French Policy Towards Tunisia and Morocco: the International Dimensions of Decolonisation, 1950-1956
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University of London FRENCH POLICY TOWARDS TUNISIA AND MOROCCO: THE INTERNATIONAL DIMENSIONS OF DECOLONISATION, 1950-1956 Ryo Ikeda London School of Economics and Political Science Department of International Relations A thesis submitted to the University of London for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy in International History UMI Number: U2151B8 All rights reserved INFORMATION TO ALL USERS The quality of this reproduction is dependent upon the quality of the copy submitted. In the unlikely event that the author did not send a complete manuscript and there are missing pages, these will be noted. Also, if material had to be removed, a note will indicate the deletion. Dissertation Publishing UMI U215138 Published by ProQuest LLC 2014. Copyright in the Dissertation held by the Author. Microform Edition © ProQuest LLC. All rights reserved. This work is protected against unauthorized copying under Title 17, United States Code. ProQuest LLC 789 East Eisenhower Parkway P.O. Box 1346 Ann Arbor, Ml 48106-1346 I hcsc^ r 3 ^ 314. Library British Library of Political and Economic Science \ 2l 7- S37? Abstract FRENCH POLICY TOWARDS TUNISIA AND MOROCCO: THE INTERNATIONAL DIMENSIONS OF DECOLONISATION, 1950-1956 This thesis deals with French decolonisation policy towards Tunisia and Morocco and international impacts on the decolonisation process. It is very important to deal with the two countries at the same time, because nationalist movements in each country and French policy responses were closely related. So far, research on French decolonisation has examined the reason why France was forced to retreat from their overseas territories and indicated that nationalist and international pressures largely contributed to this process. This thesis rather aims to clarify how the French tried to maintain their influence in Tunisia and Morocco. In terms of international impact, the existing research has stressed the role of American pressure towards decolonisation but has not referred to British policy. The thesis also focuses on Britain’s role in determining French attitudes especially in the UN. Furthermore, this work aims to locate the decolonisation process of both countries in a broader context of post-war French policy towards their overseas territories. The thesis argues that the French accepted Tunisia’s internal autonomy because they realised that the Tunisian people’s consent was essential to retain influence. Hitherto, the French had been controlling Tunisia through puppet governments, which had been legitimised by the Tunisian sovereign’s traditional authority. Now the French understood that they had to secure collaborators who could rally popular support. The thesis also argues that the French decision on Morocco’s independence was aimed at preserving the unity of Morocco, whose opinion had been seriously divided. Indeed, France was aiming to produce pro-French moderate nationalism, thereby maintaining France’s interest and influence. However, Morocco, and then Tunisia achieved independence without the framework of the French Union, the organisation grouping French overseas territories. Soon after Morocco’s independence, France decided to give internal autonomy to the African territories, a move which paved the way to those territories’ independence. 2 Table of Contents Acknowledgements..............................................................................................5 Abbreviations...................................................................................................... 6 Introduction......................................................................................................... 7 The Aim of the Thesis and Historiography..................................................................7 Background History ....................................................................................................10 Chapter 1: The French Announcement on Tunisian Internal Autonomy; Tunisia, January 1950 to December 1951.......................................................19 1.1 The French decision on Tunisian Reform and Bourguiba’s demands ............... 19 1.2 The Announcement of the French Plan.............................................................. 25 1.3 La Note sur la Co-souverainet6 ............................................................................32 Chapter 2: The Sultan’s memoranda and the Internationalisation of the Moroccan Problem; Morocco, October 1950 to December................ 1951 39 2.1 The Sultan’s memoranda..................................................................................... 39 2.2 Arab Moves and Franco-American talks ............................................................ 44 2.3 The UN debates in 1951 ...................................................................................... 51 Chapter 3: The UN debates and Franco-Tunisian negotiations; Tunisia, January 1952 to December 1952......................................................................55 3.1 Bourguiba’s return to Tunisia ..............................................................................55 3.2 The UNSC debates ............................................................................................... 60 3.3 Towards a UNGA Special Session......................................................................70 3.4 The UNGA and British intervention ....................................................................75 Chapter 4: The Deposition of the Sultan; Morocco, January 1952 to August 1953....................................................................................................... 89 4.1 UN Debates in 1952 and the Casablanca Massacre ............................................ 89 4.2 The deposition of the Sultan................................................................................94 Chapter 5: Tunisia’s internal autonomy; Tunisia, January 1953 to June 1955....................................................................................................................I l l 5.1 Towards the French plan of March 1954...........................................................I l l 5.2 The French plan of March 1954......................................................................... 116 5.3 The Carthage Declaration.................................................................................. 120 5.4 Franco-Tunisian Negotiations and the Fellagha problem.................................129 5.5 The Franco-Tunisian Conventions .....................................................................136 Chapter 6: The Restoration of Mohammed V; Morocco, August 1953 to October 1955.................................................................................................... 141 6.1 Terrorism and impasse: August 1953 to December 1954.................................141 6.2 The Lacoste plan.................................................................................................149 6.3 The Grandval plan...............................................................................................153 6.4 The Departure of Arafa.......................................................................................163 6.5 The Establishment of the Throne Council .........................................................170 3 Chapter 7: Morocco’s independence; Morocco, October 1955 to May 1956 ............................................................................................................................176 7.1 The Sultan’s Return and the formation of the Moroccan government ............ 176 7.2 The Franco-Moroccan protocol of 2 March 1956............................................. 187 7.3 Morocco’s independence................................................................................... 193 Chapter 8: Tunisia’s independence; Tunisia, June 1955 to June 1956.... 204 8.1 Rivalries between Bourguiba and Salah Ben Youssef. .....................................204 8.2 The Neo-Destour National Congress ................................................................ 208 8.3 The Franco-Tunisian Protocol of March 1956 .................................................. 212 8.4 Tunisia’s Independence.......................................................... 219 Conclusion........................................................................................................228 Appendix 1: List of Key Players................................................................... 240 Appendix 2: The Key Texts............................................................................244 Bibliography....................................................................................................254 4 Acknowledgements For encouraging me to complete my thesis, I would like to thank my family, my friends, my supervisor Dr John Kent, and my thesis panel (Dr Katerina Dalacoura, Dr Dominique Jacquin-Berdal). For proofreading, I owe thanks to Michael Bowell, Kristian Kennedy, Garret Martin and Hilary Parker. I would also like to thank Miriam Allam, Toshihiko Aono, Madoka Futamura, Yeekuang Heng, Izumi Ikeda, Silke Lechner, Monika Thakur and Prof Takahiko Tanaka, who gave me valuable comments. Kristian Kennedy and Garret Martin not only gave me detailed comments but also helped me translate French texts into English. I would like to thank the Josuikai Scholarship of Hitotsubashi University, which enabled me to start a PhD course at LSE. I am also indebted to Central Research Fund of the University of London and Research Support Grants of the