Moroccan Independence 1956: The End of the French Protectorate

Moroccan independence was achieved in 1956, when France ended its protectorate on 2 March and Spain followed on 7 April. It closed 44 years of European rule over one of Africa’s oldest monarchies and came only months after the dramatic return of Sultan Mohammed V from exile. Morocco’s path, negotiated rather than fought to the end, contrasted sharply with the bloody war under way next door in Algeria.

The protectorate

European pressure on Morocco grew through the early twentieth century, as France, Spain, Britain and Germany competed for influence. Under the Treaty of Fez, signed on 30 March 1912, Sultan Abd al-Hafid accepted a French protectorate. A separate agreement later that year gave Spain a zone in the north, including the Rif mountains, and territory in the south. Tangier became an international zone in the 1920s.

The sultan remained the formal ruler, but a French resident-general held real authority. The first, Hubert Lyautey, built new European cities beside the old medinas and preserved traditional institutions while developing ports, railways and mines. French settlers acquired large areas of farmland. Resistance continued for years, notably the Rif War of the 1920s led by Abd el-Krim against Spain and France.

Rise of the nationalist movement

A new nationalist movement emerged in the 1930s, led by educated young men such as Allal al-Fassi and Ahmed Balafrej. On 11 January 1944 the newly formed Istiqlal (Independence) Party issued a Manifesto of Independence. Sultan Mohammed ben Youssef, who had come to the throne in 1927, increasingly sympathised with it.

In a speech in Tangier on 10 April 1947, the sultan stressed Morocco’s ties to the Arab world and pointedly omitted praise for France. He later refused to sign decrees put before him by the French authorities, making the throne the symbol of national resistance.

Exile and return of the sultan

On 20 August 1953 the French authorities, backed by the pasha of Marrakesh, Thami El Glaoui, deposed Mohammed ben Youssef. He and his family, including his son, the future Hassan II, were sent into exile, first to Corsica and then to Madagascar. A relative, Mohammed ben Aarafa, was installed as sultan.

The move backfired. The exiled sultan became a national hero, and urban attacks and rural uprisings spread. An armed Army of Liberation began operating in 1955, and in August 1955 violence at Oued Zem and the nearby mining town of Khouribga killed settlers and Moroccans alike, followed by harsh reprisals. With war already raging in Algeria, the French government of Edgar Faure chose to negotiate.

Ben Aarafa withdrew, and in talks at La Celle-Saint-Cloud near Paris in November 1955 France agreed to restore Mohammed ben Youssef and move towards independence. He returned to Rabat on 16 November 1955 to enormous crowds. A government led by Mbarek Bekkai was formed in December to negotiate with Paris.

Independence

On 2 March 1956 France and Morocco signed a joint declaration recognising Morocco’s independence and annulling the Treaty of Fez. Spain recognised Moroccan independence on 7 April 1956, giving up its northern zone. An international conference in October 1956 ended the special status of Tangier, and Morocco joined the United Nations in November 1956. Tunisia gained its independence from France in the same month as Morocco, on 20 March 1956.

In 1957 the sultan adopted the title of king, as Mohammed V. Some territories took longer: Spain returned Tarfaya in 1958 and Ifni in 1969, and still holds Ceuta and Melilla.

Consequences

Independence left the monarchy at the centre of political life. Tensions soon grew between the king and Istiqlal, and after Mohammed V’s death in February 1961 his son Hassan II consolidated royal power. Morocco supported the Algerian nationalists in the Algerian War of Independence, whose leaders used Moroccan territory as a base. Many French and Jewish residents left in the following decades.

The new state also had to build national institutions almost from scratch. The Royal Armed Forces were formed in 1956 from Moroccan units of the French and Spanish armies, the Army of Liberation was partly absorbed and partly disbanded, and Arabic was promoted alongside French in schools and administration.

Timeline

• 1912, 30 March: The Treaty of Fez establishes the French protectorate.
• 1944, 11 January: The Istiqlal Party issues the Manifesto of Independence.
• 1947, 10 April: Sultan Mohammed ben Youssef gives his Tangier speech.
• 1953, 20 August: France deposes the sultan and sends him into exile.
• 1955, 16 November: Mohammed ben Youssef returns to Rabat.
• 1956, 2 March: France recognises Morocco’s independence.
• 1956, 7 April: Spain recognises Moroccan independence.
• 1956, October: Tangier’s international status is ended.
• 1957, August: The sultan takes the title of king as Mohammed V.

Why it matters

Morocco’s independence, together with that of Tunisia, began the end of French rule in North Africa and showed that a monarchy could lead a successful national movement. It also shaped modern Morocco, where the king remains the central political figure, and it contrasted with the long war in neighbouring Algeria, a land conquered by France in 1830. The same year, Ghana was preparing to become independent further south.