarives against a weakened France. The role of Mohammad V is a matter of historical debate. He had earlier ordered the detention of various persons who could be used as forced labor. These camps were primarily set up for European Jews, not Moroccan Jews. One report indicated that there were 12 such camps set up in Morocco. Conditions in these camps were harsh, although the fate of the interned Jews in Morocco was apparently better than that of the Tunisian Jews in concentration camps. The situation of Jews was "precarious," especially European Jews. The Sultan attempted to protect Moroccan Jews, however, Vichy regulations imposed in Morocco included severe limitations on Jews, including work as professionals and education for children. There were forced relocation to the "mellahs" (Moroccan ghettos) as well as financial extortions, land expropriation, exclussion from holding public office, and a variety of other regulations. We know of no actual deportations of Jews from Morocco. These restrictions were only ended by the Allied Torch landings, but not right away. The Jews were not immediately released because Eisenhower allowed Admiral Darlan to retain Vichy's authority. After Laval's assasination, General de Gaulle finally ended all Vichy influence in Morocco and abrogated the Vichy race laws (June 3, 1943).

Operation Torch (November 1942)

After Pear Harbor, Hitler declared war on America (December 1941). This was the only country for which Hitler bothered to issue a formal declaration of war. America and Britain launced the first Allied offensive of the war less than a year later. American President Franklin D. Roosevelt and British Prime Minister Winston Churchill decided that the Allies needed to open a Second Front to take pressure off the hard-pressed Red Army reeling under the German summer offensive driving toward Stalingrad and the oil-rich Caucauses (July 1942). Joseph Stalin demanded an invasion of Europe. Wisely Roosevelt and Churchill targetted French North Africa. American General George Marshall, in many ways the architect of the American victory, was opposed to Totch, considering it a diversion. Roosevelt insisted. While Montgomery's victory at El Alemain often receives more attentiin, it was the Torch landings that were the decisive action. The Amercan and British landings in North Africa sealed the fate of the Axis desert campaign. Even if Rommel had broken through to Suez, he would have been forced to turn west to deal with the Allied landings in French North Africa. General Dwight D. Eisenhower was appointed Allied commander to oversee the Torch Landings. The Allies driving east from their Moroccan and Algerian beachheads linked up with the Brish advancing west (November 1942). Although Hitler rushed reinforcements to Tunisia, the end result was the first major defeat of a German Army by the Western Allies.

Istiqlal

France's capitulation to the Germans had seriously undermined their creditability as a colonial force in Morocco which had always been based on the French Army. The nationalistic Istiqlal Party called for independence (1943).

Reimposition of French Control

France after the War tried to reimpose colonial rule. This proved difficult because France had been so totally defeated by the Germans. In addition there was groing denand for independence from Moroccans. The French found Sultan Mohammed V increasingly difficult. On several occassions he refussed to cooperate with French authorities. The Sultan final;ly joined forces with the nationalisrs. The French responded by exiling the Sultan. The French attemoted to replace Mohammed with the Berber pasha of Marrakech, Thamil-Glaoui, the new sultan. Here Thamil-Glaoui was able to attract few followers. Disorder began to increase with a variety of attacks and outbreaks of violence. Finally the French allowed the Sultan to return (1955). This was essentialy admitting defeat. This did not end the unrest as increasingly Moroccans saw that independence was within their grasp.

Algeria

France at the time was involved in a full scale civil war in Algeria. This was an actual colony much more impoetant to the French than Morocco. Large number of French colonisyts had settled in Algeria.

Independence (1956)

France decided to grant full independence to Moricco so that it could focus on the civil war in Algeria. Sultan Muhammad V took over a country that had united against French conntrol. The country had benefitted economically from five decades of French cintrol which brought infrastructire (ports, irrigation, roads and railroads). There were, however, aide range of conflicts between religious and political groups in Morocco. The country also began to press Spain for the return of both Spanish Mprocco and the Spanish Sahara. >









HBC






Navigate the Boys' Historical Clothing Web Site:
[Return to the Main Moroccan history page]
[Return to the Main Moroccan Holocaust page]
[Introduction] [Activities] [Biographies] [Chronology] [Cloth and textiles] [Clothing styles] [Countries] [Topics]
[Bibliographies] [Contributions] [FAQs] [Glossaries] [Images] [Links] [Registration] [Tools]
[Boys' Clothing Home]






Created: 3:00 AM 8/5/2007
Last updated: 11:30 PM 8/6/2009