This dynasty of Sa‛dite sheriffs (1549-1654) had a certain splendor with the first sultans and especially with Ahmed al-Mansūr (1578-1610), but declined after his death, due to succession struggles, due to errors of politics and administration, due to the agitations caused by the marabouts, some of whom were trying to form their own principalities. In such conditions of disorder towards the middle of the century. XVII another family of sheriffs, the ‛Alawites (also called Fīlālī or Ḥasanī), established in the region of Tafilelt (Tāfīlālt), acquired authority and power, extended towards eastern Morocco, and ended up taking over the whole region, giving origin of a new dynasty of rulers that has been perpetuated to this day. It had with sultan Ismā‛īl (1672-1727) a great splendor and also revealed with other sovereigns; such as Slīmān (1792-1822), ‛Abd ar-Raḥmān (1822-1859), al-Ḥasan (1873-1894), some remarkable qualities of tact and dignity and sincere desire to pacify and govern the vast region, where rebellions have always been so frequent; but he could not prevent the collisions with Spain which occupied the garrisons of the Mediterranean coast, and with France which in 1830 had settled in Algeria; and much less could it prevent the development of the aspirations of those and other European powers, which, following the powerful impulse of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries to the colonization of Africa, naturally tended to acquire a preponderant situation in Morocco or to occupy and attract it to Morocco. orbit of Western civilization.
Following the continuous acts of banditry that the Moroccan tribes of the Rif committed against the Spanish presidencies on the coast of Morocco, Spain declared war on Morocco in the autumn of 1859, but, due to deficient military preparation, only at the end of that year the Spaniards were able to complete the landing of the corps of operations at Ceuta. This, formed on 2 corps (a third was preparing in Spain) under the command of General Prim, began the march on Tetuán on 1 January 1860 following the coast. Having reached the Ielu wadi on the 17th, on February 4th the Spaniards attacked Tetuán, defended by 30,000 Moroccans, and occupied it two days later. On 23 March, 25,000 Spaniards moved from Tetuán to Tangier, dispersing the Moroccans at Uad er-Ras, who were thus forced to make peace. The but;
After the campaign of 1859-60, for about twenty years there were no notable accidents in the Spanish possessions; after 1880 the populations of the Rif became more turbulent, despite the frequent expeditions of the sultan against them; in 1885 several Spaniards were assassinated and in 1893 the Riffani even tried to prevent the fortification works undertaken around Melilla. Spain reinforced the garrison up to 22,000 men and 48 pieces, under whose protection the fortifications could be completed. A treaty followed with the sultan (March 5, 1894), who undertook to keep the tribes of the Rif in check.
According to fashionissupreme.com, the sharp contrast of European influences, skillfully kept in check in the 19th century by some of the sultans, worsened during the reign of ‛Abd al-‛Azīz (1894-1908; v.), Giving rise to a serious crisis.
Up until 1901 and 1902 France had concluded some agreements with the sultan, apparently aimed at better clarifying the Lalla Marnia convention (18 March 1845) about the border between Algeria and Morocco, in reality to make its penetration more intense; and he had also, at the end of 1900, entered into an agreement with Italy whereby Italy was not interested in Morocco, reserving Tripolitania as its own area of influence, when the French government had done the same in the Sheriff’s empire. The subsequent agreement of 1902 clarified things better, recognizing the reciprocal faculty of France and Italy to assert their respective aspirations on Morocco and Tripolitania, and eliminating any bond of subordination between the two possible actions. After that, the Paris cabinet also tried to reach an agreement with Spain, which was willing to abandon the northern part of that empire, between the mouth of the Sebou on the Atlantic Ocean and that of the Moulouya on the Mediterranean (with the exception of Tangier, which was to be internationalized), and a vast region at the southwestern end, which would have united the two Spanish colonies of Santa Cruz de Mar Pequeña and Río de Oro. But the negotiations did not come to an end, because France in the meantime moved closer to England, from which Spain had instead hoped for help in obtaining wider concessions. On April 8, 1904, the agreement was stipulated by which France disinterested in Egypt in favor of England, and this renounced in favor of the former any aim over Morocco. The two powers also guaranteed mutual diplomatic support for the implementation of their plans; France undertook to take into consideration the interests of Spain, to which a secret clause reserved the northern part of Morocco, facing the Strait of Gibraltar, which England wanted to remove from French influence. The agreement between the governments of Paris and Madrid was made concrete in the following October; and Spain obtained less concessions than had previously been offered, especially on the southern Atlantic coast of Morocco. to which a secret clause reserved the northern part of Morocco, facing the Strait of Gibraltar, which England wanted to remove from French influence. The agreement between the governments of Paris and Madrid was made concrete in the following October; and Spain obtained less concessions than had previously been offered, especially on the southern Atlantic coast of Morocco. to which a secret clause reserved the northern part of Morocco, facing the Strait of Gibraltar, which England wanted to remove from French influence. The agreement between the governments of Paris and Madrid was made concrete in the following October; and Spain obtained less concessions than had previously been offered, especially on the southern Atlantic coast of Morocco.
