History Of Morocco

Prehistory and Antiquity:

Archaeological Site of Volubilis - Morocco

  The area of present-day Morocco has been inhabited since Paleolithic times , at least since 200,000 BCE. During the Upper Paleolithic, the Maghreb  was more fertile than it is today, resembling a savanna
 more than today's arid landscape.22,000 years ago, the  Aterian  was succeeded by the lberomaurusian  culture, which shared similarities with Iberian cultures. Skeletal similarities have been suggested between the lberomaurusian  " Mechta-Afalou" burials and European Cro-Magnon remains. The Iberomaurusian was succeeded by the Beaker culture in Morocco.

Studies have discovered a close link between Berbers  and the Saami  of Scandinavia which confirms that the Franco-cantabrian refuge area of southwestern Europe was the source of late-glacial expansions of hunter-gatherers that repopulated northern Europe after the last ice age.

North Africa and Morocco were slowly drawn into the wider emerging Mediterranean  world by the Phoenicians  who established trading colonies and settlements in the early Classical period. Substantial Phoenician settlements were at  Challah , Lixus  and Mogador , with Mogador being a Phoenician colony as early as the early 6th century BC.

Morocco later became part of a North African empire head-quartered in  Carthage . The earliest known independent Moroccan state was the Berber Kingdom Of Mauretania  under king Bocchus . This kingdom in northern Morocco, not to be confused with the present state of   Mauretania , dates at least to 110 BCE.

From the 1st century BCE the region was part of the Roaman Empire  as Mauretania Tingitana Christinanity  was introduced in the 2nd century CE and gained converts in the Roman towns, among slaves and some Berber farmers.

In the 5th century CE, as the Roman Empire declined, the region was invaded from the north first by the Vandals     and then by the Visigoths . In the 6th century CE, northern Morocco became part of the East Roman, or Byzantine Empire. Throughout this time, however, the Berber inhabitants in the high mountains of the interior of Morocco remained unsubdued.

Early Islamic Era:

In 670 CE, the first Islamic conquest of the North African  coastal plain took place under Uqba Ibn Nafi , a general serving under the Umayyads of Damascus. The Umayyad  Muslims brought their language, their system of government, and Islam to Morocco. Many of the Berbers slowly converted to Islam, mostly after Arab rule had receded. The first independent Muslim state in the area of modern Morocco, was the Kingdom of Nekor , an emirate in the Rif mounatains . It was founded by Salih Ibn Mansur  in 710, as a client state to the  Rashidun Caliphate. After the outbreak of the Great Berber Revolt  in 739, the Berbers formed other independent states such as the Miknasa of Sijilmasa and the Baeghawara.

According to medieval legend, Idris ibn Abdallah had fled to Morocco after the Abbasids' massacre of his tribe in Iraq. He convinced the Awraba  Berber tribes to break their allegiance to the distant Abbasid caliphs in Baghdad and he founded the Idrisid Dynasty  in 788. The Idrisids established Fes  as their capital and Morocco became a centre of Muslim learning and a major regional power . The Idrissids were ousted in 927 by the Fatimid Caliphate  and their Miknasa allies. After Miknasa broke off relations with the Fatimids in 932, they were removed from power by the Maghrawa  of Sijilmasa in 980.

Berber dynasties:

The Kasbah of  Ait Benhaddou ,built by
the Berbers from the 14th century onwards

From the 11th century onwards, a series of powerful Berber dynasties arose. Under the Almoravid dynasty   and the Almohad dynasty, Morocco dominated the Maghreb, much of present-day Spain and Portugal, and the western Mediterranean region. In the 13th and 14th centuries the Merrinids  held power in Morocco and strove to replicate the successes of the Almohads  by military campaigns in Algeria and Spain. They were followed by the  Wattasids. In the 15th century, the Reconquista  ended Muslim rule in central and southern Spain and many Muslims  and Jews  fled to Morocco. Portugues  efforts to control the Atlantic coast in the 15th century did not greatly affect the interior of Morocco. According to Elizabeth Allo Isichei, "In 1520, there was a famine  in Morocco so terrible that for a long time other events were dated by it. It has been suggested that the population of Morocco fell from 5 to under 3 million between the early sixteenth and nineteenth centuries."

Sharifian dynasties: 

The Sultan Aberrahmane of Morocco

In 1549, the region fell to successive Arab dynasties claiming descent from the Islamic prophet, Muhammad  : first the  Saadi dynasty  who ruled from 1549 to 1659, and then the Alaouite dynasty , who remained in power since the 17th century.

Under the Saadi Dynasty, the country repulsed Ottoman  incursions and a Portuguese invasion at the battle of ksar el Kebir  in 1578. The reign of Ahmad al-Mansur  brought new wealth and prestige to the Sultanate, and a large expedition to West Africa inflicted a crushing defeat on the Songhay Empire in 1591. However, managing the territories across the Sahara proved too difficult. After the death of al-Mansur the country was divided among his sons.

In 1666 Morocco was reunited by the  Alaouite Dynasty , who have been the ruling house of Morocco ever since. Morocco was facing aggression from Spain and the Ottoman Empire pressing westward. The Alaouites succeeded in stabilizing their position, and while the kingdom was smaller than previous ones in the region, it remained quite wealthy. Against the opposition of local tribes Ismail Ibn Sharif  (1672–1727) began to create a unified state.With his Jaysh d'Ahl al-Rif (the Riffian  Army) he seized  Tangier from the  English in 1684 and drove the Spanish  from Larache in 1689.

Morocco was the first nation to recognize the fledgling United States as an independent nation in 1777. In the beginning of the American Revolution, American merchant ships in the Atlantic Ocean  were subject to attack by the Barbary Pirates . On 20 December 1777, Morocco's Sultan Mohammed III  declared that American merchant ships would be under the protection of the sultanate and could thus enjoy safe passage. The Moroccan-American Treaty of Friendship  stands as the U.S.'s oldest non-broken friendship treaty.

French and Spanish protectorates: 

Pre-1956 Tangier  had a highly heterogeneous population that included 40,000 Muslims, 30,000 Europeans and 15,000 Jews.

As Europe industrialized, North Africa was increasingly prized for its potential for colonization. France showed a strong interest in Morocco as early as 1830. In 1860, a dispute over Spain's Ceuta enclave led Spain to declare war. Victorious Spain won a further enclave and an enlarged Ceuta in the settlement. In 1884, Spain created a protectorate in the coastal areas of Morocco.

Death of Spanish general Margallo during 
the Melilla War.Le Petit
 Journal , 13 November 1893.

In 1904, France and Spain carved out zones of influence in Morocco. Recognition by the United Kingdom   of France's sphere of influence provoked a strong reaction from the German Empire; and a crisis loomed in 1905. The matter was resolved at the Algeciras Conference  in 1906. The  Agadir Crisis provoked by the Germans, increased tensions between European powers. The 1912 Treaty of Fez  made Morocco a protectorate  of France. Spain continued to operate its coastal protectorate. By the same treaty, Spain assumed the role of  protecting power  over the northern and southern  Saharan zones.

Tens of thousands of colonists entered Morocco and bought up large amounts of the rich agricultural land. Interest groups that formed among these elements continually pressured France to increase its control over Morocco. Many Moroccan soldiers (Goumieres) served in the French army  in both World War I  and World War II, and in the Spanish Nationalist Army in the  Spanish Civil War and after ( Regulares).

From 1921–6 a Berber uprising in the Rif Mountains, led by Abd el-Krim lead to the establishment of the Republic of the Rif. The rebellion was suppressed by French and Spanish troops.

In 1943, the Istiqlal Party (Independence Party) was founded to press for independence. That party subsequently provided most of the leadership for the nationalist movement.

France's exile  ofSultan Mohammed V  in 1953 to  Madagascar and his replacement by the unpopular Mohammed Ben Aarafa sparked active opposition to the French and Spanish protectorates. The most notable violence occurred in Oujda  where Moroccans attacked French and other European residents in the streets. France allowed Mohammed V to return in 1955, and the negotiations that led to Moroccan independence began the following year. In March 1956 the French protectorate was ended and Morocco regained its independence from France and Spain as the "Kingdom of Morocco". Spain kept its two coastal enclaves. Sultan Mohammed became king in 1957.

Reign of King Hassan II :

King Hassan II

Upon the death of King Mohammed, Hassan II became King of Morocco on March 3, 1961. Morocco held its first  general elections in 1963. However, Hassan declared a state of emergency and suspended parliament in 1965. In 1971, there was a failed attempt to depose the king and establish a republic. A truth commission set up in 2005 to investigate human rights abuses during his reign confirmed nearly 10,000 cases, ranging from death in detention to forced exile. Some 592 people were recorded killed during Hassan's rule.

The Spanish enclave of Ifni in the south was returned to Morocco in 1969. The Polisario movement  was formed in 1973, with the aim of establishing an independent state in the Spanish Sahara. On 6 November 1975 King Hassan asked for volunteers to cross into the Spanish Sahara. Some 350,000 civilians were reported as being involved in the " Green March". A month later, Spain agreed to leave the Spanish Sahara, soon to become Western Sahara, and to transfer it to joint Moroccan-Mauritanian control, despite the objections and threats of military intervention by Algeria. Moroccan forces occupied the territory.

Moroccan and Algerian troops soon clashed in Western Sahara. Morocco and Mauritania divided up Western Sahara. Fighting between the Moroccan military and Polisario forces continued for many years. The prolonged war was a considerable financial drain on Morocco. In 1983, Hassan cancelled planned elections amid political unrest and economic crisis. In 1984, Morocco left the Organisation of African Unity in protest at the SADR 's admission to the body. Polisario claimed to have killed more than 5,000 Moroccan soldiers between 1982 and 1985.

Diplomatic relations with Algeria were restored in 1988. In 1991, a U.N.-monitored ceasefire began in Western Sahara, but the territory's status remains undecided and ceasefire violations are reported. The following decade saw much wrangling over a proposed referendum on the future of the territory but the deadlock was not broken.

Political reforms in the 1990s resulted in the establishment of a bicameral legislature in 1997 and Morocco's first opposition-led government came to power in 1998.

Reign of Mohammed VI:

Mohamed VI

King Hassan II died in 1999 and was succeeded by his son, Mohammed VI. He is a cautious modernizer who has introduced some economic and social liberalization.

King Mohammed paid a controversial visit to the Western Sahara in 2002. Morocco unveiled an autonomy blueprint for Western Sahara to the United Nations in 2007. The Polisario rejected the plan and put forward its own proposal. Morocco and the Polisario Front held U.N.-sponsored talks in New York but failed to come to any agreement. In 2010, security forces stormed a protest camp in the Western Sahara, triggering violent demonstrations in the regional capital El Aaiun.

In 2002, Morocco and Spain agreed to a US-brokered resolution over the disputed island of Perejil. Spanish troops had taken the normally uninhabited island after Moroccan soldiers landed on it and set up tents and a flag. There were renewed tensions in 2005 as hundreds of African migrants tried to storm the borders of the Spanish enclaves of Melilla and Ceuta. Morocco deported hundreds of the illegal migrants. In 2006 the Spanish Premier Zapatero visited Spanish enclaves. He was the first Spanish leader in 25 years to make an official visit to the territories. The following year, Spanish King Juan Carlos visited Ceuta and Melilla, further angering Morocco which demanded the return of the enclaves.

In February 2003, a Casablanca court jailed three Saudi members of al-Qaeda for 10 years after they were accused of plotting to attack US and British warships in the Straits of Gibraltar. Three months later, more than 40 people were killed in the 2003 Casablanca bombings , when suicide bombers attacked several sites in Casablanca, including a Spanish restaurant and Jewish community centre.

Those responsible were believed to be Salafiya Jihadiya adherents linked to the Moroccan Islamic Combatant Group. One of those extremists was Nourredine Nafia, leader of the GICM (Moroccan Islamic Combatant Group), who was sentenced to 20 years in prison for his role in the attacks.

In the 2007 Casablanca bombings, three suspected suicide bombers blew themselves up, a few weeks after a suicide blast in an internet cafe that injured three. More than 40 people were given long prison sentences for this bombing. Two suicide bombers blew themselves up outside the US diplomatic offices in Casablanca.

In 2008, two Moroccan men, Abdelilah Ahriz and Hicham Ahmidan, were sentenced to 20 and 10 years in jail respectively in Morocco over the Madrid train bombings  of 2004. Islamist Saad Housseini was given 15-year sentence in 2009 over the 2003 Casablanca bombings. He was also wanted in Spain over the Madrid bombings. Soon after, the alleged al-Qaeda leader in Morocco, Belgian-Moroccan  Abdelkader Belliraj, was imprisoned for life on being found guilty of leading an Islamist militant group and committing six murders in Belgium.

In the April 2011 Marrakech bombing , 17 people, mainly foreigners, were killed in a bomb attack on a Marrakech cafe. The Maghreb arm of al-Qaeda denied involvement. A man was later sentenced to death for the bombing.

In the 2011-2012 Moroccan protests , thousands of people rallied in Rabat and other cities calling for political reform and a new constitution curbing the powers of the king. In July 2011 the King won a landslide victory in a referendum on a reformed constitution he had proposed to placate the Arab Spring protests.

Demonstrators continued to call for deeper reforms. Tens of thousands took part in a trade union rally in Casablanca in May 2012. Participants accused the government of failing to deliver on reforms.