French colonialist journals and Morocco [Ressource électronique] : a decade of debate before the Protectorate / Samantha Schmidt

Master of arts : Histoire : Graduate School of Clemson University : 2011

Bibliogr. p. 99-100

After French colonization of Algeria in 1830, the expansion of France into additional colonies was a slow process. By 1900, few new colonies had been added to the French Empire and significant interest in colonization was limited to 10,000 men, the colonialists, who dedicated themselves to the expansion of the French Empire. These men came from the upper reaches of society had had a variety of reasons for desiring French colonialism. Whether for economic or nationalistic reasons, the colonialists formed formal groups, working both inside and outside of government to increase the size of the colonial empire. The journals of the leading colonialist groups, published regularly for decades, gives historians a detailed look at the reasons in favor of colonization. Beginning in 1900, the nation of Morocco in North Africa drew the attention of the colonialists. Over the next twelve years the journals and groups focused their attention in increasing measure on Morocco and the potential of a French colony there. By looking at how the coverage of Morocco in the journals changed over time, I examine how a nation that was relatively unknown and unimportant in 1900, became the most important colony for the French colonialists. By examining the journals by themselves, outside the context of other colonialist work, I show a clear pattern of increasing focus and concern on Morocco, as well as a move away from economic reasoning toward an argument of national honor.