French protectorate in Morocco French protectorate in Morocco The French protectorate in Morocco (, ; ), also known as French Morocco (), was a territory established by the Treaty of Fez. It existed from 1912, when the protectorate was formally established, until independence and dissolution in 1956. It shared territory variously with the Spanish protectorate, established and dissolved the same years; its borders consisted of the area of Morocco between the "Corridor of Taza" and the Draa River, including sparse tribal lands, and the official capital was Rabat. Despite the weakness of its authority, the Alaouite dynasty distinguished itself in the 18th and 19th
History of Morocco with a new capital in Cairo. The Fatimids had assigned the Zirids, a Zenaga Berber clan centered in Ifriqiya, to watch their western dominions. The Zirids, however, were unable to prevent Morocco from spinning out of their control and crumbling into the hands of a collection of local Zenata Berber chieftains, most of them clients of the Caliph of Cordoba, such as the Maghrawa in the region of Fez and itinerant rivals, the Banu Ifran to the east. Morocco was at its most powerful under a series of Berber dynasties, which rose to power south of the Atlas Mountains and