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Marocco Francese 1912 (31 marzo) - 1956 (1 marzo) CercaDefinizione
The sultanate of Morocco was administered as a French protectorate from March 30, 1912, to March 1, 1956. Sultan Abd al-Hafid was replaced by his brother, Moulay Yusuf and Sidi Muhammad became sultan after Yusuf's death in 1927. Under the French, Moroccan Jews enjoyed relative freedom in the practice of traditions, religion, and occupations. From 1912 onwards, Morocco attracted a large number of Jews from Algeria and Tunisia. In 1939, the Jewish population of Morocco, at 225,000 people, was half its size from the previous century. The French administration's decree that separated Berbers and Arabs and the anniversary celebration of the sultan's accession resulted in the increase in Moroccan nationalism and the organization of nationalist political parties. At the outbreak of World War II in 1939, a Moroccan unit, mainly Berbers, served in the French armed forces. After the fall of France in June 1940, Morocco came under Vichy jurisdiction. However, sultan Sidi Muhammad refused to approve anti-Jewish legislation, welcomed the Anglo-American military landings in November 1942, and received the Allied leaders during the Casablanca Conference in 1943. Moroccan Jews were not deported by the Germans, although they were subjected to various Vichy laws such as a Jewish quota in schools, restrictions in food rations, and overcrowded living conditions. European Jewish refugees were placed in refugee, internment, or concentration camps. After the Allied landings, the Rabbi Eliahu Synagogue in Casablanca was attacked and pogroms broke out across the country. Moroccan Jewry's economic, legal, and social status was restored in part after June 1943, when the Free French assumed administration. Influenced by the Allied presence and increased access to radio and press, the nationalist movement gained strength and organized under the name of Independence Party (Hizb al-Istiqlal). In January 1944, the Independence Party issued a statement to the sultan and the Allied and French authorities calling for independence. The French authorities arrested many nationalist leaders on the charge of collaboration with the Axis, sparking riots in Fès. In 1947 Sidi Muhammad's speech during visit to the international city of Tangier in which he emphasized Arab unity led to tensions with the French and the dismissal of the sultan on August 20, 1953. Unable to stem the growth of nationalism, the French allowed the return of Muhammad in 1955. The majority of Moroccan Jews immigrated to Israel after its establishment in 1948. On March 2, 1956, Moroccan independence is officially proclaimed with the unification of the French and Spanish protectorates. With independence, civil rights of the Moroccan Jews were restored.
A significant conflict during Muhammad's reign is the divide between native Arabs and Berbers. In 1930, French officials pass the so-called Berber Decree, a crude effort to divide Berbers and Arabs. The result is just the opposite of French intentions; it provokes a Moroccan nationalist reaction and forces the administration to modify its proposals. In 1933, the nationalists initiate a new national day call the Fete du Trone (Throne Day) to mark the anniversary of the sultan's accession. When he visits Fes in the following year, he receives a tumultuous welcome, accompanied by anti-French demonstrations that cause the authorities to terminate the visit abruptly. This episode is soon followed by the organization of political parties of nationalist sentiment. In 1937, rioting occurs in Meknes, where French settlers are suspected of diverting part of the town water supply to irrigate their own lands at the expense of the Muslim cultivators. In the ensuing repression, Muhammad Allal al-Fasi, the main nationalist leader, is banished to Gabon in French Equatorial Africa, where he spends the following nine years.
At the outbreak of World War II in 1939, the sultan issues a call for cooperation with the French, and a large Moroccan contingent, mainly Berbers, serve with distinction in France. The collapse of the protecting power in 1940 and the installation of the Vichy regime produce and entirely new situation. The sultan marks his independence by refusing to approve anti-Jewish legislation. When the Anglo-American landings take place in 1942, he refuses to comply with the suggestion of the resident general Auguste Nogues, that he retire to the interior. In 1943, the sultan is influenced by his meeting with U.S. president Franklin D. Roosevelt, who comes to Morocco for the Casablanca Conference and is unsympathetic to continued French presence there. The majority of the people are equally affected by contact with the US. And British troops, who put them in touch with the outside world to an unprecedented degree. Among the people at large, the effect of the newly introduced radio broadcasts in Arabic with which the combatants, Allied and Nazi alike, seek to attract Arab listeners to their side, is considerable. Amid these circumstances, the nationalist movement takes the new title of Independence Party (Hizb al-Istiqlal). In January 1944, they submit to the sultan and the Allied (including the French) authorities a memorandum asking for independence under a constitutional regime.
The nationalist leaders are immediately arrested on the charge of collaboration with the Nazis. This causes rioting in Fes and elsewhere in which some 30 or more demonstrators are killed. In the situation thus created, the initiative passes to the sultan Muhammad, who in 1947 persuades a new and reforming French general, Eirik Labonne, to gain the French government's permission for him to make an official state visit to Tangier. The journey becomes a triumphal procession; when the sultan finally makes his speech in Tangier, he emphasizes the links of Morocco with the Arab world of the east, omitting the expected flattering reference to the French protectorate. Tensions mount, and on 20 August 1953, Muhammad and his family are exiled to Madagascar. The French position on the sultan becomes increasingly untenable, especially in the context of Algeria's attempt at decolonization. In June 1955, the Paris government decide on a complete change of policy, and in November, Sidi Muhammad returns to Rabat. On March 2, 1956, Moroccan independence is officially proclaimed.
With respect to the Jewish community, the establishment of the French Protectorate in 1912 is marked in Fes by a pogrom which claims the lives of over 100 Jews. Still, under French and Spanish rule, Jews enjoyed relative freedom in matters pertaining to their traditions, religion, occupations, and movement. From 1912 onwards, Morocco attracted a large number of Jews from Algeria and Tunisia. Still, in 1939, the Jewish population of Morocco, at 225,000 people, was only half its size from the previous century.
During the Second World War, Moroccan Jews are neither despoiled nor deported by the Germans, although they suffer from incessant humiliations under the Vichy government and for the extremist interpretation of its laws. These lois d'exceptions passed on October 31, 1940, cause a deterioration in relations between Jews and Muslims. There are Jewish quotas in the schools; Jews receive only half the food ration allotted to the Muslim population and are obliged to live in the mellah, where the overcrowding causes epidemics. Foreign Jews who seek sanctuary in Morocco are placed in labor or concentration camps. Immediately after the U.S. landings, the Rabbi Eliahu Synagogue in Casablanca is desecrated and pogroms break out all over the country. Moroccan Jewry's economic, legal, and social status is incompletely restored after June 1943, when the Gaullists come to power.
In the early 1950s, Jews are still denied the right to vote, and between 1953 and 1954, pogroms sweep through numerous towns, including Casablanca and Rabat. It is not until 1956, when Muhammad returns, that Jews begin to win back their civil rights to any great extent. (en-US)
Fonte
Encyclopaedia Britannica: a dictionary of arts, sciences, and general literature. Chicago: Encyclopaedia Britannica, 1995. vol. 24, 986-990