ersuaded of the value of such undertakings (Bush xi). In Morocco, though they exercised considerable influence from 1844 on, the French nation did not take control until 1912. Morocco and Ethiopia were, throughout the nineteenth century, the only political entities in Africa that Europeans regarded as sovereign nations. Morocco was viewed, therefore, as a place where considerable influence could be exerted but not as a candidate for colonization.
Late in the century, however, free trade with Morocco was an important issue--especially for Germany, which had established nine consulates and three major shipping lines which ran over 300 ships to Morocco annually. But in 1904, in secret treaties with Spain and Britain, France "was given a free hand" in Morocco in order to force Germany out of contention there (Griffiths 42). French forces established a permanent base in the country and, at the same time, the Sultan of Morocco secured a very large loan. The money was lent under an agreement that "created a Contr(le de la Dette [an official body designed] to supervise the customs and ensure that 60 per cent of their revenue was allocated to repayment" (Brett 280).
Despite granting Morocco a certain standing as a sovereign nation the nations of Europe were also convinced that it was "barbarously backward, a state whose weakness would threaten international peace" until the great powers could decide on a form of management for this last uncolonized portion of Africa (Brett 280). When the German emperor challenged French dominance in Morocco in 1911, by sending a gunboat to Agadir, the threat to world peace was clearly demonstrated. The result was a number of treaties which allocated French lands in tropical Africa to Germany and, secretly, reiterated other nations' support for France. The weakness of the Sultan which was so great a threat to world peace was also, of course, a threat to French economic interests in regard to the ...