History

Overview

The history of the region comprising present-day Morocco has been shaped by the interaction of the original Berber population and the various peoples who successively invaded the country.

Early History

The first of the invaders well known to history were the Phoenicians (see Phoenicia), who in the 12th century bc established trading posts on the Mediterranean coast of the region. They founded a settlement known as Rusaddir, now modern Melilla. The Phoenician colonies in North Africa were later taken over and extended by the Carthaginians (see Carthage). The Carthaginians founded towns on the Atlantic coast at Tangier, Larache, and as far south as Essaouira. Carthaginian inscriptions have been found at Volubilis, the Roman capital of western North Africa, near Meknès.

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. Tingis was the name of the town that became Tangier. 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.

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 conquest of Spain, which began in 711.

The first Arab rulers of the whole of Morocco, the Idrisid dynasty, held power from 789 to 926. The dynasty was named after Idris I, a refugee from the east who was the great-great-grandson of Fatima, daughter of the prophet Muhammad. In 793 Idris died—poisoned, it is said, by an emissary of the Abassid caliph Harun ar-Rashid, from whose usurpation he had fled. Idris I was succeeded by his son, Idris II, who made Fès his capital. This city was to become a center of Islamic and Arab culture throughout the centuries, thanks largely to the settlement there in the 9th century of two large contingents of refugees—one from Kairouan (present-day Al Qayrawān)in Tunisia, the other from Córdoba, cities that were the centers of Muslim civilization in Africa and Spain respectively. The Idrisid dynasty thus gave Morocco a capital, a tradition, and its patron saints in the two founders, Idris I and II.

Almoravids, Almohads, and Merinids

The Idrisid was succeeded by other dynasties, both Arab and Berber. Not until the 11th century can we speak of an independent kingdom of Morocco within its 20th-century frontiers. The unification of the country was the work of Berbers from south of the Tlas, nomads from the country now known as Mauritania. The Berbers were reforming Muslims; their first great leader, Yusuf ibn Tashfin, was an austere Muslim, living on camel flesh and milk and wearing only woolen garments. His followers were known as Almoravids, from the Arabic al-murabit, meaning “hermits.” Yusuf ibn Tashfin extended his rule over all North Africa as far as Algiers (in what is now Algeria), and also into Muslim Spain. The Almoravids ruled from 1062 to 1147.

In the 12th century, after a civil war lasting more than 20 years, the Almoravids were succeeded by another great Berber dynasty, the Almohads. Their name comes from the Arabic al-muwahhid, meaning “those who proclaim the unity of God,” and they ruled from 1147 to 1258. They also extended Moroccan rule and came to control not only Muslim Spain but all North Africa, including Tunisia, from which they expelled the Normans. In 1195 they won a great victory over the Christians in Spain at Alarcos.

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 third Berber dynasty, the Merinids, followed, but it failed to keep a foothold in Spain or to maintain Moroccan rule in North Africa beyond the frontiers of Morocco. A period of disorder and almost incessant civil war followed the collapse of the Merinids in 1358. Rulers of various dynasties reigned briefly and ineffectually over parts of the country. The Portuguese and Spanish captured a number of Moroccan ports.

The period of these three Berber dynasties—the Almoravids, the Almohads, and the Merinids—was a great age for Moroccan architecture. The finest monuments in Morocco are the mosques, minarets, and gateways built by the Almohads in the Atlas, at Marrakech, and in Rabat, and the madrasas (colleges) of Fès built by the Merinids. These magnificent constructions were the work of Muslim architects from Andalusia in southern Spain, for the Moroccan rulers rapidly adopted the culture of their new subjects and brought craftsmen and artists to Morocco from Spain. Two of Morocco’s great minaret towers—the Koutoubiya in Marrakech and the Hassan Tower in Rabat—were built by a Muslim architect from Spain. The absorption of Spanish Muslims had in fact begun even before the time of the Almoravids, when disturbances in Muslim Spain first led Muslims to seek refuge on the southern shores of the Mediterranean. The process continued until the beginning of the 17th century, with the expulsion of Moriscos (Christian converts from Islam) from Spain.

Sharifian Dyanasties

Morocco experienced a revival under the Saadians, known as the first Sharifian dynasty (1554-1660). The Saadian rulers were sharifs—that is, rulers who claimed descent from the prophet Muhammad. They had reclaimed a number of ports from the Portuguese by 1578. The reign (1579-1603) of Ahmed I al-Mansur is regarded as the golden age of Morocco. It was unified and relatively prosperous; its native arts and architecture flourished.

Al-Mansur not only successfully resisted Turkish attacks on the eastern frontier but also sent an expedition to the south that captured Tombouktou (in Mali) and put an end to the Songhai kingdom. He became master of the gold route from West Africa, and encouraged the cultivation of sugarcane. Morocco became one of the chief suppliers of sugar to England and other parts of western Europe.

The Saadians were succeeded by the second Sharifian dynasty, who have ruled since 1660 and remain on the Moroccan throne to this day. For 55 years, from 1672 to 1727, the able and ambitious Ismail al-Hasani ruled the country. He expanded relations with the European powers, regained the port of Tangier, and built a capital at Meknès. Al-Hasani’s reign was followed by a long period of disorder, which was punctuated with brief interludes of relative peace and prosperity.

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 (see Barbary Coast). 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 and 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. 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 (see Algeciras Conference). 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 Moroccan 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.

The Protectorate

In March 1912 the sultan of Morocco recognized the protectorate. Later that year the French, under a revision of the 1904 convention with Spain, obtained a larger share of Moroccan territory.

The Spanish experienced greater difficulties in Spanish Morocco. Abd el-Krim, a leader of Berber 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 French marshal Henri Philippe Pétain were used in the campaign, which suppressed the revolt in 1926. Rebels in parts of the Atlas Mountains were not fully subdued until the end of 1934, however.

Under the French regime, the whole country was finally brought under control by the central government. A system of roads, railroads, and ports, needed for economic development, was created, and a growing industrial city was built at Casablanca. An educated elite was formed from students who attended modern schools and were introduced to ideas of the 20th century. This generation of educated Moroccans set out to recover the country’s independence.

During World War II, France’s collaborationist Vichy government allowed Morocco to support the German war effort following Germany’s defeat of France in 1940. In 1942, British and American troops landed and occupied Morocco, giving impetus to the independence movement. In 1944, Moroccan nationalists formed the Istiqlal party, which soon won the support of Sultan Mohammed 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 1953 by pro-French reactionary notables, organized with the encouragement of French authorities, and exiled to Madagascar. But in 1955 the French permitted him to return to his throne.

Independence and Unification

France 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, in the southwest, was returned to Morocco in 1969.

Sultan Mohammed V assumed the title of king in 1957. After French authority was removed, the sultan as king became an absolute ruler over a country with no constitutional institutions of any kind. This situation increased the difficulty of moving toward a parliamentary form of government, which the nationalist movement desired. The first three governments after independence were formed to a large extent on party lines, although the king retained control of the army, the police force, and the central administration. In forming the fourth government in 1960, the king abandoned the attempt to respect party claims. Ministers were selected instead for their “loyalty, integrity, and ability,” and King Mohammed V himself became premier, naming his son as his day-to-day deputy.

At Mohammed’s 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, and the first parliamentary government was formed afterward. Parliamentary government proved short-lived, however, and was dominated by interparty bickering that impeded legislative action.

In 1965, after serious rioting in Casablanca, the king proclaimed a state of emergency. He dissolved parliament, suspended the constitution, and assumed full executive and legislative power, serving as his own prime minister for two years. Because the state was held together largely by religious fidelity to the king, who was both a temporal and spiritual leader, the politicians and populace accepted royal interference in politics and administration. Hassan gave strong support to the Arab cause in the 1967 Six-Day War with Israel and made subsequent attempts to secure Arab unity.

In 1970, ending the state of emergency, the king introduced a new constitution strengthening royal power and establishing a unicameral parliament. It was approved in a referendum, despite the opposition of the Istiqlal and its offshoot, the USFP (Socialist Union of Popular Forces). Following an attempt, in 1971, by a section of the army to overthrow the monarchy, the king tried to conciliate the opposition. In 1972 he won approval for a new constitution that curtailed his power and increased parliament’s. However, because the Istiqlal and USFP rejected the constitution and its reforms as inadequate, the king suspended parliament and postponed elections indefinitely. In 1973 he issued laws that took over all foreign-owned land and forced most foreign-owned firms to sell Morocco shares in their holdings.

Saharan War and Constitutional Changes

Morocco forced Spain to withdraw from Spanish Sahara in 1976. When the Spanish left, they ceded the northern two-thirds of the colony to Morocco, while Mauritania received the southern third. This disposal of the phosphate-rich territory was disputed by many Sahrawis, nomadic tribespeople who sought independence for Western Sahara and formed the Polisario Front. This Saharan nationalist guerrilla movement proclaimed Western Sahara an independent nation, called the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic (SADR), and conducted guerrilla warfare from bases inside Algeria. Although burdened by the ensuing guerrilla warfare, Morocco resolved to continue the fight alone after Mauritania decided to withdraw from the conflict in 1979. Relations between Morocco and neighboring Algeria grew strained over Algeria’s support for the Polisario Front.

Faced with mounting international opposition, King Hassan nevertheless committed additional troops and resources to the effort to protect the phosphate mines and major towns from Polisario harassment. In 1984 Morocco quit the Organization of African Unity (OAU) to protest its seating of a Polisario delegation. By 1987 the Moroccan military had enclosed four-fifths of the Western Sahara with a defensive wall that sharply curtailed attacks by Polisario forces. Efforts by the United Nations (UN) to mediate the dispute continued throughout the 1980s and 1990s. A cease-fire was implemented in Western Sahara in 1991, and a UN-sponsored referendum on self-determination was postponed repeatedly due to disagreements over voter eligibility. From the early 1990s on, Morocco was criticized by the Polisario Front for encouraging Moroccans to migrate to Western Sahara in hopes of having them counted as eligible voters.

Western Saharan constituencies were included in 1992 local elections, which followed King Hassan’s promulgation of a new constitution, overwhelmingly approved by referendum. In 1996 a referendum approved the king’s plans for a new legislative upper house, composed of indirectly elected representatives of local government and the professions. The constitutional revisions of 1992 and 1996 expanded the powers of parliament.

A New King

Hassan II died in July 1999 and was succeeded by his son Mohammed VI. The new king promised to continue the reforms begun by his father. Under Mohammed’s leadership, the government pushed through reforms in family law—granting more rights to women—and liberalized economic policies in the hope of attracting more investment from abroad. In 2000 the king started a campaign for Morocco to join the European Union (EU), but the plan met with little EU enthusiasm. Terrorist bomb attacks in Casablanca in 2003 led the government to enact new antiterrorism legislation. An Equity and Reconciliation Commission was established in 2004 to investigate human rights abuses from 1956 to 1999, during the reign of Mohammed’s father. The final report, delivered in 2006, recommended payments for individuals who were tortured and for families of people who disappeared.

Parliamentary elections for the 325-seat Chamber of Representatives were held in September 2007. A total of 23 parties and 5 independents won seats in the new parliament. Taking the largest share of seats were the secular conservative Istiqlal (Independence) Party, followed by the moderate Islamist Party of Justice and Development (PJD). A record-low voter turnout of 37 percent and accusations by the PJD that secular parties had bought votes marred the election results. The victory of Istiqlal ensured that Morocco, an important U.S. ally in the Muslim world, would continue to maintain strong ties with the West.