page_title: French Protectorate in Morocco
section_title: Lyautey and the Protectorate (1912–1925)
hierarchical_section_title: French Protectorate in Morocco / French protectorate (1912–1956) / Lyautey and the Protectorate (1912–1925)
caption_attribution_description: General Hubert Lyautey
context_page_description: The French Protectorate in Morocco, also known as French Morocco, was a colonial regime imposed by France in the Sherifian Empire. The protectorate was officially established March 30, 1912, when Sultan Abd al-Hafid signed the Treaty of Fes, though the French military occupation of Morocco had begun with the invasion of Oujda and the bombardment of Casablanca in 1907.
  The French Protectorate lasted until the dissolution of the Treaty of Fes on March 2, 1956, with the Franco-Moroccan Joint Declaration. Morocco's independence did not mean an end to French presence. France preserved its influence in the country, including a right to station French troops and to have a say in Morocco's foreign policy. French settlers also maintained their rights and property.
  The French Protectorate shared territory with the Spanish protectorate, established and dissolved the same years; its borders consisted of the area of Morocco between the "Corridor of Taza" and the Draa River, including sparse tribal lands, and the official capital was Rabat.
context_section_description: Hubert Lyautey, the first Resident-General of the Protectorate, was an idealistic yet pragmatic leader with royalist leanings, who made it his mission to develop Morocco in every sector under French influence. Unlike his compatriots, Lyautey didn't believe that France should directly annex Morocco like French Algeria, but rather remodel and re-educate Moroccan society. He promised that, in this process, he would:
  ...offend no tradition, change no custom, and remind ourselves that in all human society there is a ruling class, born to rule, without which nothing can be done...[we] enlist the ruling class in our service...and the country will be pacified, and at far less cost and with greater certainty than by all the military expeditions we could send there...
  Lyautey's vision was ideological: A powerful, pro-French, Westernized monarchy that would work with France and look to France for culture and aid. Unlike in Algeria, where the entire nobility and government had been displaced, the Moroccan nobility was included in Lyautey's plans. He worked with them, offering support and building elite private schools to which they could send their children; one notable product of this schooling was Thami El Glaoui.
  Lyautey allowed the Sultan to retain his powers, both nominal and practical: He issued decrees in his own name and seal, and was allowed to remain religious leader of Morocco; he was further allowed an all-Arab court. Lyautey once said of this:
  In Morocco, there is only one government, the sharifian government, protected by the French.
  Walter Burton Harris, a British journalist who wrote extensively on Morocco, commented upon French preservation of traditional Moroccan society:
  At the Moorish court, scarcely a European is to be seen, and to the native who arrives at the Capital [sic] there is little or no visible change from what he and his ancestors saw in the past.
  Lyautey served his post until 1925, in the late midst of the failed revolt of the Republic of the Rif against Franco-Spanish administration and the Sultan.
caption: Marshal Lyautey, first resident general of French Morocco. He represented French colonial interests while also upholding the authority of the sultan.
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