First Moroccan Crisis
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The First Moroccan Crisis (also known as the Tangier Crisis) was the international crisis over the international status of Morocco between March 1905 and May 1906.
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[edit] Background
German Chancellor Bernhard von Bülow was worried about the recently signed Entente Cordiale between Britain and France. He decided to test the new friendship between Britain and France, who had until recently been involved in imperial rivalries in Africa, Asia and the Pacific. His calculation was that such a crisis would reveal the weakness of ties between the two powers and that Britain would not be prepared to offer a strong support to France in a situation where war would be in sight.
The French government was at the time trying to establish a protectorate over Morocco, and had managed to sign two bilateral secret [1] agreements with Britain (April 8) 1904 and Spain (October 7) 1904, which guaranteed the support of the powers in question in this endeavour. A previous agreement with Italy had yet been signed (December 14-16) 1900[2].
[edit] Timeline of Events
[edit] The Kaiser's visit
The First Moroccan crisis grew out of the imperial rivalries of the great powers, in this case, between Germany on one side and France, with British support, on the other. This was met with the hostility of Germany, which had been kept in the dark. Germany took immediate diplomatic action to block the new accord from going into effect, including the dramatic visit of Kaiser Wilhelm II to Tangier in Morocco on March 31, 1905. Kaiser Wilhelm tried to get Morocco's support if they went to war with France or Britain but unfortunately his sudden appearance angered many of the people. The kaiser gave a speech in favour of Moroccan independence, which amounted to a provocative challenge to French influence in Morocco.
[edit] Mobilization for War
Germany sought a multilateral conference where the French could be called to account before other European powers. French premier Maurice Rouvier, initially interested in a compromise solution, refused as French public opinion turned against Germany and the British lent their support to the French position. The French foreign minister, Théophile Delcassé, took a defiant line. The crisis peaked in mid-June, when Delcassé was forced out of the ministry by the more conciliation-minded premier Maurice Rouvier; the French cancelled all military leaves (June 15) and Germany threatened to sign a defensive alliance with the Sultan (June 22). On July 1 France with strong British backing, agreed to attend the conference, as it was apparent that Germany was becoming diplomatically isolated.
The crisis continued to the eve of the conference at Algeciras, with Germany calling up reserve units (December 30) and France moving troops to the German border (January 3).
[edit] The Algeciras Conference
The Algeciras Conference was called to settle the dispute, lasting from January 16 to April 7, 1906. Of the thirteen nations present the German representatives found their only supporter was Austria-Hungary. A German attempt at compromise was rejected by all but Austria Hungary. France had firm support from Britain, Russia, Italy, Spain, and the United States. The Germans decided to accept a face-saving compromise agreement on March 31, 1906 that was signed on May 31, 1906. France agreed to yield control of the Moroccan police, but otherwise retained effective control of Moroccan political and financial affairs.
[edit] Aftermath
Although the Algeciras Conference temporarily solved the First Moroccan Crisis it only worsened international tensions between the Triple Alliance and Triple Entente that ultimately led to the first world war.
This also showed that the Entente Cordiale was strong as Britain had defended France in the crisis. The crisis can be seen as a reason for the Anglo-Russian Entente being signed the following year since both countries backed France. Kaiser Wilhelm II was angry at being humiliated and was determined not to back down again which led the German involvement in the Second Moroccan Crisis.
[edit] See also
- Agadir Crisis (Second Moroccan Crisis)
- Tangier Garrison
- Perdicaris incident
[edit] References
- ^ See Morocco in Diplomacy by E. D. Morel
- ^ This secret agreement between France and Italy provided for the formal mutual recognition by the two side of their interests respectively about Morocco and Libya. See Gianpaolo Ferraioli, Politica e diplomazia in Italia tra il XIX e XX secolo, Rubbettino, Catanzaro, 2007 ISBN 8849816979.
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