1.
World War II
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World War II, also known as the Second World War, was a global war that lasted from 1939 to 1945, although related conflicts began earlier. It involved the vast majority of the worlds countries—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing alliances, the Allies and the Axis. It was the most widespread war in history, and directly involved more than 100 million people from over 30 countries. Marked by mass deaths of civilians, including the Holocaust and the bombing of industrial and population centres. These made World War II the deadliest conflict in human history, from late 1939 to early 1941, in a series of campaigns and treaties, Germany conquered or controlled much of continental Europe, and formed the Axis alliance with Italy and Japan. Under the Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact of August 1939, Germany and the Soviet Union partitioned and annexed territories of their European neighbours, Poland, Finland, Romania and the Baltic states. In December 1941, Japan attacked the United States and European colonies in the Pacific Ocean, and quickly conquered much of the Western Pacific. The Axis advance halted in 1942 when Japan lost the critical Battle of Midway, near Hawaii, in 1944, the Western Allies invaded German-occupied France, while the Soviet Union regained all of its territorial losses and invaded Germany and its allies. During 1944 and 1945 the Japanese suffered major reverses in mainland Asia in South Central China and Burma, while the Allies crippled the Japanese Navy, thus ended the war in Asia, cementing the total victory of the Allies. World War II altered the political alignment and social structure of the world, the United Nations was established to foster international co-operation and prevent future conflicts. The victorious great powers—the United States, the Soviet Union, China, the United Kingdom, the Soviet Union and the United States emerged as rival superpowers, setting the stage for the Cold War, which lasted for the next 46 years. Meanwhile, the influence of European great powers waned, while the decolonisation of Asia, most countries whose industries had been damaged moved towards economic recovery. Political integration, especially in Europe, emerged as an effort to end pre-war enmities, the start of the war in Europe is generally held to be 1 September 1939, beginning with the German invasion of Poland, Britain and France declared war on Germany two days later. The dates for the beginning of war in the Pacific include the start of the Second Sino-Japanese War on 7 July 1937, or even the Japanese invasion of Manchuria on 19 September 1931. Others follow the British historian A. J. P. Taylor, who held that the Sino-Japanese War and war in Europe and its colonies occurred simultaneously and this article uses the conventional dating. Other starting dates sometimes used for World War II include the Italian invasion of Abyssinia on 3 October 1935. The British historian Antony Beevor views the beginning of World War II as the Battles of Khalkhin Gol fought between Japan and the forces of Mongolia and the Soviet Union from May to September 1939, the exact date of the wars end is also not universally agreed upon. It was generally accepted at the time that the war ended with the armistice of 14 August 1945, rather than the formal surrender of Japan
2.
Zaian War
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The Zaian War was fought between France and the Zaian confederation of Berber tribes in Morocco between 1914 and 1921. Morocco had become a French protectorate in 1912, and Resident-General Louis-Hubert Lyautey sought to extend French influence eastwards through the Middle Atlas mountains towards French Algeria and this was opposed by the Zaians, led by Mouha ou Hammou Zayani. The war began well for the French, who took the key towns of Taza. The outbreak of the First World War proved significant, with the withdrawal of troops for service in France compounded by the loss of more than 600 French killed at the Battle of El Herri. After the signing of the Armistice with Germany in November 1918, the French resumed their offensive in the Khénifra area in 1920, establishing a series of blockhouses to limit the Zaians freedom of movement. They opened negotiations with Hammous sons, persuading three of them, along many of their followers, to submit to French rule. A split in the Zaian Confederation between those who supported submission and those still opposed led to infighting and the death of Hammou in Spring 1921, the French responded with a strong, three-pronged attack into the Middle Atlas that pacified the area. Some tribesmen, led by Moha ou Said, fled to the High Atlas, the signing of the Treaty of Fez in 1912 established a French protectorate over Morocco. The treaty had been prompted by the Agadir Crisis of 1911, during which French, the new French protectorate was led by a resident-general, Louis-Hubert Lyautey, and adopted the traditional Moroccan way of governing through the tribal system. Upon taking up his post Lyautey replaced Abdelhafid with his brother, the tribes took offence at this, installing their own Sultan, Ahmed al-Hiba, in Marrakesh and taking eight Europeans captive. Lyautey acted quickly against the revolt, dispatching General Charles Mangin and 5,000 troops to retake the town, mangins men were highly successful, rescuing the captives and inflicting heavy casualties on vastly superior numbers of tribesmen for the loss of 2 men killed and 23 wounded. Al-Hiba escaped to the Atlas mountains with a number of his followers. A popular idea among the public in France was to possess a stretch of territory from Tunis to the Atlantic Ocean. Lyautey was in favour of this and advocated French occupation of the Middle Atlas mountains near Taza, Hammou commanded between 4,000 and 4,200 tents of people and had led the Zaians since 1877, opposing the French since the start of their involvement in Morocco. Despite initially being open to negotiations with the French, pressure from pro-war chiefs, the French had attempted to persuade the Zaians to submit since 1913 with little success, most tribes in the confederation remained opposed to French rule. Lyauteys plans for taking Taza also extended to capturing Khénifra, Hammous headquarters and he had been advised by his political officer, Maurice Le Glay that doing so would finish him off definitively and cut the Zaians off from support of other tribes. The French outpost at nearby Kasbah Tadla had recently attacked by Said and subsequent peace negotiations led by Lyauteys head of intelligence. Henrys captured Taza within a few days using units drawn from garrisons in Fez, Meknes, Rabat and Marrakesh, Henrys took overall command, directing the forces from an armoured car within the Claudel column
3.
France
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France, officially the French Republic, is a country with territory in western Europe and several overseas regions and territories. The European, or metropolitan, area of France extends from the Mediterranean Sea to the English Channel and the North Sea, Overseas France include French Guiana on the South American continent and several island territories in the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian oceans. France spans 643,801 square kilometres and had a population of almost 67 million people as of January 2017. It is a unitary republic with the capital in Paris. Other major urban centres include Marseille, Lyon, Lille, Nice, Toulouse, during the Iron Age, what is now metropolitan France was inhabited by the Gauls, a Celtic people. The area was annexed in 51 BC by Rome, which held Gaul until 486, France emerged as a major European power in the Late Middle Ages, with its victory in the Hundred Years War strengthening state-building and political centralisation. During the Renaissance, French culture flourished and a colonial empire was established. The 16th century was dominated by civil wars between Catholics and Protestants. France became Europes dominant cultural, political, and military power under Louis XIV, in the 19th century Napoleon took power and established the First French Empire, whose subsequent Napoleonic Wars shaped the course of continental Europe. Following the collapse of the Empire, France endured a succession of governments culminating with the establishment of the French Third Republic in 1870. Following liberation in 1944, a Fourth Republic was established and later dissolved in the course of the Algerian War, the Fifth Republic, led by Charles de Gaulle, was formed in 1958 and remains to this day. Algeria and nearly all the colonies became independent in the 1960s with minimal controversy and typically retained close economic. France has long been a centre of art, science. It hosts Europes fourth-largest number of cultural UNESCO World Heritage Sites and receives around 83 million foreign tourists annually, France is a developed country with the worlds sixth-largest economy by nominal GDP and ninth-largest by purchasing power parity. In terms of household wealth, it ranks fourth in the world. France performs well in international rankings of education, health care, life expectancy, France remains a great power in the world, being one of the five permanent members of the United Nations Security Council with the power to veto and an official nuclear-weapon state. It is a member state of the European Union and the Eurozone. It is also a member of the Group of 7, North Atlantic Treaty Organization, Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, the World Trade Organization, originally applied to the whole Frankish Empire, the name France comes from the Latin Francia, or country of the Franks
4.
La Marseillaise
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La Marseillaise is the national anthem of France. The song was written in 1792 by Claude Joseph Rouget de Lisle in Strasbourg after the declaration of war by France against Austria, and was originally titled Chant de guerre pour lArmée du Rhin. The Marseillaise was a song, an anthem to freedom, a patriotic call to mobilize all the citizens. The French National Convention adopted it as the Republics anthem in 1795 and it acquired its nickname after being sung in Paris by volunteers from Marseille marching to the capital. The song is the first example of the European march anthemic style, the anthems evocative melody and lyrics have led to its widespread use as a song of revolution and its incorporation into many pieces of classical and popular music. As the French Revolution continued, the monarchies of Europe became concerned that revolutionary fervor would spread to their countries, the War of the First Coalition was an effort to stop the revolution, or at least contain it to France. Initially, the French army did not distinguish itself, and Coalition armies invaded France and that evening, Rouget de Lisle wrote Chant de guerre pour lArmée du Rhin, and dedicated the song to Marshal Nicolas Luckner, a Bavarian in French service from Cham. A plaque on the building on Place Broglie where De Dietrichs house once stood commemorates the event. The melody soon became the call to the French Revolution and was adopted as La Marseillaise after the melody was first sung on the streets by volunteers from Marseille by the end of May. A newly graduated medical doctor, Mireur later became a general under Napoléon Bonaparte, the songs lyric reflects the invasion of France by foreign armies that were under way when it was written. Strasbourg itself was attacked just a few days later, the invading forces were repulsed from France following their defeat in the Battle of Valmy. As the vast majority of Alsatians did not speak French, a German version was published in October 1792 in Colmar, the Convention accepted it as the French national anthem in a decree passed on 14 July 1795, making it Frances first anthem. It later lost this status under Napoleon I, and the song was banned outright by Louis XVIII and Charles X, only being re-instated briefly after the July Revolution of 1830. During Napoleon Is reign, Veillons au Salut de lEmpire was the anthem of the regime. Eight years later, in 1879, it was restored as Frances national anthem, several musical antecedents have been cited for the melody, Mozarts Allegro maestoso of Piano Concerto No. Only the first verse and the first chorus are sung today in France, there are some slight historical variations in the lyrics of the song, the following is the version listed at the official website of the French Presidency. Verses sung in the version of the anthem are in bold. The United States Library of Congress holds the following English translation and these verses were omitted from the national anthem
5.
Rabat
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Rabat is the capital of Morocco and its seventh largest city centre with an urban population of approximately 580,000 and a metropolitan population of over 1.2 million. It is also the capital of the Rabat-Salé-Kénitra administrative region, the city is located on the Atlantic Ocean at the mouth of the river Bou Regreg. On the facing shore of the river lies Salé, the main commuter town. Rabat, Temara, and Salé form a conurbation of over 1.8 million people, silt-related problems have diminished Rabats role as a port, however, Rabat and Salé still maintain important textile, food processing and construction industries. In addition, tourism and the presence of all foreign embassies in Morocco serve to make Rabat one of the most important cities in the country. Once a reputed corsair haven, Rabat served as one of the ports in North Africa for the Barbary pirates. Rabat is accessible by train through the ONCF system and by plane through the nearby Rabat–Salé Airport, the Moroccan capital was ranked at second place by CNN in its Top Travel Destinations of 2013. It is one of four Imperial cities of Morocco, and the medina of Rabat is listed as a World Heritage Site, Rabat has a relatively modern history compared to the nearby ancient city of Salé. In 1146, the Almohad ruler Abd al-Mumin turned Rabats ribat into a fortress to use as a launching point for attacks on Iberia. In 1170, due to its importance, Rabat acquired the title Ribatu l-Fath, meaning stronghold of victory. Yaqub al-Mansur, another Almohad Caliph, moved the capital of his empire to Rabat and he built Rabats city walls, the Kasbah of the Udayas and began construction on what would have been the worlds largest mosque. However, Yaqub died and construction stopped, the ruins of the unfinished mosque, along with the Hassan Tower, still stand today. Yaqubs death initiated a period of decline, the Almohad empire lost control of its possessions in Spain and much of its African territory, eventually leading to its total collapse. In the 13th century, much of Rabats economic power shifted to Fez, in 1515 a Moorish explorer, El Wassan, reported that Rabat had declined so much that only 100 inhabited houses remained. An influx of Moriscos, who had expelled from Spain, in the early 17th century helped boost Rabats growth. Rabat and neighboring Salé united to form the Republic of Bou Regreg in 1627, the republic was run by Barbary pirates who used the two cities as base ports for launching attacks on shipping. The pirates did not have to contend with any central authority until the Alaouite Dynasty united Morocco in 1666, the latter attempted to establish control over the pirates, but failed. European and Muslim authorities continued to attempt to control the pirates over many years, but the Republic of Bou Regreg did not collapse until 1818
6.
French language
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French is a Romance language of the Indo-European family. It descended from the Vulgar Latin of the Roman Empire, as did all Romance languages, French has evolved from Gallo-Romance, the spoken Latin in Gaul, and more specifically in Northern Gaul. Its closest relatives are the other langues doïl—languages historically spoken in northern France and in southern Belgium, French was also influenced by native Celtic languages of Northern Roman Gaul like Gallia Belgica and by the Frankish language of the post-Roman Frankish invaders. Today, owing to Frances past overseas expansion, there are numerous French-based creole languages, a French-speaking person or nation may be referred to as Francophone in both English and French. French is a language in 29 countries, most of which are members of la francophonie. As of 2015, 40% of the population is in Europe, 35% in sub-Saharan Africa, 15% in North Africa and the Middle East, 8% in the Americas. French is the fourth-most widely spoken mother tongue in the European Union, 1/5 of Europeans who do not have French as a mother tongue speak French as a second language. As a result of French and Belgian colonialism from the 17th and 18th century onward, French was introduced to new territories in the Americas, Africa, most second-language speakers reside in Francophone Africa, in particular Gabon, Algeria, Mauritius, Senegal and Ivory Coast. In 2015, French was estimated to have 77 to 110 million native speakers, approximately 274 million people are able to speak the language. The Organisation internationale de la Francophonie estimates 700 million by 2050, in 2011, Bloomberg Businessweek ranked French the third most useful language for business, after English and Standard Mandarin Chinese. Under the Constitution of France, French has been the language of the Republic since 1992. France mandates the use of French in official government publications, public education except in specific cases, French is one of the four official languages of Switzerland and is spoken in the western part of Switzerland called Romandie, of which Geneva is the largest city. French is the language of about 23% of the Swiss population. French is also a language of Luxembourg, Monaco, and Aosta Valley, while French dialects remain spoken by minorities on the Channel Islands. A plurality of the worlds French-speaking population lives in Africa and this number does not include the people living in non-Francophone African countries who have learned French as a foreign language. Due to the rise of French in Africa, the total French-speaking population worldwide is expected to reach 700 million people in 2050, French is the fastest growing language on the continent. French is mostly a language in Africa, but it has become a first language in some urban areas, such as the region of Abidjan, Ivory Coast and in Libreville. There is not a single African French, but multiple forms that diverged through contact with various indigenous African languages, sub-Saharan Africa is the region where the French language is most likely to expand, because of the expansion of education and rapid population growth
7.
Berber languages
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Berber or the Berber languages or the Amazigh language are a family of similar and closely related languages and dialects indigenous to North Africa. Large Berber-speaking migrant communities, numbering today about 4 million, have been living in Western Europe, about half of this population was born in Europe. Berber constitutes a branch of the Afroasiatic language family, and has been attested since ancient times, the number of Berbers is much higher than the number of Berber speakers. The bulk of the populations of the Maghreb countries are considered to have Berber ancestors, in Algeria, for example, a majority of the population consists of Arabized Berbers. There is a cultural and political movement among speakers of the closely related varieties of Northern Berber to promote and unify them under a standard language, called. The name Tamaziɣt is the current native name of the Berber language in the Moroccan Middle-Atlas region, the Rif regions, in other Berber-speaking area this name was lost. There is historical evidence, from medieval Berber manusctipts, that all native North Africans from Libya to Morocco have called their language, Tamaziɣt. The name Tamaziɣt is currently being used by educated Berbers to refer to the written Berber language. Around 90 percent of the Berber-speaking population speak one of six major varieties of Berber and they are, in the order of demographic weight, Tashelhit, Kabyle, Atlas Tamazight, Riffian, Shawi and Tuareg. The Berber languages and dialects have had a tradition, on and off, for about 2,500 years, although the tradition has been frequently disrupted by cultural shifts. They were first written in the Libyco-Berber and Tifinagh abjad, still used by the Tuareg, the oldest dated inscription is from about 200 BCE. The Berber Latin alphabet was used by most European and Berber linguists during the 19th and 20th centuries. In the 19th and 20th century European and native Berber linguists, a modernized form of the Tifinagh alphabet, called Neo-Tifinagh, was adopted in Morocco in 2003 for writing Berber, but many Moroccan Berber publications still use the Berber Latin alphabet. Algerians mostly use the Berber Latin alphabet in Berber language education at public schools, Mali and Niger recognize a Tuareg-Berber Latin alphabet customized to the Tuareg phonological system. However, traditional Tifinagh is still used in those countries, the term Berber has been used in Europe since at least the 17th century, and is still used today. It was borrowed from Latin Barbari, the Latin word is also found in the Arabic designation for these populations, البربر, al-Barbar, see names of the Berber people. Etymologically, the Berber root Mazigh means free man, noble man, the feminine Tamazight traditionally referred specifically to the Riffian and Central Atlas Tamazight languages. European languages distinguish between the words Berber and barbaric, while Arabic has the same word al-barbari for both meanings, some other Berber writers, especially in Morocco, prefer to refer to Berber with Amazigh when writing about it in French or English
8.
Moroccan Darija
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Moroccan Darija or Moroccan Arabic is a language derived from a variety of Arabic spoken in Morocco. It belongs to the Maghrebi Arabic language continuum and is intelligible, to some extent, with Algerian Arabic. It shows a strong historical and linguistic Berber, French. The Standard Arabic language, not spoken in daily life, is used for official communications by the government, however, Moroccan Darija has a strong presence in Moroccan television entertainment, cinema and commercial advertising and is the most spoken language in daily life. Moroccan Darija is a term for several distinct dialects of Arabic several belonging to two genetically different groups, pre-Hilalian and Hilalian dialects. The dialects are classified in three types, urban, village and mountain sedentary and Jewish dialects. In Morocco, several dialects are spoken, urban dialects of Fes, Rabat, Salé, Taza, Tetouan, Ouezzane, Chefchaouen, Tangiers, Asilah, Larache, Ksar el-Kebir, Meknes. Mountain dialects of the southern and western Rif can be classified in two subdialects, northern dialects and southern dialects, sedentary dialects of Zerhoun and Sefrou and their neighboring tribes, remnants of pre-Hilalian dialects that were more widely spoken before the 12th century. Judeo-Moroccan, nearly extinct but with an extensive remnant literature, Hilalian, or Bedouin, dialects were introduced to Morocco following the settlement of several Hilalian and Mâqilian tribes in western Morocco brought by the Berber Almohad king Yaqub Mansur. Among the dialects, Hassaniya is often considered as distinct from Moroccan Darija, Modern urban koines are also based on the Hilalian dialects and have mainly Hilalian features. According to Elimams studies, the origin of language would go back to over 3,000 years. This Semitic language would be strongly Arabized after the Arab invasion to be assimilated into the language of the conquerors. Moroccan Darija is characterized by a strong Amazigh stratum, following the Arab conquest, Amazigh languages remained widely spoken. More recently, the influx of Andalusi Muslims and Spanish-speaking–Moriscos influenced Urban dialects with Spanish substrate, most vocabulary of Moroccan Darija is derived from Old Arabic and Amazigh, supplemented by French and Spanish loanwords. There are noticeable differences between Moroccan Darija and most other languages. Some words are unique to Moroccan Darija, daba now. Others are shared with Algerian Arabic such as talk, from Classical hadhar babble. There are a number of Moroccan Darija dictionaries in existence, A Dictionary of Moroccan Arabic, Moroccan-English, washington, DC, Georgetown University Press,1963 Mujam al-fuṣḥā fil-āmmiyyah al-maghribiyyah معجم الفصحى في العامية المغربية, Muhammad Hulwi, Rabat, al-Madaris 1988
9.
Modern Standard Arabic
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Modern Standard Arabic, Standard Arabic, or Literary Arabic is the standardized and literary variety of Arabic used in writing and in most formal speech. It is considered a pluricentric language, MSA is based on classical Arabic, and differences between the two varieties of the language are directly related to modernizing and simplification, both in speaking and writing styles. Classical Arabic, also known as Quranic Arabic, is the used in the Quran as well as in numerous literary texts from Umayyad. Many Muslims study Classical Arabic in order to read the Quran in its original language, Modern Standard Arabic is the literary standard across the Middle East, North Africa, Horn of Africa and is one of the six official languages of the United Nations. Most printed matter in the Arab League—including most books, newspapers, magazines, official documents and they are not normally written, although a certain amount of literature exists in many of them. Literary Arabic is the language of all Arab League countries and is the only form of Arabic taught in schools at all stages. Additionally, some Christian Arabic speakers recite prayers in it, as it is considered the literary language and this diglossic situation facilitates code-switching in which a speaker switches back and forth between the two dialects of the language, sometimes even within the same sentence. People speak MSA as a language if they speak other languages native to a country as their first language. Modern Standard Arabic is also spoken by people of Arab descent outside the Arab world when people of Arab descent speaking different dialects communicate each other, as there is a prestige or standard dialect of vernacular Arabic, speakers of standard colloquial dialects code-switch between these particular dialects and MSA. For these reasons, Modern Standard Arabic is generally treated separately in non-Arab sources, Arabic sources generally tend to regard MSA and Classical Arabic as different registers of one and the same language. Speakers of Modern Standard Arabic do not always observe the rules of Classical Arabic grammar. On the whole, Modern Standard Arabic is not homogeneous, there are authors who write in a very close to the classical models. As MSA is a revised and simplified form of Classical Arabic, as diglossia is involved, various Arabic dialects freely borrow words from MSA, this situation is similar to Romance languages, wherein scores of words were borrowed directly from formal Latin. It depends on the knowledge and attitude to the grammar of Classical Arabic, as well as the region. Pronunciation of foreign names in MSA is loose, names can be pronounced or even spelled differently in different regions, pronunciation also depends on the persons education, linguistic knowledge and abilities. Modern languages have also influenced pronunciation or word order. Examples are Turkish and English in Egypt, French in North Africa, Lebanon and Syria, English and Hebrew in Israel, notes, the marginal phoneme /ɫ/ only occurs in the word الله /aɫːaːh/ and words derived from it. /u/ can also have different realizations, i. e and they are distinct phonemes in loan words
10.
Roman Catholicism in Morocco
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The Catholic Church in Morocco is part of the worldwide Catholic Church, under the spiritual leadership of the Pope in Rome. There are very few converts from Islam, the dominant religion, catholics account for only about two-thirds of one tenth of a percent of the overall population of over 31 million. The country is divided into two archdioceses, Rabat and Tangier
11.
Judaism
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Judaism encompasses the religion, philosophy, culture and way of life of the Jewish people. Judaism is an ancient monotheistic Abrahamic religion, with the Torah as its text, and supplemental oral tradition represented by later texts such as the Midrash. Judaism is considered by religious Jews to be the expression of the relationship that God established with the Children of Israel. With between 14.5 and 17.4 million adherents worldwide, Judaism is the tenth-largest religion in the world, Judaism includes a wide corpus of texts, practices, theological positions, and forms of organization. Modern branches of Judaism such as Humanistic Judaism may be nontheistic, today, the largest Jewish religious movements are Orthodox Judaism, Conservative Judaism and Reform Judaism. Major sources of difference between groups are their approaches to Jewish law, the authority of the Rabbinic tradition. Orthodox Judaism maintains that the Torah and Jewish law are divine in origin, eternal and unalterable, Conservative and Reform Judaism are more liberal, with Conservative Judaism generally promoting a more traditional interpretation of Judaisms requirements than Reform Judaism. A typical Reform position is that Jewish law should be viewed as a set of guidelines rather than as a set of restrictions and obligations whose observance is required of all Jews. Historically, special courts enforced Jewish law, today, these still exist. Authority on theological and legal matters is not vested in any one person or organization, the history of Judaism spans more than 3,000 years. Judaism has its roots as a religion in the Middle East during the Bronze Age. Judaism is considered one of the oldest monotheistic religions, the Hebrews and Israelites were already referred to as Jews in later books of the Tanakh such as the Book of Esther, with the term Jews replacing the title Children of Israel. Judaisms texts, traditions and values strongly influenced later Abrahamic religions, including Christianity, Islam, many aspects of Judaism have also directly or indirectly influenced secular Western ethics and civil law. Jews are a group and include those born Jewish and converts to Judaism. In 2015, the world Jewish population was estimated at about 14.3 million, Judaism thus begins with ethical monotheism, the belief that God is one and is concerned with the actions of humankind. According to the Tanakh, God promised Abraham to make of his offspring a great nation, many generations later, he commanded the nation of Israel to love and worship only one God, that is, the Jewish nation is to reciprocate Gods concern for the world. He also commanded the Jewish people to one another, that is. These commandments are but two of a corpus of commandments and laws that constitute this covenant, which is the substance of Judaism
12.
Islam in Morocco
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Islam is the largest religion in Morocco, with more than 99% of the population adhering to it. The vast majority of Muslims in Morocco are Sunni belonging to the Maliki school of jurisprudence, Islam was first brought to Morocco in 680 by an Arab invasion under Uqba ibn Nafi, who was a general serving under the Umayyads of Damascus. In 788, The Zaydi Shia Idrisids ruled large parts of Morocco and their contemporaries included the heretical Barghawata state and the Khariji state of Sijilmasa. Later, several Berbers formed more powerful Islamic dynasties that reigned over the country, among them were the Almoravids, who were the first to unite Morocco, as well as significant regions in West Africa, Spain and Algeria. The Almoravids were responsible for making the Maliki school of Islamic jurisprudence the most prominent in Morocco and it was later under Almohad rule that smaller Muslim sects were persecuted and orthodox Sunni Islam became prevalent across the country. Muslims in Morocco are predominantly of the Maliki madhab, or school of thought, Morocco has a large Salafi movement, notable figures among it include Omar al-Haddouchi and Hassan Kettani. Islam by country Christianity in Morocco Baháí Faith in Morocco History of the Jews in Morocco
13.
Hubert Lyautey
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Louis Hubert Gonzalve Lyautey was a French Army general and colonial administrator. After serving in Indochina and Madagascar, he became the first French Resident-General in Morocco from 1912 to 1925, early in 1917 he served briefly as Minister of War. From 1921 he was a Marshal of France and he was dubbed the Maker of Morocco and the French empire builder, and in 1931 made the cover of Time. Lyautey was born in Nancy, capital of Lorraine and his father was a prosperous engineer, his grandfather a highly decorated Napoleonic general. His mother was a Norman aristocrat, and Lyautey inherited many of her assumptions, monarchism, patriotism, Catholicism, in 1873 he entered the French military academy of Saint-Cyr. He attended the training school in early 1876, and in December 1877 was made a lieutenant. After graduating from St Cyr, two months holiday in Algeria in 1878 left him impressed by the Mahgreb and by Islam and he served in the cavalry, and was to make his career serving in the colonies and not in a more prestigious assignment in metropolitan France. In 1880 he was posted to Algiers, then campaigning in southern Algeria, in 1884, to his disappointment, he was recalled to France. In 1894 he was posted to Indochina, serving under Joseph Gallieni and he helped crush the so-called piracy of the Black Flags rebellion along the Chinese border. Then set up the administration in Tonkin, and was then head of the military office of the Government-General in Indochina. By time he left IndoChina in 1897 he was a lieutenant-colonel and had the Legion of Honour, in Indochina he wrote Here I am like a fish in water, because the manipulation of things and men is power, everything I love. From 1897 to 1902 Lyautey served in Madagascar, again under Gallieni and he pacified northern and western Madagascar, administering a region of 200,000 inhabitants, beginning the construction of a new provincial capital at Ankazobe and a new roadway across the island. He encouraged the cultivation of rice, coffee, tobacco, grain and cotton, in 1900 he became Governor of Southern Madagascar, an area a third the size of France, with a million inhabitants,80 officers and 4,000 soldiers served under him. He was also promoted to colonel in 1900, in Madagascar he wrote to his father I am Louis XIV and that suits me. He believed that he did not crave power for its own sake, in 1903 he was posted to command first a subdivision south of Oran and then the whole Oran district, his official task being to protect a new railway line against attacks from Morocco. French commanders in Algeria moved into Morocco largely on their own initiative, later in the year Lyautey marched west and occupied Bechar, a clear breach of 1840s treaties. The following year he advanced further into Morocco, in disobedience to the Minister of War. Lyautey met Isabelle Eberhardt in 1903, and employed her for intelligence missions, after her death in 1904, he chose her tombstone
14.
Yusef of Morocco
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Sultan Yusef ben Hassan ruled Morocco from 1912 until his death in 1927. Yusef was born in the city of Meknes to Sultan Hassan I and his wife, Ruqiya. He was the youngest of Sultan Hassan Is sons and he inherited the throne from his brother, Sultan Abdelhafid, who abdicated after the Treaty of Fez, which made Morocco a French protectorate. He was a member of the Alaouite Dynasty, yusefs reign was turbulent and marked with frequent uprisings against Spain and France. The most serious of these was a Berber uprising in the Rif Mountains, led by Abd el-Krim, to ensure his own safety, Yusef moved the court from Fez to Rabat, which has served as the capital of the country ever since. Yusefs reign came to an end when he died suddenly of uremia in 1927. He was succeeded by his son Muhammad
15.
Mohammed V of Morocco
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Mohammed V was Sultan of Morocco from 1927–53, exiled from 1953–55, where he was again recognized as Sultan upon his return, and King from 1957 to 1961. His full name was Sidi Mohammed ben Yusef, or Son of Yusef and he was a member of the Alaouite Dynasty. On 20 August 1953, the French who were occupying Morocco at the time forced Mohammed V and his uncle, Mohammed Ben Aarafa, was placed on the throne. Mohammed V and his family were transferred to Madagascar in January 1954. Mohammed V returned from exile on 16 November 1955, and was recognized as Sultan after active opposition to the French protectorate. In February 1956 he successfully negotiated with France and Spain for the independence of Morocco, here are competing accounts of exactly what Mohammed V did or did not do for the Moroccan Jewish community during the Holocaust. However, hough a subject of debate, most scholars stress the benevolence of Mohammed V toward the Jews during the Vichy era. The sultans stand was based as much on the insult the Vichy diktats posed to his claim of sovereignty over all his subjects, including the Jews, as on his humanitarian instincts. Mohammed V was one of the sons of Sultan Yusef, who was enthroned by the French in September 1912 and his wife Lalla Yaqut and his first wife was Lalla Hanila bint Mamoun. She was the mother of his first daughter Lalla Fatima Zohra and his second wife was his first cousin Lalla Abla bint Tahar. She was the daughter of Moulay Mohammed Tahar bin Hassan, son of Hassan I of Morocco and she married Mohammed V in 1929 and died in Rabat on 1 March 1992. She gave birth to five children, the future King Hassan II, Lalla Aicha, Lalla Malika, Moulay Abdallah and his third wife was Lalla Bahia bint Antar, mother of his last daughter Lalla Amina. He died on 26 February 1961 following complications of a surgery he had undergone, the Mohammed V International Airport and Stade Mohamed V of Casablanca are named after him, as well as numerous universities and various public spaces across Morocco. There is an Avenue Mohammed V in nearly every Moroccan city, in December 2007, The Jewish Daily Forward reported on a secret diplomatic initiative by the Moroccan government to have Mohammed V admitted to the Righteous Among the Nations. Du Lys, www. editionsdulys. com, Montréal,2010, Second edition, www. iuniverse. com, Bloomington, IN,2012, ISBN 978-1-4759-2608-8, 620p
16.
Mohammed Ben Aarafa
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Mohammed Ben Aarafa, or Ben Arafa was a distant relative of Sultan Mohammed V of Morocco, he was put in Mohammed Vs place by the French after they exiled Mohammed V to Madagascar. Installed in August 1953, he abdicated in October 1955, while Mohammed V was still in exile, the reign of this Mohammed VI was not recognized in the Spanish protected part of Morocco. Protests against Ben Aarafa helped lead to Moroccan independence, which was agreed to between France and Mohammed V in 1955 and he died in 1976 in France. Mohammed Vs grandson now reigns in Morocco as Mohammed VI, ignoring the reign of Ben Aarafa by using the regnal number. Knight Grand Cross of the Order of the Legion of Honor of France –10 December 1953, list of Kings of Morocco History of Morocco Morocco Alaoui dynasty History of Morocco
17.
Interwar period
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There were numerous new nations in Eastern Europe, most of them small in size. The United States gained dominance in world finance, by the middle of the decade, prosperity was widespread, with the second half of the decade known, especially in Germany, as the Golden Twenties. The Roaring Twenties highlighted novel and highly social and cultural trends. These trends, made possible by sustained economic prosperity, were most visible in major cities like New York, Chicago, Paris, Berlin, the Jazz Age began and Art Deco peaked. For women, knee-length skirts and dresses became socially acceptable, as did bobbed hair with a marcel wave, the women who pioneered these trends were frequently referred to as flappers. Not all was new, “normalcy” returned to politics in the wake of hyper-emotional wartime passions in the United States, France, and Germany. The leftist revolutions in Finland, Poland, Germany, Austria, Hungary and Spain were defeated by conservatives, but succeeded in Russia, in Italy the fascists came to power under Mussolini after threatening a march on Rome. Most independent countries enacted womens suffrage in the era, including Canada in 1917, Britain in 1918. There were a few countries that held out until after the Second World War. If women could work in factories, it seemed both ungrateful and illogical to deny them a place in the polling booth. But the vote was more than simply a reward for war work. The Netherlands, Norway, Sweden, Switzerland and Greece did especially well, in advanced economies the prosperity reached middle class households and many in the working class. With radio, automobiles, telephones, and electric lighting and appliances, there was unprecedented industrial growth, accelerated consumer demand and aspirations, and significant changes in lifestyle and culture. The media began to focus on celebrities, especially sports heroes, major cities built large sports stadiums for the fans, in addition to palatial cinemas. The Great Depression was a worldwide economic depression that took place during the 1930s. The timing varied across nations, in most countries it started in 1929 and it was the longest, deepest, and most widespread depression of the 20th century. The depression originated in the United States, after a decline in lofty stock prices. Between 1929 and 1932, worldwide GDP fell by an estimated 15%, by comparison, worldwide GDP fell by less than 1% from 2008 to 2009 during the Great Recession
18.
Independence
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Independence is a condition of a nation, country, or state in which its residents and population, or some portion thereof, exercise self-government, and usually sovereignty, over the territory. The opposite of independence is a dependent territory, Independence does not necessarily mean freedom. Whether the attainment of independence is different from revolution has long been contested, nation-states have been granted independence without any revolutionary acts. The Russian October Revolution, for example, was not intended to seek national independence, however, the American Revolutionary War was intended to achieve independence from the beginning. Causes for a country or province wishing to seek independence are many, the means can extend from peaceful demonstrations, like in the case of the Indian independence movement, to a violent civil war. Autonomy refers to a kind of independence which has been granted by an authority that itself still retains ultimate authority over that territory. A protectorate refers to a region that depends upon a larger government for its protection as an autonomous region. Declaring independence and attaining it however, are quite different, a well-known successful example is the U. S. Declaration of Independence issued in 1776, the dates of established independence, are typically celebrated as a national holiday known as an independence day
19.
Moroccan franc
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The franc was the currency of French Morocco from 1921. It became the currency of all Morocco in 1957 and circulated until 1974 and it was divided into 100 centimes. Before the first World War, the Moroccan rial was worth 5 French francs, however, after the war, the francs value fell, such that when the franc replaced the rial, it was at a rate of 10 francs =1 rial. The Moroccan franc was equal in value to the French franc, when Spanish Morocco was united with the rest of Morocco, the franc replaced the Spanish peseta at a rate of 1 peseta =10 francs. In 1960, the dirham was introduced and it was subdivided into 100 francs. The franc was replaced as the subdivision of the dirham by the centime in 1974, in 1921, coins were introduced under the reign of Yusuf, in denominations of 25 and 50 centimes and 1 franc. The 50 centimes and franc were both minted in 1921 in Paris, and in 1924 at Poissy with the privy mark. In 1928, under the reign of Mohammed V, silver 5,10 and 20 francs coins were introduced and these coins, and all following coins, were minted in Paris. Between 1945 and 1947, aluminum-bronze 50 centimes,1,2 and 5 francs, Another new coinage followed between 1951 and 1953 in denominations of 1,2 and 5 francs in aluminum,10,20 and 50 francs in aluminum-bronze, and silver 100 and 200 francs. Silver 500 francs coins were issued in 1956, the 1951 and 1952 dated 1,2,5,10,20 and 50 francs coins were minted without a change of date until 1974, when they were replaced by the santim. Rarities during this time include KM#51a, the AH137150 francs coin in gold Another major rarity is KM#A54, krause says that 10 million of these coins were minted, but nearly all were melted. All of the coins are easily identified as coinage of the French Moroccan period by the presence of either the legend “Empire Cherifien” or the legend “Maroc. ”All of the coins will have one or the other legend, and often both. All of the coins also have either a five-pointed star or a Star of David featured prominently in the devices. The first Moroccan notes denominated in francs were issued between 1910 and 1917 and were denominated in rial. Denominations were for 20 francs and 100 francs, although the franc only replaced the rial in 1921, notes were issued in francs from 1919. Emergency issues were made that year in denominations of 25 and 50 centimes,1 and 2 francs, regular issues from the Banque dEtat du Maroc were introduced between 1919 and 1923 in denominations of 5,10,20,50,100,500 and 1000 francs. 5000 francs notes appeared in 1938, further emergency issues were made in 1944 for 50 centimes,1 and 2 francs. After World War II, an issue by the Banque dEtat du Maroc was introduced between 1949 and 1953 in denominations of 50,100,500,1000,5000 and 10,000 francs
20.
Morocco
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Morocco, officially known as the Kingdom of Morocco, is a sovereign country located in the Maghreb region of North Africa. Geographically, Morocco is characterized by a mountainous interior, large tracts of desert. Morocco has a population of over 33.8 million and an area of 446,550 km2 and its capital is Rabat, and the largest city is Casablanca. Other major cities include Marrakesh, Tangier, Tetouan, Salé, Fes, Agadir, Meknes, Oujda, Kenitra, a historically prominent regional power, Morocco has a history of independence not shared by its neighbours. Marinid and Saadi dynasties continued the struggle against foreign domination, the Alaouite dynasty, the current ruling dynasty, seized power in 1666. In 1912 Morocco was divided into French and Spanish protectorates, with a zone in Tangier. Moroccan culture is a blend of Arab, indigenous Berber, Sub-Saharan African, Morocco claims the non-self-governing territory of Western Sahara as its Southern Provinces. Morocco annexed the territory in 1975, leading to a war with indigenous forces until a cease-fire in 1991. Peace processes have thus far failed to break the political deadlock, Morocco is a constitutional monarchy with an elected parliament. The King of Morocco holds vast executive and legislative powers, especially over the military, foreign policy, the king can issue decrees called dahirs which have the force of law. He can also dissolve the parliament after consulting the Prime Minister, Moroccos predominant religion is Islam, and the official languages are Arabic and Tamazight. The Moroccan dialect, referred to as Darija, and French are also widely spoken, Morocco is a member of the Arab League, the Union for the Mediterranean, and the African Union. It has the fifth largest economy of Africa, the full Arabic name al-Mamlakah al-Maghribiyyah translates to Kingdom of the West, although the West in Arabic is الغرب Al-Gharb. The basis of Moroccos English name is Marrakesh, its capital under the Almoravid dynasty, the origin of the name Marrakesh is disputed, but is most likely from the Berber words amur akush or Land of God. The modern Berber name for Marrakesh is Mṛṛakc, in Turkish, Morocco is known as Fas, a name derived from its ancient capital of Fes. The English name Morocco is an anglicisation of the Spanish Marruecos, the area of present-day Morocco has been inhabited since Paleolithic times, sometime between 190,000 and 90,000 BC. During the Upper Paleolithic, the Maghreb was more fertile than it is today, twenty-two thousand years ago, the Aterian was succeeded by the Iberomaurusian culture, which shared similarities with Iberian cultures. Skeletal similarities have been suggested between the Iberomaurusian Mechta-Afalou burials and European Cro-Magnon remains, the Iberomaurusian was succeeded by the Beaker culture in Morocco
21.
Arabic
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Arabic is a Central Semitic language that was first spoken in Iron Age northwestern Arabia and is now the lingua franca of the Arab world. Arabic is also the language of 1.7 billion Muslims. It is one of six languages of the United Nations. The modern written language is derived from the language of the Quran and it is widely taught in schools and universities, and is used to varying degrees in workplaces, government, and the media. The two formal varieties are grouped together as Literary Arabic, which is the language of 26 states. Modern Standard Arabic largely follows the standards of Quranic Arabic. Much of the new vocabulary is used to denote concepts that have arisen in the post-Quranic era, Arabic has influenced many languages around the globe throughout its history. During the Middle Ages, Literary Arabic was a vehicle of culture in Europe, especially in science, mathematics. As a result, many European languages have borrowed many words from it. Many words of Arabic origin are found in ancient languages like Latin. Balkan languages, including Greek, have acquired a significant number of Arabic words through contact with Ottoman Turkish. Arabic has also borrowed words from languages including Greek and Persian in medieval times. Arabic is a Central Semitic language, closely related to the Northwest Semitic languages, the Ancient South Arabian languages, the Semitic languages changed a great deal between Proto-Semitic and the establishment of the Central Semitic languages, particularly in grammar. Innovations of the Central Semitic languages—all maintained in Arabic—include, The conversion of the suffix-conjugated stative formation into a past tense, the conversion of the prefix-conjugated preterite-tense formation into a present tense. The elimination of other prefix-conjugated mood/aspect forms in favor of new moods formed by endings attached to the prefix-conjugation forms, the development of an internal passive. These features are evidence of descent from a hypothetical ancestor. In the southwest, various Central Semitic languages both belonging to and outside of the Ancient South Arabian family were spoken and it is also believed that the ancestors of the Modern South Arabian languages were also spoken in southern Arabia at this time. To the north, in the oases of northern Hijaz, Dadanitic and Taymanitic held some prestige as inscriptional languages, in Najd and parts of western Arabia, a language known to scholars as Thamudic C is attested
22.
Draa River
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Dra is also the abbreviation for the constellation Draco. The Draa is Moroccos longest river,1,100 kilometres and it is formed by the confluence of the Dadès River and Imini River. It flows from the High Atlas mountains south-ward to Tagounite and from Tagounite mostly westwards to the Atlantic Ocean somewhat north of Tan-Tan, most of the year the part of the Draa after Tagounite falls dry. The water from the Draa is used to irrigate palm groves, the inhabitants of the Draa are called in Arabic Drawa, in Shilha Idrawiyn, the most famous Drawi undoubtedly being Sultan Mohammed ash-Sheikh. Outside of the Draa region this name is used to refer to the dark skinned people of Draa which make up the largest portion of its inhabitants. In the first half of the 20th century the Draa lowest course marked the boundary between the French protectorate of Morocco and the area under Spanish rule, about 225,000 people live in the valley of the Draa, which measures 23,000 square kilometres. The valley corresponds with the province of Zagora, created in 1997, in the province there are 23 villages and two towns, Zagora and Agdz. The village of Tamegroute, near Zagora, is known for its Zawiya. In the fossilized fauna were numerous organisms previously thought to have died out after the mid-Cambrian and this statue is possibly the oldest human figurine ever found. It dates back more than three hundred thousand years, from all main periods of the prehistory of the Sahara rock-engravings and rock-paintings have been found. Foum Chenna, Aït Ouaazik Tiouririne e Tisguinine are amongst the best known sites in the Draa region, at lghir Ntidri between Tagounite and Mhamid al-Ghizlane there is the necropolis of Foum Larjam. The necropolis is the largest of North Africa and consists of several kilometers of tumuli and it is one of the few sites where not just rock-drawings but also rock-paintings were found. An extensive investigation into the date and origin of its inhabitants has yet to be made. The Punic text of the record of this journey was engraved in the Temple of Chronos at Carthage, there is only one Greek version, dating perhaps to the 3rd century B. C. These are the words of the Periplus, The Voyage of Hanno, King of the Carthaginians, to the Libyan regions of the earth. Having visited the Carthaginian colonies of the Atlas in Morocco, Hanno proceeded southward, on the banks nomads, the Lixites, were feeding their flocks. We stayed for some time with people and made friends with them. Upstream from them lived the unfriendly Ethiopians whose land is full of wild beasts and they also say that about these mountains dwell the strange-looking Troglodytes
23.
Alaouite dynasty
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The Alaouite dynasty, or Alawite dynasty, is the current Moroccan royal family. The name Alaouite comes from the ‘Alī of ‘Alī ibn Abī Ṭālib and his son Mulay Al-Rashid was able to unite and pacify the country. The Alaouite family claim descent from Muhammad through his daughter Fāṭimah az-Zahrah and they were hoping that, as he was a descendant of Muhammad, his presence would help to improve their date palm crops thanks to his barakah blessing, an Arabic term meaning a sense of charisma. His descendants began to increase their power in southern Morocco after the death of the Saʻdī ruler Ahmad al-Mansur, in 1669, the last Saʻdī sultan was overthrown in the conquest of Marrakesh by Mulay al-Rashid. After the victory over the zāwiya of Dila, who controlled northern Morocco, he was able to unite, the organization of the sultanate developed under Ismail Ibn Sharif, who, against the opposition of local tribes began to create a unified state. Because the Alaouites had difficult relations with many of the countrys Berber and Bedouin-Arab tribes, Ismaīl formed a new army of black slaves, however, the unity of Morocco did not survive his death—in the ensuing power struggles the tribes became a political and military force once again. Only with Muhammad III could the kingdom be pacified again and the administration reorganized, a renewed attempt at centralization was abandoned, and the tribes were allowed to preserve their autonomy. Under Abderrahmane Morocco fell under the influence of the European powers, when Morocco supported the Algerian independence movement of Emir Abd al-Qadir, it was defeated by the French in 1844 at the Battle of Isly and made to abandon its support. During the reigns of Muhammad IV and Hassan I, the Alaouites tried to foster trading links, above all with European countries, the army and administration were also modernised to improve control over the Berber and Bedouin tribes. With the war against Spain came direct involvement in European affairs, although the independence of Morocco was guaranteed at the Conference of Madrid, the French gained ever greater influence. German attempts to counter growing influence led to the First Moroccan Crisis of 1905–1906. Eventually the Moroccans were forced to recognise the French Protectorate through the Treaty of Fez, at the same time the Rif area of northern Morocco was raised under Spanish control. Under the protectorate, infrastructure was invested in heavily in order to link the Atlantic coastal cities to the hinterland, the Protectorate regime faced opposition from the tribes. In 1930, the Berbers were placed under the jurisdiction of French courts, in 1944, the Istiqlāl was founded and was supported by Sultan Muhammad V. From 1631 to 1666 as princes of Tafilalt, proclaimed at Taza, on the death of his elder half-brother as Sultan of Tafilalt,2 August 1664. Proclaimed as Sultan of Morocco, etc. at Fez,1666, commander of the Faithful Royal Ark Morocco Alaoui dynasty
24.
Ottoman Empire
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After 1354, the Ottomans crossed into Europe, and with the conquest of the Balkans the Ottoman Beylik was transformed into a transcontinental empire. The Ottomans ended the Byzantine Empire with the 1453 conquest of Constantinople by Mehmed the Conqueror, at the beginning of the 17th century the empire contained 32 provinces and numerous vassal states. Some of these were later absorbed into the Ottoman Empire, while others were granted various types of autonomy during the course of centuries. With Constantinople as its capital and control of lands around the Mediterranean basin, while the empire was once thought to have entered a period of decline following the death of Suleiman the Magnificent, this view is no longer supported by the majority of academic historians. The empire continued to maintain a flexible and strong economy, society, however, during a long period of peace from 1740 to 1768, the Ottoman military system fell behind that of their European rivals, the Habsburg and Russian Empires. While the Empire was able to hold its own during the conflict, it was struggling with internal dissent. Starting before World War I, but growing increasingly common and violent during it, major atrocities were committed by the Ottoman government against the Armenians, Assyrians and Pontic Greeks. The word Ottoman is an anglicisation of the name of Osman I. Osmans name in turn was the Turkish form of the Arabic name ʿUthmān, in Ottoman Turkish, the empire was referred to as Devlet-i ʿAlīye-yi ʿOsmānīye, or alternatively ʿOsmānlı Devleti. In Modern Turkish, it is known as Osmanlı İmparatorluğu or Osmanlı Devleti, the Turkish word for Ottoman originally referred to the tribal followers of Osman in the fourteenth century, and subsequently came to be used to refer to the empires military-administrative elite. In contrast, the term Turk was used to refer to the Anatolian peasant and tribal population, the term Rūmī was also used to refer to Turkish-speakers by the other Muslim peoples of the empire and beyond. In Western Europe, the two names Ottoman Empire and Turkey were often used interchangeably, with Turkey being increasingly favored both in formal and informal situations and this dichotomy was officially ended in 1920–23, when the newly established Ankara-based Turkish government chose Turkey as the sole official name. Most scholarly historians avoid the terms Turkey, Turks, and Turkish when referring to the Ottomans, as the power of the Seljuk Sultanate of Rum declined in the 13th century, Anatolia was divided into a patchwork of independent Turkish principalities known as the Anatolian Beyliks. One of these beyliks, in the region of Bithynia on the frontier of the Byzantine Empire, was led by the Turkish tribal leader Osman, osmans early followers consisted both of Turkish tribal groups and Byzantine renegades, many but not all converts to Islam. Osman extended the control of his principality by conquering Byzantine towns along the Sakarya River and it is not well understood how the early Ottomans came to dominate their neighbours, due to the scarcity of the sources which survive from this period. One school of thought which was popular during the twentieth century argued that the Ottomans achieved success by rallying religious warriors to fight for them in the name of Islam, in the century after the death of Osman I, Ottoman rule began to extend over Anatolia and the Balkans. Osmans son, Orhan, captured the northwestern Anatolian city of Bursa in 1326 and this conquest meant the loss of Byzantine control over northwestern Anatolia. The important city of Thessaloniki was captured from the Venetians in 1387, the Ottoman victory at Kosovo in 1389 effectively marked the end of Serbian power in the region, paving the way for Ottoman expansion into Europe
25.
British Empire
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The British Empire comprised the dominions, colonies, protectorates, mandates and other territories ruled or administered by the United Kingdom and its predecessor states. It originated with the possessions and trading posts established by England between the late 16th and early 18th centuries. At its height, it was the largest empire in history and, for over a century, was the foremost global power. By 1913, the British Empire held sway over 412 million people, 23% of the population at the time. As a result, its political, legal, linguistic and cultural legacy is widespread, during the Age of Discovery in the 15th and 16th centuries, Portugal and Spain pioneered European exploration of the globe, and in the process established large overseas empires. Envious of the great wealth these empires generated, England, France, the independence of the Thirteen Colonies in North America in 1783 after the American War of Independence caused Britain to lose some of its oldest and most populous colonies. British attention soon turned towards Asia, Africa, and the Pacific, after the defeat of France in the Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars, Britain emerged as the principal naval and imperial power of the 19th century. In the early 19th century, the Industrial Revolution began to transform Britain, the British Empire expanded to include India, large parts of Africa and many other territories throughout the world. In Britain, political attitudes favoured free trade and laissez-faire policies, during the 19th Century, Britains population increased at a dramatic rate, accompanied by rapid urbanisation, which caused significant social and economic stresses. To seek new markets and sources of raw materials, the Conservative Party under Benjamin Disraeli launched a period of imperialist expansion in Egypt, South Africa, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand became self-governing dominions. By the start of the 20th century, Germany and the United States had begun to challenge Britains economic lead, subsequent military and economic tensions between Britain and Germany were major causes of the First World War, during which Britain relied heavily upon its empire. The conflict placed enormous strain on the military, financial and manpower resources of Britain, although the British Empire achieved its largest territorial extent immediately after World War I, Britain was no longer the worlds pre-eminent industrial or military power. In the Second World War, Britains colonies in Southeast Asia were occupied by Imperial Japan, despite the final victory of Britain and its allies, the damage to British prestige helped to accelerate the decline of the empire. India, Britains most valuable and populous possession, achieved independence as part of a larger movement in which Britain granted independence to most territories of the empire. The transfer of Hong Kong to China in 1997 marked for many the end of the British Empire, fourteen overseas territories remain under British sovereignty. After independence, many former British colonies joined the Commonwealth of Nations, the United Kingdom is now one of 16 Commonwealth nations, a grouping known informally as the Commonwealth realms, that share a monarch, Queen Elizabeth II. The foundations of the British Empire were laid when England and Scotland were separate kingdoms. In 1496, King Henry VII of England, following the successes of Spain and Portugal in overseas exploration, Cabot led another voyage to the Americas the following year but nothing was ever heard of his ships again
26.
Entente Cordiale
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Credit for the success of the negotiation belongs chiefly to Paul Cambon, Frances ambassador in London, and to the British foreign secretary Lord Lansdowne. The most important feature of the agreement was that it granted freedom of action to the UK in Egypt, arrangements were also made to allay the rivalry between British and French colonists in the New Hebrides. By the Entente Cordiale both powers reduced the isolation into which they had withdrawn—France involuntarily, the UK complacently—while they had eyed each other over African affairs. The UK had no ally but Japan, of use if war should break out in European waters, France had none but Russia. The agreement was upsetting to Germany, whose policy had long been to rely on Franco-British antagonism, a German attempt to check the French in Morocco in 1905, and thus upset the Entente, served only to strengthen it. Military discussions between the French and the British general staffs were soon initiated, Franco-British solidarity was confirmed at the Algeciras Conference and reconfirmed in the Second Moroccan Crisis. This was translated into French as Entente Cordiale and used by Louis Philippe I in the French Chamber that year. When used today the term almost always denotes the second Entente Cordiale, that is to say, the agreement was a change for both countries. The situation for both countries changed in the last decade of the 19th century, the change had its roots in a British loss of confidence after the Second Boer War, and a growing fear that the country was isolated in the face of a potentially aggressive Germany. As early as March 1881, the French statesman Léon Gambetta, the Scramble for Africa prevented the countries from coming to terms, however. On the initiative of Colonial Secretary Joseph Chamberlain, there were three rounds of British-German talks between 1898 and 1901, the UK decided not to join the Triple Alliance, broke off the negotiations with Berlin, and revived the idea of a British-French alliance. When the Russo-Japanese War was about to erupt, France and the UK found themselves on the verge of being dragged into the conflict on the side of their respective allies, France was firmly allied with Russia, while the UK had recently signed the Anglo-Japanese Alliance. In order to avoid going to war, both powers shucked off their ancient rivalry and resolved their differences in Africa, the Americas, Asia, the Entente was composed of three documents, The first and most important document was the Declaration respecting Egypt and Morocco. In return for the French promising not to obstruct British actions in Egypt, free passage through the Suez Canal was guaranteed, finally putting the Convention of Constantinople into force, and the erection of fortifications on part of the Moroccan coast forbidden. The treaty contained a secret annex dealing with the possibility of changed circumstances in the administration of either of the two countries, the second document dealt with Newfoundland and portions of West and Central Africa. The French gave up their rights over the western coast of Newfoundland, in return, the British gave the French the town of Yarbutenda and the Iles de Los. An additional provision deals with the border between French and British possessions east of the River Niger, the final declaration concerned Siam, Madagascar and the New Hebrides. In Siam, the British recognised a French sphere of influence to the east of the River Menams basin, in turn, both parties disclaimed any idea of annexing Siamese territory
27.
First Moroccan Crisis
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The First Moroccan Crisis was an international crisis between March 1905 and May 1906 over the status of Morocco. The crisis worsened German relations with both France and the United Kingdom, and helped enhance the new Anglo-French Entente, on March 31,1905, Kaiser William II of Germany landed at Tangier, Morocco and conferred with representatives of Sultan Abdelaziz of Morocco. The Kaiser proceeded to tour the city on the back of a white horse, the Kaiser declared he had come to support the sovereignty of the Sultan—a statement which amounted to a provocative challenge to French influence in Morocco. The Sultan subsequently rejected a set of French-proposed governmental reforms and issued invitations to major powers to a conference which would advise him on necessary reforms. Germany sought a conference where the French could be called to account before other European powers. The French foreign minister, Théophile Delcassé, took a defiant line, count Bernhard von Bülow, the German Chancellor, threatened war over the issue. The French cancelled all leave and Germany threatened to sign a defensive alliance with the Sultan. French Premier Maurice Rouvier refused to risk war with Germany over the issue, Delcassé resigned, as the French government would no longer support his policy. On July 1, France agreed to attend the conference, the crisis continued to the eve of the conference at Algeciras, with Germany calling up reserve units and France moving troops to the German border. The Algeciras Conference was called to settle the dispute, lasting from January 16 to April 7,1906, of the 13 nations present, the German representatives found that their only supporter was Austria-Hungary. A German attempt at compromise was rejected by all but Austria-Hungary, France had firm support from Britain, Russia, Italy, Spain, and the United States. The Germans decided to accept a compromise agreement on March 31,1906 that was signed on May 31,1906. France agreed to control of the Moroccan police, but otherwise retained effective control of Moroccan political and financial affairs. The First Moroccan Crisis also showed that the Entente Cordiale was strong, the crisis can be seen as a reason for the Anglo-Russian Entente and the Anglo-Franco-Spanish Pact of Cartagena being signed the following year. Kaiser Wilhelm II was angry at being humiliated and was determined not to back down again, esthus, Raymond A. Theodore Roosevelt and the International Rivalries pp 66–111. Gifford, Prosser, and Alison Smith, eds, Britain and Germany in Africa, imperial rivalry and colonial rule ch 7 Perdicaris incident
28.
Algeciras Conference
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The Algeciras Conference of 1906 took place in Algeciras, Spain, and lasted from 16 January to 7 April. Britain and Frances Entente Cordiale of 1904 had defined diplomatic cooperation between them and recognized British authority over Egypt and French control in Morocco, Germany saw this development putting an end to the rivalry between Britain and France, which would further isolate Germany in European affairs. On 31 March 1905, Kaiser Wilhelm II of Germany visited Moroccos capital, Tangier, german diplomats believed they could convince U. S. President Theodore Roosevelt to challenge French intervention in Morocco. Roosevelt — at that time mediating the Russo-Japanese War, and aware of the U. S. Senates stance to avoid involvement in European affairs — was disinclined to become involved in the Moroccan crisis. However, with the situation in June 1905 worsening to the point of war between Germany and France, in July Roosevelt persuaded the French to attend a January peace conference in Algeciras, Germany had hoped that the Conference would weaken the entente cordial. Wilhelm II had thought he could form an alliance with France and he also thought that better relations with Russia were possible, due to the Revolution of 1905 and Russo-Japanese War putting them in a weak, ally-hungry position. Following their failed attempt to isolate Britain, Germany furthered the growing Anglo-German Naval Race with passage of the Third Naval Law in 1906, the next major event to thicken the tension between these two would be the Bosnian Crisis. The right of Europeans to own land was established, whilst taxes were to be levied towards public works, the Inspector-General in charge would be Swiss and reside in Tangiers. At the last moment, the Moroccan delegates found that they were unable to sign the final Act, but a decree of Sultan Abdelaziz of Morocco on 18 June finally ratified it
29.
Scramble for Africa
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The Scramble for Africa was the invasion, occupation, division, colonization and annexation of African territory by European powers during the period of New Imperialism, between 1881 and 1914. It is also called the Partition of Africa and the Conquest of Africa, in 1870, only 10 percent of Africa was under European control, by 1914 it had increased to 90 percent of the continent, with only Ethiopia, the Dervish state and Liberia still being independent. The Berlin Conference of 1884, which regulated European colonization and trade in Africa, is referred to as the starting point of the scramble for Africa. The latter years of the 19th century saw the transition from informal imperialism, by influence and economic dominance, to direct rule. But Europeans showed comparatively little interest in the interior for some two centuries thereafter, European exploration of the African interior began in earnest at the end of the 18th century. By 1835, Europeans had mapped most of northwestern Africa, in the middle decades of the 19th century, famous European explorers included David Livingstone and H. M. Stanley, each of whom mapped vast areas of Southern Africa and Central Africa. Arduous expeditions in the 1850s and 1860s by Richard Burton, John Speke and James Grant located the central lakes. By the end of the 19th century Europeans had charted the Nile from its source, traced the courses of the Niger, Congo and Zambezi Rivers, and realized the vast resources of Africa. Even as late as the 1870s, European states still controlled only ten percent of the African continent, the most important holdings were Angola and Mozambique, held by Portugal, the Cape Colony, held by the United Kingdom, and Algeria, held by France. By 1914, only Ethiopia and Liberia remained independent of European control, technological advances facilitated European expansion overseas. Industrialisation brought about rapid advancements in transportation and communication, especially in the forms of navigation, railways. Medical advances also played an important role, especially medicines for tropical diseases, the development of quinine, an effective treatment for malaria, made vast expanses of the tropics more accessible for Europeans. Sub-Saharan Africa, one of the last regions of the largely untouched by informal imperialism, was also attractive to Europes ruling elites for economic. In addition, surplus capital was more profitably invested overseas, where cheap materials, limited competition. Additionally, Britain wanted the southern and eastern coasts of Africa for stopover ports on the route to Asia and its empire in India. However, in Africa – excluding the area became the Union of South Africa in 1910 – the amount of capital investment by Europeans was relatively small. Consequently, the involved in tropical African commerce were relatively small. Rhodes had carved out Rhodesia for himself, Léopold II of Belgium later, John A. Hobson argued in Imperialism that this shrinking of continental markets was a key factor of the global New Imperialism period
30.
Wilhelm II, German Emperor
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Wilhelm II or William II was the last German Emperor and King of Prussia, ruling the German Empire and the Kingdom of Prussia from 15 June 1888 to 9 November 1918. He was the eldest grandchild of the British Queen Victoria and related to many monarchs and his leading generals, Paul von Hindenburg and Erich Ludendorff, dictated policy during the First World War with little regard for the civilian government. An ineffective war-time leader, he lost the support of the army, abdicated in November 1918, and fled to exile in the Netherlands. Wilhelm was born on 27 January 1859 at the Crown Princes Palace, Berlin to Prince Frederick William of Prussia and his wife, Victoria, Princess Royal, the eldest daughter of Britains Queen Victoria. At the time of his birth, his great-uncle Frederick William IV was king of Prussia, a traumatic breech birth left him with a withered left arm due to Erbs palsy, which he tried with some success to conceal. His left arm was about 6 inches shorter than his right arm, historians have suggested that this disability affected his emotional development. In 1863, Wilhelm was taken to England to be present at the wedding of his Uncle Bertie, William attended the ceremony in a Highland costume, complete with a small toy dirk. During the ceremony the four-year-old became restless and his eighteen-year-old uncle Alfred, Duke of Edinburgh, charged with keeping an eye on him, told him to be quiet, but Wilhelm drew his dirk and threatened Alfred. When Alfred attempted to subdue him by force, Wilhelm bit him on the leg and his grandmother, Queen Victoria, missed seeing the fracas, to her Wilhelm remained a clever, dear, good little child, the great favourite of my beloved Vicky. His mother, Vicky, was obsessed with his damaged arm and she blamed herself for the childs handicap and insisted that he become a good rider. The thought that he, as heir to the throne, should not be able to ride was intolerable to her, riding lessons began when Wilhelm was eight and were a matter of endurance for Wilhelm. Over and over, the prince was set on his horse. He fell off time after time but despite his tears was set on its back again, after weeks of this he finally got it right and was able to maintain his balance. Wilhelm, from six years of age, was tutored and heavily influenced by the 39-year-old teacher Georg Hinzpeter, Hinzpeter, he later wrote, was really a good fellow. Whether he was the tutor for me, I dare not decide. The torments inflicted on me, in this riding, must be attributed to my mother. As a teenager he was educated at Kassel at the Friedrichsgymnasium, in January 1877, Wilhelm finished high school and on his eighteenth birthday received as a present from his grandmother, Queen Victoria, the Order of the Garter. After Kassel he spent four terms at the University of Bonn, studying law and he became a member of the exclusive Corps Borussia Bonn
31.
Tangier
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Tangier is a major city in northwestern Morocco. It is located on the Maghreb coast at the entrance to the Strait of Gibraltar. It is the capital of the Tanger-Tetouan-Al Hoceima region, as well as the Tangier-Assilah prefecture of Morocco, the history of Tangier is very rich, due to the historical presence of many civilisations and cultures starting from before the 5th century BC. Between the period of being a strategic Berber town and then a Phoenician trading centre to the era around the 1950s. In 1923, it was considered as having international status by foreign colonial powers, the city is currently undergoing rapid development and modernisation. Projects include new tourism projects along the bay, a business district called Tangier City Center, a new airport terminal. Tangiers economy is set to benefit greatly from the new Tanger-Med port. The citys name is said to come from Tingis, the daughter of Atlas, however, it more likely derives from the Semitic word tigisis, meaning harbour. Tangier is also referred to as Boughaz or nicknamed as the bride of the north by the Moroccans, Tangier was founded in the early 5th century BC by Carthaginian colonists, who were probably the first ones to settle around the coast. The Greeks ascribed the citys establishment to the giant Antaios, whose tomb and skeleton are pointed out in the vicinity, the cave of Hercules, a few miles from the city, is a major tourist attraction. It is believed that Hercules slept there before attempting one of his twelve labours, the commercial town of Tingi came under Roman rule during the 2nd century BC. It was initially autonomous, and then, under Augustus, became a colony and it was the scene of the martyrdoms of Saint Marcellus of Tangier. Tingis was the main Roman city of Mauretania Tingitana in the 4th century and enjoyed huge development, in the 5th century, Vandals conquered and occupied Tingi and from here swept across the Maghreb. A century later, Tangier fell to the Byzantine Empire, before coming under the control of the Umayyad Caliphate in 702, due to its Christian past, it is still a titular see of the Roman Catholic Church. When the Portuguese, driven in part by religious fervour, started their colonial expansion by taking Ceuta in 1415. They failed to capture the city in 1437 but finally occupied it in 1471, a partial plan of the original kasbah was found in 2009–12, in a Portuguese document now preserved in the Military Archives of Sweden in Stockholm. The Portuguese rule lasted until 1662, when it was given to Englands King Charles II as part of the dowry from the Portuguese Infanta Catherine of Braganza, the English gave the city a garrison and a charter which made it equal to English towns. The English planned to improve the harbour by building a mole, with an improved harbour the town would have played the same role that Gibraltar later played in British naval strategy
32.
Politics of Morocco
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Politics of Morocco take place in a framework of a parliamentary constitutional monarchy, whereby the Prime Minister of Morocco is the head of government, and of a multi-party system. Executive power is exercised by the government, legislative power is vested in both the government and the two chambers of parliament, the Assembly of Representatives of Morocco and the Assembly of Councillors. The Moroccan Constitution provides for a monarchy with a Parliament and an independent judiciary, on June 17,2011 King Mohamed VI announced a series of reforms that would transform Morocco into a constitutional monarchy. The constitution grants the king extensive powers, he is both the political leader and the Commander of the Faithful as a direct descendant of the Prophet Mohammed. He presides over the Council of Ministers, appoints the Prime Minister following legislative elections, the King is formally the chief of the military. Upon the death of his father Mohammed V, King Hassan II succeeded to the throne in 1961 and he ruled Morocco for the next 38 years, until he died in 1999. His son, King Mohammed VI, assumed the throne in July 1999, following the March 1998 elections, a coalition government headed by opposition socialist hi Abderrahmane Youssoufi and composed largely of ministers drawn from opposition parties, was formed. It was also the first time in the political history of the Arab world that the opposition assumed power following an election. The current government is headed by Saadeddine Othmani, since the constitutional reform of 1996, the bicameral legislature consists of two chambers. The Assembly of Representatives of Morocco has 325 members elected for a term,295 elected in multi-seat constituencies and 30 in national lists consisting only of women. The Assembly of Councillors has 270 members, elected for a term, elected by local councils. The lower chamber of Parliament may dissolve the government through a vote of no confidence, on November 26,2011 initial results of parliamentary elections were released. The moderate Islamist party, the Justice and Development Party, was projected to win the largest number of seats, however, the electoral rules were structured such that no political party could ever win more than 20 percent of the seats in the parliament. Abdelillah Benkirane was reappointed Prime Minister by the King on 10 October, the Authenticity and Modernity Party won 102 seats, and the rest of the seats were split among smaller parties. The highest court in the structure is the Supreme Court. The Youssoufi government continued to implement a program to develop greater judicial independence. Morocco is divided into 16 administrative regions, the regions are administered by the Walis, Morocco is divided also into 13 prefectures and 62 provinces. Prefectures, Agadir-Ida Ou Tanane, Casablanca, Fès, Inezgane-Aït Melloul, Marrakesh, Meknès, Mohammedia, Oujda-Angad, Rabat, Safi, Salé, Skhirate-Témara and Tangier-Assilah
33.
Finance in Morocco
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In 2007 the financial sector of Morocco maintained an economic environment conducive to further growth of banking activity following a very good year for the sector in 2006. Morocco’s banks have been unaffected by the credit crisis due to their limited connection to global financial markets. The number of people with a bank account increased from 25% in 2007 to 29% in 2008, while deposits rose by 11. 1% to a record Dh572. 3bn, private banks are increasingly moving towards universal banking, buying companies in all segments of the financial industry. While GDP advanced 5. 6% in 2008, outstanding loans jumped 23% to a record Dh519. 3bn as more people bought and furnished property. As the rest of the world saw lending dry up, Moroccan banks issued more loans, in 2007 macroeconomic growth, excluding the agricultural sector, remained quite robust, providing the background for dynamic growth in banking credits. Total assets of the sector increased by 21. 6% to MAD654. 7bn. The structure of the sector has remained steady in the past two years, with the landscape dominated by three major local banks. The state has started to remove itself from the sector by surrendering part of its share capital in public banks. At end-2007 public capital still held controlling stakes in five banks, the introduction of additional Islamic banking products is also likely in the future. The financial system, though robust, has to take on excessive quantities of low risk-low return government debt at the expense of riskier and this crowding–out of private sector investment reduces the profitability and growth incentives of the financial sector. Fitch Ratings affirmed Moroccos long-term local and foreign issuer default ratings of BBB- and BBB, respectively, the credit rating agency attributed its classification in part to the relative resilience of Moroccos economy to the global economic downturn. Behind life and auto insurance, accident, work-related accident, fire, total premiums reached Dh17. 7bn in 2007, ranking Morocco as one of the largest insurance markets in the Arab world behind Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates. The insurance penetration rate is 2. 87% of GDP, while the density is $69 per person. More broadly, the Moroccan insurance sector is already consolidated, with five large players controlling the market, the Central Bank of Morocco, Bank Al-Maghrib, was granted enhanced autonomy in 2006. The bank, which follows the policy of controlling inflation and promoting growth. Morocco has largely had low levels of inflation, in 2006, its annual inflation was only 2. 7%. The central bank plays a preeminent role in the banking system. In 2007 the capitalisation of the Moroccan stock market increased by 40. 5% to Dh586. 3bn, the major industrial leaders of the market are banking, telecoms and real estate, which together make up almost two-thirds of market capitalisation
34.
Triple Alliance (1882)
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The Triple Alliance, also known as the Triplice, was a secret agreement between Germany, Austria-Hungary, and Italy formed on 20 May 1882 and renewed periodically until World War I. Germany and Austria-Hungary had been allied since 1879. Italy sought support against France shortly after it lost North African ambitions to the French, each member promised mutual support in the event of an attack by any other great power. The treaty provided that Germany and Austria-Hungary were to assist Italy if it was attacked by France without provocation, in turn, Italy would assist Germany if attacked by France. In the event of a war between Austria-Hungary and Russia, Italy promised to remain neutral, when the treaty was renewed in February 1887, Italy gained an empty promise of German support of Italian colonial ambitions in North Africa in return for Italys continued friendship. Italy and Austria-Hungary did not overcome their basic conflict of interest in that region despite the treaty, in 1891 attempts were made to join Britain to the Triplice, which, though unsuccessful, were widely believed to have succeeded in Russian diplomatic circles. Shortly after renewing the Alliance in June 1902, Italy secretly extended a similar guarantee to France, by a particular agreement, neither Austria-Hungary nor Italy would change the status quo in the Balkans without previous consultation. On 1 November 1902, five months after the Triple Alliance was renewed, following parallel negotiation with both Triple Alliance, aimed to keep Italy neutral, and the Triple Entente, aimed to make Italy enter the conflict, Italy declared war on Austria-Hungary. Carol I of Romania, through his Prime Minister Ion I. C, brătianu, had also secretly pledged to support the Triple Alliance, but he remained neutral since Austria-Hungary started the war. The man chiefly responsible for the Triple Alliance was Otto von Bismarck, Bismarck wanted to prevent a war on two fronts, which is why he targeted these two countries specifically. By the late 1870s, Austrian territorial ambitions in both the Italian peninsula and Central Europe had been thwarted by the rise of Italy and Germany as new national powers. With the decline and failed reforms of the Ottoman Empire, Slavic discontent in the occupied Balkans grew, the occupation of Bosnia-Herzegovina was a step taken in response to Russian advances into Bessarabia. Unable to mediate between Turkey and Russia over the control of Serbia, Austria–Hungary declared neutrality when the conflict between the two powers escalated into the Russo-Turkish War. To counter Russian and French interests in Europe, an alliance was concluded with Germany in October 1879, World War I started in 1914. The Kingdom of Italy, like some of the other European powers, wanted to set up colonies, in the years before World War I, many distinguished military analysts predicted that Italy would attack its supposed ally in the event of a large scale conflict. Italys adherence to the Triple Alliance was doubted and from 1903 plans for a war against Rome were again maintained by the Austrian general staff. Mutual suspicions led to reinforcement of the frontier and speculation in the press about a war between the two countries into the first decade of the twentieth century. As late as 1911 Count Franz Conrad von Hötzendorf, chief of the Austrian general staff, was advocating a preemptive strike against Austrias supposed Italian ally
35.
Triple Entente
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Historians continue to debate the importance of the alliance system in igniting the Great War. At the start of World War I in 1914, all three Triple Entente members entered it as Allies of World War I against the Central Powers, Germany and Austria-Hungary. The situation in the Balkans and the 1878 Treaty of Berlin, in an attempt to stop Russia from allying with France, Bismarck signed the secret Reinsurance Treaty with Russia in 1887. It assured that both parties would remain neutral toward each other if war broke out, after the Reinsurance Treaty was not renewed in 1890, Russias leaders grew alarmed at the countrys diplomatic isolation and entered into the Franco-Russian Alliance in 1894. In 1904 Britain and France signed a series of agreements, the Entente cordiale, the Entente heralded the end of British neutrality in Europe. It was partly a response to growing German antagonism, as expressed in the expansion of the Kaiserliche Marine into a fleet that could threaten the supremacy of the Royal Navy. The Entente, in contrast to the Triple Alliance or the Franco-Russian Alliance, was not an alliance of mutual defence, as British Foreign Office Official Eyre Crowe minuted, The fundamental fact of course is that the Entente is not an alliance. For purposes of ultimate emergencies it may be found to have no substance at all. For the Entente is nothing more than a frame of mind, in 1907 Britain and Russia signed an agreement called the Anglo-Russian Convention of 1907 to stop both countries rivalry in Central Asia, The Great Game. In the last decade of the century, Britain continued its policy of splendid isolation. However, by the early 1900s the German threat increased dramatically, some in Britain thought it was in need of allies. The Tangier Crisis later encouraged co-operation between the two countries from their fear of apparent German expansionism. Russia was defeated in the Russo-Japanese War, which resulted in concern over Russian imperialism. France was already allied to Russia in the Dual Alliance, Britain was frightened about the rising threat of German imperialism. Kaiser Wilhelm II had announced to the world his intentions to create a global German empire, Britain, traditionally having control of the seas, saw this as a serious threat to its own empire and navy. During the Franco-Prussian War of 1870–1871, Prussia defeated the Second French Empire, in the Treaty of Frankfurt, Prussia forced France to cede Alsace-Lorraine to the new German Empire. Ever since, relations had been at an all time low, France, worried about the escalating military development of Germany, began building up its own war industries and army to deter to German aggression. As another measure, France developed a bond with Russia by ratifying the Franco-Russian Alliance
36.
Agadir Crisis
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The Agadir Crisis or Second Moroccan Crisis was an international crisis sparked by the deployment of a substantial force of French troops in the interior of Morocco in April 1911. Germany reacted by sending the gunboat SMS Panther to the Moroccan port of Agadir on 1 July 1911, frances pre-eminence in Morocco had been upheld by the 1906 Algeciras Conference, following the First Moroccan Crisis of 1905–06. Anglo-German tensions were high at this time, partly due to a race between Imperial Germany and Great Britain, including German efforts to build a fleet two thirds the size of Britains. Germanys move was aimed at testing the relationship between Britain and France, and possibly intimidating Britain into an alliance with Germany, Germany was also enforcing compensation claims, for acceptance of effective French control of Morocco. In 1911, a rebellion broke out in Morocco against the Sultan, by early April, the Sultan was besieged in his palace in Fez. The French prepared to send troops to put down the rebellion, under the pretext of protecting European lives and property. On 8 June, the Spanish army occupied Larache, and three days later Ksar-el-Kebir, on 1 July, the German gunboat SMS Panther arrived at the port of Agadir, under the pretext of protecting German trade interests. The larger Bremen-class cruiser SMS Berlin arrived days later, replacing the gunboat, a German civilian, Hermann Wilberg, seventy miles to the north, journeyed south to be rescued only to arrive three days after the Panther. There was a reaction from the French and the British. The British government attempted to restrain France from adopting hasty measures and to dissuade her from sending troops to Fez, in April, British Foreign Secretary Sir Edward Grey wrote what the French contemplate doing is not wise, but we cannot under our agreement interfere. He felt that his hands were tied and that he had to support France, the British became worried by Panthers arrival in Morocco. The Royal Navy had a base in Gibraltar, in the south of Spain. They believed the Germans meant to turn Agadir into a base on the Atlantic. Britain sent battleships to Morocco, in case war broke out, as in the First Moroccan Crisis, British support of France showed the strength of the Entente Cordiale. In the midst of crisis, Germany was hit by financial turmoil. The stock market plunged by 30 percent in a single day, the Reichsbank lost a fifth of its gold reserves in one month. It was rumored this crisis had been orchestrated by the French finance minister, faced with the possibility of being driven off the gold standard, the Kaiser backed down and let the French take over most of Morocco. The speech was interpreted by Germany as a warning that she could not impose a settlement on France
37.
Larache expedition
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The Larache expedition occurred in June 1765 when French Navy troops attacked the Moroccan city of Larache following a bombardment of Salé and Rabat. It is an example of the failure of Western arms against local forces in colonial campaigns. After the end of the Seven Years War, France turned its attention to the Barbary corsairs, especially those of Morocco, a French squadron was led by Duchaffault de Besné, comprising a 52-gun ship Utile and 15 frigates, xebecs and galliots. The 30-gun Héroine was commanded by Captain De Grasse, the xebec Singe was under the command of Pierre André de Suffren de Saint Tropez. It arrived in front of Larache on 26 June 1765, after a bombardment of Salé between 2 and 11 June. Larache was bombarded successfully on the 27th and 28th, and the city was evacuated, some small boats of the French squadron under Captain Latouche Beauregard sailed up the Lixa river, in an attempt to set fire to some Moroccan ships. This force was encircled by the Moroccans, Seven small boats were captured, while nine were able to return to the squadron. 200 French sailors were killed, and 48 were captured and enslaved, one of the captives, Bidé de Maurville, who remained in captivity for two years, wrote in 1775 an account of the expedition, in Relation de laffaire de Larache. The captured men are said to have participated in the construction of the city of Essaouira, the fleet was unable to recover the prisoners or to inflict retribution on Moroccan forces. This was a low point for the French Navy, after the Seven Years War, the defeat at Larache led to a truce and a treaty between France and Morocco in 1767, with terms which were nevertheless favourable to French trade
38.
French conquest of Algeria
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The French conquest of Algeria took place between 1830 and 1847. Algerian resistance forces were divided between forces under Ahmed Bey at Constantine, primarily in the east, and nationalist forces in Kabylie and the west. Treaties with the nationalists under Abd al-Qādir enabled the French to first focus on the elimination of the remaining Ottoman threat, al-Qādir continued to give stiff resistance in the west. He surrendered to French forces in 1847, the territory now known as Algeria was only partially under the Ottoman Empires control in 1830. The dey ruled the entire Regency of Algiers, but only exercised direct control in and around Algiers, with Beyliks established in a few outlying areas, including Oran and Constantine. The remainder of the territory, while nominally Ottoman, was effectively under the control of local Arab, the dey acted largely independently of the Ottoman Emperor, although he was supported by Turkish Janissary troops stationed in Algiers. The territory was bordered to the west by the Sultanate of Morocco, the western border, nominally the Tafna River, was particularly porous since there were shared tribal connections that crossed it. The Regency of Algiers, was one of the bases of the Barbary pirates and Barbary Slave Traders who attacked Christian ships and coastal settlements in the Mediterranean. Like the rest of the Barbary Coast, the Regency of Algiers lived from the trade of slaves or goods captured from Europe, America and sub-Saharan Africa. The European powers bombarded Algiers on different occasions in retaliation and the United States provoked the Barbary Wars in order to put an end to Algerine privateering against Christian shipping and he believed he would bolster patriotic sentiment and turn eyes away from his domestic policies. Algerine slave trade and piracy ceased when the French conquered Algiers. In 1795–96, the French Republic had contracted to purchase wheat for the French army from two Jewish merchants in Algiers, and Charles X was apparently uninterested in paying off the Republics debt. These merchants, who had debts to Hussein Dey, the Ottoman ruler of Algiers, devals nephew Alexandre, the consul in Bône, further angered the dey by fortifying French storehouses in Bône and La Calle against the terms of prior agreements. After a contentious meeting in which Deval refused to provide answers on 29 April 1827. Charles X used this slight against his diplomatic representative to first demand an apology from the dey, and then to initiate a blockade against the port of Algiers. The blockade lasted for three years, and was primarily to the detriment of French merchants who were unable to do business with Algiers, while Barbary pirates were still able to evade the blockade. When France in 1829 sent an ambassador to the dey with a proposal for negotiations, the French then determined that more forceful action was required. Polignac opened negotiations with Muhammad Ali of Egypt to essentially divide up North Africa, Ali, who was strongly under British influence, eventually rejected this idea
39.
Franco-Moroccan War
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The Franco-Moroccan War was fought between France and Morocco in 1844. The principal cause of war was the retreat of Algerian resistance leader Abd al-Qādir into Morocco following French victories over many of his supporters during the French conquest of Algeria. Abd Al-Qādir had begun using northeastern Morocco as a refuge and a base as early as 1840. France made repeated demands to Sultan Abd al-Rahman to stop Moroccan support for Abd al-Qādir. Tensions were heightened in 1843, when French forces chased a column of Abd al-Qādir supporters deep into Morocco and these men included Alawī tribesmen from Morocco, and French authorities interpreted their actions as a de facto declaration of war. An attempt to dislodge these troops peacefully in late May 1844 failed when Alawī tribal fighters fired on the French and were driven back to Oujda. Rumors surrounding this incident fanned the flames of jihad in Morocco, the war began on August 6,1844, when a French fleet under the command of the Prince de Joinville conducted a naval bombardment of the city of Tangiers. The conflict peaked on August 14,1844 at the Battle of Isly, a large Moroccan force led by the sultans son Sīdī Mohammed was defeated by a smaller French royal force under Marshal Bugeaud. Essaouira, Moroccos main Atlantic trade port, was attacked in the Bombardment of Mogador, by 1847 the sultans forces were in jihad against Abd al-Qādir, who surrendered to French forces in December 1847. Alaouite sultanate of Morocco Second Franco-Moroccan War Rif War France-Morocco relations Bennison, jihad and its interpretations in pre-colonial Morocco, state-society relations during the French conquest of Algeria. Chronology, The July Monarchy 1830 -1848 Armed Conflict Events Database, Franco-Moroccan War 124 B. C. -1912 A. D
40.
French conquest of Morocco
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The French conquest of Morocco took place in 1911 in the aftermath of the Agadir Crisis, when Moroccan forces besieged the French-occupied city of Fez. On 30 March 1912, Sultan Abdelhafid signed the Treaty of Fez, formally ceding Moroccan sovereignty to France, on 17 April 1912, Moroccan infantrymen mutinied in the French garrison in Fez. The Moroccans were unable to take the city and were defeated by a French relief force, in late May 1912, Moroccan forces unsuccessfully attacked the enhanced French garrison at Fez. The last aftermath of the conquest of Morocco occurred in 1933–34, French protectorate in Morocco Spanish protectorate in Morocco France–Morocco relations French Algeria French Tunisia Bidwell, Robin. Morocco under Colonial Rule, French Administration of Tribal Areas 1912–1956, burke, E. Pan-Islam and Moroccan resistance to French colonial penetration, 1900–1912
41.
Rif War
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The Rif War, also called the Second Moroccan War, was fought in the early 1920s between the colonial power Spain and the Berbers of the Rif mountainous region. Led by Abd al-Karim, the Riffians at first inflicted several defeats on the Spanish forces by using guerrilla tactics, during the early 20th century, Morocco had fallen into the French and Spanish spheres of influence, becoming divided into protectorates ruled by the two European nations. The Rif region had been assigned to Spain, but given that even the Sultans of Morocco had been unable to control over the region. For centuries, the Berber tribes of the Rif had fought off any attempt to impose outside control on them, though nominally Muslim, the tribes of the Rif had continued many pagan practices such as worshipping water spirits and forest spirits that were contrary to Islam. Attempts by the Moroccan sultans to impose orthodox Islam on the Rif had been resisted by the tribesmen. For centuries Europeans had seen the Rif mountains and the outlines of people on the mountains from ships in the Mediterranean Sea, but almost no European had ever ventured into the mountains. Walter Burton Harris, the Morocco correspondent for The Times, who covered the war wrote that as late as 1912 only one or two Europeans had been able to visit the forests that lie south of Fez. A few had traveled in the southern Atlas and pushed on into the Sus. the reason for, as Harris wrote, was the Berbers were often as inhospitable to the Arab as they were to the foreigner, and generally killed any outsiders who ventured into their territory. The Rif was also rich in iron, which could be easily extracted via open pit mining. The Spanish state could collect money in the form of taxes and royalties from the iron mining. When King Alfonso XIII of Spain ascended to the throne in 1886, Spain could at least make the pretense of being a power, having colonies in the Americans, Africa, Asia. To compensate for the lost empire in the Americas and Asia, there emerged a powerful faction in Spain led by Alfonso. For all these reasons, Spain had been pushing into the Rif since 1909, the Berber tribesmen had a long tradition of fierce fighting skills, combined with high standards of fieldcraft and marksmanship. They were capably led by Muhammad Ibn Abd al-Karim al-Khattabi, commonly called Abd el-Krim, however, the Rifian regular army was never a very large force. The elite of the Rifian forces formed regular units which according to Abd el-Krim, other sources put it much lower, at around 2,000 to 3,000. The remaining Rifians were tribal militia selected by their Caids and not liable to serve away from their homes and farms for more than 15 consecutive days. General Goded estimated that at their peak, in June 1924, however, this force was largely adequate in the early stages of the war. In the final days of the war Rifian forces numbered about 12,000 men, in addition Rifian forces were not well armed, with weapons badly maintained and in poor condition
42.
Ifni War
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The city of Sidi Ifni was incorporated into the Spanish colonial empire in 1860. In 1946, the various coastal and inland colonies were consolidated as Spanish West Africa. Sultan Mohammed V encouraged efforts to re-capture the land and personally funded anti-Spanish conspirators, Moroccan insurgents, violent demonstrations against Spanish rule erupted in Ifni on April 10,1957, followed by civil strife and widespread killings of those loyal to Spain. In response, Generalissimo Franco dispatched two battalions of the Spanish Legion, Spains elite fighting force, to El Aaiún in June, Spanish military mobilization resulted in the Moroccan army converging near Ifni. On October 23,1957, two villages on the outskirts of Sidi Ifni, Goulimine and Bou Izarguen, were occupied by 1,500 Moroccan soldiers, the encirclement of Ifni was the beginning of the Ifni War. Two more Legionary battalions reached the Spanish Sahara before the opening of hostilities, on 21 November, Spanish intelligence in Ifni reported that attacks were imminent by Moroccans operating out of Tafraout. Two days later, Spanish lines of communication were cut, although the Moroccan drive into Sidi Ifni was easily repulsed, two nearby Spanish outposts were abandoned in the face of enemy attacks and many others remained under heavy siege. At Tiluin,60 Tiradores de Ifni, struggled to hold off a force of several hundred Moroccans, on November 25, a relief attempt was authorized. Five CASA2.111 bombers, bombed enemy positions, while a number of CASA352 transports dropped a force of 75 paratroopers into the outpost. On 3 December, soldiers of the Spanish Legions 6th battalion arrived, breaking the siege, all military and civilian personnel were then evacuated overland to Sidi Ifni. The relief of Telata was less successful, leaving Sidi Ifni on 24 November aboard several old trucks, a platoon of the Spanish Legion paratroop battalion under Captain Ortiz de Zárate made slow progress through difficult terrain. This problem was compounded by frequent Moroccan ambushes, which by the day had left several men wounded and forced the Spaniards off the road. On 26 November, food ran out, the Spanish, low on ammunition, resumed their advance, only to dig in again in the face of repeated enemy attacks. Rations were dropped by air, but Spanish casualties continued to mount, one of the dead was Captain Ortiz de Zárate. On 2 December, a column of infantry, among them the erstwhile defenders of Telata, broke through the Moroccan lines, the survivors of the paratroop detachment reached Sidi Ifni once more on 5 December. The company had suffered two dead and fourteen wounded, initial Moroccan attacks had been generally successful. In the space of two weeks, the Moroccans and their allies had asserted control over most of Ifni. Simultaneous attacks had been launched throughout Spanish Sahara, overrunning garrisons and ambushing convoys, consequently, Moroccan units, resupplied and greatly reinforced, tried to surround and besiege Sidi Ifni, hoping to incite a popular uprising
43.
Artillery
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Artillery is a class of large military weapons built to fire munitions far beyond the range and power of infantrys small arms. Early artillery development focused on the ability to breach fortifications, and led to heavy, as technology improved, lighter, more mobile field artillery developed for battlefield use. This development continues today, modern self-propelled artillery vehicles are highly mobile weapons of great versatility providing the largest share of an armys total firepower, in its earliest sense, the word artillery referred to any group of soldiers primarily armed with some form of manufactured weapon or armour. In common speech, the artillery is often used to refer to individual devices, along with their accessories and fittings. However, there is no generally recognised generic term for a gun, howitzer, mortar, and so forth, the United States uses artillery piece, the projectiles fired are typically either shot or shell. Shell is a widely used term for a projectile, which is a component of munitions. By association, artillery may also refer to the arm of service that customarily operates such engines, in the 20th Century technology based target acquisition devices, such as radar, and systems, such as sound ranging and flash spotting, emerged to acquire targets, primarily for artillery. These are usually operated by one or more of the artillery arms, Artillery originated for use against ground targets—against infantry, cavalry and other artillery. An early specialist development was coastal artillery for use against enemy ships, the early 20th Century saw the development of a new class of artillery for use against aircraft, anti-aircraft guns. Artillery is arguably the most lethal form of land-based armament currently employed, the majority of combat deaths in the Napoleonic Wars, World War I, and World War II were caused by artillery. In 1944, Joseph Stalin said in a speech that artillery was the God of War, although not called as such, machines performing the role recognizable as artillery have been employed in warfare since antiquity. The first references in the historical tradition begin at Syracuse in 399 BC. From the Middle Ages through most of the era, artillery pieces on land were moved by horse-drawn gun carriages. In the contemporary era, the artillery and crew rely on wheeled or tracked vehicles as transportation, Artillery used by naval forces has changed significantly also, with missiles replacing guns in surface warfare. The engineering designs of the means of delivery have likewise changed significantly over time, in some armies, the weapon of artillery is the projectile, not the equipment that fires it. The process of delivering fire onto the target is called gunnery, the actions involved in operating the piece are collectively called serving the gun by the detachment or gun crew, constituting either direct or indirect artillery fire. The term gunner is used in armed forces for the soldiers and sailors with the primary function of using artillery. The gunners and their guns are usually grouped in teams called either crews or detachments, several such crews and teams with other functions are combined into a unit of artillery, usually called a battery, although sometimes called a company
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