Page:EB1911 - Volume 18.djvu/891

Rh At Casablanca at this time works were in progress, with the sanction of the sultan, for improving the harbour. The works were beyond the ramparts, close to the Moslem cemetery; and the neighbouring tribesmen (the Shawia) were excited by reports that the cemetery had been desecrated. On the 30th of July they attacked the European labourers and killed nine of them (three French, three Spaniards, and three Italians), afterwards entering the town and raiding the Jewish quarter. Refugees fled by boat to Tangier with news of the massacre. The French government decided to occupy Casablanca, and a strong naval and military force was sent thither. Before the arrival of the troops the commander of the cruiser “Galilée” landed a party (Aug. 5) to guard the French consulate. The passage of the detachment was opposed, whereupon the “Galilée,” aided by the “Du Chayla” bombarded the town. Casablanca was at the same time entered by the tribesmen, who began a general pillage. On the 7th the French troops arrived and were landed, and further fighting took place. Before order was restored nearly every inhabitant had been killed or wounded or had fled; the dead alone numbered thousands. The European colony was, however, saved. Though masters of the town, the French found the Shawia tribes still full of fight, and, first under General Drude and afterwards (Jan. 1908) under General Amadé, the French proceeded to the reduction of the Shawia country. At one time the expeditionary force numbered 15,000 men. By June 1908 the district was quiet and thereafter the strength of the force was gradually reduced.

The action of France at Casablanca aroused the fanaticism of the tribes of Tafīlālt and those dwelling near the Algerian border. In November 1907 the Beni Snassen crossed the frontier and were not reduced to submission until after hard fighting. Another outbreak occurred in April 1908, when a French column in the Guir district, west of Figig was surprised, and had difficulty in beating back the enemy. In that and a subsequent engagement, which resulted in the dispersal of the foe in May, the French casualties were over 200. French and Moorish commissioners were then appointed to preserve order along the frontier.

While thus engaged on the eastern frontier and on the Atlantic coast of Morocco France had given financial and moral support to ‛Abd-el-‛Azīz, whose position was threatened by his brother Mulai Hafid. On the 16th of August 1907, within a fortnight of the bombardment of Casablanca, the ulema of Marrākesh had declared ‛Abd-el-‛Azīz deposed and Hafid sultan; and from September onwards the tribes round Casablanca opposing the French were supported by troops sent from Marrākesh. Aziz having been furnished with money by the state bank, he was enabled to reach the seaport of Rabat at the head of his army in September 1907. There he was visited by the French minister and appeared willing to grant all the demands of France in return for help against his brother. A loan was forthcoming but no military assistance save that some of ‛Abd-el-‛Azīz’s troops were taken by a French warship to Mazagan. While desultory fighting between the supporters of the rival brothers was proceeding Hafid was proclaimed sultan at Fez on the 4th of January 1908; Hafid now sought support from France, Germany, and other powers, and moving from Marrākesh passed the French

lines in the Shawia country, entered Mequinez in May and Fez in June 1908. At length ‛Abd-el-‛Azīz made an effort to reassert his authority and with a force numbering 4000 he left Rabat in July for Marrākesh. He reached the neighbourhood of that city on the 2nd of August, having received the adhesion of numerous tribes, including the Shawia. On the 19th he started for the final march on Marrākesh. He appears to have been betrayed, for hardly had his force started when it was assailed on all sides, whereupon the tribesmen deserted in a body and the “regulars” ran away. The day was irretrievably lost and ‛Abd-el-‛Azīz sought safety in night. On the 22nd he arrived at Settat in the Shawia country, and within the French lines, with only a handful of followers. For a short time he talked of continuing the struggle, but ended by accepting a pension from his brother Hafid and was assigned a residence in Tangier. That town, the last in Morocco to acknowledge Hafid, did so on the 23rd of August; the change of sultans being accomplished without any disturbance of public order.

Germany was anxious for the immediate recognition of Hafid and caused some perturbation in France by a circular to the powers to that effect dated the 2nd of September; the French and Spanish governments replied by proposals for guarantees that Hafid would respect the Act of Algeçiras. This course received general assent and

Hafid having given the guarantees demanded he was formally recognized as sultan at the beginning of 1909. His relations with Europe were made easier by the conclusion, in February 1909, of a Franco-German agreement designed to avoid all cause of misunderstanding between those powers in Morocco. Germany put on record that her interests in the sultanate were “only economic,” and France agreeing to “safeguard economic equality” Germany undertook not to impede the political interests of France in the country.

The weakness of the central government was exemplified by the inability of Mulai Hafid to control the Rif tribesmen, who in July 1909 killed a number of European labourers in the neighbourhood of the Spanish fortress of (q.v.). Spain sent an army of 50,000 men to vindicate its authority. After a severe campaign the Riffians were reduced to submission (Nov. 1909). Though powerless in the Rif, Mulai Hafid’s army succeeded in defeating Bu Hamāra’s force and in capturing (Aug. 1909) that pretender, otherwise known as el Roghi. Bu Hamāra and many of his followers were taken to Fez. The tortures inflicted upon them evoked strong protests from the European powers. In 1910 Mulai Hafid obtained a loan, chiefly from France, of £4,000,000; the greater part of the loan went to liquidate claims by Europeans against the maghzen.