Agadir Crisis

The Agadir Crisis, also called the Second Moroccan Crisis, was the international tension sparked by the deployment of the German gunboat Panther, to the Moroccan port of Agadir on July 1 1911.

Background

Anglo–German tensions were high at this time partly due to German attempts to surpass Britain's naval supremacy. Germany's move was aimed at intimidating France into an alliance with her,^[1] as well as enforcing claims for compensation for acceptance of effective French control of the North African kingdom, where France's pre-eminence had been upheld by the 1906 Algeciras Conference following the Tangier Crisis (or First Moroccan Crisis) a year earlier. The move was encouraged by the German press.

Timeline of Events

Moroccan Rebellion and the Panther

In Morocco there was a rebellion against the Sultan and the French sent troops to help put the rebellion down. The French had a special interest in Morocco and the Kaiser Wilhelm II accused the French of trying to take over the country and annex it as part of the French Empire. Germany sent a gunboat the Panther to the port of Agadir. There was an immediate reaction from the French and the British.

British Involvement

The British became worried of the Panther's arrival in Morocco. They believed that the Germans meant to turn Agadir into a naval base on the Atlantic.^[2] The Royal Navy had a naval base in Gibraltar in the south of Spain. The German Kaiserliche Marine was the trying to over take the Royal Navy as the world's leading naval force. Britain was extremely worried that the Germans may have a base near the Atlantic and so sent battleships to Morocco in case war broke out. The British supported France as in the First Moroccan Crisis again showing the strength of the Entente Cordiale.

Negotiations

On July 7, the German ambassador in Paris informed the French Government that Germany cherished no territorial aspirations in Morocco and would negotiate for a French protectorate on the basis of "compensation" for Germany in the French Congo region and the safeguarding of her economic interests in Morocco. The German terms, as presented on July 15, while containing an offer to cede the northern part of Kamerun and Togoland, demanded from France the whole of the French Congo from the Sangha River to the sea to which was later added the transfer of France's right to the preemption of the Belgian Congo.

David Lloyd George, at the request of Sir Edward Grey, delivered on July 21 his famous Mansion House speech, in which he declared that national honour was more precious than peace; a speech everywhere construed, especially in view of the orator's pacifist leanings, as a definite warning to Germany that she could not impose an unreasonable settlement on France.^[3] The speech read:

"If Britain is treated badly where her interests are vitally affected, as if she is of no account in the cabinet of nations, then I say emphatically that peace at that price would be a humiliation intolerable for a great country like ours to endure."

Franco-German negotiations initiated on July 9 in 1911 toward the Treaty of Fez led (on November 4) to a convention under which Germany accepted France's position in Morocco in return for territory in the French Equatorial African colony of Middle Congo (now the Republic of the Congo). This 275 000 km² territory, known as Neukamerun, became part of the German colony of Kamerun and part of German West Africa, which only lasted briefly until they were captured by the allies in World War I. The area is partly marsh land where Sleeping sickness was widespread, although it did give Germany an outlet on the Congo River. Also as part of the treaty, Germany ceded France a small area of territory to the south-east of Fort Lamy, now part of Chad, as shown on this map.

Aftermath

France subsequently established a full protectorate over Morocco (March 30, 1912), ending what remained of the country's formal independence.

Instead of scaring France into turning to Germany, The main result was to increase British fear and hostility and to draw Britain closer to France. British backing for France during the crisis reinforced the Entente between the two countries (and later with Russia as well) and added to Anglo-German estrangement, deepening the divisions which would culminate in World War I. Germany was angry with the land they had received in compensation which was mostly swamp, and wanted revenge.

Daniel Yergin, in his book, The Prize^[4] had argued that it was this incident that led Winston Churchill, then Britain's Home Secretary, to the conclusion that the Royal Navy must convert its power source from coal to oil in order to preserve its supremacy. Until then, the locally abundant coal was favoured over riskier overseas oil (which came mostly from Persia), but the speed and efficiency offered by oil convinced him that "Mastery itself was the prize of the venture". Subsequently, Churchill was asked by Prime Minister Asquith to become First Lord of the Admiralty, which he accepted.

In modern Germany, the Agadir Crisis is still the best known example of gunboat diplomacy.

The crisis lead to Britain and France making a naval agreement where the Royal Navy promised to protect the Northern coast of France from German attack.

References

See also

• Colonialism
• Scramble for Africa
• First Moroccan Crisis (Tangier Crisis)
• Gunboat diplomacyar:أزمة أغادير

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