Aftermath of the Moroccan Crisis

Although all of the countries that participated in the Algeciras Conference were placated (aplacar)  for the time being, none of them were truely happy with the outcome. Germany was given Cameroon, which made them happy, but angered France. Spain was given some of the Northern Ports in Morocco, and France also had to allow Morocco to be an “independent” country wirth free trade rights. Because of this, it only created more tensions between France and Germany and Austria-Hungary, and was one of the reasons that World War I began.

    However, after the Conference, Spain was very happy. They recieved some of the northern ports of Morocco, which would lead to an increase in trade for them. But, this was the beginning of conflicts in Morocco for Spain. In 1909, a small conflict began with a Moroccan tribe near Melilla. The people of Barcelona didn’t want to go to war with Morocco because they believed Spain had suffered enough in the Spaish-American War. But, the army was sent into Barcelona to put down the resistance, which became known as the Semana Tragica. But, the situation in Morocco was never really resolved.

    In 1910, some of the leaders of Northern Tribes in Morocco hoped that Spain would introduce the Industrial Revolution to Morocco however, this never really happened. In 1910-1919 there was a war in Northern Morocco. In 1913, Northern Morocco became a protectorate of Spain and in 1912, Southern Morocco became a protectorate of France. This formally ended any independece that Morocco once had.

    In 1919 the Moroccan tribe of Abdel el-Krim rebelled against Spanish rule. He was angry at the Spanish for failing to introduce industrial reforms in his region and at the presence of Spanish soldiers in his region as well. And in 1920 he began the rebellion in Tetuan. In response to this Alfonso XIII sent many soldiers to Morocco however in 1921 the Spanish army at Melilla was defeated by the Moroccans, and over 10,000 Spanish soldiers died. The Moroccan soldiers began to terrorize the Spanish people in Melilla by beheading Spanish soldiers and parading them around the city of Melilla.

    In Spain in 1923, General Primo de Rivera decided to overthrow the Spanish governemt, and placed himself in charge of the government and Head of State.