The first Moroccan crisis, 1904-1906

Morocco was one of the last of the “backward” countries to be taken under control by a European state. It was a historic land with a long record of wars against the Christians;...

When M. Delcassé assumed office in 1898, the Bismarckian system of agreements which had isolated France in Europe had already crumbled away. The formation of the Franco-Russian...

The close of the nineteenth century found Spain at one of the lowest points in her history. She was disorganized, isolated, defeated in 1898 by the United States; her navy was d...

(larger than that of any other foreign nation), geographic proximity, historical attempts at conquest, and Spanish pride were all advanced in support of this claim. Strategic re...

M. Delcassé assumed office at a most unpropitious time for the success of his policy with reference to Great Britain. On September 1, 1898, he remarked to Sir Edmund Monson, the...

The international position of Great Britain at the end of the nineteenth century was uncomfortable. The major Powers were all busy in the colonial world more or less in oppositi...

[Footnote 207: Eckardstein, II, 235 ff.; Hatzfeldt to F. O., Jan. 18, 1901, _G.P._, XVII, 14 ff., No. 4979. In the same month Lansdowne expressed to the German government the de...

The Boer War had revealed to Great Britain the depth of antagonism toward her among the European nations and the haphazard inadequacy of her defensive preparations. The British...

[Footnote 319: For a summary see the article by Louis-Jaray, “L’Accord entre la France et l’Angleterre. L’Opinion publique et le rapprochement franco-anglais,” _Quest. dipl. et...

After the Russo-Japanese War began, the British and Russian governments decided that for the present nothing further could be done toward an understanding.[320] Russian anger wa...

As friend of Great Britain and ally of Russia, France was in an uneasy situation after the outbreak of the Russo-Japanese War. Hostility between those two Powers was increasing....

In the early part of 1903, although one of Germany’s allies was rent by nationalistic conflicts[399] and the other was no longer reliable, and although British and German public...

Early in July, 1904, Herr von Holstein offered his resignation because of personal differences with Baron Richthofen. In doing so, he stated that the prestige of Germany had dim...

Upon the refusal of an alliance by Russia, the German government, in the early part of 1905, regarded its international situation and loss of prestige with concern. The continue...

The visit to Tangier, because of its very unexpectedness, did not at first alarm the French, who refused to credit the German Emperor with hostile intentions.[597] Better-inform...

The downfall of M. Delcassé was merely an incident in Germany’s drive toward a conference. Prince Bülow, believing that the Minister’s resignation ended the acute phase of the c...

After Germany had forced France to lay the Moroccan problem before an international conference, M. Rouvier was no longer willing to give Germany a share in Morocco. Confident of...

By forcing France in July to submit the Moroccan question to an international conference, the German government asserted its power and restored its country’s prestige; but it ha...

After the Björkö treaty had been annulled by the Russian government, the Moroccan affair once more held the chief attention of the German foreign office. Already important, it b...

The Conference of Algeciras opened formally on January 16, 1906.[1070] The place was badly adapted to such a purpose. It was small, inadequately prepared to house and entertain...

The conclusion of the Conference relaxed the tension in Europe and cleared the way for a gradual improvement in the relations of the Powers. Both sides expressed satisfaction wi...