Proclamation of Independence of Morocco
The Proclamation of Independence of Morocco, also translated as the Manifesto of Independence of Morocco or Proclamation of January 11, 1944, is a document in which Moroccan nationalists called for the independence of Morocco in its national entirety under Muhammad V Bin Yusuf, as well as the installment of a democratic, constitutional government to guarantee the rights of all segments of society. January 11 is an official government holiday in Morocco.
Context
On November 8, 1942, Allied forces landed in Morocco—a colony of France since the 1912 Treaty of Fes—during Operation Torch. Free France then retook control of the a largely collaborationist colonial administration sympathetic to Philippe Pétain, which bode well for Moroccan nationalists.Sultan Muhammad V of Morocco, who was a de facto prisoner of the colonial administration, though he had made no public gesture of sympathy toward Nazi Germany, and had protected Moroccan Jews from antisemitic policies, received confirmation from President Franklin D. Roosevelt at the Casablanca Conference of January 1943, that the US would support the independence of Morocco when the war was over.
On December 18, 1943, those who were still free among the old guard of the National Party outlawed by the French administration in 1937—whose previous leaders such as Allal al-Fassi, Muhammad Hassan el-Wazzani, et al. were either in prison or in exile—organized a secret conference in Rabat to found the Istiqlal Party.
The Proclamation of Independence of Morocco was originally drafted by Ahmed el Hamiani Khatat and Ahmed Bahnini, attorneys of the party, and revised and amended by their colleagues.
On January 11, 1944, with the outcome of World War II still uncertain to all but the most perceptive, 66 Moroccans signed the public proclamation demanding an end to colonialism and the reinstatement of Morocco's independence, an enormous risk at the time.
The main nationalist leaders of all origins united around the Proclamation of Independence, forming a real political movement, representative of a wider segment of Moroccan society, urban and rural. They decided together to ally themselves with Sultan Muhammad V, to whom they submitted their demand.
Among the signatories were members of the resistance, symbols of a free Morocco, and people who would become key figures in the construction of the new Morocco.
Text
Text of the Proclamation of Independence of January 11 presented to Sultan Muhammad V:| Arabic | English |
| الحمد لله إن حزب الاستقلال الذي يضم أعضاء الحزب الوطني السابق وشخصيات حرة: | Praise God, for the Istiqlal Party, which is composed of members of the former Nationalist Party as well as independent persons: |
| حيث إن الدولة المغربية تمتعت دائما بحريتها وسيادتها الوطنية وحافظت على استقلالها طيلة ثلاثة عشر قرنا إلى أن فرض عليها نظام الحماية في ظروف خاصة و | Whereas Morocco has always constituted a free and sovereign state, and that it has held its independence through 13 centuries up until the moment when, under particular circumstances, a protectorate regime was imposed upon it; |
| حيث أن الغاية من هذا النظام والمبرر لوجوده هما إدخال الإصلاحات التي يحتاج إليها المغرب في ميادين الإدارة والعدلية والثقافة والاقتصاد والمالية والعسكرية دون أن يمس ذلك بسيادة الشعب المغربي التاريخية ونفوذ جلالة الملك و | Whereas the regime's objective and purpose were to give Morocco a set of administrative, financial, and military reforms, without impinging on the traditional sovereignty of the Moroccan people under the ægis of their king; |
| حيث أن سلطات الحماية بدلت هذا النظام بنظام مبني على الحكم المباشر والاستبداد لفائدة الجالية الفرنسية ومنها جيش من الموظفين لا يتوقف المغرب إلا على جزء يسير منه وأنها لم تحاول التوفيق بين مصالح مختلف العناصر في البلاد و | Whereas under this regime, the authorities of the Protectorate have replaced that system with a system of direct and despotic rule for the benefit of the French colony—including the military and employees—in which Morocco only plays a minimal role, and in which the French authorities have not attempted to address the various needs of the different elements of the country; |
| حيث أن الجالية الفرنسية توصلت بهذا النظام إلى الاستحواذ على مقاليد الحكم واحتكرت خيرات البلاد دون أصحابها و | Whereas the French colony, through this system, has been able to take over all channels of power, as well as to appropriate and monopolize the country's resources, to the detriment of its citizens; |
| حيث أن هذا النظام حاول بشتى الوسائل تحطيم الوحدة المغربية ومنع المغاربة من المشاركة الفعلية في تسيير شؤون بلادهم ومنعهم من كل حرية خاصة أو عامة و | Whereas the regime has attempted—through all possible means—to break the unity of the Moroccan people, to prevent Moroccans from effectively participating in the governance of their country, and to deprive them of every individual civil liberty; |
| حيث أن الظروف التي يجتازها العالم اليوم هي غير الظروف التي أسست فيها الحماية و | Whereas the circumstances the world faces today are not those in which the protectorate was established; |
| حيث أن المغرب شارك مشاركة فعالة في الحروب العالمية بجانب الحلفاء وقام رجاله أخيرا بأعمال أثارت إعجاب الجميع في فرنسا وتونس وصقلية وكرسيكا وإيطاليا، وينتظر منهم مشاركة أوسع في ميادين أخرى وبالأخص لمساعدة فرنسا على تحريرها و | Whereas Morocco has participated significantly in the World Wars next to the Allied forces, with Moroccans having impressed everyone with their accomplishments in France, as well as Tunisia, Sicily, Corsica, and Italy, and with the expectation that they will participate in other theaters as well, particularly in the liberation of France; |
| حيث أن الحلفاء الذين يريقون دماءهم في سبيل الحرية اعترفوا في وثيقة الأطلنتي بحق الشعوب في حكم نفسها بنفسها، وأعلنوا أخيرا في مؤتمر طهران سخطهم على المذهب الذي بمقتضاه يزعم القوي حق الاستيلاء على الضعيف و | Whereas the Allies, who shed their blood for the cause of liberty, stated in the Atlantic Charter that all peoples have the right to self-determination, to govern themselves by themselves, and expressed recently at the Tehran Conference their resentment toward the doctrine that the mighty should dominate the weak; |
| حيث أن الحلفاء أظهروا في شتى المناسبات عطفهم على الشعوب الإسلامية ومنحوا الاستقلال لشعوب منها من هو دون شعبنا في ماضيه وحاضره و | Whereas the Allies expressed their support for Muslim peoples on multiple occasions, and have granted independence to some of those whose past and present civilizations are less developed than Morocco’s; |
| حيث أن الأمة المغربية التي تكون وحدة متناسقة الأجزاء تشعر بما لها من الحقوق وما عليها من واجبات داخل البلاد وخارجها تحت رعاية ملكها المحبوب وتقدر حق قدرها الحريات الديمقراطية التي يوافق جوهرها مبادئ ديننا الحنيف والتي كانت الأساس في وضع نظام الحكم بالبلاد الإسلامية الشقيقة. | Whereas the Moroccan nation, which is a harmonious union of its different elements, feels what is rightfully its own in terms of rights, and what is upon it in terms of responsibilities within the country and beyond its borders under the patronage of its beloved king, and profoundly appreciates its democratic liberties, which are intrinsically consonant with our true religion, which has been the foundation of governance in fellow Islamic countries; |
| يقرر ما يأتي: | Decides the following: |
| أولاً: أن يطالب باستقلال المغرب ووحدة ترابه تحت ظل صاحب الجلالة ملك البلاد المفدى سيدنا محمد بن يوسف نصره الله وأيده. | First: To demand the independence of Morocco and the unity of its terrify under His Majesty the King Muhammad Bin Yusuf, may God aid and help him. |
| ثانياً: أن يلتمس من جلالته السعي لدى الدول التي يهمها الأمر الاعتراف بهذا الاستقلال وضمانه، ولوضع اتفاقيات تحدد ضمن السيادة المغربية ما للأجانب من مصالح مشروعة. | Second: To implore His Majesty to seek the recognition and affirmation of this independence from nations concerned, and to sign treaties that define, within the context of Moroccan sovereignty, the legitimate roles of foreigners in Morocco. |
| ثالثاً: أن يطلب نظام المغرب للدول الموافقة على وثيقة الأطلنتي والمشاركة في مؤتمر الصلح. | Third: To request the addition of Morocco to the group of states that have ratified the Atlantic Charter and that participated in the Peace Conference. |
| رابعاً: أن يلتمس من جلالته أن يشمل برعايته حركة الإصلاح الذي يتوقف عليه المغرب في داخله، ويكل لنظره السديد إحداث نظام سياسي شوري شبيه بنظام الحكم في البلاد العربية الإسلامية في الشرق تحفظ فيه حقوق سائر عناصر الشعب المغربي وسائر طبقاته وتحدد فيه واجبات الجميع،. | Fourth: To implore His Majesty to support the reform movement that Morocco fundamentally depends on, and to bring apt attention the creation of a consultative political system, similar to the governments in Arab Islamic countries in the East, in which the rights of all elements of Moroccan society and all its social classes are ensured, and in which the responsibilities of all are defined. |
| والسلام | Peace. |
SignatoriesAbou Bakr El Kadiri, Moudhakkirati fil Haraka al Wataniyya (Mémoires), tome 2, pp 357-513
Consequences
The reaction was immediate: great pressure upon Sultan Muhammad V to publicly condemn the Proclamation, as well as the detention of signatories and known nationalist activists.On the night of January 28, Ahmed Balafrej, secretary general of the Istiqlal Party, as well as his associate Mohamed Lyazidi, were arrested in Rabat under the pretext of sharing intelligence with Axis powers. Balafrej was one of 3 nationalist activists deported to Corsica. In Fes, Abdelaziz Bendriss and Hachemi Filali were incarcerated. In total, French authorities arrested 20 nationalist activists in the aftermath of this manifesto.
The Proclamation of Independence was a major step in the struggle for independence. It was with this document that the Moroccan Nationalist Movement allied itself with the sultan. The sultan also started to become an important national folk symbol, delivering the symbolic Tangier speech April 10, 1947 and being forced exile on the eve of Eid al-Adha August 20, 1953. The French Protectorate in Morocco came to an end on March 2, 1956 with the Franco-Moroccan Joint Declaration signed in Rabat.