Role Of Colonialism In Morocco

The Protectorate/Colonial Period of Morocco The colonial period of Morocco lasted from 1912 to 1956. This is the period that is most pertinent to the subject of this paper because it allows us to examine how the French had a major role in shaping Moroccan culture of that time, as well as Moroccan history. The French claim that this period and their role in Morocco was not, in fact, one of colonization but instead was that of a protectorate. A protectorate can be defined as a smaller country agreeing to have a larger, more powerful nation act in their interests and support them, whereas colonialism is a process of a larger country exerting their power unto the smaller nation through political, economic, educational and judiciary means, etc.

When the French first colonized Morocco, they divided the schools according to a class system. Children from well-off Arabic families were given access to better education because the French felt that these students would then go on to obtain better jobs within the French government in Morocco. This was referred to as a ‘new art’ of colonization, because instead of simply relying on slavery in order to pacify the masses, the French were attempting to educate them into submission and assimilation (Irbouh, 2005). However, this philosophy did not last long. It was deemed too expensive for the French to try and fully assimilate facets of Moroccan society. Further than that, a full assimilation of the locals was considered impossible due to the idea that many races, including Moroccans, were inferior to Western European races. Citizens in modern colonies would need to understand that while they might rise above their current status, they would never be fully equal with their

Two men in particular, Georges Hardy and Hubert Lyautey, wanted to change the way French education was represented in Morocco. Lyautey was one of the most important figures of the protectorate. Being the Resident General of the Protectorate meant that his opinions had tremendous weight on the forming of the Moroccan protectorate. For instance, Lyautey was opposed to the traditional metropolitan schools and considered that the best kind of education could be provided by a mixture of non-professionals and professionals. Hardy was convinced that Moroccans could meld intellectual and colonial life, and that this assimilation would have no negative effects on the French government in Morocco (Segalla,