King Mohammed V (1909-1961)

[Asma2]

In 1927, Moulay Youssef was succeded by his son Mohamed V, aged 17 years old. It was not until after World War II that the independence movement really gathered momentum. The troops Moroccans provided for the French army had conducted themselves with honor. At that time, an official independence party was formed called Istiqlal,whose first act was to send a memorundum to the sultan and the French authorities asking for independence and a democratic constitution. The immediate reaction to this request was the arrest of several Istiqlal leaders , whereas the sultan refused to sign any more decrees concerning his people.

In August 1953 the royal family was deported to Corsica and Madagascar, and another person was designed by the French to sit on the throne. Violence towards the French officials was the reaction of the Moroccan people, who claimed the return of the king.

In December 1956, The king was taken to France , where he signed a declaration promising that there would be a constitutional monarchy which would move towards ademocratic state.

In March 1956, the French signed an agreement in which they granted full independence to Morocco. The Spanish did the same and Tangier lost its international status during the same year.

The Sultan formed a government and French Officials were gradually replaced by Moroccans.