History of Morocco - European Influence

European Influence

Despite the weakness of its authority, the Alaouite dynasty distinguished itself in the 18th and 19th centuries by maintaining Morocco's independence while other states in the region succumbed to Turkish, French, or British domination. However, in the latter part of the 19th century Morocco's weakness and instability invited European intervention to protect threatened investments and to demand economic concessions. The first years of the 20th century witnessed a rush of diplomatic maneuvering through which the European powers and France in particular furthered their interests in North Africa. Disputes over Moroccan sovereignty were links in the chain of events that led to World War I.

The successful Portuguese efforts to control the Atlantic coast in the 15th century did not affect the Mediterranean heart of Morocco. After the Napoleonic Wars, North Africa became increasingly ungovernable from Istanbul by the Ottoman Empire, the resort of pirates under local beys, and as Europe industrialized, an increasingly prized potential for colonization.

The Maghreb had far greater proven wealth than the unknown rest of Africa and a location of strategic importance affecting the exit from the Mediterranean. For the first time, Morocco became a state of some import to the European Powers. France showed a strong interest in Morocco as early as 1830. Recognition by the United Kingdom in the 1904 Entente Cordiale of France's "sphere of influence" in Morocco provoked a German reaction; the "crisis" of 1905–1906 was resolved at the Algeciras Conference (1906), which formalized France's "special position" and entrusted policing of Morocco jointly to France and Spain.