Editing Spanish protectorate in Morocco (section)

==History==

===Background===
[[File:Firma del Tratado franco español de 1912.jpg|thumb|left|Moment of the signing of the Treaty by which the Spanish Protectorate was created, November 27, 1912]]

At a time when other European nations were acquiring or expanding their colonial empires, Spain's had generally gained independence. Its [[Spanish–American War|disastrous 1898 war]] with the United States stripped Spain of its few overseas provinces and exposed an inferior military. Yet, due to Morocco's proximity and the presence of [[Ceuta]] and [[Melilla]], Spain eyed expansion in northern Morocco, despite an overall lack of enthusiasm for new colonial enterprises. During the last decades of the 19th century, Spain nervously watched the increasing influence of its European rivals in the Maghreb. Thus, ensuring Spanish security offered the most compelling reason to intervene. For example, Liberal leader [[Eugenio Montero Ríos|Montero Ríos]] argued that if northwestern Morocco were to come under French control, Spain would be vulnerable to France from both north and south. Furthermore, the discovery of iron ore near Melilla convinced many that Morocco contained vast mineral wealth.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Chandler|first=James A.|date=1975|title=Spain and Her Moroccan Protectorate 1898 - 1927|url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/260149|journal=Journal of Contemporary History|volume=10|issue=2|pages=301–322|doi=10.1177/002200947501000205 |jstor=260149 |s2cid=159817508 |issn=0022-0094|url-access=subscription}}</ref>

The key motivation for intervention, although less openly stated, was the belief that Morocco was Spain's last chance to maintain its position in the [[Concert of Europe]], as it was the one area in which it could claim sufficient interest to generate some diplomatic strength with respect to the European powers. There was also the then-widespread belief in Europe that colonies increased a nation's prestige. Those beliefs encouraged Spanish politicians to adopt a [[forward policy]] in Morocco.<ref>James A. Chandler, p. 302.</ref>

===Formation===

In a convention dated 27 June 1900 (at the same time as [[Treaty of Paris (1900)]]), France and Spain agreed to recognize separate zones of influence in Morocco, but did not specify their boundaries. In 1902, France offered Spain all of Morocco north of the [[Sebou River]] and south of the [[Sous River]], but Spain declined in the belief that such a division would offend Britain.{{sfn|Woolman|1968|p=7–8}} The British and French, without any Spanish insistence,{{elucidate|date=April 2016}} acknowledged Spain's right to a zone of influence in Morocco in Article 8 of the {{lang|fr|[[Entente cordiale]]}} of 8 April 1904:{{sfn|Woolman|1968|p=7–8}}

{{blockquote|The two Governments, inspired by their feeling of sincere friendship for Spain, take into special consideration the interests which that country derives from her geographical position and from her territorial possessions on the Moorish coast of the Mediterranean. In regard to these interests the French Government will come to an understanding with the Spanish Government. The agreement which may be come to on the subject between France and Spain shall be communicated to His Britannic Majesty's Government.}}

[[File:Spanish territorial boundary changes in Northwest Africa 1885-1912.png|thumb|Spanish territorial boundary changes in Northwest Africa per the treaties of [[Berlin Conference|1885]], [[Treaty of Paris (1900)|1900]], 1902, [[Entente Cordiale|1904]], and [[Treaty Between France and Spain Regarding Morocco|1912]].]]

What exactly "special consideration" meant was dealt with in the secret third and fourth articles, specifying that Spain would be required to recognize Articles 4 and 7 of the treaty but could decline the "special consideration" if it wished:

{{blockquote|The two Governments agree that a certain extent of Moorish territory adjacent to Melilla, Ceuta, and other ''presides'' should, whenever the Sultan ceases to exercise authority over it, come within the sphere of influence of Spain, and that the administration of the coast from Melilla as far as, but not including, the heights on the right bank of the Sebou shall be entrusted to Spain.}}

The British goal in these negotiations with France was to ensure that a weaker power (Spain) held the strategic coast opposite [[Gibraltar]] in return for Britain ceding all their influence in Morocco.{{sfn|Woolman|1968|p=7–8}} France began negotiating with Spain at once, but the offer of 1902 was no longer on the table. Since France had given up its ambitions in [[Ottoman Libya]] in a convention with Italy in 1903, it felt entitled to a greater share of Morocco. On 3 October 1904, France and Spain concluded a treaty that defined their precise zones.<ref>{{cite journal |title=Treaty Between France and Spain Concerning Morocco |journal=The American Journal of International Law |volume=6 |number=2 [Supplement: Official Documents] |year=1912 |pages=116–20 |doi=10.2307/2212123|jstor=2212123 |s2cid=246003039}}</ref> Spain received a zone of influence consisting of a northern strip of territory and a southern strip. The northern strip did not reach to the border of [[French Algeria]], nor did it include [[Tangier]], soon to be internationalized. The southern strip represented the southernmost part of Morocco as recognized by the European powers: the territory to its south, [[Saguia el-Hamra]], was recognized by France as an exclusively Spanish zone. The treaty also recognized the Spanish [[exclave]] of [[Ifni]] and delimited its borders.{{sfn|Merry del Val|1920a|pp=330–31}}

In March 1905, the German ''[[German Emperor|Kaiser]]'', [[Wilhelm II, German Emperor|Wilhelm II]], visited [[Tangier]], a city of international character in northern Morocco. There he loudly touted Germany's economic interests in Morocco and assured [[Sultan of Morocco|the Sultan]] of financial assistance in the event of a threat to Moroccan independence. At Wilhelm's urging, Sultan [[Abdelaziz of Morocco|Abd el Aziz]] called for an international conference. The final act of the [[Algeciras Conference]] (7 April 1906) created the [[State Bank of Morocco]], guaranteed the attending powers equal commercial rights in Morocco and created a native Moroccan police force led by French and Spanish officers.{{sfn|Woolman|1968|p=10–11}}

The final Spanish zone of influence consisted of a northern strip and a southern strip centered on [[Cape Juby]]. The consideration of the southern strip as part of the protectorate back in 1912 eventually gave Morocco a solid legal claim to the territory in the 1950s.{{Sfn|Vilar|2005|p=143}} While the sparsely populated Cape Juby was administered as a single entity with [[Spanish Sahara]], the northern territories were administered, separately, as a Spanish protectorate with its capital at [[Tétouan|Tetuán]].

The Protectorate system was established in 1912. The Islamic legal system of [[qadi|''qadis'']] was formally maintained.

===Rif War===
{{further|Rif Republic|Rif War}}[[File:Spanishbuildingruins.jpg|thumb|left|Ruins of a Spanish camp near [[Chefchaouen]].|286x286px]]
[[File:Kaid Sarkash (Riffian leader) 1924.jpg|thumb|[[Berbers]] carrying captured rifles during Rif war, including a [[Mauser Model 1893|Mauser 1893]] and a French [[Berthier rifle|Berthier carbine]]]]

Following the [[First World War]], the [[Republic of the Rif]], led by the guerrilla leader [[Abd el-Krim]], was a breakaway state that existed from 1921 to 1926 in the [[Rif]] region, when it was [[Rif War|subdued and dissolved]] by a joint expedition of the [[Spanish Army of Africa]] and French forces during the [[Rif War]].

The Spanish lost more than 13,000 soldiers at [[Battle of Annual|Annual]] in July–August 1921. Controversy in Spain over the early conduct in the war was a driving factor behind the military coup by General [[Miguel Primo de Rivera, 2nd Marquis of Estella|Miguel Primo de Rivera]] in 1923 which foreshadowed the [[Spanish Civil War]] of 1936–39.<ref>Porch, Douglas; ''Spain's African Nightmare''; MHQ: Quarterly Journal of Military History; (2006); 18#2; pp. 28–37.</ref>

After the successful 1925 [[Alhucemas landing]], the French–Spanish alliance ended up achieving victory and putting an end to the war.

===Second Spanish Republic===
[[File:ETH-BIB-Reisegefährten von Walter Mittelholzer beim Ballspiel am Strand beim Kap Juby-Tschadseeflug 1930-31-LBS MH02-08-1059.tif|thumb|
[[Walter Mittelholzer]]'s traveling companions playing ball on the beach of [[Tarfaya|Cape Juby]], image between 1930 and 1931.]]

Before 1934, the southern part of the protectorate (Tekna){{Sfn|Vilar|2005|p=145}} had been governed from Cape Juby (within the same southern strip) since 1912; Cape Juby was also the seat of [[Spanish West Africa]]. Then, in 1934, the southern part began to being managed directly from [[Tetuán]] (in the northern part of the protectorate) and the seat of Spanish West Africa was moved from Cape Juby to the territory of [[Ifni]] (not a part of the protectorate), which had been occupied by the Spaniards that year.{{Sfn|Vilar|2005|p=145}}

===Spanish Civil War===
{{further|Spanish Civil War|Regulares}}
The [[Spanish Civil War]] started in 1936 with the [[Spanish coup of July 1936|partially successful coup]] against the Republican Government, which began in Spanish Morocco by an uprising of the [[Army of Africa (Spain)|Spanish Army of Africa]] stationed there, although within a day uprisings in Spain itself broke out. This force, which included a considerable number of Moroccan troops ([[regulares]]), was under the command of [[Francisco Franco]] (who spent much time in Morocco) and became the core of the [[Nationalist faction (Spanish Civil War)|Spanish Nationalist Army]]. The [[Communist Party of Spain]] and [[POUM|Workers' Party of Marxist Unification]] (POUM), advocated [[anti-colonialist|anti-colonial]] policies, and pressured the [[Second Spanish Republic|Republican government]] to support the independence of Spanish Morocco, intending to create a rebellion at Franco's back and cause disaffection among his Moroccan troops. The government – then led by the [[Spanish Socialist Workers' Party]] (PSOE) — rejected that course of action as it would have likely resulted in conflict with France, the colonial ruler of the other portion of Morocco.<ref>''Tres años de lucha'', [[José Díaz (politician)|José Díaz]]; p. 343; cited in ''Spain! The Unfinished Revolution''; by [[Arthur H. Landis|Landis, Arthur H]]; 1st ed.; New York: International Publishers; 1975; pp. 189–92; retrieved 2015</ref>

Because the locally recruited Muslim regulares had been among Franco's most effective troops, the protectorate enjoyed more political freedom and autonomy than [[Francoist Spain]]-proper after Franco's victory.<ref>Marin Miguel (1973). ''El Colonialismo español en Marruecos''. Spain: Ruedo Iberico p. 24-26</ref> The area held competing political parties and a Moroccan nationalist press, which often criticized the Spanish government.

===World War II===
{{further|Spanish occupation of Tangier (1940–1945)}}
Spanish troops provisionally occupied [[Tangier]] during [[World War II]], on the pretext that an [[Fascist Italy (1922–1943)|Italian]] invasion was imminent.{{sfn|Pennell|2001}}

===Retrocession to Morocco===
[[File:1920 map of Spanish Morocco.jpg|thumb|1920 map of the "Spanish zone in Morocco", with images of {{Ill|Santiago Tablas|es|Santiago González-Tablas}}, [[Dámaso Berenguer]] and [[Manuel Fernández Silvestre|Manuel Fernández]].|290x290px]]
In 1956, when France ended its [[French protectorate in Morocco|protectorate over Morocco]], Spain discontinued the protectorate and retroceded the territory to the newly independent kingdom, while retaining the ''[[plazas de soberanía]]'' which were part of Spain prior to the colonial period, [[Cape Juby]], [[Ifni]], and other colonies (such as [[Spanish Sahara]]) outside of Morocco. Unwilling to accept this, the [[Moroccan Army of Liberation]] waged war against the Spanish forces. In the 1958 [[Ifni War]], which spread from [[Sidi Ifni]] to [[Río de Oro]], Morocco gained [[Tarfaya]] (the southern part of the protectorate)<ref>{{Cite web|title=The Berkshire Eagle 18 Apr 1958, page 2|url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/531792483/|access-date=2023-01-13|website=Newspapers.com|language=en}}</ref> and reduced the Spanish control of the Ifni territory to the perimeter of the city itself.<ref>{{Cite web|title=The Morning News 05 Mar 1958, page Page 11|url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/155713817/|access-date=2023-01-13|website=Newspapers.com|language=en}}</ref> Morocco and Spain negotiated for over a year over Ifni, with Morocco also wanting control of Ceuta and Melilla, while Spain was only willing to give up control of Ifni.<ref name=enclave>{{Cite web|title=The Des Moines Register 03 Jan 1969, page 5|url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/338894914/|access-date=2023-01-13|website=Newspapers.com|language=en}}</ref> On 5 January 1969 Morocco and Spain signed the treaty ceding Ifni to Morocco.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Wisconsin State Journal 05 Jan 1969, page 7|url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/404563443/|access-date=2023-01-13|website=Newspapers.com|language=en}}</ref>

As of {{currentyear}}, Morocco still claims [[Ceuta]] and [[Melilla]] as integral parts of the country, and considers them to be under foreign [[military occupation|occupation]], comparing their status to that of [[Gibraltar]]. Spain considers both cities integral parts of the Spanish geography, since they were part of Spain for centuries.<ref>{{Cite book |last=LEVIE |first=HOWARD S. |url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/1246285593 |title=STATUS OF GIBRALTAR. |date=2021 |publisher=ROUTLEDGE |isbn=978-0-367-31182-7 |location=[S.l.] |oclc=1246285593}}</ref>