The First Morocco Crisis
The Berlin conference had left Morocco as an ostensibly independent nation, but representatives of the European empires jockeyed with each other to expand their influence with the ruling Alaouite dynasty. By 1904 France was negotiating the establishment of Morocco as a French protectorate, and had succeeded in obtaining the support of Spain and Great Britain. France and England also signed the Entente Cordiale, establishing an alliance between the two empires. The British were given a free hand to act in Egypt, while the French obtained the same rights in Morocco, with both sides agreeing to support each other.
The German Kaiser, who was building a Navy to rival those of England and France, decided to forestall the expansion of French influence in North Africa. French occupation of Morocco, coupled with the British occupation of Gibraltar and Egypt, would put the gateways to the Mediterranean in the hands of the new allies, a situation the Kaiser found intolerable. In March 1905, Kaiser Wilhelm II traveled to Morocco. In Tangier, the Kaiser met with the advisers and servants of the Sultan Abdelaziz. He then delivered a speech in Tangier in which he denounced French intervention in Moroccan affairs and announced Germany’s support for its continued independence.
The support of the Kaiser, or perhaps secret threats of German intervention, convinced the Sultan to reject a series of reforms which had been proposed by the French. The Sultan called instead for an international conference, to be held at Algeciras in Spain, which would propose reforms for the Moroccan government and the nation. The French bristled at the suggestion, calling it unnecessary and an illegal German intrusion on both French and Moroccan affairs. The Germans responded that further French activities in Morocco were a cause for war. By June 1905 the French Navy was mobilizing. Germany responded by announcing that they would negotiate a treaty of alliance with Morocco.
In July the French agreed to attend the conference, which was scheduled for January, 1906. German and French warships were sent to Tangier, where they were observed by naval vessels of the United States and Great Britain. The German army began mobilizing its reserve units and the French responded by moving troops to the border with Germany. On January 16 representatives from 13 nations attended the Algeciras Conference, where the Germans learned that other than their ally Austria-Hungary, there was no support for their position. Even worse, the United States and Great Britain, which both had warships in the harbor at Tangier, strongly endorsed the French.
Rather than bluster, the Germans offered a solution which allowed them to attain a semblance of influence in Moroccan affairs. The French agreed to allow control of the Moroccan security apparatus to remain in the hands of the Sultan. All of the other reforms presented by the French were accepted and the French Empire assumed control of the Moroccan government and foreign affairs. Once the crisis was averted the French assumed control of the police forces and customs offices as well. An irate Kaiser determined to avenge himself for the humiliation he suffered during the First Moroccan crisis and his anger led to a second crisis over Morocco a few years later.