Economic Activity
When the French and Spanish imperialized Morocco, the country was at a time of financial instability. France and Spain were able to take advantage of Morocco's instability and force their economic influence on Morocco. The influence from France was what caused Sultan Abdelaziz to be taken from power. For example, the Sultan had taken out loans from the France to help improve the failing state of their economy. Moroccans did not like that the Sultan was getting help and support from the Europeans, which caused them to lead an uprising against the Sultan. Eventually, Sultan Abdelaziz's brother who was Abdelhafid took his place as the new sultan. The new Sultan was allowed to become the new ruler if he stopped all influence from foreign nations. However, getting rid of all foreign influence was very difficult to do. Sultan, Abdelhafid was forced to get help from the French and other foreign nations, like his brother had. Again, different tribes rebelled against Sultan Abdelhafid. This caused the French to get involved, to protect the Sultan. The Sultan became dependent on the French and France was slowly able to gain control of Morocco. They took over many parts of Morocco including the military and political aspects. Once the Treaty of Fez was signed, the economic activity of Morocco was ultimately run by France and Spain (Abd Al-Hafid (sultan of Morocco), Encyclopedia Britannica Online; Morocco, Encyclopedia Britannica Online; Treaty of Fez (30 March 1912), About.com African History; The French and Spanish in Morocco, Fsmitha.com; Moroccan Soul: French Education, Colonial Ethnology, and Muslim Resistance, 1912-1956, Google Books).
The French and Spanish were involved with the new infrastructure of Morocco, adding new methods of transportation. Miles of railroad transportation, trading posts, and roads were constructed. By using Morocco's economy for trading, France and Spain were able to improve their own reputation in trading. Moreover, France and Spain took advantage of the raw materials and natural resources available. Morocco's natural resources include phosphate, zinc, iron ore, manganese, salt, and fish (Morocco, CIA). For instance, Spain was able to gain access to Morocco's iron mines because it controlled the Rif Mountain (Morocco: The Spanish Zone, Encyclopedia Britannica Online). Even though agreements formed in Madrid and Algeciras said that all nations were granted equal opportunity and access to these resources, France and Spain were able to claim control over them because of the protectorates they formed. Also, the Moroccan government was supposedly in control of their natural resources, water supplies, and farmable land, but the French and Spanish were the ones who benefitted (Moroccan Soul: French Education, Colonial Ethnology, and Muslim Resistance, 1912-1956, Google Books).
The French and Spanish were involved with the new infrastructure of Morocco, adding new methods of transportation. Miles of railroad transportation, trading posts, and roads were constructed. By using Morocco's economy for trading, France and Spain were able to improve their own reputation in trading. Moreover, France and Spain took advantage of the raw materials and natural resources available. Morocco's natural resources include phosphate, zinc, iron ore, manganese, salt, and fish (Morocco, CIA). For instance, Spain was able to gain access to Morocco's iron mines because it controlled the Rif Mountain (Morocco: The Spanish Zone, Encyclopedia Britannica Online). Even though agreements formed in Madrid and Algeciras said that all nations were granted equal opportunity and access to these resources, France and Spain were able to claim control over them because of the protectorates they formed. Also, the Moroccan government was supposedly in control of their natural resources, water supplies, and farmable land, but the French and Spanish were the ones who benefitted (Moroccan Soul: French Education, Colonial Ethnology, and Muslim Resistance, 1912-1956, Google Books).
Primary Sources of Life Under Imperialism
Fatima the Moroccan
(Photograph, Fatima the Moroccan, Women in World History : MODULE 9)
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This photo is from the French newspaper, Le Miroir, from June 13, 1915. The newspaper article was titled "Women who fight as real soldiers" and shows a Moroccan woman named Fatima(right) who is on a horse wearing a soldier's uniform. Fatima is depicted to look more like a man, which makes her fit in with the other men on horses around her. She is shown at the front of a French line during war. There is not any other information about Fatima besides what was in the newspaper which said "Fatima, the Moroccan woman, whose portrait we reproduce here, followed into battle from the beginning of the war our North African units and fought courageously like a man". It is not known whether Fatima had to dress herself up to look like a man, because women weren't usually soldiers, or if she was allowed to join as a soldier.
This primary source is an example of the propaganda used by the French. During this time, the people, usually men, of colonized nations were forced to join the imperial armies of the European nations colonizing them and help them fight. While colonized nations were forced to join their armies, they were separated from the European armies and weren't treated as well. Moroccans and other North African nations were forced to help France in battle but were put in different living conditions from the army of Frenchmen. This photograph of Fatima could be used as propaganda to the Moroccans to promote their participation in armies for the French and to win their loyalty. In addition, the French could use propaganda to convince more women to get involved with the war. The photo helps to promote woman volunteering with the war by showing a woman who is actually participating in their North African army (Photograph, Fatima the Moroccan, Women in World History : MODULE 9). |
Return to Childhood: The Memoir of a Modern Moroccan Woman
[p. 3]
Then my mother told us, “The Nasara [Christians or French] have put your father in prison. Not because he did anything bad, but because he is a nationalist. ‘Nationalist’ means someone who wants the Nasara to get out of our country, and that’s honorable.” But her moaning disturbed me much more than the news. Still, her distress made it difficult not to think of prison as something bad.
In El Ksiba, where we lived after leaving Rabat, certain [Moroccan] inmates of the local prison were assigned to us by the French administration to do errands in the village. Those prisoners had been arrested for minor infractions of the law; most had injured somebody or stolen something. One had been arrested because he did not salute the French contrôleur général when he passed him on the street. One day, while still serving his sentence, he [the Moroccan prisoner] was taking the dough for our bread to the village bakery when he met the same Frenchman, riding his horse. He put the breadboard on the ground and saluted him with both hands. The Frenchman asked,
“Two salutes, why?”
“One is for your and the one is for the horse,” answered the inmate. Every time my mother heard that story she would say, “The poor man must have told himself, ‘If he could put me in jail because I did not salute him, he might increase my punishment if I don’t salute his horse.’” Then she would add, in a sad tone, “It is the law of the powerful. The law of the jungle."
(Autobiography, Leila Abouzeid, Women in World History : MODULE 9)
This excerpt is part of an autobiography called Return to Childhood: The Memoir of a Modern Moroccan Woman written in 1993. The writer, Leila Abouzeid, lived in Morocco while it was being imperialized by France and Spain and is the most popular woman writer in Morocco. In her book, Leila describes what it was like during her country's struggle for independence and the problems her family faced. She also talks about the trouble women specifically dealt with. This excerpt from Albouzeid's autobiography helps show what life was like under the French protectorate and the treatment of the Moroccans by the French.
In the excerpt, Leila's mother says that the Nasara, which means the French, have arrested her father and put him in prison. Her mother says that although her father didn't do anything wrong, the French arrested him for being a nationalist. Her father actively went against the French Protectorate and wanted Morocco's independence. The Moroccans who were imprisoned were also put in jail for committing petty crimes . This demonstrates the strict control that the French got over the Moroccans. Moroccans could get in trouble for small crimes like stealing or hurting somebody. In addition, France didn't want Moroccan people to rebel against them so they had to closely watch over Moroccans. They needed to do this because Moroccans who shared nationalistic feelings for their country could join together and get the French out of their country. As a result, nationalists were jailed to prevent Morocco from getting its independence from France. Furthermore, this excerpt shows the difference in power between the French and Moroccans. The French viewed themselves as better and the Moroccans were inferior. The power of the French caused fear among Moroccans because the French had the ability to arrest them for almost anything. The French's superiority is displayed when Leila talks about how a man was arrested because he didn't salute the French general. The French feeling like they were superior caused the Moroccans to be treated poorly (Autobiography, Leila Abouzeid, Women in World History : MODULE 9).
In the excerpt, Leila's mother says that the Nasara, which means the French, have arrested her father and put him in prison. Her mother says that although her father didn't do anything wrong, the French arrested him for being a nationalist. Her father actively went against the French Protectorate and wanted Morocco's independence. The Moroccans who were imprisoned were also put in jail for committing petty crimes . This demonstrates the strict control that the French got over the Moroccans. Moroccans could get in trouble for small crimes like stealing or hurting somebody. In addition, France didn't want Moroccan people to rebel against them so they had to closely watch over Moroccans. They needed to do this because Moroccans who shared nationalistic feelings for their country could join together and get the French out of their country. As a result, nationalists were jailed to prevent Morocco from getting its independence from France. Furthermore, this excerpt shows the difference in power between the French and Moroccans. The French viewed themselves as better and the Moroccans were inferior. The power of the French caused fear among Moroccans because the French had the ability to arrest them for almost anything. The French's superiority is displayed when Leila talks about how a man was arrested because he didn't salute the French general. The French feeling like they were superior caused the Moroccans to be treated poorly (Autobiography, Leila Abouzeid, Women in World History : MODULE 9).
[pp. 36-37]
The summer was over. We were getting ready to enter school and my mother’s old aunt Zineb came to her and said, “Is it true that you intend to enroll the girls at school?”
“Yes.”
“Are you crazy? Who’s going to buy them notebooks and pens?”
“The nationalists, aunt. They are taking care of us. They send us money every month.”
“Send them to learn a craft and forget about school.”
“I would do that if it were only up to me, but their father says every time I visit him, ‘Take them to school,’ and I’ve never gotten a letter from him in which he does not emphasize it.”
“He spent his time having affairs with other women and spending money, then he went off to prison and now he decides to say school! What will a girl study, for heaven’s sake and what for? A girl’s destiny is marriage, pregnancy and breast-feeding, isn’t it? One would think at they are going to learn that language you need to deal with djinns!”
“But my dear aunt, the Sultan Sidi Mohammed Ben Youssef himself has ordered the nationalists to send their girls to school. And every time I visit Si Hmed in prison he insists that I take them to school. I can’t disobey him.”
“Your husband’s crazy and you’re crazier than he is. You should be the one to decide. The proverb says, ‘Show your friend the way, but if he refuses to see it, go your own way and leave him.’”
We did go to school, as my father had insisted. But before we began, there was always laundry day and bath day. The laundry and the bath came every week, but in those days before we started school, my mother made special occasions out of these weekly rituals.
(Autobiography, Leila Abouzeid, Women in World History : MODULE 9)
In the second excerpt of the autobiography Return to Childhood: The Memoir of a Modern Moroccan Woman, Leila describes what happens before she enters school. Leila's aunt is surprised to find out that her mom is trying to sign the daughters up for school. She also says that a girls future consists of marrying and having children. This excerpt shows that it is not common for women to have an education during this time because of the aunt's reaction. In addition, when the aunt questions Leila's mom on how she is able to pay for her children's education shows that most Moroccan people were not very wealthy. This is also why the nationalists had to pay for their schooling. Furthermore, this excerpt gives the reader an understanding and thought on the hardships that went on under the French Protectorate in Morocco. Even though Leila and her siblings went to school and got education, it was not the most important thing. Leila and her sisters still had jobs to finish at home. They had to do chores like doing the laundry (Autobiography, Leila Abouzeid, Women in World History :
MODULE 9).
MODULE 9).