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VI. History
The history of the region comprising present-day Morocco has been shaped by the
interaction of the original Berber population and the various foreign peoples who
successively invaded the country.
The first of the foreign invaders well known to history were the Phoenicians, who in the 12th century BC
established trading posts on the Mediterranean coast of the region. These colonies were later taken over and extended by the Carthaginians. The conquest of Carthage by Rome, in the 2nd century BC, led to Roman dominance of the Mediterranean coast of Africa. About AD 42 the northern portion of what is now Morocco was incorporated into the Roman Empire as the province of Mauretania Tingitana. In the Germanic invasions that attended the decline of the Roman Empire, the Vandals in 429 occupied Mauretania Tingitana. The Byzantine general Belisarius defeated the Vandals in 533 and established Byzantine rule in parts of the country.
A. Muslim Conquest
Byzantine rule was ended by the Arabs,
who invaded Morocco in 682 in the course of their drive to expand the power of Islam.
Except for the Jews, the inhabitants of Morocco, both Christian and pagan, soon accepted the
religion of their conquerors. Berber troops were used extensively by the Arabs in their subsequent subjugation of Spain.
The first Arab rulers of the whole of Morocco, the Idrisid dynasty, held power from 789 to 926.
The Idrisid was succeeded by other dynasties, both Arab and Berber. Among the most notable were the
dynasties of the Almoravids, from 1062 to 1147, and the Almohads, from 1147 to 1258. Under the latter,
Morocco became the center of an empire that embraced modern-day Algeria, Tunisia, Libya, and large areas of
Spain and Portugal.
The Almohad Empire began to disintegrate after the Battle of Las Navas de Tolosa in 1212, in which the Spanish
defeated the Moroccans. By midcentury its power was gone. A period of disorder and almost incessant civil war
between Berbers and Arabs followed. Rulers of various dynasties reigned briefly and ineffectually over parts of the country.
Morocco experienced a revival under the Saadians, known as the first Sharifian dynasty
(1554-1660). The reign (1579-1603) of Ahmed I al-Man-sur is regarded as the golden age of Morocco.
The country benefited enormously from the influx of nearly a million Moors and Jews who were expelled from
Spain after 1492. It was unified and relatively prosperous; its native arts and architecture flourished.
The Saadians were succeeded by the second Sharifian dynasty, who have ruled since 1660.
This dynasty reached its peak in the reign of Ismail al-Hasani (reigned 1672-1727). Al-Hasani's reign was
followed by a long period of disorder, which was punctuated with brief interludes of relative peace and prosperity.
B. European Intrusion
In 1415 Portugal had captured the port
of Ceuta. This intrusion initiated a
period of gradual extension of Portuguese and Spanish power over the Moroccan coastal region.
The Moroccans inflicted a severe defeat on the Portuguese in 1578,
and by the end of the 17th century they had regained control of most of their coastal cities. In the 18th and early 19th centuries pirates from Morocco and other
so-called Barbary states of North Africa preyed on the shipping that plied the Mediterranean Sea
. Because of the depredations of the Barbary pirates and because Morocco shared control of the
Strait of Gibraltar with Spain, the country figured with increasing weight in the diplomacy of
the European maritime powers, particularly Spain, Britain, and France. Spain invaded Morocco in
1859-1860 and acquired Tétouan.
In April 1904, in return for receiving a free hand in Egypt from France, Britain recognized Morocco as
a French sphere of interest. Later that year France and Spain divided Morocco into zones of influence,
with Spain receiving the much smaller part of Morocco and the region south of Morocco, which would become
Spanish Sahara. Imperial Germany soon disputed these arrangements, and a conference of major powers, including
the United States, met in Algeciras, Spain, in January 1906, to conclude an agreement. The resultant Act of Algeciras guaranteed equality of economic rights for every nation in Morocco.
In July 1911, the Germans sent a gunboat to the Moroccan port city of Agadir, in a move designed to encourage native
resistance to French dominance. This incident provoked French mobilization
and brought Europe to the brink of war, but in later negotiations Germany agreed to a French protectorate over Morocco in return for French territorial concessions elsewhere in Africa.
In March 1912 the sultan recognized the protectorate. Later that year the French, under a revision of the 1904
convention with Spain, obtained a larger share of Moroccan territory.
C. Fight for Independence
The Spanish experienced even greater difficulties in Spanish Morocco. Abd el-Krim,
a leader of Rif tribes, organized a revolt against Spanish rule in 1921. By 1924 he had driven
the Spanish forces from most of their Moroccan territory. He then turned upon the French. France
and Spain agreed in 1925 to cooperate against Abd el-Krim. More than 200,000 troops under the French
marshal Henri Philippe Pétain were used in the campaign, which ended victoriously in 1926. The country
was not fully pacified, however, until the end of 1934.
Following Germany's defeat of France in 1940, France's collaborationist Vichy government allowed Morocco
to support the German war effort. In November 1942, American troops landed and occupied Morocco. During
the rest of World War II, the country was a major Allied supply base. Casablanca was the site of a meeting of the
heads of government of the Allies in 1943.
In 1944, Moroccan nationalists formed the Istiqlal party, which soon won the support of Sultan Muhammed V
and the majority of Arabs. It was opposed by most of the Berber tribes, however. The French rejected the plea
by the sultan in 1950 for self-government. The sultan was deposed in August 1953, but in October 1955 the French
permitted him to return to his throne.
D. Unification
The French recognized Moroccan independence in March 1956.
In April the Spanish government recognized in principle the independence of
Spanish Morocco and the unity of the sultanate, although it retained certain cities and
territories. Tangier was incorporated into Morocco in October 1956. Ifni was returned to
Morocco in January 1969.
Sultan Mohammed V assumed the title of king in August 1957. At his death in 1961,
the throne passed to his son Hassan II. A royal charter was implemented by Hassan, whereby a
constitutional monarchy was established on the approval by referendum of a constitution in December 1962.
The nation's first general elections were held in 1963.
Hassan gave strong support to the Arab cause in the 1967 war with Israel and made subsequent attempts to secure
Arab unity.
Hassan II died in July 1999 and was succeeded by his son Mohammed VI. The new king pledged to continue his father's policies.
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