MOROCCO 1 107 



The autumn of 1911 had witnessed a renewal of lawlessness in Morocco. After 

 General Monier's arrival at Fez in May of that year French officers were placed in 

 command of the Sherifeen troops, and Commandant Bremond was in charge of a mehalla 

 which routed the Ait Yussi (Sept. 1911) who had been pillaging Sifru, to the 

 south of Fez. Not for the first time criticism was occasioned by the inability of the 

 French officers to prevent acts of barbarity by the Moorish soldiers under their com- 

 mand. There was an isolated outbreak, but in the Riff country there was in Septem- 

 ber and October 1911 renewed and widespread fighting. The sudden occupation by 

 Spain of Laraiche and Al Kasr al Kabir (Alcazar) in June 1911, while the Franco- 

 German negotiations were still proceeding, added both to the local and the European 

 uneasiness, Alcazar lying across the road from Tangier to Fez, and thus in hostile 

 hands threatening French communications. 1 The tact of the Spaniards in main- 

 taining friendly relations with the Moors in the occupied territory eased the local 

 situation. A treaty between Spain and France signed on November 27, 1912 fixed 

 the extent of the Spanish zone, and settled railway and other questions. Spain ob- 

 tained control of a continuous strip of northern Morocco extending from the Muluya 

 to Ceuta, as well as the Alcazar-Laraiche region and the Ifni enclave in the south. 



Another rising at Sifru at the close of 1911 was followed in the spring of 1912 by 

 a revolt among the Sherifeen troops at Fez. For three days during April (i?th, i.Sth 

 and igth) the rebel troops held great part of the city, producing a reign, of terror. 

 Many fives were lost, including those of thirty-nine French officers or civilians. Gen- 

 eral Monier's z arrival with a strong force at Fez on the 2oth restored order to the 

 city, which was placed under court martial. In the reprisals many innocent persons 

 unfortunately suffered. On General Lyautey's arrival in May, a wiser course was 

 adopted and the proposal to fine the townsmen for a revolt in which they had been 

 the victims was abandoned. The Sherifeen army at Fez was disbanded, a certain 

 number of the troops being allowed to enlist in the French force of occupation. 



The advent of a new pretender in the South of Morocco caused further anxiety. 

 This pretender, Hamed el-Hiba, a son of the notorious Ma-el-Amin, was declared 

 Sultan by the Sus tribes, though it was stated that he described himself simply as the 

 Khalif of one of the imperial princes resident in Tafilalt. On August 18 el-Hiba 

 occupied Marrakesh. Shortly before this event Mulai Hand had moved to Rabat, 

 and there, on August 12, he was permitted to abdicate the throne, appointing his 

 brother Yusef his successor. (Mulai Hafid immediately after his abdication visited 

 France, and in September 1912 took up his residence in Tangier, where Abdul Aziz, 

 the brother whom he had supplanted, was also quartered. Hafid was granted a pension 

 from France.) Mulai Yusef, who was virtually the nominee of the French, at once 

 notified his adhesion to the protectorate treaty. Hiba's troops were routed on Sep- 

 tember 7 by a French force under Col. Mangin, and the pretender fled south, whither 

 he was not pursued. Nine Frenchmen who had been shut up in Marrakesh were 

 rescued uninjured, and on September 10 Yusef was formally proclaimed emperor 

 at Marrakesh. His accession had already been accepted by the other Moorish cities. 

 In October General Lyautey occupied Agadir. At that period France had 58,000 troops 

 in Morocco, including a strong detachment of black soldiers from Senegal. 



One result of the negotiations between the Powers in 1911-12 was the decision that 

 the port of Tangier, while remaining under the nominal sovereignty of Morocco, should 

 be " internationalized." It was placed under the administration of a specially created 

 body, financed from the customs levied at the port as well as from direct taxation. 



The agreements with Germany (1911) and with Spain and Italy (1912) accepted 

 the suppression of the Consular Courts, when the other Powers exercising judicial 

 jurisdiction in Morocco also consented to that course. Austria and Russia made 



1 One or two "regrettable incidents," such as the arrest of a French consular agent for 

 carrying arms contrary to Spanish regulations, occurred at Alcazar, but they were rectified 

 by the good sense of the French and Spanish governments. 



2 On August 31, 1912 General Franchet d'Esperey succeeded General Monier as com- 

 mander of the French troops in Western Morocco. 



