Wikipedia

Franco-Moroccan War

For other uses, seeFranco-Moroccan War (disambiguation).

TheFranco-Moroccan War(Arabic:الحرب الفرنسية المغربية,French:Guerre franco-marocaine) was fought between theKingdom of Franceand theSultanate of Moroccofrom 6 August to 10 September 1844. The principal cause of war was the retreat ofAlgerian resistanceleaderAbd al-Kaderinto Morocco following French victories over many of his tribal supporters during theFrench conquest of Algeriaand the refusal of the Sultan of MoroccoMoulay Abd al-Rahmanto abandon the cause of Abd al-Kader against colonial occupation.[1][2]

Franco-Moroccan War

Painting of theBombardment of Tangier.
Date6 August – 10 September 1844
Location
Morocco
Result

French victory

Territorial
changes
  • Treaty of Lalla Maghnia
    • Belligerents
    		 MoroccoMorocco
    Commanders and leaders
    FranceFrançois d'Orléans
    FranceThomas Robert Bugeaud    		 MoroccoAbd al-Rahman
    MoroccoMohammed IV
    Strength
    15,000 troops
    15 warships    		 40,000 cavalry
    300 artillery
    Casualties and losses
    41+ killed
    163 wounded    		 1,150 killed
    28 cannons lost

    Background

    edit

    Shortly afterthe French invasion of Algiersin 1830, theEmir Abdelkaderarose as the leader of the resistance. He called on Moroccan tribesmen of the easternRif Mountainsto join his resistance, and he entreated the sultan to help him with military supplies. Abd al-Rahman complied by maintaining a steady stream of horses, arms, and money flowing to him.[3]

    In October 1842, after another defeat, Abd al-Kader fled with his followers from the territory of their fathers to Morocco.[4]Abd al-Kader had for some time made the Morocco frontier the basis of his forays into Algeria. He could retire within the Moroccan territory without molestation. The French, in order not to be thus baffled, had at last advanced a strong division to that part of the frontier from whence he made his sallies. GeneralsLouis Juchault de LamoricièreandMarie Alphonse Bedeaufixed on their encampment onLalla Maghnia.On 22 May 1844, El-Gennaoui, commander of the Moorish garrison at Oujda, summoned the French to evacuate Lalla Maghnia. On the 30th, the MoorishQaid,unable to control the fanatic passions of the contingents assembled around him, gave way to fire into the French entrenchments. Lamoricière and Bedeau quickly defeated and dispersed them, with the Moorish troops falling back upon Oujda.[5][6]On 15 June, the Moorish troops approached unnoticed, and fired upon the French troops, wounding CaptainEugène Daumasand two men. The Moorish chief declared that the frontier must be set back to theTafna River[fr],and in case of refusal it was war.[6]TheGovernor-General of AlgeriaandFrench MarshalThomas Robert Bugeaudwrote to El-Gennaoui insisting that the border be demarcated along theKiss River[fr],a position further west than the Tafna River, and threatening of war if Morocco would continue receiving and succouring Abd al-Kader.[7]The Marshal was seconded by one ofKing Louis Philippe I's sons, the young AdmiralFrançois d'Orléans, Prince of Joinville,who was commanding the cruisers off the Moorish coasts.[8]

    On 19 June, violating the frontier, Marshal Bugeaud occupied Oujda.[9]The dispute, thus commenced on the frontier, soon spread into the higher regions of diplomacy. The French Government sent a squadron under Prince de Joinville to the coast of Morocco to support its official reclamations. Marshal Bugeaud received instructions to commence offensive operations by land.[10]Abd al-Rahman sent orders to all his provincial Governors for a general levy. Abd al-Kader made his way intoDjebel Amour,and endeavoured to raise the southern tribes against the French. They all remained faithful; the Emir only obtained a promise that they would join the Moorish army when it met the infidel forces.[9]

    On 1 July, the Moors made an attack on the banks of Isly but fled at the first musket-shots. The French troops ascended the river on the 11th, and on the 13th killed some hundred horsemen of the Moorish tribes, losing only two men and five horses. On the 19th the French troops returned to Lalla Maghnia for refreshment.[9]The Prince de Joinville, cruising in the waters ofCádizwith a flying squadron, received orders to proceed to Tangier. The French Consul in Spain forwarded to the court ofFezMarshal Bugeaud's ultimatum to theQaidSi el-Gennaoui.[11]

    War

    edit

    Bombardment of Tangier

    edit
    Main article:Bombardment of Tangier
    Painting ofPrince of JoinvillebombardingTangier.

    The war began on August 6, 1844, at eight in the morning, when a French fleet under the command of thePrince of JoinvilleFrançois d'Orléans,in his first action as a squadron commander, conducted a navalBombardment of Tangier.In an hour's time all the outer batteries were destroyed; two works held out longer, the battery of theKasbahand that of the marine fort. At eleven the fire ceased, the Prince commanding the squadron had executed the order of the Ministry, the exterior fortifications were in ruins, the town had been respected. The squadron, then, went into the Atlantic, passed along the coast of Morocco, and, though the weather was very bad, anchored before Mogador on 11 August. The condition of the sea would not allow of the vessels at once taking up their fighting positions. For three days they had to lie at anchor without being able to communicate.[12]

    Battle of Isly

    edit
    Main article:Battle of Isly
    Exposition ofMoulay Mohammed's tent in theTuileries Garden.

    TheEmperor Abd al-Rahman's son and heir presumptive,Sidi Mohammed,advanced towardsAlgeria,contrary to the orders of his father, with the intention of turning the French out ofLalla Maghnia.He was deceived by the reports of fanatic personages around him, and perhaps influenced byAbd al-Kader's agents, Sidi Mohammed even talked of a plan of conquering theprovince of Oran.Moulay Mohammed found the number of his soldiers increasing every day. All the Berber and Arab tribes that inhabit the vast territory extending fromFeztoOujdacame to take part in the war against the infidels, and many Algerian tribes prayed for the success of the holy enterprise.[13]The conflict peaked on August 14, 1844, at theBattle of Isly,which took place nearOujda.[2]A large Moroccan force led by the Sultan's son Sidi Mohammed, was defeated by a smaller French royal force under theGovernor-General of AlgeriaThomas Robert Bugeaud.[14]As a consequence of the battle, Sidi Mohammed retreated toTazaand the Marshal spread his emissaries that he would pursue him there. Abd al-Rahman sent orders to his son to stay the Marshal's march, by making proposals of peace to him.[15]For his victory,King Louis Philippe Iconferred the title of Duke of Isly upon Marshal Bugeaud.[16]

    Bombardment of Mogador

    edit
    Main article:Bombardment of Mogador
    Painting of theSuffren,which took part in the Tangier andMogadoraffairs.

    The weather cleared up on the 15th. Mogador (Essaouira), Morocco's mainAtlantictrade port, was attacked in theBombardment of Mogadorand briefly occupied by Joinville on August 16, 1844.[17][18]TheSuffren,theJemmapes,and theTriton,opened fire upon the fortifications. TheBelle Pouleand the other vessels of lighter draught entered the harbour and engaged the batteries of the Marina and those of theislanddefending the port. At first the Moors made a vigorous reply, but gradually slackened and then ceased their fire, being crushed by the projectiles from the squadron. The batteries fell into ruins, the guns were dismounted, and the gunners driven off. The island alone held out, being defended by a detachment of three hundred and twenty men. The steam-vesselsPluton,GassendiandPhare,landed five hundred marines, who carried the position under a sharp fire and drive the defenders out of their last entrenchments. Next day a landing party completed the destruction of the works spared by shot. All the guns not dismounted were spiked, the powder drowned, and all the goods found in the custom-house burnt or thrown into the sea.[19]

    While steamships played an important part in the operations at Tangier and Mogador, Joinville commanded both bombardments from theship of the lineSuffren,and the three ships of the line in his force provided most of the firepower.[1]The French lost no ships in the shelling, which Joinville called “much more of a political act than an act of warfare”, but suffered a significant casualty afterward, when the paddle steamerGroenlandran aground nearLaracheon 26 August and could not be saved.[1]The French Government gave a pledge to theUnited Kingdomthat Tangier, as a quasi-European town, would be spared from hostilities.[20]The British had warships on hand at both Tangier and Mogador, and protested the bombardments. The Moroccan campaign, combined with concurrentAnglo-French tensions over Tahiti,fuelled a mild war scare.[1]

    Aftermath

    edit

    Treaty of Tangier

    edit
    Main article:Treaty of Tangier (1844)

    The war formally ended on September 10, 1844, with the signing of theTreaty of Tangier,in whichMoroccoagreed to recognizeAlgeria as part of the French Empire,reduce the size of its garrison atOujda,and establish a commission to demarcate the border.[2]The peace treaty imposed on the Moroccan monarchy to abandon its support ofAbd al-Kaderand brand him an “outlaw”.[21][22]The 4th article of the treaty of peace stipulated that “HajjAbd al-Kader is placed beyond the pale of the law throughout the entire extent of the Empire of Morocco, as well as in Algeria. He will, consequently, be pursued by main force, by the French on the territory of Algeria, and by the Moroccans on their own territory, till he is expelled therefrom, or falls into the power of one or other nation”.[10]Abd al-Kader would eventually surrender on 24 December 1847 toHenri d'Orléans.[23]The Convention of Tangier also stipulated that the boundaries existing between the Turks and Moors at the moment of the conquest should be preserved,[24]and that the Algero-Moroccan boundary agreement that was to follow was to use as its basis the territorial limits of Algeria as they had existed at the time of theTurkish rule.[25]

    Treaty of Lalla Maghnia

    edit

    TheTreaty of Lalla Maghnia,signed on March 18, 1845, established a topographic border between Algeria and Morocco, but only from the Mediterranean coast to Teniet el-Sassi, some seventy miles inland.[26][27][28]The treaty designated that theksourof Yich andFiguigbelong to Morocco, while theksourofAïn Séfra,Sfissifa,Asla,Tiout,Chellala,El Bayadh,andBoussemghounbelong to Algeria.[29]The French refused to delineate the frontier to the south of Figuig on the ground that a frontier was superfluous in uninhabited desert land.[30]

    See also

    edit

    References

    edit
    1. ^abcdSondhaus 2004,p. 72.
    2. ^abcHekking 2020.
    3. ^Miller 2013,p. 17.
    4. ^Wagner & Pulszky 1854,p. 367.
    5. ^Churchill 1867,pp. 233–234.
    6. ^abIdeville 1884,p. 113.
    7. ^Ideville 1884,p. 114.
    8. ^Ideville 1884,p. 116.
    9. ^abcIdeville 1884,p. 118.
    10. ^abChurchill 1867,p. 236.
    11. ^Ideville 1884,p. 119.
    12. ^Ideville 1884,pp. 119–120.
    13. ^Ideville 1884,p. 121.
    14. ^Pennell 2000,p. 49.
    15. ^Ideville 1884,p. 125.
    16. ^Ideville 1884,p. 133.
    17. ^Paterson 1844,p. 520.
    18. ^Houtsma 1987,p. 550.
    19. ^Ideville 1884,p. 120.
    20. ^Paterson 1844,p. 474.
    21. ^Bouyerdene 2012,p. 212.
    22. ^Bouyerdene 2012,p. 64.
    23. ^Bouyerdene 2012,p. 68.
    24. ^Ideville 1884,p. 173.
    25. ^Trout 1969,p. 20.
    26. ^Ronald A. Messier, James A. Miller (2015).The Last Civilized Place Sijilmasa and Its Saharan Destiny.University of Texas Press. p. 353.ISBN978-0-292-76667-9.
    27. ^Gorton Carruth (1993).The Encyclopedia of World Facts and Dates.HarperCollins, 1993. p. 446.ISBN978-0-06-270012-4.
    28. ^Maghraoui, Driss (2013-07-18).Revisiting the Colonial Past in Morocco.Routledge.ISBN978-1-134-06174-7.
    29. ^Clercq 1865,p. 274.
    30. ^Abun-Nasr 1987,p. 307.

    Bibliography

    edit

    Books

    edit

    Websites

    edit
    edit
    Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Franco-Moroccan_War&oldid=1252327460"