Treaty Of Fes

The Treaty of Fes ( ar, معاهدة فاس, ), officially the Treaty Concluded Between France and Morocco on 30 March 1912, for the Organization of the French Protectorate in the Sherifien Empire (), was a treaty signed by Sultan Abd al-Hafid of Morocco under duress and French diplomat on 30 March 1912. It established the French protectorate in Morocco, and remained in effect until the Franco-Moroccan Joint Declaration of 2 March 1956.

The treaty gave France the right to occupy certain parts of the country with the pretext of protecting the Sultan from internal opposition, and to hold actual reins of power while preserving the mask of indirect rule consisted of the Sultan and the Sharifian government. Under the terms, the French Resident-General held absolute powers in external as well as internal affairs, and was the only one capable of representing Morocco in foreign countries. The Sultan however, retained the right to sign the decrees ( dahirs), which were submitted by the Resident-Generals.

When news of the treaty finally leaked to the Moroccan populace, it was met with immediate and violent backlash in the Intifada of Fes.

Background

Context

Weakened by defeat in the Franco-Moroccan War, Morocco signed the Anglo-Moroccan Treaty of 1856, which broke the Moroccan state's monopoly on customs revenue, a vital source of income for the Makhzen. The Treaty of Wad Ras following the Hispano-Moroccan War (1859–60) forced Morocco to take a massive British loan—larger than its national reserves—in order to pay off a massive war indemnity to Spain, putting the Makhzen further in debt.

European presence in Morocco—in the form of advisors, doctors, businessmen, adventurers, and even missionaries—dramatically increased after the Madrid Conference of 1880, which was held at the behest of Sultan Hassan I in response to France and Spain's abuse of the ''protégé'' system. More than half of the Makhzen's expenditures went abroad to pay war indemnities and buy weapons, military equipment, and manufactured goods.

From 1902 to 1909, Morocco's trade deficit increased 14 million francs annually, and the Moroccan rial depreciated 25% from 1896 to 1906. Morocco became bridled under loans and debts to balance its budget. The first of these came in December 1901–7.5 million francs borrowed from French banks 6% interest. This was followed by British and Belgian loans. Abdelaziz tried to impose a ''tartib'' () a flat tax universally hated that failed by 1903. In June 1904, France bailed out the Makhzen with 62.5 million franks, guaranteed by a portion of customs revenue.

The Moroccan historian Abdallah Laroui noted: "The more those at the top borrowed, the more those at the bottom were impoverished." Morocco experienced a famine from 1903 to 1907, as well as insurrections led by El-Rogui (Bou Hmara) and Mulai Ahmed er Raisuni. Abd al-Hafid wrested the throne from his brother Abd al-Aziz in the Hafidiya (1907-1908) coup d'état.

French concessions to competing powers

Private agreements among the United Kingdom, Italy and France in 1904, collectively known as the Entente Cordiale, made without consulting the sultan, had divided the Maghreb into spheres of influence, with France given Morocco. The 1906 Treaty of Algeciras formalized the French pre-eminence over other European great powers in Morocco, and affirmed its right to collect customs revenue from Moroccan ports.

In the aftermath of the Agadir Crisis of 1911, Germany recognised the French position in Morocco and received in return territories in the French Equatorial Africa the colony of Middle Congo (now the Republic of the Congo). The land, known as Neukamerun, became part of the German colony of Kamerun, part of German West Africa, although it lasted only briefly because it was captured by the Allies during World War I. As part of the treaty, Germany ceded France a small area of territory to the south-east of Fort Lamy, now part of Chad.

Makhzen view

In Morocco, the young Sultan Abdelaziz acceded in 1894 at the age of 16, and Europeans became the main advisers at the court, and local rulers became more and more independent from the sultan. Sultan Abdelaziz was deposed in 1908. Moroccan law and order continued to deteriorate under his successor, Abdelhafid, who abdicated in favor of his brother Yusef after signing the Treaty of Fez.

Makhzen officials believed the protectorate system in Morocco would resemble British Egypt, with substantial autonomy in domains such as internal administration and justice. However, the Treaty of Fes was modelled after the Treaty of Bardo of 12 May 1881, which made Tunisia a French protectorate and severely limited the Bey's authority.

An interim government, led by Abdelhafid's brother, , who was promoted sultan in Meknes on 17 April 1911, also put pressure on Abdelhafid.Eugène Regnault