ALGECIRAS CONFERENCE: BACKGROUND, OBJECTIVES, PARTICIPANTS - HISTORY - 2025

The Algeciras Conference was a set of negotiations carried out in the Spanish town that gives it its name during the first months of 1906. The purpose of convening these meetings was to find a solution to the tensions that appeared between France and Germany in the framework of the colonization of Morocco.

This episode was called the first Moroccan crisis and had begun in 1904, when France and Spain, with the participation of the United Kingdom, signed a treaty to share part of the territory of Morocco. Germany, although it had no territorial interests, did not want the French to strengthen its colonial position, something that was on the verge of leading to war.

Signing of the Algeciras agreement by the Moroccan ambassador - Source: http://www.kingsacademy.com/mhodges/03_The-World-since-1900/01_The-Last-Days-of-the-Gilded- Age / 01h_Conflicting- Nationalisms-r.htm under public domain

Faced with rising tension, the Germans called for an international conference to address the crisis. The chosen venue was Algeciras and thirteen countries participated in it. After four months of meetings, the final result ended up favoring France and Spain, since the Germans only obtained the support of the Austro-Hungarian Empire.

Spain and France established their protectorates and Germany gained commercial access to the area. However, the tension did not disappear and, in 1911, a second crisis broke out in the area. Although a new treaty ended this new crisis, the tension in Europe continued to grow until causing the First World War.

Background

The second half of the 19th century was characterized by the colonization of Africa by the European powers. To try to prevent this process from leading to armed conflicts between them, the so-called Berlin Conference was held in 1884, in which some rules were established when creating colonies on the African continent.

However, these agreements did not achieve their objective and, in the following years, European countries were on the verge of fighting in war on several occasions. A good example was the Fachoda Incident, which almost sparked a war between Britain and France. Both powers tried to avoid new problems by signing an agreement: the Entente Cordial.

On the other hand, Germany, an emerging power, also sought to participate in the division of Africa. Furthermore, she intended to prevent France, her rival for continental hegemony, from becoming stronger. Morocco was the place chosen by the Germans to test the power of the rest of the powers, especially the French.

Morocco

The European countries most interested in Moroccan territory were France and Spain. The latter, due to their proximity, had been present in the area since the 15th century and had several stable settlements in those lands.

For its part, France had already occupied Tunisia and Algeria and was trying to find an outlet to the Atlantic Ocean.

Germany, for its part, had never shown much interest in colonizing any part of Morocco. According to historians, their goal was to wear down the French.

Finally, the English reached an agreement with the Spanish and French not to participate in the colonization of Morocco in exchange for France abandoning its claims in Egypt.

First Moroccan crisis

The treaty between Spain and France to create two protectorates in Morocco had been signed, with the approval of Great Britain, in 1904. Germany soon disagreed with its content.

At the beginning of 1905, with the tension mounting, the French sent diplomats to Fez to impose a series of reforms on the Moroccan sultan. In practice, these meant that the country came under French influence.

The Germans wanted to prevent France from gaining control of Morocco, as the geographic location of this country made it strategically very important. For this reason, the German Chancellor encouraged the Sultan not to agree to the French claims and to maintain his independence.

The chancellor's plan was for the kaiser to visit the Moroccan city of Tangier and cause a crisis that he planned to resolve in his favor at an international conference. On March 31, 1905, Kaiser Wilhelm II arrived in Tangier and made a speech in which he defended Moroccan independence.

The consequences were immediate and all the powers began to mobilize diplomatically. Germany, as planned, proposed holding a conference, something that France accepted. Despite this, both powers managed to mobilize their troops on their common border in January 1906.

goals

The European powers began to prepare an encounter that would avoid the warlike conflict. At first, the cities of Tangier or Madrid were considered as venues, but finally the town chosen to host the conference was Algeciras, in southern Spain and a few kilometers from Morocco.

The Conference began on January 16, 1906 and lasted until April 7. During those months, 18 meetings were held and the result was the signing of an agreement called the Algeciras Act. The Sultan of Morocco signed the Act a little later, on June 18.

Conference Agenda

As noted, the main objective of the negotiations was to close the open conflict between France and Germany over the colonization of Morocco. In addition, the Germans wanted to obtain a commercial presence in the area.

Other topics discussed in the meetings were ensuring the payment of a loan granted to the Moroccan sultan by the Germans, that Morocco was not divided and other fiscal and economic matters.

Participating countries

Ambassadors from thirteen different countries participated in the meetings that took place in the Algeciras City Council: Germany, Austria, the United States, France, Belgium, Italy, Portugal, Great Britain, Holland, Sweden, Russia, Morocco and the host, Spain.

General positions

The positions of the participants in the Conference were clear from the beginning. Thus, the British supported France and Spain in their claims, as did Italy. This country had agreed with the French not to interfere in its policy in Morocco in exchange for respecting its colonial pretensions in Libya.

For its part, Germany found itself isolated from the start. Their positions only received the support of their allies, the Austro-Hungarian Empire.

Consequences

As noted, the Conference ended on April 7, 1906. That same day, the participants, with the exception of Morocco, signed the so-called Act of Algeciras. The North African country did so on June 18.

France and Spain were the great beneficiaries of the agreements reached, partly thanks to British support.

Formal independence of Morocco

The Algeciras Act stated that Morocco would maintain its independence, although, in practice, this was more formal than real. Both the protectorates created by Spain and France, as well as the influence of the latter in decision-making, meant that the sultan had little real power.

Protectorates in Morocco

France and Spain achieved their purpose of creating protectorates on Moroccan territory. The final distribution took place years later, in 1912, when the Treaty of Fez was signed. This ordered the Spanish to take over the northern part of the country, while the French Protectorate was located in the south.

The German intention to avoid the formation of the French protectorate was one of the causes that led Great Britain to support the final decision to create two different protectorates. The increasing power of the Germans had begun to worry the British and the Algeciras Conference allowed them to achieve two objectives at the same time.

On the one hand, England prevented the Germans from forming a colony that could threaten their enclave of Gibraltar, and on the other, it ensured that the German navy did not have a base in the Mediterranean that could compete with the Royal Navy.

Despite having achieved a good part of its objectives, historians point out that France signed the Algeciras Act with the idea of ​​seeking a military solution to the Spanish presence in Morocco. However, a new agreement in 1907 secured Spanish rights to its colonial possessions.

Germany

Without support in the Conference, except that of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, the Germans had to accept the agreement. At the time, his fleet was not yet powerful enough to face the British and French, so a war over Morocco was not an option.

Among the few positive points achieved by Germany was the right to trade freely in the area.

Second Moroccan crisis

The Algeciras Conference, despite the agreements signed, did not mean the end of the confrontation for Morocco. A few years later, in 1911, a new crisis began with the same protagonists.

The second Moroccan crisis, also known as the Agadir Crisis, began when the sultan asked the French for help to end internal revolts. France, taking advantage of the occasion, occupied the city of Fez, something that went against the Act of Algeciras. Germany was quick to denounce this fact.

The German response was not limited to the diplomatic complaint. On July 1, 1911, her navy deployed a gunboat in the port of Agadir. This move made the English suspect that Germany wanted to make that city their permanent naval base.

The British fear was, however, unfounded. The German intention was to press for compensation for accepting the status quo in Morocco.

Finally, in November 1911, the powers signed a treaty by which Germany accepted French control in the area in exchange for some territories in the present Republic of the Congo.

Consolidation of the blocks

In addition to the immediate consequences of the two Moroccan crises and the Algeciras Conference, historians highlight another even more important effect in the medium term.

In a context of tension and struggle for hegemony among the European powers, what happened in North Africa reinforced relations between Great Britain and France and, on the contrary, increased their enmity with Germany. A few years later, in 1914, these blocks would clash in the First World War.

References

1. Cobos Ruiz de Adana, José. The Algeciras Conference. Obtained from diariocordoba.com
2. Southern Europe. 110 years of the Algeciras Conference. Obtained from europasur.es
3. Lozano Cámara, Jorge Juan. The Moroccan crises. Obtained from classeshistoria.com
4. The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica. Algeciras Conference. Retrieved from britannica.com
5. CN Trueman. The Algeciras Conference of 1906. Retrieved from historylearningsite.co.uk
6. History Learning. The Algeciras Conference of 1906. Retrieved from historylearning.com
7. Jucovy, Jon. Algeciras Conference (1906). Retrieved from encyclopedia.com