Data Module 073 — Political & Historical Intelligence
The French
Protectorate
1912–1956. Forty-four years between the Treaty of Fez and the Joint Declaration. Lyautey built the villes nouvelles. Morocco built the resistance that dismantled them.
001 — The Timeline
Forty-Four Years
From military occupation to diplomatic departure. Filter by thread.
Oujda occupied, Casablanca bombarded
France invades eastern Morocco and shells Casablanca after the assassination of French physician Émile Mauchamp in Marrakech. Military occupation predates the treaty by five years.
Treaty of Fez — Protectorate established
Sultan Abd al-Hafid signs under military pressure on 30 March. France gains legislative power, military defence, foreign policy, and jurisdiction. The Sultan reigns but does not rule. The Makhzen believed the arrangement would resemble British Egypt. It did not. It was modelled on Tunisia.
Fez mutiny and riots
17 April: Moroccan infantrymen mutiny in the French garrison when news of the treaty spreads. The Mellah (Jewish quarter) is bombarded by French artillery and sacked. Lyautey moves the capital from Fez to Rabat — permanently.
Lyautey appointed Resident-General
Hubert Lyautey (1854–1934) replaces Regnault. Military officer, colonial administrator, architect of the "dual city" policy. Recruits Henri Prost as chief urban planner. Establishes the Native Policy Council.
Henri Prost begins urban planning
Prost (1874–1959) designs the villes nouvelles — European districts built alongside but separate from existing medinas. Casablanca, Rabat, Fez, Marrakech, Meknès. Wide boulevards, plazas, administrative buildings. Medinas preserved but frozen.
Habous Quarter, Casablanca
Architects Laprade, Cadet, and Brion build the Habous district — a "new medina" for Moroccans displaced by urban migration. Designed to look traditional but serves colonial settlement policy. Casablanca's population surges from 12,000 (1912) to 110,934 (1921).
Rif War — Abd el-Krim's republic
Berber leader Abd el-Krim defeats Spain at Annual (1921 — 8,000 Spanish soldiers killed), establishes the Republic of the Rif. France intervenes when the rebellion crosses into the French zone. Joint Franco-Spanish force of 250,000 troops crushes the republic by 1926. Abd el-Krim exiled to Réunion.
Berber Dahir — the catalyst
16 May: Sultan Mohammed V promulgates a decree organizing Berber tribal justice under customary law separate from Sharia courts. Nationalists see a French strategy to divide Arab and Berber Moroccans. Mass protests erupt. Allal al-Fassi leads the opposition. The decree unifies the nationalist movement.
Moroccan Action Committee founded
Mohamed Hassan al-Ouazzani, Allal al-Fassi, and Ahmed Balafrej form the Comité d'Action Marocaine (CAM). They publish the Plan des Réformes — demanding a return to indirect rule, Moroccan access to government positions, and representative councils. France ignores it.
Boufakrane incidents and exile
French settlers attempt to divert river water from Moroccan residents. Revolts erupt. France arrests and exiles Allal al-Fassi (to Gabon, then Congo — nine years). Al-Ouazzani placed under forced residence. The nationalist movement is decapitated.
Anfa Conference — Roosevelt meets Mohammed V
January: Allied leaders meet in Casablanca. Mohammed V reminds Roosevelt that Morocco fought alongside the Allies. Roosevelt calls Moroccan independence aspirations "reasonable and legitimate." The Sultan's international visibility rises.
Istiqlal Party founded
18 December: Secret conference in Rabat. With al-Fassi and al-Ouazzani in exile, the remaining nationalists found the Istiqlal (Independence) Party.
Independence Manifesto
11 January: 66 Moroccans sign the Proclamation of Independence demanding full sovereignty under Mohammed V and a democratic constitution. Drafted by Ahmed el Hamiani Khatat and Ahmed Bahnini. Malika al-Fassi is the only woman to sign. France arrests 20 nationalists. Ahmed Balafrej deported to Corsica.
Tangier Speech
9 April: Mohammed V visits Tangier and affirms Morocco's commitment to territorial unity and Arab identity — omitting any mention of France. The colonial authorities are alarmed. Pressure on the Sultan intensifies.
Mohammed V exiled to Madagascar
20 August: French soldiers invade the Royal Palace in Rabat. The royal family is forced onto a bus to an unknown destination. Exiled first to Corsica, then Madagascar. Mohammed Ben Arafa installed as replacement. Moroccans reject him. Protests, strikes, and armed resistance erupt nationwide. The exile unifies the country.
Aix-les-Bains — negotiations begin
August–September: French PM Edgar Faure opens talks with Istiqlal leaders. Ben Arafa abdicates and flees to Tangier. Mohammed V returns to Morocco. France, weakened by the Algerian War, concedes.
Independence — 2 March
Franco-Moroccan Joint Declaration dissolves the French protectorate. Spain cedes the northern zone one month later. Tangier's international status ends in October. 44 years of colonial rule end. Mohammed V assumes the title of King in 1957.
The more those at the top borrowed, the more those at the bottom were impoverished.
— Abdallah Laroui, The History of the Maghrib
002 — The Dual City
Villes Nouvelles
Prost designed European districts alongside existing medinas. Wide boulevards on one side of the wall. Narrow alleys on the other. Casablanca’s medina reached 1,290 people per hectare. The European quarter across the road: 50.
003 — The Actors
Seven Figures
Hubert Lyautey
Resident-General (1912–1925)
1854–1934
Marshal of France. Architect of the "dual city" policy — European villes nouvelles built alongside preserved medinas. Moved the capital from Fez to Rabat. Established the Native Policy Council. Policy of "association" over "assimilation": protect the Sultan's symbolic authority while France held all real power. Recruited Henri Prost. The paternalist who claimed to protect what he controlled.
Henri Prost
Chief Urban Planner (1913–1923)
1874–1959
Designed the villes nouvelles of Casablanca, Rabat, Fez, Marrakech, Meknès. Wide European boulevards built outside the medina walls. Medinas preserved but economically frozen — traditional crafts redirected toward European markets. The urban planning that physically separated coloniser and colonised.
Michel Écochard
Director, Service de l'urbanisme (1947–1953)
1905–1985
Took over from Prost's legacy. Confronted the bidonvilles (shanty towns) that Prost's dual-city model had created. Designed mass housing for Moroccans as the rural-to-urban exodus accelerated. Casablanca medina density: 1,290 per hectare. European quarters: 50 per hectare.
Mohammed V
Sultan / King
1909–1961
Ascended the throne 18 November 1927. Endorsed the 1944 Independence Manifesto. Met Roosevelt at Anfa Conference (1943). Delivered the Tangier Speech (1947). Exiled to Madagascar (1953). His exile unified the country. Returned 1955. Morocco's independence: 2 March 1956. Assumed the title of King, 1957.
Allal al-Fassi
Nationalist leader, Istiqlal founder
1910–1974
Scholar from Fez. Led the 1930 protests against the Berber Dahir. Exiled to Gabon and Congo (1937–1946). Co-founded Istiqlal. Championed "Greater Morocco" — territorial integrity including Sahara, Ceuta, Melilla. Negotiated guerrilla disarmament after independence. Monarchist who believed a king could be loyal to and still opposed.
Abd el-Krim
Leader, Republic of the Rif
1882–1963
Defeated Spain at Annual (1921). Established the Republic of the Rif — Africa's first anti-colonial republic. Resisted 250,000 Franco-Spanish troops. Surrendered 1926. Exiled to Réunion, then Egypt. Never returned to Morocco. His tactics studied by Mao, Ho Chi Minh, and Che Guevara.
Malika al-Fassi
Only woman to sign the 1944 Manifesto
1919–2007
Activist, writer. Signed the Independence Manifesto alongside 65 men. Active in nationalist and intellectual circles in Fez. Her presence confirmed that women played active roles — organising, educating, building communication networks — though colonial and post-colonial records rarely said so.
Complete independence under the leadership of His Majesty Sidi Mohammed Ben Youssef.
— Independence Manifesto, 11 January 1944
004 — Key Numbers
The Data
44
Years
From the Treaty of Fez (30 March 1912) to the Franco-Moroccan Joint Declaration (2 March 1956).
250,000
Troops against the Rif
Franco-Spanish coalition required to defeat Abd el-Krim's republic. The largest colonial military operation in Africa at the time.
1,290
Per hectare (medina)
Population density in Casablanca's medina. The European quarters across the wall: 50 per hectare. Twenty-six times the difference.
66
Signatories
Of the 1944 Independence Manifesto. One woman: Malika al-Fassi. 20 arrested by France. Ahmed Balafrej deported to Corsica.
35%
Speak French (2019)
More than Algeria (33%). The linguistic legacy persists. French still runs the boardrooms, the courts, and the universities.
1.5M
Moroccans in France
The largest Moroccan community outside Morocco. The colonial connection inverted: the colonised moved to the coloniser.
005 — Sources
Further Reading
Eight books. Each one earned its place on this list.
Abu-Lughod, JanetRabat: Urban Apartheid in Morocco(1980)
Princeton. The foundational study of French colonial urban planning as spatial segregation. Traces how Lyautey and Prost's dual-city model created the physical infrastructure of inequality that persists today.
Pennell, C. R.Morocco Since 1830: A History(2000)
Hurst & Co. Comprehensive English-language history of modern Morocco. From the pre-colonial period through independence to Hassan II.
Gershovich, MosheFrench Military Rule in Morocco: Colonialism and Its Consequences(2000)
Routledge. Military dimensions of the protectorate — how armed force underpinned the administrative veneer.
Segalla, SpencerThe Moroccan Soul: French Education, Colonial Ethnology, and Muslim Resistance, 1912–1956(2009)
Nebraska. How France used education and ethnography as instruments of colonial control — and how Moroccans resisted.
Laroui, AbdallahThe History of the Maghrib: An Interpretive Essay(1977)
Princeton. The Moroccan historian's defining work. "The more those at the top borrowed, the more those at the bottom were impoverished."
Wright, GwendolynThe Politics of Design in French Colonial Urbanism(1991)
Chicago. Architecture and urban planning as colonial instruments across the French empire. Morocco features centrally.
Bidwell, RobinMorocco Under Colonial Rule: French Administration of Tribal Areas 1912–1956(1973)
Cass. How France administered the Bled es-Siba — the rural tribal territories beyond the Makhzen's traditional reach.
Miller, Susan GilsonA History of Modern Morocco(2013)
Cambridge. Clear, contemporary, thorough. From the pre-colonial crisis through the Arab Spring.
Sources
Wikipedia — French protectorate in Morocco: Treaty of Fez 30 March 1912, Lyautey appointment, Fez riots 17 April 1912, Berber Dahir 1930, capital move to Rabat, 35% French-speaking (2019), 1.5M Moroccans in France
Wikipedia — French conquest of Morocco: Oujda 1907, Casablanca bombardment, Agadir Crisis 1911, Treaty of Fez negotiation, Regnault, Bled el-Makhzen / Bled es-Siba distinction, Maroc utile
Wikipedia — Treaty of Fez: signed at Mnebhi Palace, Sultan Abd al-Hafid abdication, Moulay Yusef succession, modelled on Treaty of Bardo (Tunisia), Abdelqader Benghabrit interpreter
Wikipedia — Proclamation of Independence: 66 signatories, 11 January 1944, Ahmed el Hamiani Khatat & Ahmed Bahnini drafters, Malika al-Fassi only woman, 20 arrested, Balafrej to Corsica
Grokipedia — French protectorate: Casablanca 12,000→110,934 (1912–1921), medina 1,290/ha vs European 50/ha, railway 1,700km narrow gauge, Berber Dahir analysis, Écochard era 1947–1953
Morocco World News: urban development during protectorate, dual city policy, Beqqal & Chaoui (2020) on Lyautey preservation vs segregation debate, post-colonial urban legacy
Morocco World News (2025/2026): Independence Manifesto 82nd anniversary, Anfa Conference, Mohammed V exile 20 Aug 1953, Tangier Speech 9 Apr 1947, Aix-les-Bains negotiations
Tandfonline: Central Market Rabat (1922–1925), Habous district Casablanca (1917–1926), policy of association vs assimilation, Prost era, Service de l'urbanisme (Écochard)
Gulf News: Allal al-Fassi biography, exiled to Gabon/Congo 1937–1946, "Greater Morocco" movement, guerrilla negotiation, monarchist reformism
Lumen Learning — Moroccan Independence: CAM founded 1934, Plan des Réformes, Rif War chronology, Mohammed Ben Aarafa replacement, Oujda violence 1953
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Sources: Historical archives