My Italy

Morocco is located in the westernmost country of North Africa, with the Mediterranean Sea to the north and the Atlantic Ocean to the west. Its location is very important. In particular, its important port of Tangier is on one side of the Strait of Gibraltar, the gateway from the Atlantic Ocean to the Mediterranean Sea.

Morocco's important geographical location naturally attracts the peeps of various powers. Countries such as Britain, France, and Germany have exerted their influence on this country. Facing the arrival of the great powers, Morocco's Allawi dynasty had no way to resist and could only accept it helplessly.

Perhaps because of the important role of geographical location, the influx of foreign powers has created a restraining effect, allowing Morocco to survive to this day. After other surrounding countries were annexed by the foreign powers, they were able to continue to exist on the land of North Africa that was plundered by the foreign powers.

However, the good days of the Moroccans have come to an end, because in April last year, Britain and France conducted friendly negotiations on the colonial issues between the two parties. In the end, the two parties reached an agreement. Regarding Morocco, Britain recognized France's power to maintain tranquility and assist in reform in Morocco. Of course, in return, France promised not to interfere with British actions in Egypt.

Britain and France did not care about other countries at all regarding the exchange of interests between Morocco and Egypt. Perhaps it was the two major colonial powers who decided that the matter would be settled.

Therefore, after Britain and France agreed on their respective spheres of influence, they stepped up their invasion of their respective targets.

In February 1905, France requested the Sultan of Morocco to carry out "governmental reforms" under French supervision. It is obvious that this reform must be carried out under the supervision of French advisers, and its intention is self-evident.

Faced with this unreasonable request from France, Abdullah Azid, as the Sultan of Morocco, could not refuse at all, because in addition to sending this diplomatic note, France also prepared an army of 30,000 people on the border with Morocco. , if the Sultan dares to refuse, then the French soldiers will set off from Algeria to destroy Morocco.

To be fair, the current Sultan Azid of Morocco is not an outstanding figure, and the turmoil in Morocco decades ago caused the royal family's influence to decline, and now political orders are no longer issued in Marrakech.

So facing the menacing French, what can he do, he can only do what the French say.

However, although France's invasion of Morocco did not cause resistance in the country, some people were very dissatisfied. This person was Kaiser Wilhelm II.

Because Germany has invested a lot in Morocco in recent years, because of its rich phosphate resources, the Germans have invested a lot of money here.

Faced with the French move to turn Morocco into a protectorate, how could the Germans accept it? Morocco has a lot of resources and its geographical location is so important that Germany also has the ambition to include it in its protection.

Therefore, in the face of the French's actions, Germany immediately protested against them.

However, given the current delicate relationship between Germany and France, how can Paris take Germany's protests to heart? Therefore, in the face of German protests, the French government simply ignored them.

France's approach directly aggravated Germany's dissatisfaction, so in response, Kaiser Wilhelm II arrived at the Port of Tangier in Morocco on March 31, which is located in Tangier Bay in the Strait of Gibraltar, only a short distance from Europe. At a distance of 15 kilometers, it is the northernmost point of Morocco.

Facing the arrival of the Kaiser, the Moroccans were extremely excited. Of course, nearly 100,000 Moroccans poured into the Port of Tangier, intending to witness the elegance of the monarch of a powerful European country. In addition, senior Moroccan government officials also rushed to Tangier Port before. When William II got off the boat, he was personally greeted by Prime Minister Dahabi.

And along the way, Moroccans showered the Kaiser with flowers and cheered enthusiastically. It can be seen that no one in Morocco wants to be protected by France. In the face of the enthusiasm of the Moroccans, the Kaiser publicly declared that Germany would protect Morocco's independence and territorial integrity after meeting with Sultan Azid.

The Kaiser's words immediately drew cheers from the Moroccans. They are cheering for their country to have independent support from a powerful country.

As for France, after the Kaiser publicly supported Moroccan independence, there was even more criticism. At this time, the relationship between Germany and France was already poor, and there was always a voice in France. France was even more resentful about the loss of Lorraine and Alsace in the Franco-Prussian War. Because there are a lot of coal and iron mines in these two places. After France lost these two places, its steel production was soon surpassed by Germany.

So in the face of Germany's growing strength, how can the French feel regretful? For this reason, people from all walks of life in France miss these two places even more. The famous Last Lesson is a work that advocates hatred of Germany. To be fair, people in Lorraine and Alsace speak more German.

However, as nationalism is prevalent today, no matter what language or customs you speak there, I would say these two places have been an inseparable part of France since ancient times.

Therefore, the relationship between Germany and France has become worse and worse in recent years because of Lorraine and Alsace.

The Kaiser's blatant appearance in Morocco to support the country brought the French's hostility towards Germany to a new peak. A French tabloid drew a cartoon about this, in which the Kaiser had the wings and body of a dragon, drooling over a map of Morocco.

This cartoon was quickly reprinted by other French newspapers and immediately became popular throughout France. Faced with the humiliation of its own monarch, the German government solemnly warned the French government that if the behavior of humiliating the German monarch was not stopped, Germany would use measures it deems appropriate to restore the emperor's dignity.

Although this sentence was vague, the French government soon received news that two divisions of German troops had been deployed on the border with France.

Obviously this is a threat of force.

Although France at this time believed that it was not afraid of Germany's war threat, it was definitely not worth it for a comic. Therefore, this cartoon, which had long spread throughout France and humiliated the Kaiser's image, was no longer published under strict government orders.

However, although France made concessions on the issue of cartoon images, the French refused to give in on the Moroccan issue.

Germany and France began to blame each other for the Moroccan problem, and the atmosphere became increasingly tense.

At this time, German Prime Minister Bulow suddenly made a suggestion. He proposed to all countries participating in the Treaty of Madrid in 1880 that the Moroccan issue be submitted to an international conference for discussion.

Biro made this suggestion very well, because the Moroccan issue had been discussed in Madrid as early as 1880. The result was the Treaty of Madrid.

At that time, Germany signed a treaty on Morocco with fourteen countries including France, Britain, Spain, and Italy, which stipulated that no foreign subjects should be granted any priority in Morocco.

It is obvious that Billot intends to use the power of other countries to make the French retreat in spite of difficulties.