Morocco précolonial

The beginning of the imperialist project

After the Discovered of America at the 14th century by Christophe Colomb (1451 - 1506), which coincides with the fall of the kingdom Moor of Grenade in 1492, last bastion Musulman of Spain, after the tender of the Caliph Boabdil (of its true name Abu abd-Allah Muhammad) (on January 2nd, 1492). After the reconquista putting an end to 7 centuries of Moslem presence, Ferdinand II of Aragon and Isabelle Ire of Castille unify the kingdom of Spain.

December 5th, 1496, king Manuel Ier of Portugal applies the Portuguese enquiry ordering to the Jews and the Moslems to leave the Portugal. New a social class is born: the Conquistador S replacing the feudal class, the posted goal of this class lies within two scopes:

Missions of forwardings and conquests throughout the world and possibly the Colonization and spoliation of the richnesses of the people of all the continents.
Missions of evangelization of the populations known as pagan, under the “benevolent” glance of the Pope.

A news Europe constuit with the detriment of complex alliances of the reigning families of Europe. The will of conquest of the European countries did not cease increasing. The Morocco formerly powerful and independent, made the object of many covetousnesses for its strategic position and the richness of its ground, the competition of the European countries came very close to confrontation particularly that of the Portugal, of the Spain, the France, the England and Kaiser Guillaume II.
Between 1828 and 1830, a serious crisis bursts in connection with the persistence of the race between Morocco on the one hand, England and Austria on the other hand. The European powers are not laid out any more to support the insecurity generated by the corsairs, thesis supplied with broad information by organizations pro-colonialists. The Morocco with the eyes of Europeans remained a region mysterious and ignored at the time when the Explorateur S Portuguese, Spanish or Dutch furrowed the seas of the world and African savannas, settled in Asia and in Africa by creating commercial counters.

But this pre-colonial period of Morocco also coincides with the development of the social sciences (Sociologie, Anthropologie, Ethnologie,…), missions of explorations and the reconnaissance missions (Charles de Foucauld,…) ventured in the search of information, which will be useful later like basic platform facilitating the geographical, ethnological, anthropological recognition of the tribes, their lifestyles and their organization social.

Colonial policy

Under the Third Republic, Jules Ferry, in favor even dedicated credit of the French colonial expansion, did not hide its racist intentions at the time of its intervention to the senate the July 28th 1885 where he declares openly: “The superiors have the right on the inferiors”.
“But there is another form of colonization, it is that which adapts to the people which have, or a surplus of capital, or a surplus of products. The colonies are for the rich countries a placement of capital of most advantageous. In the crisis that cross all European industries, the foundation of a colony, it is the creation of an outlet… ”. (Extracted the official bulletin of July 28th, 1885).

The purpose of the colonial party or colonialist founded in 1890 by D' Arenberg, which especially played a considerable part in the development of information and propaganda, was to collect the required funds for various missions of explorations, studies or research. The party gathered in particular various formations in the French company (Banquier S, Officier S, writer S, Syndicaliste S, Député S).

After the payment of their political dispute, in particular with Germany (incidental of Adagir) , the “cake Moroccan” returns to the Spain and the France. The Morocco will yield of its authority by signing a series of conventions, with the profit of the colonialists, who will end to the contracting of the independence of Morocco, considered like a lion out of paper . The " colonisation" from Morocco east thus very particular compared to the other colonized countries, being on the one hand under French protectorate, and having undergone, on the other hand, less longer the French presence (the last bastion of resistance will yield only in 1934 to Boughafer).

The " colonisation" from Morocco was slow and progressive: In 1823: signature of a commercial convention with Portugal, followed comparable agreements with England in 1824, France and the Piedmont in 1825. To draw aside any interference of the Makhzen in Algeria, of the negotiation will be started guaranteeing Moroccan neutrality. This mission, to which belonged the painter Eugene Delacroix, was led in 1832 by the count de Mornay. In 1884 France engaged of the hostilities towards the Morocco following the incident of Lalla Maghnia which started the occupation of Oujda, of Essaouira and the bombardment of Tangier, on the initiative of Prince de Joinville. But the Moroccan defeat with the Bataille of Isly will mark the decline of Morocco in spite of the agreements of the fine September 10th putting at the hostilities.
March 18th 1845: treaty of Lalla Maghnia which fixes the border algéro-Morrocan woman. France sees itself recognizing a right of following Morocco what will enable him to be established in Algérie like base camp.

The conference of Madrid:

Opened in May 1880, the conference of Madrid, on the capitulary privileges of Europeans in Morocco, ends in the confirmation of the privileges defined by Béclard convention: maintenance of the right of protection and freedoms from tax for the nationals and " protégés" foreign powers and generalization of the clause of the most favoured nation. This convention will be thus a platform with the political and economic operations towards Morocco hitherto independent. It will be noted that the diplomatic capital of the sultan will be the town of Tangier.

Media countryside

A media scale campaign great against the Morocco will be orchestrated since Tangier by an elite knowing the wheels of the Moroccan company well. By the means of the published newspapers with Tangier and Tetouan, the colonialist spirit mobilizes a savage Propagande qualifying Morocco of primitive country inhabited by the Pirate S, obliging the sultan to undertake reforms which will engage Morocco in progress following the example Europe (1883-1900), in the name of civilization; without counting on the implication of a whole system propaganda complexes carried out by: the the Alliance Fran1caise, the medical missions, the Christian missions (order the Franciscaine Mission, evangelist, Freemasonry) and Capitalist S influential, which at the end of the 19th century decided to colonize the Africa to run out their overproduction.
They will run up against the resistance of the local leaders such as Mouha or Hammou Zayani with Khénifra, Mouha or Said with El ksiba, Mohamed Abdelkrim El Khattabi with the Rif and Assou Oubasslam of the Has Atta S with the High Atlas. In 1902, France had put in execution its plan of " colonisation" from Morocco.

Military intervention

In 1911, favorable circumstances allow an military intervention first of all. In May 1911, the sultan Moulay Hafid, who had détrôné his brother, the sultan Moulay Abd-Al-Aziz, is besieged with Fès by the tribes amazighs (Berbères) rebellious. It then calls upon France, whose column, ordered by the general Moinier, commander-in-chief of the column of Fès, composed of 20.000 men, releases his capital.

In February 1912, all the banks of the consortium (this consortium will monopolize the economy of the country), under the aegis of the Banque of Paris and the Netherlands, founded the general Company of Morocco for the development of the country. The March 30th, Regnault, the minister from France to Tangier, which had been the representative in 1905 trade union of the French carriers of the debt, imposed on Moulay Hafid, in spite of its refusal, the treaty of Fès which was signed, establishing the Protectorat French Republic on Morocco (March 30th, 1912).

This date inserts the Morocco in a radical politico-social change. Under the reign of the sultan Moulay Youssef (1912 - 1927), Moroccan resistance against the French and the Spaniards is remarkable and worrying for the colonizers, but it does not achieve its goal, because the warriors did not have strategic vision unified within the national framework. The sporadic character of the interventions carried out by various opponents did not make it possible to unify their efforts and, this, for lack of political maturity. The regional factor overrides the national what will facilitate the task with the colonizers to obtain the tender of the tribes one after the other, after a Massacre of the population by the use of armament of massive destruction (case of the Rifains of Mohamed Ben Abdelkrim El Khattabi) and the tribes Zayanes

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