Germany and Morocco

Press, Volume LXXIII, Issue 21989, 13 January 1937, Page 8

Germany and Morocco

Those who have been wondering why the German Government has lately chosen to intensify its propaganda for colonial concessions to Germany have their answer in reports of the landing of German military forces in Spanish Morocco. These reports have, it is true, been flatly denied from Berlin; but the value of such denials is discounted by the fact that the presence of German " volunteers " in Spain has been denied with equal emphasis. Moreover, the sudden and violent German press campaign against_ France for allegedly stirring up trouble among the tribes of the Moroccan hinterland lets the cat out of the bag, since its obvious purpose is to justify German intervention in Morocco. The official French protest to the High Commissioner of the Spanish Zone against the construction of barracks for German troops can also be taken as reliable evidence of the presence of Germans in Morocco. For the French Government can readily be acquitted of any desire to use the Spanish conflict as an opportunity to further its own ends in Morocco or anywhere else. M. Blum has only to take sides in the Spanish war to provoke violent internal dissensions in France; and for this reason he is not likely to involve himself in a quarrel over Morocco unless he feels certain that vital French interests are in danger. It is equally apparent that the German Government is exploiting M. Blum's difficulties to the full, as witness its charge.that the French zone is the centre of anti-rebel activities. Whether there is any truth in the statement that General Franco's position in Morocco is Insecure it would be difficult to say, since news from the Spanish zone u subject to a rigid military censorship. Most of the stories of disaffection among the native levies and attacks on the garrison towns have appeared in papers like the "Manchester Guardian" and the •'•Daily Herald" which desire the overthrow ofGeneral Franco. On the other hand, it cannot

be forgotten that Spain has held its footing in Morocco 1 with difficulty and that the record of its army there has been an inglorious one. It is fairly generally agreed that failure to press the campaign against Abdel Krim to a successful conclusion, coupled with the heavy expenditure involved, was one of the main factors in discrediting King Alfonso and his Ministers. It is possible, therefore, that the denudation of the Moroccan garrisons for the rebel campaign on the mainland has left the Spanish zone insecure. ; Germany's interest in this part of north Africa is, it should be added, a matter both of prestige and of economics. Morocco was the focus of Germany's earliest colonial ambitions and the scene of two humiliating diplomatic'defeats in the years immediately preceding the war. TJie first was in 1906 when the German Government unwisely decided to test the strength of the Anglo-French entente by. challenging France's claims in Morocco. The second was the famous Agadir incident. Germans have always felt, with considerable justi-, fication, that they were bluffed out of Morocco; and a success there, whether military or diplomatic, would be'a settling of old scores as satisfying in its way as the Italian victories in Abyssinia. But more than prestige is involved. There is copper in Spanish Morocco; and in the Great War it was lack of copper, more than of any other raw material, which weakened Germany's industrial staying power. Already, according to reports which seem trustworthy, the Germans are exploiting mineral concessions in Morocco granted to them by General Franco. In the event of a claim by Germany to political status in Morocco, Great Britain and France, and the present Spanish Government if it is still in existence, may find themselves in an awkward position. For it should be moted that admission of the claim would not involve any renunciation of sovereignty over territory held by any of the governments concerned. In theory, Morocco is an independent State, sovereignty residing in the Sultan and being exercised on his behalf by the governments of the three zones. It may not be easy to show reasons why Germany should not participate in this system of control.