Collaboration and "Pacification": French conquest, Moroccan combatants, and the transformation of the Middle Atlas

Comparative Studies of South Asia, Africa and the Middle East

Volumn 24, Issue 1, 2004, Pages 139-146

  Gershovich, Moshe ^a  

^a NONE

Author keywords

[No Author keywords available]

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POLITICAL HISTORY;

EID: 15044365679     PISSN: 1089201X     EISSN: None     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1215/1089201x-24-1-141     Document Type: Article

References (57)

1. Ronald Robinson, "Non European foundations of European Imperialism: sketch for a theory of collaboration," in Roger Owen and Bob Sutcliffe, eds., Studies in the Theory of Imperialism (London: Longman, 1972), 117-141
2. Robinson, "Non European foundations," 138 and 141.
3. Examples of works on Imperialism and European empire-building include Tony Smith, The Pattern of Imperialism: The United States, Great Britain, and the late industrializing world since 1815 (Cambridge and New York: Cambridge University Press, 1981);
4. Michael W. Doyle, Empires (Ithaca and London: Cornell University Press, 1986);
5. Jûrgen Osterhammel, Colonialism, trans. Shelley Frisch (Princeton: Markus Wiener Publishers, 1997);
6. Alice L. Conklin and Ian Christopher Fletcher, eds., European Imperialism, 1830-1930: Climax and Contradictions (Boston: Houghton Mifflin Co., 1999).
7. On the process of decolonization, see Raymond F. Betts, Decolonization (London, Routledge, 1998).
8. A useful general introductory work on the history of French colonialism is Robert Aldrich, Greater France: A History of French Overseas Expansion (New York: St. Martin's Press, 1996).
9. On the painful process of the dismantling of the French empire see Anthony Clayton, The Wars of French Decolonization (London: Longman, 1994).
10. The best study of the transition of Morocco from informal imperialism to direct European domination remains Edmund Burke III, Prelude to Protectorate in Morocco: Precolonial Protest and Resistance, 1860-1912 (Chicago and London: University of Chicago Press, 1976).
11. The most recent study of the evolution of Franco-Moroccan relationship during the course of the Protectorate era is Daniel Rivet, Le Maroc de Lyautey à Mohammed V: le double visage du protectorat (Paris: Denoël, 1999).
12. The study of subaltern history as past of the "post-colonial" or "post-orient list" discourse is most commonly associated with South Asia and the Indian subcontinent, although recently it began to be applied to other cases of post-colonial societies. For an application of this discourse in the context of Moroccan soldiers see Driss Maghraoui, "The Moroccan Colonial Soldiers: Between Selective Memory and Collective memory," in Ali Abdullatif Ahmida, ed., Beyond Colonialism and Nationalism in the Maghrib: History, Culture, and Politics (Houndmills, Basingstoke, Hampshire, New York: Palgrave, 2000), 49-69.
13. Robinson, "Non European foundations," 118.
14. It should be noted that Lyautey's immediate successor at the residency, Theodore Steeg actually committed himself to policies that sharply contradicted Lyautey's concepts about imperialism, particularly insofar as the encouragement of the migration of European settlers was concerned. That policy is often referred to as the "Algerianization" of Morocco. On the implication of Steeg's approach to French agricultural planning in Morocco see Will D. Swearingen, Moroccan Mirages: Agrarian Dreams and Deceptions, 1912-1986 (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1987), 51-54.
15. The conventional view of Lyautey's biography used to regard his departure overseas to Indochina in 1894 as an act forced upon him by the army's general staff. See for example William A. Hoisington, Lyautey and the French Conquest of Morocco (New York: St. Martin's Press, 1995), 5. However, in his study of Lyautey's early career (Lyautey avant Lyautey [Paris: L'Harmattan, 1997], 53-63), Pascal Venier argues that the decision to go overseas was initiated by Lyautey himself.
16. Lyautey regarded his choice of the mild-tempered Mawlay Yusuf to replace his independent-minded brother, 'Abd al-Hafiz in August 1912 to be his "loveliest invention." See Daniel Rivet, Lyautey et l'institution du protectorat française au Maroc (Paris: L'Harmattan, 1988), 1: 170.
17. See Daniel Rivet, "De la société française à la société marocaine: l'itinéraire aristocratique de Lyautey," in Actes du colloque Doctrine, Sciences ou Pratiques Sociales (Nancy: PUN, 1985-1986), 3: 235.
18. On Lyautey's shaping of the dual Protectorate-Makhzan bureaucracy see also Alan Scham, Lyautey in Morocco: Protectorate Administration, 1912-1925 (Berkeley: University of California Press, 1970).
19. On the evolution of French colonial philosophy see Ray mond F. Betts, Assimilation and Association in French Colonial Theory, 1890-1914 (New York: Columbia University Press, 1961).
20. Moshe Gershovich, "A Moroccan St.-Cyr." Middle Eastern Studies 28:2 (1992). In that article I also discuss the mutation of Lyautey's initial intention to make enrollment in the military academy exclusively available to members of the Moroccan elites. By the late 1920s the school had to "democratize" and enlarge its social base in order to justify its existence.
21. Lyautey coined this term in his General Directives for 1922 that was submitted on 14 December 1921; included in Pierre Lyautey, ed., Lyautey l'Africain: Textes et Lettres du Maréchal Lyautey (Paris: Plon, 1953-1957), 157. In that directive Lyautey stated that "The goal to achieve is not the occupation...of the entire Maroc géographique, but...to spread the effective French Protectorate over all of Maroc utile." Under the latter rubric he included all parts of the country that he had deemed indispensable for internal security and development. He refrained, however, from delineating the specific boundaries of those two units.
22. The "oil-stain" concept called for a slow, methodical progression in the process of "pacification," in a manner that would allow for French influence to spread through a "dissident" area with minimal resistance. On the evolution On the evolution of that concept see Douglas Porch, "Bugeaud, Gallieni, Lyautey: The Development of French Colonial Warfare," in Peter Paret, ed., Makers of Modern Strategy (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1986). An earlier edition of the article, written by Jean Gottman, appeared in the 1952 edition of the volume.
23. Jacques Weygand, Goumier de l'Atlas (Paris: Flammarion, 1954), 42 and 101. The son of the French Chief-of-Staff at the time, Lieutenant Weygand served as a "Native Affairs" officer in the Moroccan bled (countryside) during the 1930s.
24. Quoted in Hubert-Jacques, L'Aventure riffaine et ses dessous politiques (Paris: Bossard, 1927), 292.
25. On the Rif War see C.R. Pennell, A Country with a Government and a Flag: the Rif War in Morocco, 1921-1926 (Outwell, Wisbech, Cambridgeshire, England, Middle East and North African Studies Press ; Boulder, Co.: L. Rienner, 1986).
26. An example of this line of thinking could be found in a note sent by Lyautey to the War Ministry in Paris, dated 23 November 1924. Asking for metropolitan reinforcement to meet a projected attack from the Rif (that did eventually materialize in April 1925), Lyautey states that as of the 1920 campaign he has attempted to make use of indigenous troops in order to "avoid the shedding of French blood, the sparing of which is our greatest interest." A copy of the note can be found in file 66 of série 3H: Maroc at the French military archives (Service Historique de l'Armée de Terre [SHAT]) at Château de Vincennes.
27. Rivet, Lyautey et l'institution du protectorat française au Maroc 2:79.
28. These reports can be found in files 271 and 281 of série 3H: Maroc respectively.
29. The history of Moroccan units during the two world wars, and other overseas operations falls beyond the scope of this essay. For information on that subject see Anthony Clay ton, France, Soldiers and Africa (London: Brassey's Defence Publishers, 1988), 94-105, 262-306 and passim;
30. Moshe Gershovich, French Military Rule in Morocco: Colonialism and its Consequences (London: Cass, 2000), 172-177.
31. Initial metropolitan doubts were based on the April 1912 uprising of several units from the pre-colonial Moroccan army that were stationed in Fez. On this issue see Burke, Prelude to Protectorate, 180-187;
32. Jacques, Hubert, Les journées sanglantes de Fez, 17-18-19 avril 1912 : les massacres, récits militaires, responsabilitiés (Paris: Librairie Chapelot, 1913).
33. The introduction of conscription to Morocco was seriously considered by an inter-departmental commission, headed by General Mangin, which studied the matter between 1920-1922. However, Lyautey ruled the idea out citing the incomplete "pacification" of Morocco as his main cause. Information related to the deliberations of the Mangin Commission can be found in file 2352 of série 7N at SHAT /Vincennes.
34. The study, dated 25 October 1934 was prepared by colonel de Saint Julien and captain Ouenand, both of whom served at the time in the 5th Régiment des Tirailleurs Marocains (RTM). It is available in file 162 of série 1K, containing papers of Marshal Franchet d'Espeery at SHAT/Vincennes.
35. On the integration of three Moroccan battalions within the ranks of the French Armée du Rhin see Moshe Gershovich, "The Sharifian Star Over the Rhine: Moroccan Soldiers in French Uniforms in Germany, 1919-1925," Morocco: Journal of the Society of Moroccan Studies 2 (1997): 55-64.
36. Moroccan recruits from the northern Spanish occupation zone were also used as combatants in the service of their colonial masters, including a significant participation on their part in the Spanish Civil War of the late 1930s in which they fought on the Fascist side. See Maria Rosa deMadariaga, "The Intervention of Moroccan Troops in the Spanish Civil War: A Reconsideration," European History Quarterly 22:1 (1992): 67-97.
37. The size of the interwar Moroccan contingent in the French army was originally set in 1920 by an inter-ministerial commission that examined the future recruitment of colonial soldiers. The commission established a quota of 32,000 Moroccan recruits. However, by the outbreak of the Second World War the actual size of the Moroccan contingent nearly tripled in size to 90,000, as noted in a detailed study on the history of the Moroccan tirailleurs. See part two of Lt. Col. Lugand, "Historique des Tirailleurs Marocains," Revue Historique de l'Armée 8:3 (September 1952): 32.
38. The full title of this corps was Moroccan Mixed Goums. Originally it was designated to be "a temporary back-up tribal force raised for specific operations," as defined by a 7 December 1909 memorandum by the Section d'Afrique of the metropolitan General Staff, Série 1H (Algérie), file 1013, SHAT/ Vincennes. The goums proved to be highly useful, flexible and cost-effective, so much so that their number was doubled within six years and kept climbing until it reached fifty by the early 1930s. They operated side-by-side with regular French troops and were fully integrated within French operations aimed at "pacifying" the Moroccan countryside. The rich history of the Moroccan goums has been the subject of numerous works, the latest being Edward L. Bimberg, The Moroccan Goums: Tribal Warriors in a Modern War (Westport, CT.: Greenwood Press, 1999).
39. For a French perspective see also Jacques Augarde, La longue route des tabors (Paris : France Empire, 1983);
40. Yves Salkin, Jacques Marineau and Jean Saulay, eds., Histoire des Goums Marocains (Paris: Kaumia, 1985).
41. On the Glawa see Maxwell, Gavin, Lords of the Atlas. The Rise and Fall of the House of Glaoua 1893-1956 (London: Arrow, 1991). Being left in complete control over parts of southern Morocco where French presence had been weak or nonexistent, the Great Qa'ids took full advantage of the situation to dominate and abuse the native population under their command. The French authorities were well aware of the mischief, but tended to dismiss it to maintain the support of their local allies.
42. Tarrit (Capitan), "Emploi des partisans au Maroc," Revue de Cavalerie 33 (March-April 1923): 197-211.
43. Tarrit, "Emploi" The principle that "partisans" and other irregulars should never operate without regular units at their side appears in the writings of other officers who were involved in combat in Morocco. See for example Schmidt (major; commander of the Bou Denib autonomous cercle), "Considérations sur les Djiouch." Renseignements Coloniaux (annex of the Bulletin du Comité de l'Afrique Française), January 1933.
44. See for example C. Damidaux (captain), Combats au Maroc 1925-1926 (Paris, Berger-Levrault, 1928), 27.
45. Maurice Durosoy, "Soldats Marocains," published in the July 1932 issue of Renseignements Coloniaux, 286-290.
46. This story appears in the official history of the 10th RTM, available in file 308 of série 34N (regimental history at the French war archives in SHAT/Vincennes.
47. See Bimberg, The Moroccan Goums, 63-64, 115-116.
48. For further information about this project and some of its initial finding see Moshe Gershovich, "Stories on the Road from Fez to Marrakesh: Oral History on the Margins of National Identity," Journal of North African Studies 8:1 (Spring 2003): 43-58.
49. Interviewed in Beni Mellal in January 1998.
50. He was born in 1908 and served in the French army between 1926-1943, mostly as a tirailleur. My interview with him took place at his residence in Ksiba in January 1998.
51. My interview with Mr. Morabet, who was born in 1913 and enlisted in the French army in 1936, was conducted in September 2000 at his residence in Khenifra.
52. See David Hart, "Assû Bâ Slâm: de la resistance à la 'pacification' au Maroc," in Charles-André Julien et. al., eds., Les Africains (Paris : Éditions J.A., 1977), 5, 77-105.
53. Among the means used by the Vietminh to convince North African soldiers to defect was a former World War II veteran and committed member of the Moroccan Communist Party, M'hammed Ben Aomar Lahrech. His instrumental role in the insurgency led to his rising to the rank of general in the revolutionary North Vietnamese army. On this episode see Abdallah Saaf, Histoire d'Anh Ma (Paris: L'Harmattan, 1996).
54. See Zaki M'Barek, "La désertion des soldats marocains de l'armée française à l'Armée de Libération du Maghreb (A.L.M.): Rôle militaire, impact psycho-politique (1955-1956)," Maroc-Europe 7 (1994): 235-271. An interesting fictional character-representing the soldiers who switched to the side of the resistance at this time is Faqih in Leila Abouzeid's novella, Year of the Elephant, trans. Barbara Parmenter (Austin: University of Texas Press, 1989). A veteran of Indochina who had lost a leg at Dien Bien Phu, he is helped by the novella's heroine to escape from Casablanca to the Spanish occupation zone in northern Morocco.
55. Tafdoute Elarbi ou Hammou, interviewed in Ouaoumanna in February 1999.
56. Isafeen Ghbanin (Rivières Profondes): Poésies du Moyen Atlas Marocain (Casablanca: Waliada, 1993), 197. This collection of orally recited Berber poems was gathered and translated into French by Michael Peyron. The translation to English is mine.
57. On the last attempts to reestablish Berber self-control after the end of the colonial era see David Hart, "Rural and Tribal Uprisings in Post-Colonial Morocco, 1957-60: An Overview and a Reappraisal," in Tribe and Society in Rural Morocco; special issue of the Journal of North African Studies 4:2 (Summer 1999): 84-102.