1950s - World - Marrocos (Morocco)
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1950 – 1959 (cont)
World (cont)
Marrocos (Morocco)
Starting in 1912 Morocco came under French and Spanish control. The French protectorate was ruled by French governor under the Moroccan Sultan’s name. To all appearances the country was governed by the Sultan. Meanwhile in the Spanish zones of control the Spanish had for most part followed the same path as the French, although it was much less developed than the French side.World (cont)
Marrocos (Morocco)
At the end of 1949 when the Portuguese Federation had assumed the Spanish protectorate it had promised both the Sultan and French Officials that Portuguese Federation would adhere to all previous Spanish treaties. Both the French and the Moroccans protested the Portuguese move and stated that it was illegal, but the Portuguese simply ignored their concerns. The Portuguese occupation of these former Spanish territories had the effect of accelerating independence movements underfoot on both sides of Moroccan border. While Portuguese Federation publicly stated it would adhere to the same agreements and nothing would change in the territories the arrival of the Portuguese also brought the DGS, GNR and PSP along with thousands of administrators. They were followed by thousands of settlers who were brought to the territories and large parts of Portuguese Morocco were confiscated by private enterprises and settlers. Those who protested were arrested, convicted of insurrection and instead of imprisoned sent to other provinces. For next few years tens of thousands were deported or moved to other parts of country including Iberian Peninsula. Schools were opened and all children (male and female) from ages of 6 to 16 who were forced to attend the government schools where Portuguese and Catholicism were both taught. The only exception being children of other Christian denominations or Judaism who were allowed to be taught their religions. The parents who objected or kept their children home were arrested and deported to other parts of the Federation. The penalty for keeping their children out of Portuguese schools was seizure of their children. During the same time thousands of Portuguese (European, African, Indian, and Asian) and emigrants were brought to the new Portuguese zones. Revolts and demonstrations were dealt with a heavy hand and military and security kept a very close eye on the people and border zones.
Meanwhile in the French Protection Zone the Sultan and other leading Moroccans protested Portuguese actions while the call for Independence from France grew louder. When the Sultan voiced his support for Independence from France the French forced the sultan into exile. On 20 August 1953, Mohammed V and his family went into exile on Corsica. His uncle, Mohammed Ben Aarafa, was placed on the throne instead. Mohammed V and his family were then transferred to Madagascar in January 1954. Sultan Mohammed Ben Aarafa was very unpopular, and the people of Morocco demanded his abdication and the return of the popular Mohammed V.
The Portuguese meanwhile were playing for additional time to continue their Portugalization programs and it was thought by senior security officials the best way to achieve that was through the elimination of Morocco’s one unifying figure the Sultan. Members of Portuguese government devised a plan to get rid of the Sultan and place the blame squarely on the French. DGS agents posing as Egyptian agents were able to convince one of the Sultan’s staff members that France was poisoning the Sultan and his family and that an antidote had been discovered.[1] The poison administered by the Sultan’s staff member killed not only the Sultan but also the entire staff and almost all his family.
On 12 March 1955 Sultan and his family all got sick, a doctor was called, and food poisoning was suspected. On 13th of March two of Mohammed V daughters died as did his wives. The next day his eldest son and other two daughters also died. On 15th of March Mohammed V died as did most of his staff and domestic help. Only his youngest son Prince Moulay Abdellah who was 19 survived. For four months, the French kept the deposed Sultan’s death a secret. French investigation into Mohammed V death failed to uncover who had poisoned the Sultan. Although some suspicion fell on the DGS no proof or rumor was ever found.[2] When French officials told the Portuguese government the Portuguese foreign Minister sat shocked for several minutes and then immediately called the Defense Minister who when told of the news ordered the immediate callup of reservist and the sending of additional troops from Africa to Portuguese Morocco. French officials came to conclusion that if the assassination had been carried out by Portuguese it was not the Defense Ministry who had ordered it and the general government was unaware.
The French also built up their forces in Morocco and waited till after Ramadan before announcing that their most loved Sultan was dead. As expected, riots broke out and demonstrations occurred in most Moroccan cities when news broke. In October, six months after the Sultan’s death he and his family’s bodies were brought to Morocco along with the very weak Prince Abdellah who six months after poisoning still had not fully recovered. The whole country observed one month of mourning. Moroccans continued to demand independence while the French continued to refuse saying that the country was not ready. For the next two years demonstrations and civil disobedience continued to grow. In March 1957 France granted independence to its other North African protectorate, Tunisia, and pressure to grant independence to Morocco intensified. Meanwhile in Portuguese Morocco the Portuguese kept a very tight grip on the provinces and continued to move thousands of Arabs and Berbers to other provinces. The number of Portuguese citizens reached 500,000 while cities continued to grow at very fast rate and industry sprung up in most cities.
On 6 November 1957, Sultan Mohammed Ben Aarafa abdicated after surviving his second assassination attempt. The French governor allowed Prince Abdellah to become the Sultan and signed an agreement on behalf of France proclaiming Morocco’s independence on 1 January 1958. Special allowance was made for continuation of thousands of French colonists in Morocco and respect for their rights and property.
Morocco celebrated the New Year with a huge independence celebration. For next three months Morocco waited for the Portuguese to begin discussions regarding returning their protectorates but Portuguese Federation which had not recognized Morocco’s independence ignored Morocco’s demands. Most pressing for the Moroccans was access to the enclave of Tangier which was cut off from Morocco by Portuguese territory. On 1 April 1958, Morocco formally requested UN to intervene and the motion was debated with Portuguese Federation stating that the territories were Portuguese territory and Portuguese citizens living in these provinces had voted overwhelming in provincial legislatures by proclaiming their support for the Portuguese Federation. A motion calling for the unification of Morocco was passed but it did not carry any weight.
On 5th of June Morocco’s military began preparing to attack the Portuguese provinces, soviet military hardware continued to be unloaded in Moroccan ports and thousands of new recruits trained. On 1 October 1958 Morocco launched its 3-prong attack. Its Northern army attacked the Northern provinces while Morocco’s Southern army launched an attack on the Portuguese enclave of Ifni and Bens province. Portuguese warships and planes provided the defending troops with additional support. Portuguese bombers attacked Moroccan airports and bases. In the north, the Portuguese 2nd and 3rd Infantry divisions repulsed the Moroccans in the Rif Mountains but along the Atlantic coast the Portuguese 2nd Armored Division smashed through Moroccan forces and pushed them back all the way to Casablanca opening the whole central Morocco to Portuguese forces. Tangiers was captured in two days of fighting. In the south, the Southern Moroccan Army besieging the province of Ifni had the province surrounded on three side but were unable to push the Portuguese back. Their forces sent against the Portuguese province of Bens had been limited to 4 regiments more as a way to keep the Portuguese occupied till the Portuguese in Ifni were defeated. Unbeknown to them the Portuguese regular and reservist units had been merged into the 10th reservist division and when the Moroccans attacked, they quickly countered attack and defeated them. On 7th of October, the 10th division hit the Southern Moroccan army on the left flank, and it crumpled in the fast-moving Portuguese attack. Meanwhile Portuguese forces from Ifni also attacked the retreating Moroccan forces and those units not wiped out tried to retreat but ran into other Moroccan units. On 8th of October, General Hammu surrendered the Southern Moroccan Army to Portuguese General Silva.
The UN met again on 9th of October and demanded that a cease fire be implemented. Both Portuguese Federation and Morocco agreed. When suggestions for a return to pre-war borders were proposed, the Portuguese refused. Diplomatically Portuguese occupation was objected but many Europeans and even many newspapers, radio and television commentators sided with Portuguese Federation that they had been the ones invaded and were simply defending themselves. In the Northern Morocco, the Portuguese offered to remove all troops from Morocco and withdraw them back to Portuguese territory. In return, they demanded a 50-kilometer demilitarized zone along Portuguese Morocco border. The area would continue under Moroccan administration. The UN would patrol the demilitarized zone with the cost of the force to be paid by Portuguese Federation and be comprised of equal number of UN troops from Christian and Muslim countries. In the South Portuguese demands were different. A strip of land along coast linking Ifni and Bens would stay under Portuguese administration while the whole expanded Portuguese – Moroccan southern border would also be protected by similar demilitarized zone as the north.
Sultan Abdellah left with little choice since most of his country’s armed forces had been destroyed or captured by the Portuguese Federation reluctantly agreed to the Portuguese demands. On 1 November 1958, the Portuguese Moroccan cease fire was signed. Portuguese Federation released all Moroccan forces and withdrew to the demilitarized zone. Between February and April 1959, the UN security forces arrived and on 1st of May Portuguese troops withdrew to Portuguese territory.
In Morocco, the Portuguese Moroccan war turned the Moroccan people against all Europeans not only the Portuguese. Thousands of French settlers were forced to flee towards the nearest safety which for most was the Portuguese Federation. The majority of them once safe in the Federation continued on to the enclave of Tangier, joining them were the small number of Moroccan Christian who too no longer felt safe in Morocco. By March 1959 the French Colonial and Moroccan Christians outnumbered the original Moroccan residents in the enclave. The situation stayed tense and attacks between the different groups and Moroccan authorities grew. In August 1959 French colonists and Christian Moroccans seized control of the enclave and no longer accepted Moroccan authority in enclave. All Moroccan government personnel and security forces were forced to withdraw from the enclave as did thousands of Muslim Moroccans. The UN force in the enclave was also attacked and withdrew to the de-militarized zone to the south. On 1 November 1959 France accepted the colonists and Christians demands and put the enclave under French protection, a move that angered Morocco and many other nations in Africa and Middle East.
Map showing Portuguese Morocco and Sahara (Dark Green)
[1] Egypt was supporting Algerian insurgents against France and opposed to continued French presence in Africa.
[2] To the astonishment of the French investigators four different poisons were found in the Sultan and family’s systems.
The Portuguese fight against the Moroccan independence was one that used the French own actions against them. iOTL in an attempt o put of the Moroccan independence they did depose the Sultan and move him to Madagascar. The Portuguese own plan while a little more fatalist was also enacted with the same goal, postpone the Moroccan independence. This all was taking place while the Portuguese development of its new territories in North Africa was taking place at rapid pace bringing to these territories hundreds of thousands of new settlers.
The Portuguese could of launched their own preemptive attack against the fledging Moroccan forces . Instead it let itself be portraited as a victim who was only protecting itself. All its actions were aimed at nocking out the Morocco military ability and attempt to gain a cease fire. Repeated attempts in the early days of the war to get UN to order a cease fire was blocked by USSR and indifference by the US and other veto powers. It was only when the Portuguese had the Moroccans on the ropes that USSR put forth "Urgent" motions for cease fire. It was then the Portuguese used their position and the previous indifference of the UN to its advantage and played the victim part (also was played throughout western world to public opinion successfully). The negotiations were difficult with many demanded a return to previous borders.
The Portuguese demands for a demilitarized zone was generally accepted, it was the zone under Portuguese administration linking its provinces of Ifni and Bens. The Portuguese offered to buy out any settler there who wanted to eave at 200% of their value or to respect them if they stayed under Portuguese control. It also offered to waive any reparation demands against Morocco in return for the strip.
The UN put pressure on Morocco to accept, its allies told it was the best way to rebuild its forces and then destroy Portugal, USSR pledged to supply it with untold amounts of weapons, so the young Sultan dreaming of revenge agreed to a cease fire and the Portuguese demands. The Moroccan government portrayed itself as the victim to its people and this only fueled more anger against foreigners especially French and even non-Muslims. Questions/ Comments?
We return in little with the next installment Guinea.
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