Spanish Moroccan War 1860 - Essay Example

Spanish-Moroccan (1859-1860 Spain vs. Morocco Spanish-Moroccan (1859-1860 Spain vs. Morocco Obtaining colonies was not always aneasy task and in Morocco it was not an easy going duty (Reiter, & Stam, 2002). This article has identified and described the nature of war that existed between Spain and Morocco around 1859-1860. The article is dived into two parts; the first part is the identification and description, while the second part consists of annotated bibliography regarding the war. From the year 1840 until the year 1850, the cities of Melilla and Ceuta in north of Africa belonged to the Spanish empire but faced endless and tireless assaults from Moroccan troops and tribes. In 1844, a consul agent was murdered, General Narvaez, the then Spanish president presented an official objection to the sultan Muley Soleiman. After several lengthy discussions of which England acted as the mediator, they eventually came to a conclusion and two covenants and two agreements were signed. Despite these signings, the war never ended and the two cities continued receiving assails. Spain initiated a war but it was very impossible for her to invade Moroccan territory in pursue of the attackers. In the end, the fed up Spanish government took up Chafarinas Islands, adjacent to Morocco minus giving a warning (Reiter, & Stam, 2002). In the event French was defeated by six hours in their quest to plant a flag on the island. Immediately after conquering the island started, Spain chose to defend borders as agreed in Ceuta and began constructing numerous forts. In 1859, one of the Spanish detachments designated to guide the buildings was attacked by Rif’s squad. The squad destroyed some sections of the fortifications and went with some property and destroyed the Spanish shield; this was a major insult in the eyes of the Spanish. During this event, Spain had lost numerous empires oversees and the government was seeking for alternatives to expand commercially and obtain authority and influence in the eyes of Europe (Reiter, & Stam, 2002). At the same time, Moroccan tribes never wanted to give up easily regardless of the treaties they had signed. In other words they did not want to let Melilla and Ceuta out of their hands. Leopoldo O’Donnell who was the Spanish president by then never wanted to miss the opportunity of placing Spain to be one of the first world powers and according to Leopoldo, a great military victory was the only left option, something that would see the two nations face each other at the battle ground. Through applying diplomacy, Leopoldo demanded that the attackers be punished by Moroccan authorities and gave their demands. The border shield would be replaced and sultan’s troops would be forced to salute them – any form of guilty assaulters should face punishment at Ceuta in the Spanish garrison. Apparently, the Muley Mohammed acknowledged the terms, unfortunately, he died before its implementation and his son took over and never kept the agreement. The Spanish government swiftly made steps to obtain all diplomatic support from other European nations, coaxing them with words like lack of safety in borders and frontiers, and sullied honor (Reiter, & Stam, 2002). After massive approval from the parliament, the popular and high classes of Spanish gave support to the war declaration on North African nation. UK and the France as well expressed their consent, though England was a bit reluctant since their perception that their control of the Strait of Gibraltar may be threatened. Spain had to put it in agreement that it would not remain in Tangier or Tetuan, so they would not be drawn to have them permanently and to keep away from the strait. Several recruitments were done and huge numbers turned out; this was not the first combat between Spain and Morocco, but the numbers considered it very important. Spanish forces were segmented into three groups and by mid-December, most of them were in Ceuta. The aim of the Spanish army was to capture the North African cities of Tangier and Tetuan. On 1st of january1860, the Battle of Castillejos took placed and Spain emerged the victor. They continued moving on after this of which advances of Spain met Moroccan soldiers in early February and ‘Battle of Tetun’ took place; they finally captured the city on the sixth day of February (Reiter, & Stam, 2002). Their next objective was Tangier of which they moved on to. The Spanish army got massive boost from the Basque country, the fresh troops arrived and the ‘Wad-Ras battle’ took place on the 23rd of March. Spain emerged the winner and Moroccan commander, Muley Abbas capitulated. After thirty-two days, Spain and Morocco signed the treaty of ‘Wad Ras (Tetuan).’ Annotated bibliography Language and identity among speakers of Spanish in Northern Morocco by Lotfi Sayahi; The author has used several data sources in describing the relationship existing between language and ethnic identity in multilingual contexts of which has been the subject of several studies where the opposition between majority and minority groups is highlighted frequently. Lofti has looked much into the issue of immigrants preserving their cultures whether they are few in numbers and on the other side adopting a new culture which appears to very tricky. The author has proceeded to elaborate that different cases may take place when the minority group not only preserve intergenerational native competence in their own language, both as a medium of daily communication and as an identity index, but also evades partial or absolute assimilation into the majority by not developing native competence in the host country’s language. The author also proceeds to evaluate that the presence of such a minority together with the economic and cultural values connected with their origin country, may stimulate the majority’s group interest in them. The author has identified the identity and language among speakers of Spanish in Northern Morocco. The author has made use of sources to identify that the presence of Spanish language is evident at numerous levels in Tetouan, Tangier, and throughout the entire north of Morocco. Lofti asserts that his decision to focus on the two cities is a result of, in addition to being very close to Spain, historically; they played a great role during the introduction and maintenance of Spanish language in the area. This may be contributed by the fact that at one point, Spain and Morocco indulged in a battle in the quest for the two cities. The author has proceeded to conclude that in as much as native competence continues to wane, knowledge and use of Spanish language among Moroccans may not cease very soon. The author has also established that the maintenance of the language is a s result of Moroccans having positive attitude towards Spain which ids the preservation factor behind Spanish in Morocco. The War within by Alvaro A. Ayo The author has used several sources in trying to define the identities of Spaniards and he challenges that were faced during that time. Alvaro has incorporated several critics such as Perez Galdos who were keen on the concept of national identity on its own especially after Spain invaded Morocco. The author has proceeded to describe the nature of the war that erupted in 1859 which was as a result of nationalism which propelled Spain try an imperial enterprise in northern Africa. The author uses other authors’ critical analysis define the way relationship between Spain and Morocco were established and the effect it had on the two nations. The author asserts that Spain was in dire need for national recognition and identification among major Europeans powers and the world; this is a fact that was very rife even from historical accounts which state that it was one of the major reasons Spain invaded Morocco. Ayo argues that the post-imperial crisis intensified attempts to describe what Spain’s true identity may be. The author accounts that Morocco is not just the natural frontier, in the aspect of a border or limit between Spain and Africa; it is as well an undefined frontier region which is still there to be explored; in other words, some sections still lack identity. Myth, History and Realpolitik; Morocco and its Jewish by Samir Ben- Layashi and Bruce Maddy –Weitzman The two authors have analytically overviewed the history of Moroccan Jewry, from the pre-historic era to the present day, reconnoitering the aspects of myth, memory as well as political interest. The two authors have used various sources in the survey of Jewish presence in Morocco which employs several classical and modern sources for the purpose of locating the place of Moroccan Jews within the ebbs and flows of Moroccan dynastic history, especially following the establishment of the first Islamic dynasty in the 8th century. The authors asserts that the relationship between Muslims and Jewish have immensely changed. The authors have reviewed past and current relationship to draw their conclusion of what is exists between the Jew and Muslims more especially in Morocco. According to the authors, Jewish – Christian relations were marred by “forced inquisition and conversions in the northern part (Spain), coexistence and even Judaeo-Christian symbiosis in the Sothern part (Morocco).” The two authors asserts that the period of June 1940 to November 1942 was one of the worst times in the history of Moroccan Jewry; an era of institutionalized anti-Semitism. The two proceed to conclude that as the presence of the Jewish community in Morocco continues fading away, members of the Moroccan Jewish Diaspora have redoubled their exertions to preserve the vestiges of their long history, through restoring some of their cultures even after the period of the war. Moroccan Muslims are also trying to preserve their relation through recalling the Jews. THE "NEW ORDER" IN A PRE-COLONIAL MUSLIM SOCIETY: MILITARY REFORM IN MOROCCO In this article, the author has attempted to explore the aftermath of the war in morocco in an effort to establish a firm military in Morocco. The author’s main concern is to describe and scrutinize the institutional, political, ideological and economic aspects of the measures undertaken by Moroccan government after 1845 to provide a firm military system like the ones founded in Europe and other major nations. The author has also looked into several military reforms undertaken in Morocco. The authors claim that establishment of a stable government was very tricky owing to the religion mix up and the effects as result of war aftermath. The author has also drawn several facts indicating some of major European countries’ thirst to provide Morocco with a firm military. The author asserts that there was a “New Order” that was supposed to be followed especially with nations that had relation with morocco. The authors proceeded to state that military reforms in Morocco were not able nor did they try, to achieve the scope and level of complexity of the “new order” elsewhere in the region though they came up with measures to ensure that they were more of an organized lot. The authors claim that Morocco on its own, could not establish a stable military and European nations helped them to install one after both parties realized that they would benefit from agreement that would tie them together. Bibliography Reiter, D., & Stam, A. C. (2002). Democracies at war. Princeton, N.J: Princeton University Press. Read More