The struggle of the Moroccan people until independence

04The struggle of the Moroccan people until independence

• In the Spanish Rif national resistance took the form of fierce military struggle led by Emir Muhammad Abdel Karim al-Khattabi (1922–1926); but France and Spain allied against him until he was defeated and surrendered, and from then on Spanish colonialism settled in the Rif.
• France worked to drive a wedge between Arabs and Berbers, just as England had tried to drive a wedge between Muslims and Copts in Egypt.
• The national forces (the National Action Block and the National Party) moved to press the French authorities, and the period before the Second World War saw major clashes between the nationalists and the colonial authorities.
• Among the factors that shook the French presence: Sultan Mohammed V's standing with the Allies in the Second World War and the rising national movement despite the Allies' abandoning him — especially after Allal al-Fasi moved to Cairo and joined the Committee for the Liberation of Arab Morocco.
• The rise of the movement drove the French to rashness: they deposed Mohammed V and exiled him (August 1953), so the resistance grew more active, demanding his return and the departure of the French.
• The French were disappointed in their attempt to divide Berbers from Arabs: the Berber leader "el-Jelawi" announced his adherence to the national movement and demanded the Sultan's return.
• The Sultan returned to his throne in 1955; France was obliged to cancel the protectorate in March 1956, Spain cancelled its protectorate over the Rif, and the international regime for Tangier was abolished — Moroccan independence was realised in 1956.
• All that remained in French hands were Mauritania and Djibouti: the first became independent in 1960 and the second in 1977.