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Morocco under protectorate
At the beginning of the 20th c, Morocco ran deeply indebted to Europe and particularly
France that caused border incidents between Algeria and Morocco. The Algesiras
act in 1906 put the country under international protection, before discovering
of phosphates deposits increased European interest. |
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This situation caused popular revolts in the North, making France take over Meknes,
Fez and Rabat; German emperor Guillaume II then protested and bombarded Agadir
in 1911. In 1912, sultan Abdelhafid signed the protectorate treaty (agreement
of Fez, then capital) that divided Morocco into a French zone that took most of
the country, a Spanish one in the Rif, in the Sahara and in Ifni, and an international
one in Tangier.
During its protectorate, France made first Morocco get more in debts that killed
progressively its economy. It imposed many reforms that aimed mainly at weakening
the impact of Islam on the Moroccan, especially the Berbers (Berber Dahir (law)
in 1930) and rural communities, through removing or diminishing the Islamic laws
for which they substituted the French ones, or still by arguing that it was anti-democratic.
That caused Islam being assimilated into local, and in fact pagan, rites; the
populations strayed increasingly from the teachings of Islam and therefore from
speaking Arabic. For the same purpose, the Muslim schools were closed or abandoned,
so the children were most uneducated.
The agricultural and "habous" (of which the profits are reserved by their owner
for socio-Islamic uses) lands were requisitioned and then shared among occupiers,
and phosphates were exploited through the "Office Chérifien de Phosphates" (Phosphates
Agency). And in order to satisfy expansionism needs, France modernized the infrastructure
and Morocco was in works during the first half of the 20th c.
The protectorate intended to create two different classes: a middle but submissive
one in the towns with few taxes; and a poor, revolted and uneducated one in the
countryside and in the Sahara, that was heavily taxed. Meanwhile, neither large-scale
popular revolts nor small-scale ones had stopped. In 1912, Sahara tribes led by
Hiba ben Maa Al Aynayn rose up; their fight lasted until 1934. Northwards, Abdelkrim
led the Berbers of the Rif to revolt against the Spaniards, beginning with the
battle of Anoual in 1921; the so-called "War of the Rif" was violent and fierce,
but nevertheless France allied itself to Spain to win it finally in 1926.
Thanks to these revolts, that all took place in remote areas, and to the promulgation
of the Berber Dahir by France, citizens got aware of the reality of occupation.
Therefore, from 1930, Moroccan intellectuals and the élite of the country, who
were most graduated from French schools or from the University Al Qarawiyyin at
Fez, gave birth to riots among town-dwellers, especially small shopkeepers and
artisans.
The fight was yet a political one: in 1927, a nationalist press appeared but only
in French, since the Arabic one was prohibited.
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The same year, Mohamed V, then aged 18 was enthroned;
he forcefully supported popular resistance. Later, in 1934, Allal Al Fassi, Mohamed
Ouazzani and Ahmed Balafrej founded the Moroccan Action Party and demanded that
France respected the agreement of Fez. Moreover, they presented global reform
measures: local and regional elections, Chambers of Commerce, liberties, tax equality
for countrymen... |
However, the Action party split in 1937 into the Istiqlal (independence) Party
and the Popular Movement Party, that were both forbidden and their leaders, Al
Fassi and Ouazzani, exiled, the former to Gabon and the latter to Sahara.
From then, the nationalists' ranks kept on growing, and they claimed independence
and not only reform. During the World War II, the Moroccan fought in Europe in
return for the Allies promises; they next obtained the American support in the
Anfa conference in 1943. Therefore, sultan Mohamed V showed his support for the
independence movement that was even more important.
The Independence Manifesto was presented to the "general resident" on January
11 1944 and claimed no-condition independence and Morocco territorial integrity.
Then on April 9 1947, sultan Mohamed V delivered his historical speech in Tangier,
which marked the revival of resistance to foreign occupation. In 1951, France
made Glaoui, the pasha of Marrakech, turn against the sultan.
As conflicts between Moroccan sultan and France increased, Mohamed V was deposed
on August 20 1953 and exiled with the royal family to Corsica and then to Madagascar,
before the "general resident" imposed Ben Arafa: it was the beginning of the "Revolution
of the King and the People".
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